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

Ha, I enjoyed blowing students' minds in the Prairies by explaining that Toronto has no country station.

C&P from last year's thread:

After spending the last three days driving across the Upper Midwest and Northern Ontario, I am feeling qualified to speak on FM rock radio formats in this stretch of mostly small-town North America. I am wondering if this might help clarify some of the discussions/arguments earlier.

So:

i) Proper bona fide classic rock stations that e.g. play Styx or Kansas on the hour and play nothing since the mid-80s and are well-described by this thread are still a staple pretty much everywhere in the US along this stretch. I don't think I actually came across one along this stretch in Ontario. They seem to have largely been phased out in favour of either a) stations named after carnivorous mammals (wolf, fox, or bear) that play Rush alongside Sam Roberts or the Tragically Hip or the Black Keys or b) stations named after monosyllabic male first names that play Golden Earring alongside Abba and Kool and the Gang.

The Wikipedia list of radio stations in Ontario (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_radio_stations_in_Ontario) lists 5 classic rock stations but 16 'classic hits' stations, 18 'active rock' stations, and 16 'adult hits' stations. Of those classic rock stations, I know that at least the Ottawa one plays plenty of 90s and 00s music as well. On the other hand, this list lists 22 classic rock stations, 32 classic hits stations, 7 adult hits stations, and 4 active rock stations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_radio_stations_in_Michigan

ii) In the same way that a St Louis accent sounds more 'neutral' to me than my own, your classic rock format seems more 'normal' to me on some level. (Your classical music stations are kind of lame though.)

iii) I am a little intrigued as to whether this difference is indicative of a trend that will eventually spread to the US or whether it is due to the fact that Canadian stations have to play a quota of Canadian music, which didn't really come into its own until after rock's classic period.

iv) The White Stripes and Black Keys have a remarkable ability to blend in so well on the a) sort of station that until the obvious hook enters, I sometimes can't tell whether I'm hearing a 70s song or a recent one.

v) Most interestingly, oldies stations that plays 50s and 60s pop are still a real thing on FM radio in the US. I haven't come across one in Canada in 20 years, I don't think. (According to Wiki, they still exist on the AM dial.) Some stations CALL themselves oldies stations but are basically in this format: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_hits

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Monday, 26 August 2013 15:07 (9 months ago) Permalink

Two late additions to the master list:

Deep Purple - Fireball (best organ solo ever?)
Golden Earring - When the Lady Smiles

So are we doing the Made in Japan version of Highway Star or the album version? Live Highway Star is a prime contender for my number one spot, but the album version might not make my ballot.

I think I've only ever heard the studio version on the radio

me too

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what? you think this thread has "run its course"?

nope, not at all. in fact if this thread is already 1000 posts the actual results thread will be massive, as it should.

So are we doing the Made in Japan version of Highway Star or the album version? Live Highway Star is a prime contender for my number one spot, but the album version might not make my ballot.

― voodoo chili, Sunday, June 22, 2014 4:06 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Made in Japan by far the best version but I've never heard it on radio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bINvvAwE5mM&feature=kp

better version

On the aforementioned Psychedelic Sundays yesterday, the DJ said he was coming back after the break with the first #1 from a group that would have two more, and that this song came out in the spring of '66. I started guessing, trying to figure out who it was. Thought about the Monkees, but I figured they had more than three. Then the Byrds, but I knew that was earlier and that they only had a couple. Settled on Simon & Garfunkel, figurng "Sounds of Silence," "Mrs. Robinson," and "Bridge Over Troubled Water." As odd as it sounds, they'll get played on Psychedelic Sundays.

Wasn't them, but I was close: all three were #1, but the first was '65, not '66. It was the (Young) Rascals.

the Rascals are to me one of pop/rock's great lost bands, like I can never see them being "in" again, but their discography is so great

listened to hell summer rock-blocks on WLUP this weekend

hella*

same but on WZBA

ts:

Block Party Weekend vs. Twofer Tuesday

Get The Led Out vs. Rock-It to ZepTune

#1 in both cases, easy

Memory's blurry here - does CR have any use for "The Heat Is On" or was that abandoned to stations that play Huey Lewis and 80s Loggins early on?

(70s Loggins really should be in the CR universe - "Vahevala" has the right pedigree as a bottom-up college hit with a convincingly live/rough sound to it - but clearly these stations can smell the AM smoothness and 80s soundtrack on him.)

KSEG has lunchtime 'Cafe Rock' complete with restaurant chatter & kitchen sounds & a 'Blue Plate Special' :/

ts: breakfast with the beatles v. get the led out

breakfast with the beatles, more of a rarity the rest of the week

Get The Led Out vs. Rock-It to ZepTune

Never heard anyone say "Rock-It to ZepTune" in my life. Is that really a thing?

no clue. never heard it either

I'm told that it is, in Grand Rapids, MI.

Block Party Weekend vs. Twofer Tuesday

twofer tuesday, because if you run into a block of a band you hate on a block party weekend, that means you can potentially be locked out for 20 minutes or more, whereas on twofer tuesday you can live for the hope that something better will come along in only seven or eight minutes.

on the other hand, if it's a block party weekend, then it's ... the weekend. so there's that.

i like the a-z countdowns, those are fun

yes!!!

76. "Roll The Bones" weekends (DJ "throws" the "dice", number that comes up is how many tunes by whatever band gets played. Funny how when it's Blue Oyster Cult it's always a "1" but when it's Pink Floyd or The Who it's generally a "6".)

― henry s, Sunday, August 11, 2013 3:07 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^^ painfully OTM post on the "On Every AOR classic rock station ever" thread. I feel the same way about twofers and rock blocks, they're precalibrated to which bands the station is prepared to play two versus five songs of. If they actually did rock blocks for bands where you're used to only ever hearing one song, these stations would be so much better.

Being a classic rock deejay, if you're lucky enough to even still have a live-in-the-booth job, has got to be one of the most soul crushing jobs around. You probably like a great deal of music, but you have to play the same three Boston songs every three hours or else people will complain.

don't wanna play a Boston song
been doing this too long
AMANDA

haha

Never gets old...

Worst song!

:(

Being a classic rock deejay, if you're lucky enough to even still have a live-in-the-booth job, has got to be one of the most soul crushing jobs around. You probably like a great deal of music, but you have to play the same three Boston songs every three hours or else people will complain.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, June 23, 2014 1:24 PM (47 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

One of our area pacifica DJ's used to moonlight as a substitute jock at a (now defunct) Clear Channel CR station. He later dished that they work from a shifting* 400 (iirc) song playlist culled from a much bigger masterlist, which generally couldn't be altered by on-air talent, which irked him because he is a big FM-era radio rock buff, wanted to spin stuff by Johnny Winter and Rory Gallagher.

*Shifting in that around 50-100 tracks (usually one hit wonders and lesser cuts from A-Team artists like the Beatles, Stones, Eagles, Zep, Floyd etc.) are cycled in and out of rotation every month or so against the constants ("Stairway" "Hotel" "Money" etc).

The Knack - My Sharona

i've heard Get The Led Out also referred to as "the Zep Set"

Yes, Zep Set. Also "Rock Blocks" for four songs in a row when it's not a weekend.

I don't know if any stations still do Zeptember (followed by the epic Blocktober) but that was definitely a thing when I was listening to alot of CR radio

Blocktober? Rocktober, surely!

Foghatuary never really caught on.

lol

Just listened to Yes – I’ve Seen All Good People. Had never heard that one before. Not sure how it ended up as canon. Reminds me of a lesser Doobie Brothers or something.

;_;

blocktober, like a block party weekend except ALL MONTH LONG

I always wonder if CR employees get excited about these things, and have, ilk, a "Blocktober" kick-off party or celebrate the success of the "Get the Led Out" initiative.

like, not ilk.

I am in a coin operated laundromat in Framingham ma, a break from my ailing mother in laws apartment. Played so far in here:
Hotel California
Jumping Jack Flash
Leather and Lace
Peace Of Mind
Benny & The Jets
Sweet Emotion

I thought "I've Seen All Good People" was pretty unique, actually. (It was released before the first Doobie Brothers album fwiw, although I don't know that I see the comparison, unless you're only talking about the second, lesser, movement.) The closest thing I could compare it to is CSNY but the hymn-like quality distinguishes it imo. It mostly works on the prettiness of the melody, Anderson's delivery, and the interaction with the counter-melodies. It's a pretty early prog track, not especially sophisticated in terms of compositional structure, compared to what Yes would go on to do (or even some other things on the same album, perhaps). There's not a terribly strong connection between the two movements, aside from the basic contrast. Yes's backing vocals can let them down a bit sometimes.