Random Thoughts That Don't Deserve Their Own Thread Go Here

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Agreed, that was cool of 'em

I just can't do the sit down concert thing under normal circumstances*. With my taste in music, it just feels wrong, can't kick no ass (nor get your ass kicked) sitting down. I friggin haaaaaate "table venues".

If the band isn't going to keep me on my feet, honestly I really don't need to be seeing them in the first place.

*had a recent ABnormal circumstance that had me sitting literally stage edge for Fozzy, that one I did watch seated for part cause of the way the crowd kind of arranged itself. Just an unusual venue layout kinda deal, though it did make it harder to get into the show at times.

Totally agree. I stood in front of my chair at that show, and I rarely sit even for "normal" music unless it's in a theater and everyone is sitting.

[korme]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Totally agree. I stood in front of my chair at that show, and I rarely sit even for "normal" music unless it's in a theater and everyone is sitting.

Just went to a local show of an indie singer (Jess Williamson), with maybe 30 people in attendance and fold-out chairs for seating, which most everyone did. I had to stand in the back.

[thesloppy]

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

This is me...

[Ksyrup]

The Meta/smart glasses have got to be the epitome of a product no one asked for that's going to be shove down our throats.

Reminds me of 3D TVs.

[albionmoonlight]

In my younger days, I got in a literal car accident that totaled both cars and felt physically fine two days later. At age 48 I very slightly tweaked my knee a week ago and I can still feel it.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

This past weekend, I went to see a really good blues guy. And he did, like, three encores. And it just felt like even though I was enjoying the show he had sort of promised me I was going to get to go home and yeah, I really get your meme.

[Ghost Econ]

Anyone else tired of the fake encore, where the band goes away and pretends the cheering brought them back? Maybe it was always the thing, but with setlist tracking we know you do this every time and you're going to play the same songs. Just say you're taking one last 5 minute break and you're gonna rock us out with 3 more songs. My having to clap didn't cause you to play that super popular song you didn't play yet.

[Lathum]

The singer for Bowling for soup will tell the crown 3-4 times that he is aware they haven't played 1985 yet and that he knows half the people are there to just see that song and they will play it last

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

Anyone else tired of the fake encore, where the band goes away and pretends the cheering brought them back? Maybe it was always the thing, but with setlist tracking we know you do this every time and you're going to play the same songs. Just say you're taking one last 5 minute break and you're gonna rock us out with 3 more songs. My having to clap didn't cause you to play that super popular song you didn't play yet.

LCD Soundsystem does this "look, we're going to do this thing where we pretend we're going to leave for five minutes to pee or whatever, and you're going to clap, but don't worry we'll be back....we'll be back!"

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

In my younger days, I got in a literal car accident that totaled both cars and felt physically fine two days later. At age 48 I very slightly tweaked my knee a week ago and I can still feel it.

I took a wrong step at work today, and the entire right side of my body is in pain.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

Anyone else tired of the fake encore, where the band goes away and pretends the cheering brought them back? Maybe it was always the thing, but with setlist tracking we know you do this every time and you're going to play the same songs. Just say you're taking one last 5 minute break and you're gonna rock us out with 3 more songs. My having to clap didn't cause you to play that super popular song you didn't play yet.

Amigo the Devil hates the encore and always explains to the crowd that he's playing his entire set and when he says this is the last one, he means for the night and that he's not coming back out. And still people stand there waiting. Which, if you've never seen him, is understandable because he jokes all the time. But last time i saw him I told 2 or 3 people there's no use waiting around, he ain't coming back out.

His reasoning is basically what you wrote, a fake cat-and-mouse between performer and audience that's stupid and (for him) wasteful and uncomfortable. Just play your set and be done.

[thesloppy]

If the house lights come on and you're still waiting for an encore, you're going to be disappointed.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Haha, been offline for a couple of days, heading out for vacation tomorrow. Hope you had a good trip and enjoyed the snow!

8 inches overnight.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

8 inches overnight.

Obligatory "that's what SHE said"

[Ksyrup]

Post-script to the Unto Others show I went to last night...

It was awesome. Place was a hole in the wall dive bar with a small stage in between the actual bar and an outside patio called Mag Bar, a short distance from UL campus. It would fit maybe 150? Place was packed, so I'd say somewhere around 125ish. It was a half-step up to the stage. I haven't been to a show like that in years, and I've been to some small venues with unknown artists. These guys are actually getting pretty big, just released their third album. An opening slot with WASP fell through, so they quickly put together their own headlining tour of small venues. It was cool being right on the stage and watching these guys set up their own rigs.

Anyway, show was fantastic. Most of their stuff is 3-4 minutes long, so they blew through like 20+ songs in just over an hour. Really high energy, and a great crowd.

They did a 3-song encore. After the end of the main set, lead singer says, "I'll be honest, this is the part where we walk off stage and wait a few minutes to come back out and play. But... um... we've got no place to go! So, we're doing not 1 not 2 but 3 encore songs and then that's it."

And then of course, when the show ended, to leave the stage they pretty much had to walk into the crowd. I thanked a couple of them for coming through KY and then saw the lead singer and drummer outside as I headed for my car and a 70 minute drive home and thanked them as well.

I still can't hear much of anything.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Post-script to the Unto Others show I went to last night...

It was awesome. Place was a hole in the wall dive bar with a small stage in between the actual bar and an outside patio called Mag Bar, a short distance from UL campus. It would fit maybe 150? Place was packed, so I'd say somewhere around 125ish. It was a half-step up to the stage. I haven't been to a show like that in years, and I've been to some small venues with unknown artists. These guys are actually getting pretty big, just released their third album. An opening slot with WASP fell through, so they quickly put together their own headlining tour of small venues. It was cool being right on the stage and watching these guys set up their own rigs.

.

Sounds awesome.

Reminds me of when I saw Dropkick Murphys at CBGB around 2005. There were maybe 75 people there.

[Lathum]

I wonder how many times in my life someone has tried to talk to me, get my attention, call my name, etc...and I haven't heard them and now they think I'm an asshole.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I wonder how many times in my life someone has tried to talk to me, get my attention, call my name, etc...and I haven't heard them and now they think I'm an asshole.

That person checking receipts at WalMart definitely thinks I'm an asshole.

[Lathum]

I wonder when sleepovers became a thing. Like were kids in the 1940s sleeping over their friends houses?

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I wonder when sleepovers became a thing. Like were kids in the 1940s sleeping over their friends houses?

Maybe? I imagine there always was a time when kids would have their friends or relatives stay over with them. Probably social status made a difference. If you were expected to work a farm job at 9, you probably didn't have lots of time for it. If you were in a family of means, and having a friends or cousin stay during a holiday or such probably was common.

[cuervo72]

"Hey Ma, can you look after the kids Friday night? We need 'em outta the house so we can do some good loud fuckin'!"

[sovereignstar v2]

Who left a fricking tissue in the sweat shorts I just put in the washer??

[Ksyrup]

I just did that with some running shorts. Running outside in the cold, I always take 2 tissues to wipe my nose along the way. Washed them and found shreds of tissue in the dryer.

[sovereignstar v2]

I'm tumble drying this load on very low heat until every single shred of tissue makes its way to the filter

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

I'm tumble drying this load on very low heat until every single shred of tissue makes its way to the filter

Dryer's are supposed to provide heat?

[sovereignstar v2]

Uh wat? There is a temp setting and if I leave them in for another hour I don't want my underoos and favorite shorts to shrivel up

[Edward64]

I've left coupons, money etc. in the wash. Even my passport once.

Unfortunately, I also sent my iPod Pro 2 through the wash & dry cycle. It survived somewhat, still usable but volume doesn't work anymore.

[NobodyHere]

Pink Floyd's The Wall was released 45 years ago today.

[Ksyrup]

Am I going nuts? We want to upgrade my daughter's iPhone and we have the Next Up thing on her account, and she's eligible for an upgrade. When we go through the website and pick the phone, color, GB, etc., it clearly shows the phone will be $16.67. Add $10 for the new Next Up Anytime, and it's $26.67. When I hit Upgrade Now, the price immediately changes to $40.56.

On the cart page, it clearly shows it costs $40.56 plus $66 due now. Literally, the line item shows $30.56 per month for 36 months, and $0 to trade in the device.

So, I'm confused. I do the Chat, and explain my question. Here is the response:

Hello, Chris thanks for waiting. As I checked here nothing to worry while you are checking it out it will show still regular price but rest assure that after 2 to 3 billing cycles the actual amount will reflects.

WTF does that mean? Even if I wasn't an attorney, I would not be stupid enough to agree to purchase something that clearly says you owe "X" on the promise of a Chat rep that eventually, it'll be "Y" and we'll credit your account in a few months.

What kind of BS is this?.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Am I going nuts? We want to upgrade my daughter's iPhone and we have the Next Up thing on her account, and she's eligible for an upgrade. When we go through the website and pick the phone, color, GB, etc., it clearly shows the phone will be $16.67. Add $10 for the new Next Up Anytime, and it's $26.67. When I hit Upgrade Now, the price immediately changes to $40.56.

On the cart page, it clearly shows it costs $40.56 plus $66 due now. Literally, the line item shows $30.56 per month for 36 months, and $0 to trade in the device.

So, I'm confused. I do the Chat, and explain my question. Here is the response:

Hello, Chris thanks for waiting. As I checked here nothing to worry while you are checking it out it will show still regular price but rest assure that after 2 to 3 billing cycles the actual amount will reflects.

WTF does that mean? Even if I wasn't an attorney, I would not be stupid enough to agree to purchase something that clearly says you owe "X" on the promise of a Chat rep that eventually, it'll be "Y" and we'll credit your account in a few months.

What kind of BS is this?.

Just out of curiosity, was this AT&T?

Cause what you describe is something I've been through on two separate occasions with them, almost word for word on that last part.

[Ksyrup]

Yes!

I told my wife that she needs to just go into the store. There may be an explanation, but I didn't get a satisfactory one last night.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Yes!

I told my wife that she needs to just go into the store. There may be an explanation, but I didn't get a satisfactory one last night.

fwiw, I got it sorted out properly once -- IIRC only managed to sort it out with a telephone rep, definitely NOT in-store fix in my case, cause I'd have been arrested if I'd been back in there in close proximity to the first screwjob attempt -- and cancelled a transaction over the other.

Both times it was an in-store "error" (or blatant bait-and-switch ploy that they're taught to do).

[Ksyrup]

From what I'm reading, it has to do with applying the trade-in credit officially after they receive the phone and confirm the condition and value. My issues are (a) you can't show me $7.50/mo on one screen and then flip it to $30.56/mo the next screen, in combination with (b) not acknowledging the trade-in value on the payment screen.

That's just a bad/confusing customer experience that - even if I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt - looks like a bait-and-switch.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

From what I'm reading, it has to do with applying the trade-in credit officially after they receive the phone and confirm the condition and value. My issues are (a) you can't show me $7.50/mo on one screen and then flip it to $30.56/mo the next screen, in combination with (b) not acknowledging the trade-in value on the payment screen.

That's just a bad/confusing customer experience that - even if I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt - looks like a bait-and-switch.

I've been dealing with them in-store here for over 15 years now, not sure I've ever felt like I was more apt to be screwed on purpose anywhere in my life.

[cuervo72]

Not posting in the movie thread as there is no chance in hell I watch it, but who is the target audience for this Dylan movie?

[NobodyHere]

I'm going to try refinishing a bathtub myself. Am I crazy? Or just really crazy?

[Schmidty]

I love horror movies, but I'm getting tired of all of the body horror movies coming out lately. Body horror is the lowest form of horror.

[Ghost Econ]

As someone who listens to pop music mostly due to having a 15 year old daughter, it's been a pretty lackluster year for pop music. I was thinking of how much better pop music probably was 50 years ago, but then I looked at the 1974 year end chart. And holy shit, that was a terrible year for music.

If Bennie and the Jets is arguably the best song on the year end chart, then it's a damning indictment.

Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1974 - Wikipedia

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

As someone who listens to pop music mostly due to having a 15 year old daughter, it's been a pretty lackluster year for pop music. I was thinking of how much better pop music probably was 50 years ago, but then I looked at the 1974 year end chart. And holy shit, that was a terrible year for music.

If Bennie and the Jets is arguably the best song on the year end chart, then it's a damning indictment.

Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1974 - Wikipedia

I had the same realization about 1981, I think it was, listening to reconstructed countdowns on XM's 80s on 8. Just a pile of AM Gold-style crap.

[Passacaglia]

Funny, I was thinking of making a post about 70s and 80s music, too. We had an old ipod hooked up to the radio in our car, but after it stopped working, we've been listening to FM radio. I've never really listened to radio much since moving to Chicago 20 years ago, so I don't know the stations that well -- I just found some that seemed like they would be up my alley.

What struck me is that there's at least five or so "classic rock" stations, playing music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. But none of them delve into the 60s. Like it's some weird border. I hear Bob Seger all the time, but never the Beatles.

The other thing I've noticed is that I'll hear the same song repeated often, in waves. I heard "Edge of Seventeen" twice on the same day. I heard "Glory Days" three days in a row. My guess is that radio stations are purchasing the rights to a song for a short period of time, and play the heck out of it while they have it. What's also weird about it is that the trend seems to go across stations. I don't usually pay attention to which station I'm listening to, but it seems like it's not just one station playing the heck out of a song, it's all of them. For example, when I heard Edge of Seventeen twice, it was playing on two different stations at the exact same time.

I dunno. I know everyone has their own tastes, radio formats are what they are, and that people here will give their opinion that they think the Beatles are overrated, it's just cray to me that I've heard Edge of Seventeen dozens of times, but hardly any Beatles songs ever.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Funny, I was thinking of making a post about 70s and 80s music, too. We had an old ipod hooked up to the radio in our car, but after it stopped working, we've been listening to FM radio. I've never really listened to radio much since moving to Chicago 20 years ago, so I don't know the stations that well -- I just found some that seemed like they would be up my alley.

What struck me is that there's at least five or so "classic rock" stations, playing music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. But none of them delve into the 60s. Like it's some weird border. I hear Bob Seger all the time, but never the Beatles.

The other thing I've noticed is that I'll hear the same song repeated often, in waves. I heard "Edge of Seventeen" twice on the same day. I heard "Glory Days" three days in a row. My guess is that radio stations are purchasing the rights to a song for a short period of time, and play the heck out of it while they have it. What's also weird about it is that the trend seems to go across stations. I don't usually pay attention to which station I'm listening to, but it seems like it's not just one station playing the heck out of a song, it's all of them. For example, when I heard Edge of Seventeen twice, it was playing on two different stations at the exact same time.

I dunno. I know everyone has their own tastes, radio formats are what they are, and that people here will give their opinion that they think the Beatles are overrated, it's just cray to me that I've heard Edge of Seventeen dozens of times, but hardly any Beatles songs ever.

Nah, the station library is simply being rotated in a fashion that's pretty common these days.

Most only now use a fraction of their library at a time, intentionally. They'll make sure you hear the same couple hundred songs a time or two, then move on to another segment, putting the previous batch on hiatus. Over the course of however long the batch is active, it'll play several times in each daypart so that "everybody gets to hear it". Have to do that since the TSL (time spent listening) is at all-time lows these days.

There's no "rights to a song" if it's under BMI/ASCAP btw. Stations pay them, they pay the writers. If you have an agreement with them, it covers every song in existence (basically)

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

What struck me is that there's at least five or so "classic rock" stations, playing music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. But none of them delve into the 60s. Like it's some weird border. I hear Bob Seger all the time, but never the Beatles.

Probably notable that some time ago XM changed its channel list and bounced 50s on 5 and 60s on 6 up to CH 72/73, renaming them 50s/60s "Gold." In their place came The Pulse ("Today's pop music") and PopRocks ("90s & 2000s pop/rock hits"). A nod to demographics, I'm sure.

60s Gold does have some Beatles - "Beatles, Beach Boys, The Four Seasons, Rolling Stones, Supremes, Simon & Garfunkel, Hermans Hermits, Four Tops, The Monkees, Neil Diamond, Phlash Phelps, Shotgun Tom Kelly, Dave Hoeffel, Pat St. John, Mike Kelly, Lou Simon"

Of course XM has its own Beatles channel, and you can hear 60s rock on Classic Vinyl or Deep Tracks as well.

The overplayed songs thing though -- yeah. I've definitely heard the same songs multiple times and on different channels in the course of a trip. And you can't go ten minutes without encountering AC/DC somewhere every 10 minutes cycling through channels.

[Ghost Econ]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Funny, I was thinking of making a post about 70s and 80s music, too. We had an old ipod hooked up to the radio in our car, but after it stopped working, we've been listening to FM radio. I've never really listened to radio much since moving to Chicago 20 years ago, so I don't know the stations that well -- I just found some that seemed like they would be up my alley.

What struck me is that there's at least five or so "classic rock" stations, playing music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. But none of them delve into the 60s. Like it's some weird border. I hear Bob Seger all the time, but never the Beatles.

The other thing I've noticed is that I'll hear the same song repeated often, in waves. I heard "Edge of Seventeen" twice on the same day. I heard "Glory Days" three days in a row. My guess is that radio stations are purchasing the rights to a song for a short period of time, and play the heck out of it while they have it. What's also weird about it is that the trend seems to go across stations. I don't usually pay attention to which station I'm listening to, but it seems like it's not just one station playing the heck out of a song, it's all of them. For example, when I heard Edge of Seventeen twice, it was playing on two different stations at the exact same time.

I dunno. I know everyone has their own tastes, radio formats are what they are, and that people here will give their opinion that they think the Beatles are overrated, it's just cray to me that I've heard Edge of Seventeen dozens of times, but hardly any Beatles songs ever.

We have 1 classic rock station that's mainly 70s/early 80s and 1 that plays pretty much anything from the late 50s to early 90s. It's like someone took my random playlist and made it even more random.

We used to have 4-5, but we are down to the two. There's also only 1 "adult contemporary station," 1 rock station, and 1 alternative. The rest are all talk, country or a variety of top 40/urban. I literally can't fill my 12 presets in the car. It's weird listening to this format going through a slow death.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

What struck me is that there's at least five or so "classic rock" stations, playing music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. But none of them delve into the 60s. Like it's some weird border. I hear Bob Seger all the time, but never the Beatles.

My bad, I forgot to address this.

It's a math thing.

Playing stuff from the 60s attracts a demographic that advertisers rarely want. Therefore the stations rarely wants it either.

I'm lazy, so I'll let Wiki provide a more concise explantion than I'd manage
*the example here is from Oldies format specifically but applies just as well

In 2002, many Oldies stations began dropping pre-1964 music from their playlists, since the earlier music tended to appeal to an older demographic that advertisers found undesirable—hence, the addition of music from the 1970s and early 1980s.

And specifically, this comes from a RadioInsight (an industry publication) piece about the death of 60s music on radio

As of 2020, 1960s music is becoming increasingly rare on radio. Of the 1000 most played songs on radio as of May 2020, only four of them are from before 1970, and three of them also benefit from being aired on classic rock stations, Oldies, and classic hits.[12] Of the 100 songs that suffered the most drop-off in popularity from their heyday to 2022, a majority were from the 1960s; 56% were from before the British Invasion and another 13% were from then to 1969.

In short, stations really don't want people who wants 60s music to be listening to their station, it makes them appear to appeal largely to an aged demographic that appeals to very few radio advertisers. It's tough enough to make a buck as a traditional radio station these days, no sense making it harder by appearing to have an audience that's near death.

I forget your exact age, but hopefully you're old enough to remember what were called Nostalgia format stations populating the AM side of the radio dial. They played 30s/40s music mostly. They peaked probably in the 80s, maybe 90s. Well that was 30-40 years ago. 60s (and some 70s) music IS the "nostalgia" format of today.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Nah, the station library is simply being rotated in a fashion that's pretty common these days.

Most only now use a fraction of their library at a time, intentionally. They'll make sure you hear the same couple hundred songs a time or two, then move on to another segment, putting the previous batch on hiatus. Over the course of however long the batch is active, it'll play several times in each daypart so that "everybody gets to hear it". Have to do that since the TSL (time spent listening) is at all-time lows these days.

There's no "rights to a song" if it's under BMI/ASCAP btw. Stations pay them, they pay the writers. If you have an agreement with them, it covers every song in existence (basically)

Is there some other advantage? I feel like "so everybody gets to hear it" is a pretty lame reason. This happens to me despite being in the car like 15-20 minutes at most any given day (and other days I'm not in the car at all). So the people listening for several hours a day must be really suffering. It's frustrating to hear that a station could have a good mix of whatever, but intentionally choose not to. Why does everybody need to hear Night Moves *right now*? They've heard it before, and they'll hear it again.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Probably notable that some time ago XM changed its channel list and bounced 50s on 5 and 60s on 6 up to CH 72/73, renaming them 50s/60s "Gold." In their place came The Pulse ("Today's pop music") and PopRocks ("90s & 2000s pop/rock hits"). A nod to demographics, I'm sure.

60s Gold does have some Beatles - "Beatles, Beach Boys, The Four Seasons, Rolling Stones, Supremes, Simon & Garfunkel, Hermans Hermits, Four Tops, The Monkees, Neil Diamond, Phlash Phelps, Shotgun Tom Kelly, Dave Hoeffel, Pat St. John, Mike Kelly, Lou Simon"

Of course XM has its own Beatles channel, and you can hear 60s rock on Classic Vinyl or Deep Tracks as well.

The overplayed songs thing though -- yeah. I've definitely heard the same songs multiple times and on different channels in the course of a trip. And you can't go ten minutes without encountering AC/DC somewhere every 10 minutes cycling through channels.

Interesting. I only listen to XM when it's a free weekend, and even then, it's only available in the car we use less often, so...not much. The Beatles Channel is one of my presets, but probably the one I listen to least often (I assume for the same reasoning in my last post, I've heard all those songs before, nothing there is going to be something I *need* to hear now).

That's interesting about the 50s and 60s station. I always thought the single digit decade stations were a neat idea. But I guess they never had a 40s on 4. So this stuff has to change at some point.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

We have 1 classic rock station that's mainly 70s/early 80s and 1 that plays pretty much anything from the late 50s to early 90s. It's like someone took my random playlist and made it even more random.

We used to have 4-5, but we are down to the two. There's also only 1 "adult contemporary station," 1 rock station, and 1 alternative. The rest are all talk, country or a variety of top 40/urban. I literally can't fill my 12 presets in the car. It's weird listening to this format going through a slow death.

Late 50s? That's really surprising. Where do you live? And what 50s songs do they play?

[Ghost Econ]

Greenville SC. It's a super local FM station, barely reaches outside city limits. Couldn't tell you what 50s songs, it's pretty random. Also a lot of stuff you haven't heard in ages, if ever.

Mixcloud

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

My bad, I forgot to address this.

It's a math thing.

Playing stuff from the 60s attracts a demographic that advertisers rarely want. Therefore the stations rarely wants it either.

I'm lazy, so I'll let Wiki provide a more concise explantion than I'd manage
*the example here is from Oldies format specifically but applies just as well



And specifically, this comes from a RadioInsight (an industry publication) piece about the death of 60s music on radio



In short, stations really don't want people who wants 60s music to be listening to their station, it makes them appear to appeal largely to an aged demographic that appeals to very few radio advertisers. It's tough enough to make a buck as a traditional radio station these days, no sense making it harder by appearing to have an audience that's near death.

I forget your exact age, but hopefully you're old enough to remember what were called Nostalgia format stations populating the AM side of the radio dial. They played 30s/40s music mostly. They peaked probably in the 80s, maybe 90s. Well that was 30-40 years ago. 60s (and some 70s) music IS the "nostalgia" format of today.

That makes sense. I guess my question is, where do you draw the line, and how has that line changed (or not changed) over the years?

For the record, I was born in 1977, and because I think a lot of this is regional, I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the late 80s, there were certainly classic rock stations then, and you'd hear plenty of late 60s stuff there (Steppenwolf, Buffalo Springfield, etc). Meanwhile, Elvis was in a position the Beatles seem to be in now -- you knew he was a big deal, but you'd never hear him on the radio. Now, here we are 35 years later, and the needle has moved...five years? I looked at the most recent songs on WXRT here in Chicago. They've played Misty Mountain Hop (1971), Killer Queen (1974), Wild Horses (1971), mixed in among more modern stuff. I guess I don't get why the 70s don't get thrown in with the 60s in what you just said -- these songs are all over 50 years old.