CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS POLL parking lot tailgate pre-party -- nominations, discussions, parameters, etc.

Man, I had no idea that there were CR stations out there playing the Stooges, Eno, and Bowie covers of VU songs

2 songs i remember hearing (occasionally) on whatever station we had for classic rock in spokane, wa c. 1980. not saying they were staples or anything, but i remember being completely mesmerized the first time i heard "baby's on fire" on the radio, trying to get my parents' attention because it was so weird. they weren't impressed.

in the same spirit, i never heard no damn hawkwind on the radio ever

never heard Eno on classic rock, wtf.

if that's on there since this is ILM corny motherfuckers are gonna vote it #1 which would be laaaaaaaaaaaaaame

yeah, true. rescind baby's on fire nom. though they really did useda play it sometimes.

i wasn't gonna vote for it though. classic rock to me = "gimme three steps", "when the levee breaks", "you shook me anl", "takin' care of business", "sweet emotion", "carry on wayward son", etc.

Man, I had no idea that there were CR stations out there playing the Stooges, Eno, and Bowie covers of VU songs

― intheblanks, Tuesday, June 17, 2014 12:34 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah i haven't been able to keep up with the thread and respond to everything individually, but i am definitely vetoing most of the stuff in this vein. doesn't really fit the spirit of the poll. a LOT of different stuff was played on 'progressive' AOR radio back in the day that's not considered classic rock now, and a lot of those stations ultimately turned into modern rock/alternative stations, like WHFS here in Maryland, so i feel like that's a different lineage.

Yeah, a lot of confusion with oldies radio and progressive radio. For the most part, I could construct a proper ballot out of your original part. People have added a couple Stevie Nicks songs that I might vote for, but B52s for example is ridiculous.

"you shook me anl"

is this an abbreviation of "You Shook Me All Night Long" or "You Shook Me Anal"? both great songs.

yes

You shook me anal down, sport.

Electric Light Orchestra - Livin' Thing

+ while I'm not sure we need too much F Mac in this poll, I definitely second "Gypsy". That and "Boys of Summer" sum up US classic rock radio for me.

Yeah, a lot of confusion with oldies radio and progressive radio. For the most part, I could construct a proper ballot out of your original part. People have added a couple Stevie Nicks songs that I might vote for, but B52s for example is ridiculous.

private idaho was a huge FM staple during the 80s. if some dude is stretching the limits as to include supertramp and steely dan (?) i guess we should also allow some classic new wave stuff that did pretty well on rock radio.

Some special Canadian nominations for Myonga (all excellent, all '70s, all played regularly on Q-107 here):

April Wine -- Tonight Is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love
Fludd -- Get Up, Get Out and Move On
Goddo -- Sweet Thing (greatest lyric ever: "You like the fact I'm in the Goddo band")
Guess Who -- Albert Flasher
Guess Who -- Rain Dance
Mainline -- Get Down To
Pagliaro -- Lovin' You Ain't Easy
Pagliaro -- Some Sing, Some Dance
Thundermug -- Africa
Valdy -- Rock and Roll Song

Supertramp, Stevie Nicks, and Steely Dan are not stretches – heard them all in the eighties and early nineties on "album rock radio."

I'd include "Abracadabra" with the other Steve Millers.

Supertramp and Steely Dan are huge on Classic Rock radio. They'll play Logical Song and Do It Again like every day. I've only heard B-52s on something progressive/modern like WHFS or some kind of variety programming like JACK-FM.

Supertramp and Steely Dan are classic-rock-radio staples--a whole bunch of songs for the former, basically three for Steely Dan (first two hits + "Rikki").

where do we draw the line tho? YES to supertramp and steely dan and NO to inxs or huey lewis? thinking about the stuff i was exposed to growing up, "what you need" and "the heart of rock & roll" scream classic rock to me now but idk.

I def heard "The One Thing," "What You Need," and "Listen Like Thieves" on that station. Never Huey Lewis.

Never heard INXS. Maybe heard that one specific Huey Lewis song? Fuck, this is complicated!

And subjective.

Probably impossible to draw a clear line, because it will vary from station to station. Here, INXS and Huey Lewis would never be played now--but there was probably a brief window in the '90s where Q-107 would have played one or both. There are staples on classic-rock radio that never go away, and then part of the playlist changes from decade to decade.

I don't think Huey Lewis or INXS should be included. I liked INXS a lot but there's no way my local classic rock stations would have played them. Too modern. And Huey Lewis was too cheesy.

I would argue, though, that Huey Lewis belongs far more to the "classic rock" tradition than INXS, or certainly Talking Heads (who have a few songs on the master list), do. Not that I'd be voting for anything by him anyway.

Yeah, the outliers will get filtered out anyway.

Yes: before getting ensnared in a big debate, remember that Huey's probably get zero votes anyway. (I interviewed him in 1986, even though I knew almost nothing of his music. Quote I still love: "Now you take the Clash--great band, wonderful thing.")

I agree with Carl. Early to mid 80s New Wave and New Wave Lite have just been hitting the Good Time Oldies playlists in the last 3-4 years and never really were part of that mythical Classic Rock beast.

xp -- hadn't noticed the Talking Heads songs on the orig. list -- hmmm

Yeah, like for me "classic rock" = stuff my stoner uncle listens to, and I just can't ever see him jamming to Talking Heads or INXS.

Head "And She Was" and "Wild Wild Life" a lot on my classic rock station, but again, it was a mix of "album rock" and "new stuff that will soon become album rock."

Point in favor of the inclusion of Talking Heads - Circus magazine ran the lyrics to "Burning Down the House" in their song lyrics section.

But I also remember thinking it was weird that they would include that.

Why I can remember the contents of a 30 (jesus...) year old magazine but not my phone number at work, I can't tell you.

Except maybe Circus magazine was more important to me at 11 than my career is to me at 41.

WNCX in Cleveland will play, say, U2 now, but they definitely wouldn't have in 1986. They miiiiight play, say, "Take Me To The River" or "Once In A Lifetime" now, but again, would not have done say when those songs were contemporary.

Any band who ever had a video played on 120 Minutes should probably be excluded.

lol carl

i'm having a hard time separating CR from oldies/Freedom Rock (turn it up, man)
if it's on Freedom Rock (and in this commercial) is it automatically enshrined as CR?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eGWW8KOQio

Some of the stuff in the Freedom Rock commercial veers into "AM Gold" territory for sure.

Yeah, and then I think about stuff like The Outsiders "Time Won't Let Me", which was on the classic rock radio station all the time, but probably only bc it was Cleveland.

David Bowie - White Light/White Heat

― sci-fi looking, chubby-leafed, delicately bizarre (contenderizer), Monday, June 16, 2014 9:17 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire

― sci-fi looking, chubby-leafed, delicately bizarre (contenderizer), Monday, June 16, 2014 9:18 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

FP'd u for this nonsense

Strictly Chicago stations, but

The Blues Brothers - Sweet Home Chicago

Yes, put that on the list so I can definitively not vote for it.

Haha, I seriously hate that song so much, not for the song itself so much (which is just bland, and you wish everyone singing it at large gatherings would stop now), but for the usual reasons of "this station will play the Blues Brothers but not Magic Sam (to say nothing of Robert Johnson)."

George Thorogood to thread. I wont nominate him though because i cant stand that shit.

Have the Fabulous (not at all fabulous) Thunderbirds made an appearance yet? They were super gross in that same way.

Damn is that a long and intimidating list of nominations. Are we definitely doing a "Worst Of" side poll?

Thunderbirds also mirror the Blues Brothers by having a hit with a Sam & Dave song played by stations that would never play Sam & Dave. Ditto the Black Crowes.

oh man i am totally adding all of THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS CERTIFIED HOOD CLASSICS to the list

campaigning for "Abracadabra" to be voted worst

Is Greg Kihn classic rock?

take heart -- for all of the stuff that doesn't get included, there's a whole huge sandbox of classic rock awesomeness still left to play with!

I woke up with 'Hold On Loosely' playing in my head so I take that as a positive omen

hahaha now i know how to annoy Crüt

there should be a battle of the worst lyrics
steve miller cooing about panties is def top 10, but there is a LOT to choose from

Time to get a bunch of blatant CanCon out of the way:

Loveryboy - Turn Me Loose
Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Hey You
Guess Who - These Eyes
Chilliwack - My Girl
Trooper - Here For A Good Time (Not a Long Time)
Trooper - Raise a Little Hell
Max Webster - Paradise Skies
Max Webster - Let Go The Line
April Wine - Oowatanite
Prism - Armageddon
Five Man Electrical Band - Signs