The Infinite Dial

I held out as long as I could, but I finally had to join my colleagues in the "what is Classic Rock" debate:

I'm a big believer that nobody should ever have to apologize for the music they like. Music is to make the user happy, not to impress other people. You have the right to listen to Journey and not Nick Drake or the Smiths. So if Classic Rock listeners want to focus only on the songs they liked in their high-school years and not take posterity into account, that's fine with me.

What is programmed on Classic Rock radio could as easily be described as "the biggest hits of Rock radio from 1967 through 1990 that endure with today's Classic Rock listener." Programmers and listeners understand that and nobody spends too much time worrying about whether "Hitch A Ride" by Boston is one for the ages or not.

Programmers tried to give the Smiths and Nick Drake their own Classic Rock format. During the Gold-Based Alternative boom/bust of 2003-04, "How Soon Is Now" and "Pink Moon" both got their chance to be on the radio again. And what most PDs found is that it was very hard to find a quorum for those songs--which most people just aren't familiar with--or the format in general.

That doesn't meant that I didn't enjoy those stations personally. And on the Infinite Dial there should be a channel for "timeless, quality music" that transcends the current boundaries of Classic Rock. And, by the way, if you tell me that it should not also include "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Loved You)" by Aretha Franklin, then you're being just as arbitrary as any PD or consultant.

In fact, I have often found myself pondering the notion of a "Lite FM for Rock Critics." There are, after all, those songs that are as familiar and ubiquitous among collectors as "Every Breath You Take" is to the average listener of WLTW, New York's former "Lite FM." The Smiths and Nick Drake songs are among those. So is "Last Goodbye" by Jeff Buckley. Or "A Million Miles Away" by the Plimsouls. Or "London Calling" by the Clash.

So I'll throw this out there and see if anybody else is intrigued enough by this concept to suggest titles. The parameters is that we're looking to program 350 enduring songs that are this subgroup's biggest hits. There's no rule that actual hit songs that civilians have heard of can't be included. "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley and "Brass In Pocket" by the Pretenders are still great songs, no matter how much commercial radio plays them. But if you were looking to do a more esoteric Lite FM (oxymoron acknowledged), what would it sound like?

Your thoughts are now invited.