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    [OC] The Evolution of When Songs on Classic Rock Radio Were Released
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    [OC] The Evolution of When Songs on Classic Rock Radio Were Released


    Tools: Excel, Pandas, Datawrapper

    Source: Q104.3 and Spotify

    Each year, the New York classic rock station Q104.3 counts down the greatest 1,043 classic rock songs as voted on by fans. For each list over the last 20 years, I looked up when every song was released, so you can see how classic rock is evolving. As you can see, there are nearly as many songs in the classic rock canon released in the 1990s as the 1960s. That was not the case 20 years ago. Longer write-up here.

    Posted by noisymortimer

    View 7 Comments

    7 Comments

    1. Emily-in-data on

      im not surprised, 70s rock is still dominant, it’s that it’s slowly bleeding into 80s/90s without anyone really noticing. classic rock radio didn’t expand overnight – it just kept redefining “classic” until nirvana and pearl jam slipped in through the side door.

    3. gnarlseason on

      My hill I will die on: “classic rock” is not an ever-changing window to mean rock songs from 20-30 years ago. Classic Rock is a distinct period roughly 1964-1980, but it is a distinct genre of music first.

    5. kfury on

      I like that the 2010s and 2020s don’t exist. This conforms to my GenX worldview that time basically stopped after the Aughties.

    7. Isosorbide on

      How about that time I was just minding my own damn business in a Kroger parking lot and the song “Holla Back Girl” came on the Classic radio station.