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: 24 days, up to 05-01-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 5775
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 2448
Variety factor for this station is : 42.3%
50% OF PLAYS is 600 Songs (24.5% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 306 MOST played songs (12.5% of the total)
or 1467 LEAST played songs (59.9% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 14h 46m
10th most played song airs every: 20h 34m
306th most played song airs every: 6d 0h
600th most played song airs every: 8d 0h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 2365 (96.6%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
17 after 22 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 2679
..in 3 months: 3800, in 6 months: 4810
..in 9 months: 5627, in 12 months: 6225
Top 11 Most Played:
1 [39 plays] Megadeth – I Don’t Care
2= [38 plays] each for…
+ Skindred – You Got This
+ Tailgunner – Midnight Blitz
4 [36 plays] Aerosmith and Yungblud – Wild Woman
5 [32 plays] Five Finger Death Punch – Cold
6 [31 plays] Foo Fighters – Asking For A Friend
7 [30 plays] Avatar – Don’t Go In The Forest
8= [28 plays] each for…
+ Alter Bridge – Playing Aces
+ Commoners – Just Watch Me
+ Michael Monroe – Disconnected
+ Virginmarys – Trippin’ New York City
Analysis: 26 days, up to 05-01-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 6326
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 954
Variety factor for this station is : 15%
50% OF PLAYS is 238 Songs (24.9% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 141 MOST played songs (14.7% of the total)
or 583 LEAST played songs (61.1% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 1d 7h 12m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 10h 40m
141st most played song airs every: 2d 0h
238th most played song airs every: 2d 21h 20m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 416 (43.6%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
2 after 11 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 978
..in 3 months: 1122, in 6 months: 1219
..in 9 months: 1291, in 12 months: 1346
Top 13 Most Played:
1 [20 plays] Doors – Hello I Love You
2= [19 plays] each for…
+ Black Sabbath – Paranoid
+ Them and Van Morrison – Baby Please Don’t Go
+ Tom Petty – American Girl
+ Who – Pinball Wizard
6= [18 plays] each for…
+ David Bowie – Heroes
+ Doors – Break On Through
+ Foreigner – Cold As Ice
+ Kinks – All Day And All Of The Night
+ Mott The Hoople – All The Young Dudes
+ Nickelback – How You Remind Me
+ Status Quo – Down Down
+ T Rex – Children Of The Revolution
Analysis: 28 days, up to 05-01-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 8886
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 1304
Variety factor for this station is : 14.6%
50% OF PLAYS is 266 Songs (20.3% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 156 MOST played songs (11.9% of the total)
or 894 LEAST played songs (68.5% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 1d 1h 50m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 4h
156th most played song airs every: 1d 20h 48m
266th most played song airs every: 2d 8h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 705 (54%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
3 after 11 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 1328
..in 3 months: 1907, in 6 months: 2310
..in 9 months: 2659, in 12 months: 2830
Top 12 Most Played:
1= [26 plays] each for…
+ Norman Greenbaum – Spirit In The Sky
+ Three Dog Night – Mama Told Me Not To Come
3= [25 plays] each for…
+ Bachman-turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
+ Kiss – I Was Made For Lovin’ You
+ Manfred Mann’s Earth Band – Blinded By The Light
+ Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody
7= [24 plays] each for…
+ Iggy Pop – The Passenger
+ Joni Mitchell – Big Yellow Taxi
+ Kenny Rogers – The Gambler
+ Madness – One Step Beyond
+ Patti Smith – Because The Night
+ Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel – Make Me Smile (come Up And See Me)
Analysis: 26 days, up to 05-01-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 8655
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 554
Variety factor for this station is : 6.4%
50% OF PLAYS is 164 Songs (29.6% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 104 MOST played songs (18.7% of the total)
or 321 LEAST played songs (57.9% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 18h 54m
10th most played song airs every: 19h 30m
104th most played song airs every: 1d 0h 57m
164th most played song airs every: 1d 3h 7m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 103 (18.5%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 9 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 558
..in 3 months: 585, in 6 months: 622
..in 9 months: 638, in 12 months: 660
Top 13 Most Played:
1= [33 plays] each for…
+ Animals – We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
+ J. Geils Band – Centerfold
+ Joan Jett and The Blackhearts – I Love Rock N Roll
+ Steve Miller Band – Abracadabra
5= [32 plays] each for…
+ Bachman Turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
+ Boston – More Than A Feeling
+ Judas Preist – Breaking The Law
+ Knack – My Sharona
+ Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sweet Home Alabama
+ Manfred Mann’s Earthband – Blinded By The Light
+ Pat Benatar – Hit Me With Your Best Shot
+ Ram Jam – Black Betty
+ Zombies – She’s Not There
** 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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