Classic alternative

Classic alternative is a radio format focusing on alternative music from the late 1970s to early 1990s, with particular focus on the early days of MTV. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Typical genres

• New wave: A major part of this category, especially early bands like The Cars, The Police, Blondie, Devo and Talking Heads. ^[4]
• Power pop: Bands such as The Knack, The Smithereens ^[5] and The Romantics are often included in this category.
• College rock: The major building block of American alternative rock, and thus artists in that genre are played often. The early works of R.E.M. (in particular), The Replacements ^[6] and They Might Be Giants usually show up on classic alternative stations. ^[5]
• Post-punk and British alternative/indie rock: Common on many classic alternative stations, and often added for variety. Artists include New Order, Public Image Limited and The Smiths. ^[7]
• Gothic rock and dark wave: Bands such as The Cure, Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus and Killing Joke. ^[8]
• Grunge: Sometimes played on classic alternative stations, but more often found on modern rock stations. Includes artists such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam. ^[9]
• Synthpop: Bands such as Duran Duran, Depeche Mode ^[7] and Pet Shop Boys and songs like "I Ran (So Far Away)" by A Flock of Seagulls and "Take On Me" by a-ha are essential on classic alternative stations.
• Dream pop and shoegaze: Bands such as Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Ride, and The Jesus and Mary Chain. ^[10] Uncommon, and depends on the amount of post-punk played on the station.
• New Romantic: Bands such as Spandau Ballet and Adam and the Ants.
• Ska revival: Bands such as Madness and The English Beat.
• Indie pop and modern indie rock: Artists including Aztec Camera, Sonic Youth and Orange Juice. ^[11]
• Punk: Bands including Ramones and The Clash.

Background

Some stations with an "all-'80s" format have added elements of the 1980s and '90s classic alternative format to their regular playlist. Cox's KHPT in Houston and WPOI in Tampa are prime examples of all-'80s stations that heavily relied on artists such as Peter Schilling, The Cranberries and New Order. KHPT flipped to a classic alternative format after its run as an all-'80s station. The same goes for KJAQ in Seattle, one of the first stations in the country to try this format.

Digital cable music service Music Choice (originally DMX) provided a station labelled New Wave for several years. The station was later renamed "Retro-Active", and later Classic Alternative, all of which played seventies to eighties new wave, post-punk, synthpop, etc. After several years, the station filtered in 1990s (and even sometimes post-millennium) artists. However, an artist like David Bowie can often fit in classic alternative because he meets the criteria. ^{[12] [13]}

SiriusXM offers a classic alternative station, 1st Wave, which was launched in 2008 following the merger between Sirius and XM and replaced similar stations on both services. ^{[14] [15]}

The format began to see wider adoption in late-2022 and 2023, particularly among stations and brands that have had a legacy in modern and active rock formats in their respective market. In December 2022, WNNX in Atlanta relaunched the heritage "99X" brand of sister station WWWQ as a classic alternative station, ^[16] while in July 2024, Corus Entertainment extended its Edge brand—long associated with its heritage modern rock station CFNY-FM in Toronto—to Calgary's CFGQ-FM using a classic alternative format. ^[17] In October, Corus also extended the format to CJKR-FM in Winnipeg, replacing its existing modern rock format. ^[18]

References

1. Is Classic Alternative Becoming the New Classic Rock? - Alan Cross' A Journal of Musical Things
2. In Utah, people still love 'alternative' music. But what is that, exactly? - The Salt Lake Tribune
3. WKKL Returns With Classic Alternative - RadioInsight
4. Rock - Music Choice
5. 10 Legendary Bands that Wouldn't Be Legendary without College Radio - CollegeRadio.org
6. How NPR Killed College Rock|The New Republic
7. Post-Punk 101: What Is Post-Punk?||Observer
8. Goth Rock Music Genre Overview|AllMusic
9. Microsoft Word - Coleman's Early Peek at Classic Alternative - January 2004–
10. Shoegaze Music Genre Overview|AllMusic
11. Indie Rock Music Genre Overview|AllMusic
12. Bill Virgin, "Radio Beat: It sounds like '90s music could be the next big format on Seattle dials"
13. Damien Cave, "Nirvana Bump Bizkit Off Dial - "Classic alternative" radio brings back the golden Nineties"
14. Snider, Mike. "As Sirius, XM signals merge, customers are confused". ABC News. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
15. "1st Wave artists defined 'alternative' by experimenting with new wave & punk music before it was cool". Hear & Now. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
16. Venta, Lance (5 December 2022). "WNNX Brings Back 99X". RadioInsight. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
17. Thiessen, Connie (2024-07-31). "Corus launches 107.3 the Edge in Calgary". Broadcast Dialogue. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
18. Thiessen, Connie (2024-10-08). "Corus rebrands Power 97 as 'Winnipeg's Iconic Alternative'". Broadcast Dialogue. Retrieved 2025-01-30.