What Songs Did Classic Hits Drop?

Each year, Ross on Radio takes a look at the songs added by various successful Classic Hits stations documenting the format’s overall modernization, with all but a few holdouts pushing into the ’90s, early ’00s, or even beyond to songs still played by CHR and Hot AC. Often, the story occasions a reader question: What songs has Classic Hits dropped?

It’s a lot more complicated to determine what songs have gone away from individual stations than it is to see what’s been added — you’re looking for what’s not there, not what’s new. But by comparing Mediabase’s most-played Classic Hits for the year 2014, the year 2019, and the past seven days, we do have a sense now of the songs that have left the format overall in a significant way.

It will come as no surprise that the format has shifted significantly over the last decade from ’70s-driven to ’80s-dominated. (Despite the push forward on certain titles at certain stations, the consensus hits across the format remain ’80s titles.) In 2014, all but three songs in the top 25 most-played Classic Hits songs were from 1979 or before. (The most notable exception was “Don’t Stop Believin’,” already at No. 3.)

Since 2014, some of the top 10 have moved down a tier, but are still significantly represented at the format:

• Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Sweet Home Alabama” – No. 1 most played in 2019, No. 39 now
• Boston, “More Than a Feeling”—No. 2 to No. 41
• Billy Joel, “My Life” — No. 9 to No. 78
• Steve Miller Band, “The Joker” — No. 10 to No. 86
• Fleetwood Mac, “Go Your Own Way” — No. 13 to No. 92

Others have dropped more sharply but are still likely represented at those stations where “top 300” has usually been synonymous with “safe list,” although some playlists are in the low 200s.

• Manfred Mann, “Blinded by the Light” —  No. 4 to No. 165
• Jimmy Buffett, “Margaritaville”— No. 7 to No. 155
• Fleetwood Mac, “Don’t Stop” — No. 17 to No. 154
• Electric Light Orchestra, “Don’t Bring Me Down” — No. 23 to No. 196

Then there are those onetime ’70s powers that now exist primarily on those stations that remain determined to play a deeper and/or greater number of ’70s titles:

• Supertramp, “The Logical Song” — No. 14 to No. 448
• Bachman-Turner Overdrive, “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” — No. 18 to No. 413
• Rod Stewart, “Maggie May” — No. 32 to No. 332
• Gerry Rafferty, “Baker Street” — No. 45 to No. 528
• Steely Dan, “Do It Again” — No. 50 to No. 597

Many of Classic Hits’ current power ’80s songs were already significantly played at the time, but still rose proportionately: Queen, “Another One Bites the Dust” (24-14); Bryan Adams, “Summer of ‘69” (26-15); Eurythmics, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” (36-2). The most noticeable difference for a current power is Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” up from No. 204 a decade ago to No. 9 now.

The differences between 2019 and 2024 are more subtle, especially at the top, where all but two of the top 30 five years ago were ’80s songs. The 2019 power most clearly diminished between then and now, at least based on this week’s information, is Men at Work’s “Down Under” (No. 9 to No. 38). The songs with the sharpest drops within the top 500 are, again, mostly ’70s songs, beginning with “The Logical Song” (now down 163-448), followed by:

• Stray Cats, “Rock This Town” (No. 219 to No. 496)
• Billy Joel, “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” (183-456)
• Bee Gees, “Night Fever” (133-359)
• Cars, “Shake It Up” (201-421)
• Police, “Roxanne” (232-452)
• Foreigner, “Hot Blooded” (171-388)
• Eagles, “Heartache Tonight” (263-480)
• Kim Carnes, “Bette Davis Eyes” (208-418)

While programmers have been more cognizant of those ’70s titles that have fallen out of playability, the early ‘80s are often of a piece in being lost to time. That even includes a few songs like “Shake It Up” and “Rock This Town” from the early MTV era.

Then there are the songs that have fallen out of the top 500 most played altogether — again, well below the place where a song could be considered safe-list in any way:

• Rolling Stones, “Miss You” (No. 220 five years ago)
• Frankie Valli, “Grease” (No. 271; “You’re the One That I Want” by John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John goes No. 159 to No. 338)
• U2, “Pride (In the Name of Love)” (No. 273)
• Greg Kihn Band, “The Breakup Song” (No. 296)
• Doobie Brothers, “What a Fool Believes” (No. 299, not buoyed by the interest in “yacht rock”)

That does, of course, lead to the question of what songs within 2019’s top 500 have made the biggest gains in rank. Those are often, but not exclusively, ’90s titles:

• Cure, “Friday I’m in Love” (1992) (No. 500 to No. 207)
• No Doubt, “Don’t Speak” (1995) (401-137)
• R.E.M., “The One I Love” (1987) (386-124)
• Goo Goo Dolls, “Iris” (1998) (375-118)
• Aerosmith, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” (1998) (470-235)
• Cranberries, “Dreams” (1993) (485-264)
• Michael Jackson, “Smooth Criminal” (1988) (352-135)
• Proclaimers, “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” (1993 in the U.S.) (403-198)

A little further down, you’ll find Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know,” proving that even a 1986 hit can move back into public consciousness. So has Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up.” 

Finally, these are the biggest debuts from outside the top 500 over the last five years. Just as the early ’80s are starting to fade, some show the ascent of late-’80s titles that represent a new generation of listeners:

• Roxette, “Listen to Your Heart” (1989) (No. 200)
• Tiffany, “I Think We’re Alone Now” (1987) (230)
• Billy Ocean, “Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car” (1988) (248)
• Roxette, “It Must Have Been Love” (1990) (255)
• Poison, “Nothing but a Good Time” (1988) (263)
• Aerosmith, “Crazy” (1993) (281)
• Third Eye Blind, “Semi-Charmed Life” (1997) (282) — the first debut of a ’90s song that doesn’t have an artist connection to the ’80s.