20 Songs Classic Radio Has Worn Out

Everyone’s list will be different but classic rock radio has just overplayed these songs. It does not mean I don’t/didn’t like the song to begin with…some I didn’t…some I did… There are more than this but I kept it at 20. No need for me to post youtube links…just turn on a classic rock station and they will come to you.

I’ve tried to keep it one per band or artist. The order of these is not really important…you could pull them out of a hat and be just as well. Sometimes the artists have other hits that you don’t hardly hear but no… they stick to the old reliables.

Radio has ruined these for me. Yes, I’m older and have heard them more than some other people but my 18-year-old son suggested a few of them.

  1. Taking Care of Business – Bachman Turner Overdrive – I liked this song at one time…Now I would pull a hamstring getting up to turn it off.
  2. Hotel California – Eagles  – I still like the solos at the end with Joe Walsh and Don Felder but the rest I can do without.
  3. More Than A Feeling – Boston  – At one time it was refreshing and different. Radio has worked this song like the town pump.
  4. In The Air Tonight – Phil Collins (just one of many) His songs saturated the market so much in the 80s that is was enough for 3 lifetimes
  5. Jukebox Hero – Foreigner – I know huge Foreigner fans but I’m not one of them. This one I know more than I should.
  6. Feel Like Making Love – Bad Company – Not a well-written song to begin with…it doesn’t get better with more spins. They have good songs…Painted Face, Crazy Circles but they don’t get played as much.
  7. Don’t Stop Believing – Journey – Yes it’s catchy and an eighties theme…it fit at the end of the Sopranos…but I can do without it.
  8. Start Me Up – Rolling Stones – Oh how I loved this song when it was released. I liked it a decade later…until Microsoft used it and since then you would think it was the Stones only song.
  9. Tom Sawyer – Rush – See number 5
  10. The Joker – Steve Miller – Hanspostcard says it all.
  11. Money – Pink Floyd – Great band and they have so many others they could play.
  12. Roundabout – Yes – When I hear the octave on the guitar I spin the dial like a top to another station.
  13. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd – In the south where I live this song is required listening…. over and over and over…They have better songs…
  14. Sharp Dressed Man – ZZ Top – I loved the video, the car, and the girls in the video but the song no more. How about the older ZZ Top?
  15. Bad to the Bone – George Thorogood & the Destroyers – In high school alone I heard it enough.
  16. Old Time Rock and Roll – Bob Seger – The first 5 times I heard it…I liked it…but after the 1, 855th time…no more.
  17. Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin – It’s been played backward, forward and sideways…and the hidden message is the same…a worn out masterpiece.
  18. Barracuda – Heart – This and Magic Man are like the bookends of worn out songs.
  19. Black Water – Dobbie Brothers – I’ve never bought a record by them and they had great musicians in that band…but this is nauseatingly overplayed
  20. You Give Love a Bad Name – Bon Jovi – Not for me the first time or the many times after…in cars, shopping centers, and grocery stores.

To be fair…there are songs that are worn out but yet I still listen to… Who Are You, Baba O’Riley, Hey Jude, Lola, Paint It Black, Brown Eyed Girl…

 

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

32 thoughts on “20 Songs Classic Radio Has Worn Out”

    1. Lol that is great. I’ve played in bands and if we needed to fill time…In a Gadda Da Vida was the go to…it would also clear the bar at times.

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      1. I am the guest host of a writing challenge called Song Lyric Sunday and I think that you should check it out as it is open to everyone. Tomorrow the prompt is NO and it would be fun to read what you come up with.

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  3. lol. I love the way you characterize these songs. Giving yourself a hamstring to get up and change the dial is funny. A great visual of people racing to their radios to change the channel when these “things” give their cry…. There is only one other song I can think of to go in the list, and it always seemed to get played in the same batch as #1 above, and that is, “Radar Love” by Golden Earring.

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    1. Yes Radar Love…though a good song should be on the list also. My question though is simple…how come Won’t Get Fooled Again…Baby O’Riley…Hey Jude…never gets worn out….to me.
      It’s a taste thing I guess. Some songs like Brown Eyed Girl…I never get tired of

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  4. The list is spot on, imo. I even get annoyed at seeing the song titles. I don’t have to hear them. I wonder if there is a common link between these songs or their labels. There must be a reason for these few songs getting run into the ground when there is such a huge catalog of classic rock songs out there.

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    1. Someone out there is pushing them for a reason…for sure. Maybe the record companies getting a higher share on certain songs…I’m just guessing.

      Is it all because they are worn out…or also the quality is just not as good? I still can hear Baba O’Riley, Wont Get Fooled Again and others again and again and I’m fine… Well now I’m thinking too much!

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      1. I’m guessing you are right–a higher share or less restrictive rights, or something like that.

        I can stand to hear those Who songs a lot too, but not ‘Who Are You’. That one could be added to your list. It gets way too much airplay and is not their best song.

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  6. First of all, let me say I agree with you! I used to be a Classic Rock Program director. The corporate bigwigs spent tons of money on music testing and so many of these would come back with amazing scores … which meant they went into the “power” category and played a lot! “Play the hits” was the thinking of so many of these radio consultants. Many local radio programmers are at the mercy of corporate programmers and are told what to play instead of actually doing the job they were hired for – to program.

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    1. Thank you so muich…I’ve always wondered why certain hits and not others…corporate really is ruining songs for some people.

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      1. I live in Michigan. Bob Seger is from here. He has at least 20 songs that we’re big locally. The corporate folks only had Old Time Rock and Roll and Turn the Page on their list of songs. We had to fight to get other songs on the list!

        Their list is also very “tight” – meaning it’s like 300 songs….so naturally, you are hearing the same ones over and over. We had a few locally produced shows that focused on “deep cuts” and did a Two-fer Tuesday (two songs back to back by the same artist) which did allow us to Branch out….a little.

        Corporate programmers are ruining terrestrial radio.

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      2. It is a shame that some of the songs I actually liked at one time now are ruined. You brought up “Turn The Page” …wow how did that not make my list.
        My 18 year son says the same thing…so it’s not just the old who are noticing of course. The old days of radio I guess are gone for good.

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      10. I know…It makes absolutely no sense. You know they were on a small label…Fantasy records…I think maybe they were not pushed enough to make it…While Capital, RCA and other records were getting pushed more.

        That is a guess…my only guess.

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    2. I appreciate you confirming what is painfully obvious to listeners. They are literally ruining classic rock. When I turn on the radio and hear Boston or Foreigner, or Pink Floyd singing ‘Money’, I switch it back off immediately. That makes me one less listener to their music, and more importantly, not hearing the ads that support the station. I wish the radio stations would acknowledge that this is ruining their business, and start going with their instincts rather than the (suspect) ‘profiles’ that are packaged up and delivered to them. The DJs have a much better feel for what their listeners want to hear. As you say, let them do the job they were hired for.

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      1. They do music “testing” on a national level. They have an auditorium full of listeners and play clips of songs and they are to say whether they 1) don’t hear it enough 2) hear it too much 3) love it or 4) hate it. While this “can” give a good picture of things…..these music tests need to be done on a local level. Using Bob Seger as an example, as I did in another comment, he is big in Michigan, so naturally more of his stuff would be on the playlist for Michigan stations….but just because he is big here, doesn’t mean that Dallas, Los Angeles, and other areas of the country feel that way.

        Thanks for your response to my comment.

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  7. Great post Max. My niece’s husband absolutely hates “Barracuda”, which shocked me at first, but he said he was just sick to death of hearing it. I would add a few songs to this list: Three Dog Night’s “Joy to the World”, Don McLean’s “American Pie”, The Pretenders’ “Brass in Pocket”, Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge”.

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    1. Thank you… I would agree to all of those. It’s a shame also because I liked many of those songs at one time.

      Also I found out it depends on what region you live in… some of these and the ones you mentioned are universal.

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