Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin (or as I like to derisively call them, Fred Zeppelin, who are not to be confused with Dread Zeppelin) has famously and relentlessly over-played and over-killed from the moment that John Bonham had decided that drinking 41 shots of whiskey was a good thing. However, it seems that for the past few years the only song that gets played on the radio, is of course "Highway to Heaven". There are a slew of non-radio hits that don't get played ("Going to California" for example) that should, since they're perfect for the Classic Rock/Adult rock format, 'cause you know damn well that nostalgia is money, and money makes the bean counters extremely happy, and that makes Wall Street cream their pants.
Black Sabbath
The only Black Sabbath song that you will hear with any kind of regularity is "Paranoid". Maybe "Iron Man" every once in a blue moon, but "Paranoid" for redundancy. There is so much excellent Black Sabbath music out there, both with Ozzy and with Ronnie James Dio, that should be played, but isn't. I got into Black Sabbath way late in my life, but from what I've heard, I can safely say that programmers from the aforementioned radio formats are also missing a pure money maker. With so many listeners tuned into the pseudo hard rock/dark rock that passes for music, it's a no brainer that Black Sabbath should be added to the playlist.
Bachman-Turner Overdrive
The heir apparent to The Guess Who, BTO is arena rock at its best. Another band with a good catalog of radio friendly hits, this band should be played more often than their hit "Takin' Care Of Business." While this is a good song, there is a lot more to the band than simply that increasingly overplayed song.
"Let It Ride" is a good example of the type of song that can get that all important 35-45 age group that's quickly becoming the major player for spending money.
To close out part two of what seems likely to become an ongoing series, I leave you with an example of entire genre that is non-represented on the radio today. Namely, novelty/parody music. This particular song comes to you courtesy of my memory and via a comment on Facebook a few weeks ago.
LOVE Randy Bachman! He does a weekly radio show now on CBC One radio (Saturday nights) called "Vinyl Tap." He plays classic rock/blues and reminisces about all the great musicians he's known over the years. It's a great show.
ReplyDeleteDebra: Sounds pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteThat seems to be the rule of thumb for most musicians from the 70's, in that they get their 2nd and 3rd wind doing a radio show, either on a corporate channel (no insult intended) or on satellite radio (XM/Serius here.
I don't understand why stations play and play and overplay a song to the point of making us nauseated. Like I'm sure Boston had songs besides, "More than a Feeling," and Pink Floyd did more than learn to fly.
ReplyDelete"Stairway to Heaven," my friend. "Stairway." :) I like The immigrant song by Zepp. They used to play "when the levees break" down here but not since Katrina.
ReplyDeleteMore Black Sabbath. Amen. I'd be all for that. They play more on Satellite radio, the boneyard.
M: While they overkill "More Than A Feeling" they also overkill "Peace of Mind" as well. And completey ignore their very good third album "Third Stage".
ReplyDeleteAbout the only song I hear from Floyd is "Another Brick In The Wall, pt. 2", which of course is only played on the first day of school.
But yeah, overplaying a song to death is the surest way to kill your audience.
Charles: At this point, the only way I can listen to "Stairway to Heaven" is if it's done as a cover song by someone with a bit more ingenuity and creativity than Jimmy Page. :D
In all seriousness though, any Led Zeppelin would brighten my day. Even that dopey song "Hot Dog".
Fred Zeppelin! LOL I love it! :-)
ReplyDeleteS.R.: Thanks. There aren't too many bands that I've been able to come up with bad nicknames for over the years, and this one just instantly stuck.
ReplyDeleteI have Goin' to California on my iPod - the lone Zeppelin song (although I love them all - mostly.)
ReplyDeleteLynn: A wise choice.:D
ReplyDeleteI actually like their last full group studio album "In Through The Out Door", simply because it contains the type of stuff that isn't made for FM radio.