Radio Ga Ga
I'm working again these days... VERY long hours.
To put it in perspective, I got home Friday at 6:30 Saturday morning!
Anyway, on the way home I was listen to Q104.3, the classic rock station here in the NYC area. It occurs to me that most of the songs they play on these Classic Rock stations suck! In the history of rock music there are millions of songs and somehow these stations play the same 100 over and over.
With this in mind I am calling for the immediate retirement of one song from every artist on the play list.
These are the songs that really get over-killed! Now this list would take forever to write so I've narrowed it down to the top 15 biggest offenders of sucking! Feel free to add your own.
These aren't really in order except for number one... My personal least favorite over-played song EVER!
15. Piano Man - Billy Joel
Sing us a song? How bout, I hope you choke on that beer smelling mic asshole!
"Scenes from an Italian restaurant" is a CLOSE second....
14. Pinball Wizard - The Who
The opening acoustic riff is the best part of the song. The deaf, dumb and blind kid can kiss my ass.
13. Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix
This song is the only thing many people know from Jimi. Which is a shame because he has about 30 tunes I'd rather hear. The pot that got named for this is much more moving than it's name sake.
12. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
This song was best enjoyed watching Mike Myers and Dana Carvey lip synch to it.... It's too long! I've heard it a thousand times and still have no idea what it's about.
11. Walk this Way - Aerosmith
This one is credited for starting the whole rap/rock thing.... Thanks a lot guys! Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit! Way to go....
10. Hey Jude - The Beatles
Listening to McCartney yelp out the Ju, Ju, Judy, Judy, Ju, Ju ,Jude...
Part at the end (ALL FOUR minutes of it!)makes me want to punch someone in the face. Namely, Julian Lennon.
9. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Almost any song that depends on a chorus of "sha la la" is doomed. This one is no exception.
8. Knockin' on Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan
This song is the biggest buzz kill in the history of driving. The DJ usually positions right in the middle of a five song "rock block." Out of the 100 songs I'd rather hear from Bob this is the one I get to hear most often. I shudder to think about the day Dylan dies and they play this on repeat for 24 hours straight.
7. Money - Pink Floyd
Out of all the songs on "Dark Side" why this one? Why the piece of filler has been elevated to such heights escapes me.
6. Piece of My Heart - Janis Joplin
"Hold on, hold on, hold on"
Please let go!
5. Crocodile Rock - Elton John
"Me and Suzy had so much fun"
Fuck you Elton... Unless you were trying on her dresses and getting her to braid your hair you and Suzy did nothing together.
4. Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen
Go out to a bar in New Jersey and NOT hear this song. Go ahead, I dare you to try.
3. Proud Mary - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Tina Turner's is soooo much better. And not by a little.
Play hers' or don't play the song!
2. Start Me Up - The Rolling Stones
Once they sold it to Microsoft it should have come with a "no return" policy.
AND FOR THE NUMBER ONE MOST PLAYED OUT SONG IN THE HISTORY OF ROCK RADIO!!!!
This song represents everything I hate in music. Over-written lyrics....3 minutes longer than it needs to be....Pretentious lead singer....People who own no rock albums know every fucking word!
1. Hotel California - The Eagles
If I never had to hear this song again I would gladly trade in all my Springsteen and Dylan albums!
There isn't a chance in hell anyone could go a week without hearing this song invade their ears. It's impossible! It's so bad that sometimes you hear it and don't even realize it's playing until it's half over. It's become that familiar!
posted by Mr. A at 8:28 PM
15 Comments:
i love this post. great topic and perfect song selections. i am a fan of the songs that are 3 or 4 deep on classic rock albums (the stones' paint it black and dylan singing about a leopard skin pill box hat and bad company's weep no more to name a few). there is a channel on sirius radio that plays these types of tunes and it is fantastic!
I think that is the issue with "classic" rock as a whole. We have a classic rock station in boston that plays the same stuff over and over and its always in the top 10 for ratings. I always wonder when I hear "walk this way" who out there is going "SHIT YES I NEEDED THIS!".
I'd like to see "classic" rock use a time line. What I mean is that if a song is 25 years old it is "automatically" (well in theory) as being a song they can play. The classic rock stations will play one talking heads song or clash song for every 3 Led Zep songs. I like Zep, most folks do, but you can't escape them.
I used to work for a radio station in boston called the river. It was a format called "Triple A" or adult album alternative. The format is good for the occasional who/zep/eagles song but would play the clash in to 10,000 manaics to Indigo Girls to Travis. It was always a pretty good mix but I used to look at this WALL of cds and if I played 1/4 of them in my 4+ years there I'd be stunned.
I'm in agreement with you on about half of those- Hotel California, Purple Haze, Bohemian Rhapsody, Walk this Way, Money, and Hey Jude. I think the rest should stay on the radio.
Hilarious! I do disagree with some of those though.
I'm with you on most of these songs, but I could listen to Purple Haze over and over.
Oh my God! I am laughing and nodding furiously in agreement. I want to comment on each one, one by one, but I am afraid of taking up too much comment space.
#15 - NYC area is stuck with Joel. He is still the darling of Long Island, whatta you gonna do? I despise both Piano Man and Italian Restaurant.
I have to agree with everything, else (and thanks for the Wayne's World memory, that and the "No Stairway to Heaven" sign in the guitar store still make me laugh!)
I love Van, I love Janis, I love Hendrix - Q104.3 and everywhere in CT as well, need explore their full discographys.
Also, the Bob Dylan memorial 24 hour loop of heaven's door. It almost makes me want to go before him to be spared it.
Oh, and extra, extra gold stars to giving props to Tina over CCR, even though CCR wrote it. You are dead right, the song isn't worth listening to if it isn't Tina doing her thing.
Sorry to go on - it was just such a great post!
I can't believe you disrespected Bruce! That's Annoyed Blasphamy! I don't know if you all realize the love our host has for Bruce. The fact that he would even think to include a Bruce song in this amazes me. Well dude I can never call you bias. You tell it likr it is.
A.S.S.
I'm probably a little older than you and my taste in classic rock is more 50s & 60s, but I still like the 70s & 80s. I agree with you on your choices and your rite even the era I like it seems like they play the same ones over and over.
I think the same could be about reruns of TV shows. It seems some are shown all the time and you never see some of the reruns.
GOD BLESS
BUDDY
Hotwire - How bout "Memory Motel" and "Highway 61" ?
March - I understand it...you need to appeal to a WIDE group and many people don't know most "deeper" cuts. Nature of the beast
Fresh - I didn't forget it...trust me, I've tried
Pog - Once a song is covered and is a "no doubt about it" better version the original has to go.
Another example would be Jimi's "All Along the Watchtower"
Dylan admitted it was better than his and started playing more like Jimi.
A.S.S. - I HAD to include a Bruce song in the interest of being fair. I like Glory Days on a summer night with the windows down on the highway.
I hate the scene Fresh described!
GOP - Good to see you around these part again!
You forgot Free Bird. Maybe they just overplay it down here in GA, but I can't seem to go a day without hearing it!
nowifeofconsequence
Man, it's so funny...Glory Days video came on and my buddy and I looked at each other. And I said, "Among other things, you know what's fucking horrible about this song?"
And at the same time we both said:
"Speed ball"
Great post, man.
I agree with you! I read this post on Sunday and decided to listen in - I heard at least half of the songs on this list on the radio, Hotel CA included. I think "Evil Ways" by Santana and "Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac should be included on an extended list. They are painfully overplayed too.
Superb Post!!! As Always,
What about Material Girl that song gives me the shits!!! They seem to play it over and over here in Oz...
and the countless Australian artists that suck!!
RR
You can thank this list for The Sex Pistols, Clash, Ramones, etc.
So do it.
I gave a ride to a one-time friend who was psyched to lay a Janis Joplin CD on me in the car. For my reaction you'd have thought he put his hand on my thigh...and squeezed!
Roll this list up, scrub it with bleach and you might just the Lenny Kravitz anthology. At least the Flower Power/Hippie Shit set.
I am convinced that Billy Joel owns a vested interest in Q104.3 in NYC. I used to like him, now I cringe at the sound of a single piano note by him. I have learned to loathe his music. I just don't understnd why radio stations think they are doing the artist(s) any favors by wearing out their music.
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