I would think that stations now might play Polly every now and then too?

Again, the statement was "significant airplay" not "every now and then" or "this one station in Houston plays all the songs".

I feel like "the rock station" playing one or two songs a day for an album thats 30 years old is pretty high airplay. I mean none of these songs are in the top played but I imagine thats because they have to spread out the Nirvana for a station thats playing like multiple decades worth of music. This station is iHeart so like arent there going to be stations with the same format all over?

JJxvi said:

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I feel like "the rock station" playing one or two songs a day for an album thats 30 years old is pretty high airplay. I mean none of these songs are in the top played but I imagine thats because they have to spread out the Nirvana for a station thats playing like multiple decades worth of music. This station is iHeart so like arent there going to be stations with the same format all over?

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thats a bingo! I haven't worked for iheart/clear channel in a very long time but this link below (especially the "premium choice" section) is very accurate from what I know today. There may be some "local" influence where a local program director gets some discretion (maybe 1 or 2 songs per hour) but for most part there's maybe 2 versions of a format and you pick which direction you want to go with it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programming_syndicated_by_iHeartMedia#Premium_Choice

Know Your Enemy said:

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I need you to show me some proof of this alleged "significant airplay" for those other songs because it's just not accurate.

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Other than what I've heard plus other posters chiming in with what they've heard beyond the 4 you listed? Not sure what kind of proof you're looking for, chief.

Rocagnante said:

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Know Your Enemy said:

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I need you to show me some proof of this alleged "significant airplay" for those other songs because it's just not accurate.

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Other than what I've heard plus other posters chiming in with what they've heard beyond the 4 you listed? Not sure what kind of proof you're looking for, chief.

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You can keep with the snarky insults but that doesn't prove a single claim you've made. And no one else has even supported the "significant airplay" statement. "Well one other guy thinks that being played once every few days is a lot so I'm right!" Lol.

Know Your Enemy said:

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Rocagnante said:

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Know Your Enemy said:

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I need you to show me some proof of this alleged "significant airplay" for those other songs because it's just not accurate.

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Other than what I've heard plus other posters chiming in with what they've heard beyond the 4 you listed? Not sure what kind of proof you're looking for, chief.

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You can keep with the snarky insults but that doesn't prove a single claim you've made. And no one else has even supported the "significant airplay" statement. "Well one other guy thinks that being played once every few days is a lot so I'm right!" Lol.

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Songs from an album 30 + years old getting played every few days is significant airplay. At least to me it is but then again I never managed a music store for a couple years in the 90's. Not sure why you're so functionally fixated on the phrase "significant airplay" when it's obvious by now that more than the only 4 songs you know from that album get airplay.

Theres definitely more than 4, and definitely less than 10 of these songs that are popular enough that you can still hear them on the radio if you're listening to an alternative rock format in 2022, 31 years later. Feel free to continue to have an argument about what "significant airplay" means.

Lol @ me knowing only 4 songs from the album. Your definition of "significant airplay" is asinine. If you had said it's the most influential album of the 90's I wouldn't have even responded. That's a legitimate claim. But when someone says something completely ludicrous I have a hard time not responding. It's a character flaw for sure.

JJxvi said:

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Theres definitely more than 4, and definitely less than 10 of these songs that are popular enough that you can still hear them on the radio if you're listening to an alternative rock format in 2022, 31 years later. Feel free to continue to have an argument about what "significant airplay" means.

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If that's your argument the same could be said for multiple grunge albums then.

Know Your Enemy said:

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JJxvi said:

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Theres definitely more than 4, and definitely less than 10 of these songs that are popular enough that you can still hear them on the radio if you're listening to an alternative rock format in 2022, 31 years later. Feel free to continue to have an argument about what "significant airplay" means.

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If that's your argument the same could be said for multiple grunge albums then.

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Cool

Just stopped in to say that Radiohead is ****ing awesome.

Professor Frick said:

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Just stopped in to say that Radiohead is ****ing awesome.

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No they aren't.

I like The Bends and OK Computer, but not really a fan of anything else they've done.

Stop radioheading my nirvana thread

Per the charts:

Smells Like Teen Spirit
Come As You Are
In Bloom (peaked #5 on us billboard mainstream rock chart)
On A Plain (peaked #25 us alternate chart)
Lithium (peaked #64 billboard top 100)


Polly would be next on the list, but you can make the argument that never got "significant" airplay, though it was certainly on terrestrial radio.

Hey Spilner brought them up. Leave it to the guy who likes the Offspring to complain about bands being overrated. (Fwiw, I think Radiohead is actually underrated <ducks>)


Back on topic though, I do agree Unplugged is a great album. Kurt wrote really great melodies, and he got to show them off stripped down like that. And his choice of covers were very cool too. Old Leadbelly songs that most punk kids wouldn't have known, Bowie, and of course some Meat Puppets. He saw this as a chance to show the kids some of his influences and peers, it definitely opened my ears to some stuff I didn't know about before.

Looking back, I think Drain You is actually my favorite Nirvana song

The Offspring is far from overrated. How often do you see them called the best band of all time?

Plus Offspring fans aren't insufferable about it.

I'm just joking. Of course no one is calling the Offspring overrated or the best band. How could they?

Smash had more "significant airtime" songs on terrestrial radio than Nevermind did.

Just sayin'.

Professor Frick said:

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Looking back, I think Drain You is actually my favorite Nirvana song

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Likewise. Same with something in the way, although I like the unplugged version of something in the way better than the nevermind version.

Proposition Joe said:

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Per the charts:

Smells Like Teen Spirit
Come As You Are
In Bloom (peaked #5 on us billboard mainstream rock chart)
On A Plain (peaked #25 us alternate chart)
Lithium (peaked #64 billboard top 100)


Polly would be next on the list, but you can make the argument that never got "significant" airplay, though it was certainly on terrestrial radio.

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Polly was played a ton, at least on 99.5 KISS in San Antonio. Something in the Way too.

Whatever offspring was originally, they turned in to a caricature of it in their later years.

I love Smash, but it's the only consistent album The Offspring ever made. Americana has some good songs, but a lot of crap as well. Everything else they did was 1 or 2 good songs and a lot of bad filler.

Ixnay, Splinter, and Rise and Fall are all solid.

TXAG said:

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Polly was played a ton, at least on 99.5 KISS in San Antonio. Something in the Way too.

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This is an interesting point, the program director for KISS at the time was Kevin Vargas (disclaimer: I worked for him @ KISS for a brief time in the late 90s and I am obviously biased) and the operations manager over that whole group was Virgil Thompson, and both of them were incredibly very well known in rock radio. For a long, long, time during the 80s and 90s KISS was one of the most recognized rock stations in the country.

My point is...between KISS and a handful of other rock stations, if you followed their playlist top to bottom, you were probably doing very well and all you had to do was rely on the program directors at those stations to find the deep cuts and stuff the labels weren't pushing.

We also played a shht-ton of Offspring when I was there.

superunknown said:

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TXAG said:

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Polly was played a ton, at least on 99.5 KISS in San Antonio. Something in the Way too.

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This is an interesting point, the program director for KISS at the time was Kevin Vargas (disclaimer: I worked for him @ KISS for a brief time in the late 90s and I am obviously biased) and the operations manager over that whole group was Virgil Thompson, and both of them were incredibly very well known in rock radio. For a long, long, time during the 80s and 90s KISS was one of the most recognized rock stations in the country.

My point is...between KISS and a handful of other rock stations, if you followed their playlist top to bottom, you were probably doing very well and all you had to do was rely on the program directors at those stations to find the deep cuts and stuff the labels weren't pushing.

We also played a shht-ton of Offspring when I was there.

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KISS was a great station, listened to it religiously until I moved to Houston about 15 years ago. Still mad at them for getting rid of Lisle and Hahn and replacing them with the stupid a** Billy Madison show.

TXAG 05 said:

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superunknown said:

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TXAG said:

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Polly was played a ton, at least on 99.5 KISS in San Antonio. Something in the Way too.

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This is an interesting point, the program director for KISS at the time was Kevin Vargas (disclaimer: I worked for him @ KISS for a brief time in the late 90s and I am obviously biased) and the operations manager over that whole group was Virgil Thompson, and both of them were incredibly very well known in rock radio. For a long, long, time during the 80s and 90s KISS was one of the most recognized rock stations in the country.

My point is...between KISS and a handful of other rock stations, if you followed their playlist top to bottom, you were probably doing very well and all you had to do was rely on the program directors at those stations to find the deep cuts and stuff the labels weren't pushing.

We also played a shht-ton of Offspring when I was there.

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KISS was a great station, listened to it religiously until I moved to Houston about 15 years ago. Still mad at them for getting rid of Lisle and Hahn and replacing them with the stupid a** Billy Madison show.

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John Lisle? He was in Houston for a time in the 90's. He was great!

Primal Scream Therapy was fantastic after a crappy week or the Oilers being the Oilers again.

maroon barchetta said:

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TXAG 05 said:

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superunknown said:

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TXAG said:

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Polly was played a ton, at least on 99.5 KISS in San Antonio. Something in the Way too.

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This is an interesting point, the program director for KISS at the time was Kevin Vargas (disclaimer: I worked for him @ KISS for a brief time in the late 90s and I am obviously biased) and the operations manager over that whole group was Virgil Thompson, and both of them were incredibly very well known in rock radio. For a long, long, time during the 80s and 90s KISS was one of the most recognized rock stations in the country.

My point is...between KISS and a handful of other rock stations, if you followed their playlist top to bottom, you were probably doing very well and all you had to do was rely on the program directors at those stations to find the deep cuts and stuff the labels weren't pushing.

We also played a shht-ton of Offspring when I was there.

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KISS was a great station, listened to it religiously until I moved to Houston about 15 years ago. Still mad at them for getting rid of Lisle and Hahn and replacing them with the stupid a** Billy Madison show.

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John Lisle? He was in Houston for a time in the 90's. He was great!

Primal Scream Therapy was fantastic after a crappy week or the Oilers being the Oilers again.

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Same guy. He was at KLOL for a little bit in Houston

We enjoyed his time in Houston. He was a change of pace for sure!

I lived in Austin for a spell and could pick up KISS most nights. Listened to it a lot. Joe Anthony was the man.

When I tuned in and heard that an hour of Metallica one night per week was regular programming I knew this was the best station I was going to find.

TXAG 05 said:

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superunknown said:

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TXAG said:

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Polly was played a ton, at least on 99.5 KISS in San Antonio. Something in the Way too.

---

This is an interesting point, the program director for KISS at the time was Kevin Vargas (disclaimer: I worked for him @ KISS for a brief time in the late 90s and I am obviously biased) and the operations manager over that whole group was Virgil Thompson, and both of them were incredibly very well known in rock radio. For a long, long, time during the 80s and 90s KISS was one of the most recognized rock stations in the country.

My point is...between KISS and a handful of other rock stations, if you followed their playlist top to bottom, you were probably doing very well and all you had to do was rely on the program directors at those stations to find the deep cuts and stuff the labels weren't pushing.

We also played a shht-ton of Offspring when I was there.

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KISS was a great station, listened to it religiously until I moved to Houston about 15 years ago. Still mad at them for getting rid of Lisle and Hahn and replacing them with the stupid a** Billy Madison show.

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Dude, me too. I grew up listening to Lisle & Hahn and they were my freaking idols. To sit across from them at a conference table during staff meetings was mind blowing. The BM show was doing very well in Tulsa and they were new/young enough to be cheap. They also followed up that by being one of the first "active" rock stations to transition into a 90s gold focused playlist. They basically froze the early 2000s hits, dumped most of if not all of the 70s/80s gold and rolled like that. I'd say overall the slow decline of the rock format led KISS in that direction, but I'd also say even just a tiny bit...KISS bailing out of "active" and ditching the current music helped hasten that decline. Rock radio lost a LOT of big name stations from 2008-2020 or so.

On a different level, in an industry with a lot of absolute scumbags, Steve Hahn is 100% one of the best dudes ever. He is the real deal, just an all around great guy.


Edited to add: and hell yes, Joe Anthony was the man. He truly was the Godfather. Worst part about getting old is that there's not gonna be many of us who remember him.

A song not mentioned buy one I think was one of their best was Aneurysm which was the B side track on smells like teen spirit. That opening segment to the song which then transitions to the main part of the song just seemed genius at the time. Still one of my favorite Nirvana songs. Also love Scentless Apprentice from In Utero; interesting that Dave Grohl wrote the amazing guitar riff on Scentless apprentice. Still my favorite all time band.

Professor Frick said:

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Hey Spilner brought them up. Leave it to the guy who likes the Offspring to complain about bands being overrated. (Fwiw, I think Radiohead is actually underrated <ducks>)


Back on topic though, I do agree Unplugged is a great album. Kurt wrote really great melodies, and he got to show them off stripped down like that. And his choice of covers were very cool too. Old Leadbelly songs that most punk kids wouldn't have known, Bowie, and of course some Meat Puppets. He saw this as a chance to show the kids some of his influences and peers, it definitely opened my ears to some stuff I didn't know about before.

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Quote:

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Looking back, I think Drain You is actually my favorite Nirvana song

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100% agree on your thoughts on Unplugged and Drain you. "Drain you" and the cover of "Man who sold the world" are my go to Nirvana tracks.