Classic rock was originally conceived as a radio station broadcasting format which evolved from the album oriented rock (AOR) format in the mid-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."
The term "classic rock" has retroactively been applied to these artists and their music, to the point that some now consider "classic rock" to be a musical genre unto itself.
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 the FM radio format, even though a majority of people were still listening to AM radio. Since Sgt. Pepper did not originally spawn any singles, both AM and FM stations began to play select tracks from the album, thus creating what would eventually be called Album Oriented Rock (AOR), or "album rock", in an attempt to retain listeners.
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 very first station to feature 100% "Classic Rock" music was WYSP-FM in Philadelphia. The actual phrase "Classic Rock" is credited to radio consultant Lee Abrams and it was arrived at during a strategy session with WYSP program director and midday personality Dick Hungate in early 1981...in which such other possible on-air-describer terms as "vintage rock" and "timeless rock" also were thrown onto the table for consideration. Hungate had worked with Abrams previously doing Abrams' pioneering album-rock format called "Superstars" in Lexington, KY. and also in Detroit, where he had brought in Howard Stern from WCCC-AM in Hartford, CT. for mornings in early 1980. Hungate also had been midday jock and assistant program director across the street in Philadelphia at WMMR-FM in late 1978 and all of 1979. Hungate selected the total playlist of old rock hits and album cuts and broke them down into categories based upon their age or perceived popularity. Because personal computers were not yet available, songs were rotated manually using 3x5 color-coded file cards arranged in metal holding boxes. The format spread slowly but steadily. KQRS-FM in Minneapolis was second in the nation to adopt it, later in 1981. Early-adopters of the format during 1982 were in such markets as San Francisco, Dallas and Lansing, Michigan. By 1983 some twenty FM stations in America were airing 100% "classic rock". At that point Fred Jacobs, who had been program director and research head for WRIF-FM in Detroit, began a radio consultancy. According to his website, www.jacobsmedia.com, it was in 1985 that he officially rolled out the "classic rock radio format" for his station clients.
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 competetive 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.
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 Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd, Cream, and Queen. Many different songs from these acts are likely to appear on the playlists of classic rock stations.
Other acts which rose to prominence in the late-1960s, notably Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Santana and Rod Stewart and the Faces fill out many of the Classic rock playlists of today.
North American-bred '70s rockers (notably Bruce Springsteen, Boston, Rush, Aerosmith and The Eagles) and arena rock bands (such as Styx, Journey, and Supertramp) often appear on classic rock stations. In many areas, Southern rock, notably that of Lynyrd Skynyrd 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.
Artists whose musical output spanned the 1960s and 1970s, including The Beatles and The Rolling Stones form something of a special case: a few later songs from these acts (such as "Revolution" by The Beatles and "Start Me Up" by the Stones) are staples of classic rock radio, while the older songs from these groups are seldom heard on the format, gravitating instead to oldies radio, along with nearly any other material recorded prior to around 1967.
Some classic rock playlists also include some of the hard-rock/heavy metal bands of the 1980s such as Guns N' Roses and Van Halen as classic rock; again, particular songs or musical eras from these acts may be more conducive to 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. Similarly, more modern material in the same style is seldom included unless it is by a recognized classic rock artist; such music often gravitates to top 40, modern rock, or adult album alternative stations.
Classic rock radio artists are almost exclusively white (Jimi Hendrix being the primary exception) and predominantly male; little of the diverse funk, disco, soul, blues, or singer-songwriter styles that co-existed with rock music in the original era, and that may have been played contemporaneously on AOR predecessors, survives in the classic rock format.
Classic Hits format
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 genre and the more broad-based oldies format. A major-market example is WROR 105.7 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Symphonic "classic rock"
Classic rock is also a term used to mean a fusion of classical and rock music, or more usually, rock music arranged for and played by a symphony orchestra and is consequently also called symphonic rock. The style was popularised by a series of albums called Classic Rock, Classic Rock 2, etc. performed by the London Symphony Orchestra in the 1970s. The resulting easy listening albums sold well and were popular until the early 1980s, when the form seemed to fall out of favour with the public. The LSO even scored a hit single with a medley of classic rock called Hooked on Classics, in 1981, though whereas the earlier albums were "classical" arrangements of hits by such artists as the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Harry Nilsson and others, Hooked on Classics took the opposite tack—arranging a series of well-known classical pieces into a medley with a common tempo and adding a rock drumming track. The medley form was briefly popular around that time due to artists such as Stars on 45.
There have also been a number of popular songs based on classical music; see List of popular songs based on classical music.
See also
External links
- RockFlashback.com - The Classic Rock Forum
- The Classic Rock Connection - Index and History of Classic Rock Bands