What exactly qualifies as Classic Rock?

A combination of many things leads me thinking: what is the definition of Classic Rock?

As we all (probably) know, Classic Rock is really just a radio format that Clear Channel Bigwigs came up with, but what qualifies?

If we go by Clear Channel, any music more than 20 years old that uses conventional rock instruments is Classic Rock, but that's too broad. I wouldn't put 3 Doors Down and The Rolling Stones in the same boat.

Briefer Than They Think lists the Classic Rock Era lasting from 1964 to 1977, with everything after that being appropriation, but 1964 is a bit early since a lot of Oldies music was being made at the time too, especially by John, Paul, George, and Ringo. They made the shift to Classic Rock eventually, though.

As for the 1977 upper limit, several artists after that did work that can qualify as Classic Rock. I've seen acts who made music in the 80's be called Classic Rock, including Eddie Money, Judas Priest, INXS, Billy Idol (Sometimes. "Dancing With Myself" is typically not considered Classic Rock, but "White Wedding" is.), Pat Benatar, Bryan Adams, Billy Squire, and Motley Crue. Some 70's bands that lasted into the 80's like Foreigner and REO Speedwagon get the label too. I've even seen The Black Crows get the label and they're early 90's!

Just what qualifies as Classic Rock anyway?

In my opinion, i think it's rock music recorded around 1950s(?)-1984.

Edited by SheepPF on Feb 24th 2022 at 4:40:27 AM

IIRC the original definition of Classic Rock was "rock music that's at least 20 years old," but the sheer amount of differences between '60s and '70s rock and Alternative Rock muddies the waters, to the extent where it now seems to more thoroughly carry the connotation of "rock that predates the mainstream emergence of Alternative Rock in the late '80s," especially that which can't be categorized into stuff like Progressive Rock/art rock, Punk Rock, Post-Punk, or any form of Heavy Metal.

I can understand the logic in the 20 year cutoff, but at the same time, for me that means grunge is now classic rock and I have a hard time accepting that without a lot of cursing.

When I was a kid in the 90s, the local oldies station would occasionally play music from the 80s.

So... I guess they considered anything a decade old as classic.

As a marketing term, anything profitable enough off of the nostalgia it can evoke.

65 thru 80 and has a rock sound So James Taylor is not classic rock Older is Oldies Newer is whatever you want to call it 80s music 90s music

AFAIK, Oldies is pre-Beatlemania, but the cutoff date for the latest extent of Classic Rock is hard to say. Typically anywhere in the mid-to-late 80s. Just prior to the release of Nevermind at the most generous, and that's kind of a stretch.

Then again, this could be me speaking as a child of Boomers.

Edited by GrafVonTirol on Mar 22nd 2022 at 9:25:39 AM

For the most part, the mid-90s is pretty much the cutoff point, though I have heard Metallica's cover of Turn the Page (1998), Three Door Down's "Kryptonite"(2000), White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" (2003) and Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" on classic rock, but in the case of the first one, it's a cover of an established classic rock staple, the second and third have a more "timeless" feel, and for the GD song, it's pretty much their most popular song, it would be odd for a classic rock station NOT to play it. Of course, the 60s are slowly being edged out of the format now.

Any music in the rock genre released before Nirvana's "Nevermind" is classic rock. Anything after it is modern rock. That's always been my dividing line.

The term is very nebulous now. When I was growing up Classic Rock was anything from the mid sixties to the seventies. Stuff from the 80s was neither classic nor modern. Anything form the earlier era of rock music before that was called "oldies". Rock music was still fairly young in the 90s when I was getting into music. But now rock music is 7 decades old and a kid listening to the music I grew up with is the equivalent to me listening to stuff like Zeppelin and Sabbath at the time.

I live in Toronto and we have 2 main rock music stations. The Edge began in the 80s focusing on alternative music (Rush's Spirit of the Radio song is about them) and Q107 was the mainstream rock station. They further diverged during the early/mid 90s where Q107 labelled itself Classic Rock and the Edge was strictly modern alt rock. About 10 years ago or so, Q107 just relabeled itself as Rock so they played classics and modern/alt rock stuff and it wasn't too uncommon to hear something like Sweet Child o' Mine followed by Smells like Teen Spirit followed by something newer. And The Edge started playing stuff like Metallica too.

Labels change with time. Does anyone use the term "oldies music" these days? Does it still refer to stuff like Elvis and Chuck Berry? The people who grew up in that era are largely retired and living less active lives.

I was born in '88 (so my birthyear is banned from vanity plates); my "classic rock" station plays hits from the oughts.

Edited by TwinBird on Sep 5th 2022 at 1:05:37 PM

Yeah, I agree about the mid 90's being the cutoff (1992, to be exact), as that's when you get more rap acts. Before that you have classics like Elvira (1981), Lonely Night (Angel Face) (1976), Everything Is Beautiful (1970) and I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) (1987), just to name a few. After 1991 however, you get more rappers and boy bands on the hot 100 charts.