It can be easy to forget the power of the music being played on Classic Rock and Hits stations. It’s a library of gold tracks they play repeatedly. It’s easy to start to become numb to just how powerful and culturally relevant this music really is.
But every now and then, the rest of the world sends a message reminding me just how universally popular this body of music is. It usually strikes me when I run into our music “in the wild.” Away from the stations and the Selector databases. So, this week I wanted to capture a few examples for you.
The first comes from Saturday Night Live. The same show that gave us the iconic Blue Öyster Cult sketch that needed more cowbell. This piece, called “Husbands,” probably won’t be as culturally relevant for as long. But it’s almost as good.
A bunch of husbands get thrown together, meeting for the first time when their wives — who are longtime friends — are hanging out in another room.
Eventually, they find something to bond over: Classic Rock.
There is one part where one of the characters says, “I can’t believe we all know this song.” But of course they all do. It’s a famous Classic Rock song. Now, I’ve spent some time thinking about what non-Classic Rock song would have fit this sketch, the closest thing I’ve thought of would be “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers. But it wouldn’t have been as good.
The second example is a little more mysterious, revolving around Mr. Fantasy. At this point it will be easy to tell how old each person reading this article is, based on whether you immediately thought of the viral artist with 1.2 million followers on TikTok or jumped to the song by Traffic.
In this case we are talking about the viral artist widely thought to be the alter ego of actor KJ Apa, best known for playing Archie on the show Riverdale. The twenty-eight-year-old recently did an interview with Elite Daily — in character, of course — where he named his three biggest influences: Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, and Michael Jackson.
Not current artists, not anyone from the 2000s even. Three artists that all get significant airplay on Classic Rock and Hits stations. And if you’re wondering, the first song he learned to play on guitar was “Stairway to Heaven,” but his favorite is “Ramble On.” It’s just another reminder of the impact the music on these stations has on multiple generations.
If you aren’t familiar but are curious, here’s Mr. Fantasy’s latest single, “One Last Night”:
Third, a more traditional but equally impressive note. There are four movies about The Beatles scheduled to come out in April of 2028. Each movie will center on one member of the Fab Four. Collectively, they will be a complete biopic of the band’s incredible journey during the sixties.
According to an article in GQ, the movies are currently filming in the UK with production expected to continue all year. A few months ago I wrote a column about how John Lennon’s son Sean is concerned people might actually forget about The Beatles as time passes, so a major studio investing in four full motion pictures about the band just reinforces the power of their music and Classic Rock overall.
Finally, one more example. For too long now, I have been hooked on a game on my phone called Marvel Snap. It’s like Magic: The Gathering, where you collect cards that have various effects, build decks, and play against other people to see who can score the most points. It just so happens these cards appeal to my inner nerd because they feature characters from Marvel Comics.
In addition to the cards, the game also gives players silly sayings to put with their various decks. These are awarded randomly, and my jaw nearly dropped when I received this new one just a day ago.
This mobile game — really built for people younger than me and available around the world — just randomly served up a reference to a song by The Who that was released in 1971.
And there you have it. Just in case you’ve become numb to the power and cultural relevance of the music on Classic Rock and Hits stations.
And — if you happen to play Marvel Snap and want to join my alliance, just reach out. We need a few more people to earn the weekly premium variant award.
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Mike Stern is a Classic Rock columnist and Features writer for Barrett Media. He has been with Jacobs Media consulting stations in the Classic Rock, Rock, Alternative and AAA world for more than a decade. Prior to that he programmed stations in Chicago, Detroit, Denver Las Vegas and other markets. He also worked as News/Talk Editor for Radio and Records, wrote about Top 40 Radio for Billboard Magazine and had his own radio talent coaching business called Talent Mechanic.
