Classic Hits stations don’t report their new “adds” to the trades. You don’t see their calls in advertising for new releases. But you can still get a good sense of what songs are making their way on to Classic Hits stations, especially from the ‘90s and beyond, by looking at their station monitors in BDSradio.
BDSradio shows a “first spin” date for every song monitored that week. Sorting by “spin date” won’t show you which older titles have been bicycled back on to the radio station, or which have worked their way up from ‘80s weekends and specialty shows over the years (typically how songs are filtered in on KRTH [K-Earth 101] Los Angeles, for example), but it will show you the titles, typically newer ones, that received their first spin in the last year or two.
It has been a truism over the years that “they’re not making any new oldies.” In reality, the movement of new listeners into a Classic Hits’ station’s demographic does result in significant turnover. The most noticeable change is in ‘90s or newer songs coming into playability and ‘70s titles being further whittled down, although the rise of randomly generated streaming stories has the possibility of putting a “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” back in the public consciousness at any time.
To get a sense of how Classic Hits stations are evolving, I looked at those songs that had started receiving significant airplay in the last year or two. In some cases, there are only a few obvious “adds” over the last five years. Other stations have significantly bolstered their ‘90s or even early ‘00s component over the last year or two. No inside knowledge of stations’ internal music process is claimed here. A half-dozen new titles typically indicates a new music test, but could also indicate a new PD or just an attempt to freshen by looking at what similar stations were playing.
Here is a sampling of major Classic Hits stations, covering most of the major groups, and in descending order by market size. (Note, when I refer to a station adding ‘90s titles here, I may also be lumping in an early ‘00s song as well, since most stations willing to delve into that era will also cross into 2K for certain retro-flavored titles, if they haven’t evolved even further.)
WCBS-FM New York
A lot of the newer titles on CBS-FM first appeared as “Oh Wow Wednesday”-type spikes before making their way to rotation. The newest “First Spin” title, Britney Spears’ “Oops! … I Did It Again,” isn’t in rotation now, but “Baby One More Time” is 3-4x a week, and that first got played in 2014. The most-recently added titles in rotation are “Waiting for Tonight” by Jennifer Lopez (2017) and “This Is How We Do It,” which was provocative enough in 2016 that I wrote about it.
KRTH (K-Earth 101) Los Angeles
The most recent adds of significance went in last December. Coldplay’s “Clocks” plays 6-8x a week now. So did Bob Marley & the Wailers’ “Could You Be Loved” (7-10x), a rare case of a recently added older title. One of the most provocative recent first spins on K-Earth hasn’t gotten another play since showing up over the holidays last December — Warren G & Nate Dogg’s “Regulate.”
WLS-FM Chicago
WLS has only a few outright adds in the last few years. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts’ “I Hate Myself for Loving You” (4-6x) went on in 2018. A few months earlier, the station switched to the Jimmy Cliff version of “I Can See Clearly Now” and Uncle Kracker’s remake of “Drift Away.”
WROR Boston
The oft-market-leading Classic Hits outlet appears to have either created or expanded a ‘90s category this year. In February, it shows first spins on titles including:
Sting, “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You”- Blind Melon, “No Rain”
- Counting Crows, “Big Yellow Taxi” and “Mr. Jones”
- No Doubt, “Don’t Speak”
- Barenaked Ladies, “One Week”
- Alanis Morissette, “Head Over Feet” and “Ironic”
- Dave Matthews Band, “Crush” and “Crash Into Me”
- Creed, “Higher”
- Third Eye Blind, “Semi Charmed Life”
Some non-‘90s/’00s titles showing their first spin around the same time are Howard Jones’s “Things Can Only Get Better,” Paul Young’s “Everytime You Go Away,” and Europe’s “The Final Countdown.”
KJEB (The Jet) Seattle
Train’s “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)” and Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing” went in last October. George Michael’s “Freedom ‘90” went in during 2020. Ace of Base’s “Don’t Turn Around” shows its first spin in summer ’19. The Pretenders’ “I’ll Stand by You” showed up a few months before that.
KOAI (The Wow Factor) Phoenix
KOAI’s BDS history only goes back to 2019, so even though the frequency has a longer history of Oldies/Classic Hits, it’s more possible to see John Sebastian’s 
recent adds to The Wow Factor. While the line between rotation song and spike is blurrier on a station whose most-played song (“For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield) plays 9x a week, some recently added songs getting 2-3 spins are:
- James Taylor, “Your Smiling Face”
- Peter & Gordon, “I Go to Pieces”
- Pablo Cruise, “Love Will Find a Way”
- Barry White, “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything”
- Carpenters, “Please Mr. Postman”
(Recent one-off first-time spins on the Wow Factor include both “People” by Barbra Streisand and “Samba Pa Ti” by Santana; the latter is one of the songs that became a secret weapon for the deep cuts Classic Hits stations that popped up in the early ‘00s.)
KQQL (Kool 108) Minneapolis
Kool 108’s most recent changes of significance were about a year ago, when it began playing Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ la Vida Loca” and Train’s “Drops of Jupiter.” Kool also seemed to put in a handful of Green Day titles around the same time — “When I Come Around,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and “Basket Case” — but none of those played last week. A year earlier, MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” and the Smash Mouth version of “I’m a Believer” went in.
WRBQ (Q105) Tampa
Q105 hasn’t added many new titles outright in the last few years, and most of those are in the 1-3x range. Jimmy Cliff’s “I Can See Clearly Now,” Gin Blossoms’ “Follow You Down,” and Skid Row’s “I Remember You” have all shown up since 2020. Cardigans’ “Lovefool” went on the year before.
WDUV Tampa
As the former Soft AC “Dove” evolves to a poppier version of Classic Hits, it had several flurries of new song activity during 2021, adding both newer and older titles. The former include:
Sheryl Crow, “My Favorite Mistake” and “If It Makes You Happy”- Jesus Jones, “Right Here, Right Now”
- Deep Blue Something, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”
- Blues Traveler, “Run-Around”
- Del Amitri, “Roll to Me”
- Dionne Farris, “I Know”
- Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories, “Stay (I Miss You)”
Older titles included:
- A Taste of Honey, “Boogie Oogie Oogie”
- Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine, “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You”
- Chic, “Le Freak”
- New Edition, “Candy Girl”
KXKL (Kool 105) Denver
Kool 105 was first monitored playing a number of ‘90s and ‘00s titles last May, when it also appears to have either created or expanded a ‘90s+ category, including:
- Mariah Carey, “Always Be My Baby,” “Dreamlover,” and “Emotions”
- Collective Soul, “December”
- Backstreet Boys, “Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)”
- Matchbox 20, “Push” and “Unwell”
- Creed, “With Arms Wide Open” and “Higher”
- Foo Fighters, “Learn to Fly” and “My Hero”
- Shania Twain, “That Don’t Impress Me Much”
- Hootie & the Blowfish, “Only Wanna Be With You”
- Barenaked Ladies, “One Week”
- Britney Spears, “(You Drive Me) Crazy” and “Baby One More Time”
- Blink-182, “All the Small Things”
- Sheryl Crow, “Soak Up the Sun”
- Del Amitri, “Roll to Me”
- OMC, “How Bizarre”
- Linkin Park, “In the End”
- Green Day, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”
- Alanis Morissette, “You Oughta Know” and “Head Over Feet”
- Jimmy Eat World, “The Middle”
- Semisonic, “Closing Time”
- Edwin McCain, “I’ll Be”
- Sugar Ray, “Someday”
- Backstreet Boys, “I Want It That Way” and “Larger Than Life”
- DNA f/Suzanne Vega, “Tom’s Diner”
- No Doubt, “It’s My Life”
A few older titles also went on in that time, including the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated,” AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” and the B-52’s’ “Roam.”
WKQC (K104.7) Charlotte, N.C.
K104.7 is gold-based AC, but it effectively serves as Charlotte’s Classic Hits station. So the station’s most-played song is “Safe and Sound” by Capital Cities, but it also recently added a number of ‘70s Classic Rock titles, a noticeable enough change that a reader called it to my attention. Those titles included:
- Electric Light Orchestra, “Mr. Blue Sky”
- Sweet, “Fox on the Run”
- Bad Company, “Feel Like Makin’ Love”
- Kansas, “Carry on Wayward Son”
- Kiss, “Rock and Roll All Night”
- Jefferson Starship, “Miracle”
K104.7 also began playing Elton John & Dua Lipa’s “Cold Heart” this year, perhaps the perfect recent title for a station that straddles the two formats in this way.
KONO 101 San Antonio
KONO has been very successful over the years with an older and more rhythmic-leaning version of Classic Hits. In a market with a considerable rhythmic and new-wave heritage, KONO’s most-played title last week was Information Society’s “What’s on Your Mind (Pure Energy).” But KONO has been filtering in the ‘90s over the last five years. The most recent handful of titles were first seen a year ago, including:
- 38 Special, “Second Chance”
- Janet Jackson, “Escapade”
- TLC, “Waterfalls”
- Ricky Martin, “Livin’ la Vida Loca”
- Uncle Kracker, “Drift Away”
- Vanilla Ice, “Ice Ice Baby”
- Mariah Carey, “Emotions” and “Always Be My Baby”
- Hootie & the Blowfish, “Only Wanna Be With You”
- Cher, “Believe”
- Backstreet Boys, “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”
- George Michael & Elton John, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”
- Selena, “I Could Fall in Love”
KOLA Riverside, Calif.
Four years ago, when other stations were tiptoeing into the ‘90s, I wrote about KOLA forging into the early-to-mid ‘00s. As you’d expect from that pattern, it’s now pushing into the last golden age of CHR in the late ‘00s/early ‘10s. Usher’s “Yeah” and Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” went on to KOLA in 2020. Last year, new airplay included:
- Pink, “So What” and “Just Like a Pill”
- Kelly Clarkson, “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
- No Doubt, “Hey Baby”
- Katy Perry, “Hot N Cold” and “Firework”
- Black Eyed Peas, “I Gotta Feeling”
- Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”
- Neon Trees, “Animal”
KOLA also added one older title, Bob Marley & the Wailers’ “Jamming,” in that same spate of titles.
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com