My trajectory is probably similar to Ned's. Top 40 > Classic Rock > the good stuff that defined what I listened to for the rest of my adult life.
The song that I remember singularly responsible for driving me down the radio dial from the top 40 station to the Classic Rock station was... Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name" (a song I don't have strong feelings about today, but I think it was extremely over-played on my chosen top 40 station, and for some reason it just drove my 13 year-old self crazy). The song has probably been in "classic rock" circulation for decades by now.
― beard papa, Thursday, 12 January 2023 18:45 (one year ago) link