Classic Hits

Is there any reason that the classic hits stations that were previously oldies stations, refuse to play any 80s hair bands, minus Bon Jovi? I thought these stations lean towards women listenership. I know that a lot of women loved these artists back in the 80s and early 90s. Some of the bands they are overlooking is Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Poison, Firehouse, Nelson, Bad English, Great White, Slaughter, Winger, Warrant, Skid Row, Steelheart, Extreme etc. A lot of classic hits stations are starting to play 90s...minus my local cbs classic hits station WOGL. WOGL is always slow to the party when it comes to progressing to play more 80s and 90s. Any ideas??

AM/FMRAINMAN said:

Is there any reason that the classic hits stations that were previously oldies stations, refuse to play any 80s hair bands, minus Bon Jovi?

Click to expand...

KRTH is playing "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake and "Pour Some Sugar On Me" by Def Leppard ...

That's an example of what it depends on the market. Hair bands were big in LA in the 80s. Back when Pirate Radio was on there, the format was mostly hair bands. It could have been K-Hair. The hair bands like Motley Crue and Poison lived in clubs on Sunset Boulevard.

These days, their music gets a lot of play on Jack. In Philly, you're likely to hear it on BEN.

Hair bands on Classic Hits stations

Oh, and if I may ...

This board is the Classic Hits board, and it really would be helpful when you start a new thread to give it some kind of distinctive title, rather than just copying the board name. Common courtesy to the other members, ya know.

I've changed it here, but a word for the future.

AM/FMRAINMAN said:

Is there any reason that the classic hits stations that were previously oldies stations, refuse to play any 80s hair bands, minus Bon Jovi? I thought these stations lean towards women listenership. I know that a lot of women loved these artists back in the 80s and early 90s. Some of the bands they are overlooking is Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Poison, Firehouse, Nelson, Bad English, Great White, Slaughter, Winger, Warrant, Skid Row, Steelheart, Extreme etc. A lot of classic hits stations are starting to play 90s...minus my local cbs classic hits station WOGL. WOGL is always slow to the party when it comes to progressing to play more 80s and 90s. Any ideas??

Click to expand...

Like I've said on other threads, WOGL is very unique and it is slow in adapting change (fine by me!), but Philly obviously approves, with it's 2nd place 6.9 showing on 12+.

http://ratings.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb_market

WOGL is a rare breed today. Nice long weekend specials and a station still embracing the 60's and 70's, with some deeper cuts occasionally and a 50's show on Sundays. Good for them!!

As for hair bands, the music is frankly too loud, too hard, too metal for classic hits. KM mentioned Whitesnake and Def Leppard on KRTH. I can understand "Here I Go Again", a huge well-known #1 song in 1987, although I believe they are playing the album cut, vs. the single version, which is the better livelier cut. A little surprised about "Pour Some Sugar On Me" though. "Love Bites" is the better song.

Most likely classic hits will slide around this "short" musical era before really digging into the 90's and the same for rap / hip hop. Classic hits will avoid it, except for a select few. KRTH has already played "Bust a Move" and "Push It" of late.

There's no way you can have real metal on real classic hits stations.

The Variety Hits format, which is the closest thing in Greensboro NC, does have Motley Crue and that sort of thing. What is called "classic hits" there leans heavily toward rock and doesn't even have a lot of Motley Crue or anything like that.

I think this is true in Charlotte as well. Though the Greensboro station seems so conservative most of the time.

One 80s station where I live had "House of Hair" back in the day.

I wouldn't really call hair bands heavy metal. I just don't see why they would not play songs like Carrie, Cherry Pie, Heaven, 18 and Life, I Remember You...but they will play Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane. Don't get me wrong, I like that song...but is it that much of a better song then Forever by KISS. I just think it would be awesome to hear some of these songs on my local classic hits stations WCBS 101 and WOGL in Philly.

"18 and Life" on KRTH, WOGL, CBS-FM? Would seem RATHER unlikely.

oldies76 said:

"18 and Life" on KRTH, WOGL, CBS-FM? Would seem RATHER unlikely.

Click to expand...

Well, if it does happen ...

1. You know who to blame, and it won't be me. (looks upward at OP)
2. It will be one of the signs of the Apocalypse.

AM/FMRAINMAN said:

I wouldn't really call hair bands heavy metal. I just don't see why they would not play songs like Carrie, Cherry Pie, Heaven, 18 and Life, I Remember You...but they will play Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane. Don't get me wrong, I like that song...but is it that much of a better song then Forever by KISS. I just think it would be awesome to hear some of these songs on my local classic hits stations WCBS 101 and WOGL in Philly.

Click to expand...

"Cherry Pie" and "18 and Life" not gonna happen, wouldn't be prudent. The others make sense.

Whitesnake was mentioned earlier. "Is This Love" is a no-brainer if you're going that far into the 80s. "Here I Go Again" works too. "Still of the Night"--you'd better be talking about Ronnie Milsap.

Sunny 105.9 WOCL in Orlando has played Cherry Pie twice on their 80s on 8. I think WCBS 101 has played 18 and Life once on an 80s hair band weekend and I think Sunny 105.9 has played 18 and Life once on their 80s on 8. I would like to see some of these songs played regularly. It seems like they only play Bon Jovi from that era regularly.

What about Van Halen? Are they considered a Hair Band? They get played on Classic Hits quite a bit.

Bon Jovi & Van Halen are pretty similar in terms of their appeal. Poison and Motley were a bit deeper into hair. But as we've said through this thread, it depends on the market. I don't think there are any hard rules. Look at what was being played on MTV, and that's a good indication what you'll hear on Classic Hits.

TheBigA said:

Look at what was being played on MTV, and that's a good indication what you'll hear on Classic Hits.

Click to expand...

That presumption seems to be more right than wrong. Most of the '80s songs that are testing well are the ones that had memorable videos and which got the most MTV plays.

Case in point: "Rio" by Duran Duran is now popping up all over the place, despite lackluster radio play. But that video was (and still is) a standout from that era, and listeners remember it.

I think -- can't prove it yet -- '80s music tends to resonate with a wider age base than previous decades, and may well remain part of the core Classic Hits library for longer as a result.

K.M. Richards said:

That presumption seems to be more right than wrong. Most of the '80s songs that are testing well are the ones that had memorable videos and which got the most MTV plays.

Case in point: "Rio" by Duran Duran is now popping up all over the place, despite lackluster radio play. But that video was (and still is) a standout from that era, and listeners remember it.

I think -- can't prove it yet -- '80s music tends to resonate with a wider age base than previous decades, and may well remain part of the core Classic Hits library for longer as a result.

Click to expand...

I absolutely agree with KM. I think the 80s are mostly the core of classic hits except in my hometown of Philadelphia which are still stuck in the moldy 60s and 70s. They do play about 4 80s an hour. I wish their playlist was like WOCL FM Sunny 105.9 which plays about 7-8 80s an hour.

AM/FMRAINMAN said:

I absolutely agree with KM. I think the 80s are mostly the core of classic hits except in my hometown of Philadelphia which are still stuck in the moldy 60s and 70s. They do play about 4 80s an hour. I wish their playlist was like WOCL FM Sunny 105.9 which plays about 7-8 80s an hour.

Click to expand...

...and there we have the other side.

K.M. Richards said:

That presumption seems to be more right than wrong. Most of the '80s songs that are testing well are the ones that had memorable videos and which got the most MTV plays.

Case in point: "Rio" by Duran Duran is now popping up all over the place, despite lackluster radio play. But that video was (and still is) a standout from that era, and listeners remember it.

Click to expand...

I hear "Take On Me," by Aha, quite often on Classic Hits stations and that song certainly had a memorable video.

AM FM listener said:

I hear "Take On Me," by Aha, quite often on Classic Hits stations and that song certainly had a memorable video.

Click to expand...

That is certainly true, although that song also peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #1 on the Radio & Records CHR chart (the latter being airplay-based) so it was a memorable radio hit as well.

My example of the Duran Duran song shows how a song with a memorable video can still evoke a positive response in testing even without heavy radio airplay as a current ("Rio" peaked at #14 on Billboard and #13 on R&R).

K.M. Richards said:

That presumption seems to be more right than wrong. Most of the '80s songs that are testing well are the ones that had memorable videos and which got the most MTV plays.

Case in point: "Rio" by Duran Duran is now popping up all over the place, despite lackluster radio play. But that video was (and still is) a standout from that era, and listeners remember it.

I think -- can't prove it yet -- '80s music tends to resonate with a wider age base than previous decades, and may well remain part of the core Classic Hits library for longer as a result.

Click to expand...

Speaking for myself who graduated HS in 1979, I don't wax nostalgic for the 70s in general. (Although Frida and Agnetha of ABBA in T-shirts and knee-high boots would certainly be an exception!) Half of the music I owned in the 70s was recorded in the 60s.

Pop music was a lot stronger in the 80s.

K.M. Richards said:

That presumption seems to be more right than wrong. Most of the '80s songs that are testing well are the ones that had memorable videos and which got the most MTV plays.

Case in point: "Rio" by Duran Duran is now popping up all over the place, despite lackluster radio play. But that video was (and still is) a standout from that era, and listeners remember it.

I think -- can't prove it yet -- '80s music tends to resonate with a wider age base than previous decades, and may well remain part of the core Classic Hits library for longer as a result.

Click to expand...

Any stations playing "New Moon On Monday" yet or "Is There Something I Should Know", those were huge MTV hits. Also "Sowing the Seeds of Love" from 1989 was very memorable.

I agree with you on the 80's being around on CH radio longer. The 90's just will not live up to the greatness of all the 80's hits even if only 8-10% of them that hit top 20 on the Hot 100 are actually ever aired!