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Classic rock was originally conceived as a
radio station
programming format which evolved from the
album oriented rock (AOR) format in the early-1980s.
In the
United States, this
rock music format now features a limited
playlist of songs ranging from late
1960s through today with more emphasis on the
earlier hits by artists associated with the
loosely-defined "classic rock era". It is often
erroneously referred to as a specific genre of music. |
Origins of classic rock radio
The origins of the classic rock
radio format can be traced back to
The Beatles' groundbreaking album
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which would
forever change several courses of the
rock and roll format, especially with the slow rise
of
FM broadcasting, even though a majority of people
were still listening to
AM radio. Since Sgt. Pepper did not spawn any
singles, both AM and FM stations began to play select
tracks from the album in an attempt to retain listeners.
Soon both stations and artists realized that album cuts
rather than
Top 40-oriented singles could be a major source of
radio airplay and artist visibility.
Taken to the furthest level, this
created what would be called
progressive rock radio in the late
1960s and
1970s. This format was associated with elements of
freeform radio, where
disc jockeys controlled what was played. Soon a more
commercially-oriented variant called
album oriented rock (AOR), or "album rock", emerged
in the mid- and late 1970s. This format concentrated on
album cuts as well, but on a more structured,
playlist-oriented basis.
AOR would continue to be popular in the
1970s and early
1980s, but by the end of the
1980s, as "albums" had been supplanted by
compact discs and as station playlists largely
stopped keeping up with developing musical trends
(including
new wave music), "album
rock" evolved into "classic rock" on many of these
FM radio stations.
The first station to call itself
"classic rock" on-air was WYSP, Philadelphia in January
of
1981. Program director/midday jock Dick Hungate
teamed with legendary radio consultant Lee Abrams in a
brain-storming session during which such alternate
on-air describers as "timeless" and "vintage" also were
considered. Hungate created the playlist and achieved a
manual song "rotation" in that pre-personal computer age
via color-coded 3x5 index cards, sorted and separated
according to age and perceived song popularity. He had
worked across the street at competitor WMMR as music
director and midday personality, so Hungate knew the
local tastes for all-old-and-"classic" album rock. After
this first successful switch, KQRS in Minneapolis (led
by late program director Doug Sorensen) tried the
classic rock format next, also in '81.
The format took hold when radio
consultant Fred Jacobs of Jacobs Media launched it in
Dallas, Texas on an AM station. Another early "Classic
Rocker" was in Lansing, Michigan (WMMQ)
followed in quick succession in Kansas City (KCFX),
Washington D.C. (WCXR), Buffalo (WHTT), New York (WXRK)
and Phoenix (KSLX).
Classic rock is similar to
oldies radio in that the format is based upon music
of the past, hence the playlist and artists featured are
relatively stable in comparison to
Top 40 or other contemporary formats which are based
primarily on current releases. However, various bands
and songs will come in and out of style on classic rock
radio, and regional favorites may be featured in a
particular market. Additionally, in the process of
jockeying for position and listener share in competitive
markets, stations will often add songs and artists only
marginally associated with the classic rock era, and
some stations combine the classic rock format with other
formats, including
modern rock in an attempt to increase popularity.
The hybrid of classic rock and
modern rock is also referred to as
active rock.
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Key artists and albums
The core albums, artists, and
songs most often represented in classic rock radio
represent a subset of the albums and artists that were
actually popular during the so-called "classic rock
era". The most enduring classic rock songs and artists
have proven to appeal to new generations of listeners as
well as older listeners who knew the music when it
originally appeared.
British
hard rock and
progressive rock bands make up a central pillar of
classic rock artists; significant among these are
The Beatles,
Led Zeppelin,
Queen,
Deep Purple,
The Kinks,
The Rolling Stones,
The Who,
Jethro Tull,
Pink Floyd and
Cream. Many different songs from these acts are
likely to appear on the playlists of classic rock
stations. Certain American rock artists are also classic
rock mainstays, including
Aerosmith,
Alice Cooper,
The Doors, the
Eagles,
Steve Miller Band,
Jimi Hendrix, and
Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Arena rock bands (such as
Styx,
Boston,
Journey,
REO Speedwagon and
Supertramp) also often appear on classic rock
stations. In many areas,
Southern rock, notably that of
Lynyrd Skynyrd,
.38 Special and
The Allman Brothers Band, forms a significant subset
of classic rock playlists as well.
Many other bands may appear
occasionally on classic rock stations; however, this
presence may be limited to a few familiar songs. For
example, while the band
Steppenwolf recorded over a dozen studio albums,
only two of their songs ("Born
to Be Wild" and "Magic
Carpet Ride") are likely to be heard within the
classic rock format.
Concept albums indirectly led to the album-rock
format and remain a major component of classic rock.
Notable are the four
Pink Floyd concept albums, including
The Wall and
Dark Side of the Moon, as well as
The Who's two major
rock operas:
Tommy and
Quadrophenia.
The Who's
1971 album
Who's Next is one of the most often-played classic
rock albums of all time.
The
1970s "arena
rock" era is perhaps of the largest subset of the
classic rock format, though in most cases artists are
represented by only a few of their largest hits (often
Top 40 "crossover"
singles) and a few popular album cuts. Acts such as
Styx,
Grand Funk,
ELO,
Kiss,
Bad Company,
Queen, and
Peter Frampton are all part of classic rock
playlists, as is the era's
Southern rock superstars such as
Lynyrd Skynyrd and
The Allman Brothers. While the
'70s works of
singer-songwriters like
Billy Joel,
Jackson Browne, and
Elton John are popular within the classic rock
format, their later works are usually not.
Some classic rock playlists may
include
hard rock/heavy
metal bands who scored hits in the
'80s such as
AC/DC,
Rush,
Guns N' Roses and
Van Halen. Particular songs or eras from these acts
may be more appropriate for the format than others, and
nearly every station fine-tunes its playlist by adding
or deleting songs and artists to differentiate itself
from competing stations.
Classic rock radio artists are
almost exclusively
white (African-American
Jimi Hendrix being the primary exception) and
predominantly
male (with
Heart,
The Pretenders, and
Janis Joplin as exceptions). Little of the diverse
funk,
disco,
soul,
blues, or
singer-songwriter styles that co-existed with rock
music survives in the classic rock format, though they
may have been played contemporaneously on
AOR predecessor stations.
An example of one radio station's
classic rock playlist may be found at
KHKK, and an example of another station's
top classic rock songs of all time is also
illuminating.
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Classic Hits format
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A variation on the classic rock
theme is "classic
hits", which provides most of the playlist of
classic rock with the addition of contemporaneous
R&B and
pop hits as well, striking a balance between the
mostly
'70s-focused classic rock format and the more
broad-based
oldies format.
Symphonic "classic rock"
Classic rock is also the name of a
series of albums by The
London Symphony Orchestra featuring orchestral
arrangements of classic rock tracks. These albums
featured "classical" arrangements of hits by such
artists as
Frank Zappa,
the Rolling Stones,
Led Zeppelin,
Harry Nilsson,
10cc,
Procol Harum and others.
The “Classic Rock” series began in
1979 on the RSO label and inspired two additional series
on RCA, including the famous “Hooked On Classics”
series, conducted by Louis Clark of
Electric Light Orchestra, and one of symphonic
albums dedicated to the works of specific bands
conducted by
David Palmer of Jethro Tull. Symphonic albums in
that series included ones dedicated to such bands as
Jethro Tull,
Genesis,
Yes,
Pink Floyd,
Queen and
The Beatles.
This was a reverse twist on
symphonic rock, in which it had long been the
practice of many of the more sophisticated rock bands to
interpret the
classical repertoire.
See
list of popular songs based on classical music.
See also
External links
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