Classic Rock Stations
A comparatively recent genre of stations for the UK, the elder statesman of this motley crew (can you see what we did there!) being Planet Rock, which started in 1999 within the GWR group (which went on to be part of Global, if you didn’t know), but has ended up one of Bauer’s (the opposition) since 2013. The Absolute family’s Classic Rock Station, launched not much later in 2000, as Virgin Classic Rock. Virgin became Absolute in 2008, of course, so Virgin Classic Rock became Absolute Classic Rock, before a NEW Virgin Brand launched a new version of Virgin in 2016 (this time owned by Wireless), spawning it’s own classics station as Virgin Legends (which was named Virgin Anthems 2018-2025). I hope you’re keeping up as I’ll be asking questions later. Union Jack Rock was the baby of the bunch, launched only in December 2020, but even though it was on national DAB, playing only BRITISH Rock artists, it closed along with the rest of the Union Jack Brands in early 2022.
So, although Absolute Classic Rock and Planet Rock are both part of the Bauer family, you can instantly see from the graphics that they have totally different ideas on playlist size and variety, and this is a great example of what makes our radio monitoring work so interesting! You can see from the yellow line on the graph that Planet Rock’s massive playlist means the variety stays up well into the 2nd week of listening and beyond, while all the others are basically in repeatsville after between just a couple of days and a week. Global launched it’s Radio X Classic Rock station on 16th February 2023.
(Analysis of Virgin Legends does NOT include the Chris Evans Breakfast Show music which is just his main “Virgin Radio” show simulcast on Legends (/Anthems), and not the usual “Legends” playlist Songs which play the rest of the day)
Analysis: 25 days, up to 06-05-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 6263
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 2581
Variety factor for this station is : 41.2%
50% OF PLAYS is 639 Songs (24.7% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 330 MOST played songs (12.7% of the total)
or 1557 LEAST played songs (60.3% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 15h 23m
10th most played song airs every: 22h 13m
330th most played song airs every: 6d 6h
639th most played song airs every: 8d 8h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 2492 (96.5%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
29 after 24 DAYS
Top 11 Most Played:
1 [39 plays] Skindred – Can I Get A
2= [38 plays] each for…
+ Joanne Shaw Taylor – The Trouble With Love
+ Pretty Reckless – When I Wake Up
4 [35 plays] John Corabi – That Memory
5= [28 plays] each for…
+ Des Rocs – When the Love is Gone
+ Erik Gronwall – Born to Break
+ Foo Fighters – Of All People
+ Lazys – Too Tough To Die
+ Shinedown – Safe And Sound
10= [27 plays] each for…
+ Return To Dust – Bored
+ Tailgunner – War In Heaven
Analysis: 27 days, up to 06-05-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 7145
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 970
Variety factor for this station is : 13.5%
50% OF PLAYS is 232 Songs (23.9% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 141 MOST played songs (14.5% of the total)
or 606 LEAST played songs (62.4% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 1d 6h 51m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 10h 6m
141st most played song airs every: 1d 19h 12m
232nd most played song airs every: 2d 10h 54m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 389 (40.1%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
3 after 25 DAYS
Top 13 Most Played:
1 [21 plays] Rush – Spirit Of Radio
2 [20 plays] Genesis – Invisible Touch
3= [19 plays] each for…
+ Bachman Turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet
+ Black Sabbath – Paranoid
+ Def Leppard – Pour Some Sugar On Me
+ Doors – People Are Strange
+ Faith No More – Epic
+ Golden Earring – Radar Love
+ Jimi Hendrix – Purple Haze..
+ Journey – Any Way You Want It
+ Them and Van Morrison – Baby Please Don’t Go
+ Tom Petty – American Girl
+ ZZ Top – Legs
Analysis: 26 days, up to 06-05-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 7021
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 1049
Variety factor for this station is : 14.9%
50% OF PLAYS is 240 Songs (22.8% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 149 MOST played songs (14.2% of the total)
or 698 LEAST played songs (66.5% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 1d 5h 42m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 8h 50m
149th most played song airs every: 1d 20h 34m
240th most played song airs every: 2d 4h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 585 (55.7%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
3 after 25 DAYS
Top 13 Most Played:
1 [21 plays] Knack – My Sharona
2= [20 plays] each for…
+ Free – All Right Now
+ Peter Frampton – Baby I Love Your Way
4= [19 plays] each for…
+ Andrew Gold – Lonely Boy
+ Bellamy Brothers – Let Your Love Flow
+ Boston – More Than A Feeling
+ Deep Purple – Hush
+ Redbone – Come And Get Your Love
+ Righteous Brothers – Unchained Melody
+ Slade – Cum On Feel The Noize
+ Steely Dan – Rikki Don’t Lose That Number
+ Three Dog Night – Mama Told Me Not To Come
+ Thunderclap Newman – Something In The Air
Analysis: 25 days, up to 06-05-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 8154
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 535
Variety factor for this station is : 6.5%
50% OF PLAYS is 192 Songs (35.8% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 122 MOST played songs (22.8% of the total)
or 266 LEAST played songs (49.7% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 21h 25m
10th most played song airs every: 23h 4m
122nd most played song airs every: 1d 6h
192nd most played song airs every: 1d 7h 34m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 45 (8.4%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 13 DAYS
Top 12 Most Played:
1= [28 plays] each for…
+ Buzzcocks – Ever Fallen In Love
+ Knack – My Sharona
3= [27 plays] each for…
+ Animals – We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
+ Bachman Turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
5= [26 plays] each for…
+ J. Geils Band – Centerfold
+ Manfred Mann’s Earthband – Blinded By The Light
+ Mr Big – To Be With You
+ Rainbow – Since You Been Gone
+ Steppenwolf – Born To Be Wild
+ Survivor – Eye of the Tiger
+ Them – Baby Please Don’t Go
+ Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town
** Station no longer broadcasting! **
Historic Analysis: 25 days, up to 23-02-2022
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 5595
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 624
Variety factor for this station is : 11.1%
50% OF PLAYS is 161 Songs (25.8% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 98 MOST played songs (15.7% of the total)
or 387 LEAST played songs (62% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 22h 13m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 1h
98th most played song airs every: 1d 13h 30m
161st most played song airs every: 1d 18h 51m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 234 (37.5%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
1 after 19 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 629
..in 3 months: 773, in 6 months: 830
..in 9 months: 861
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [27 plays] Jake Bugg – Trouble Town
2= [26 plays] each for…
+ Alex Clare – Too Close
+ Libertines – Don’t Look Back Into The Sun
4= [25 plays] each for…
+ Mumford And Sons – Believe
+ Mumford And Sons – The Cave
+ Stereophonics – Mr Writer
7= [24 plays] each for…
+ Arctic Monkeys – Arabella
+ Kaiser Chiefs – Hole In My Soul
+ Keane – Is It Any Wonder
+ The 1975 – Give Yourself A Try
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