Before our annual look at the top throwback requests of the previous year, we have to talk about the throwback that really blew up in the past week. It might be worth playing even on Top 40 and Hot AC, as Gen Z has just “discovered” it (after 42 years) and pushed it to the Top 10 on Spotify, as well as multiple requests on Liveline.
Only the most popular show in Netflix history could revive so many classic songs from the 1980s, with the first one truly being “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash, followed by the monstrous “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush, “Master of Puppets” by Metallica, “Every Breath You Take” by The Police (again in the Spotify Top 20 globally) and “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac which appeared in the last episode.
Stranger Things producers and writers The Duffer Brothers promoted for weeks before the show’s finale that there would be a song never licensed for a TV show or movie before, and within three seconds, I thought of Prince. His career had skyrocketed in 1984 and was well-known in the biz for not allowing his music to be used in anything.
My intuition was right, when a very emotional part of the finale began, and “Purple Rain” started playing (after “When Doves Cry” appeared about 30 minutes earlier). That first signature guitar note gave me chills and perfectly captured the nostalgia and attachment that so many have accumulated over the last decade, growing up as kids who are now adults with kids. A flashback reel of the show’s two most beloved characters starts playing, and the tears are pouring out. It was like that moment in the “The Bodyguard” when “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston comes on in the theater, and all the women are bawling.
“Purple Rain” now has a whole new meaning to this generation, as well as remaining a favorite to those who enjoyed it years ago. If radio could support a song that mid-charted four decades earlier in “Running Up That Hill,” why not live in this cultural moment and do the same with Prince?
If CHR plays “Purple Rain,” nobody will change the channel, but you have to set it up. Great jocks tell captivating stories, know their music history and can make someone care about a song they might not know or wouldn’t expect or even hear. I’ve listened to so many pop stations over the years and seldom hear warmth or emotion. From the mentoring I’ve received, a critical trait to gaining fans is connecting with them one on one and being intimate, endearing and personal. You don’t achieve that by shouting liners, being monotonous and reading TMZ/pop culture news.
Top Throwback Requests of 2025
70% of the requests we received in the past year were for songs released before 2020, and there are a lot of them. Like we do every year, here are the Top 50 most-requested throwbacks on Liveline, tabulated from over 25,000 phone calls, texts and messages on social media.
New Year’s Eve Recap
On a side note, Liveline broadcast live on New Year’s Eve. It was six hours of excitement, contests, prizes, people screaming and yelling in the studio, non-stop party music requested by listeners all over the US & Canada, and a countdown to 2026 in six time zones. The last two hours were commercial free and received a record-breaking 1,200 calls in one night, in addition to 200 texts. You can hear a full replay of this spectacular night of radio here:
