Right. I'm not a huge classic rock fan or anything, but as I grew up in the 70's listening to AM radio, I too know all the words to every Led Zeppelin or Eagles song ever recorded. It is like I share a part of the vast, collective unconsciousness every time Take It Easy comes on the radio or something. Here in Ithaca, the college radio stations pretty much go to hell on the weekends (while I am always a fan of the Saturday night ska hour, and Breakfast Avec le Bootles, the overwhelming amount of folk, grassroots, and zydeco on Ithaca weekend radio makes me kind of edgy...), so I find myself listening to the local classic rock station. The following bands are the ones that I am fond to come across a rock-block of during the weekends:

1. Cheap Trick: These guys were *way* ahead of their time, and I'm not talking about that The Flame crap. I Want You to Want Me, Surrender, and Dream Police (you can hear Apu singing that while he washes his car right now, can't you...) are all totally great rock tunes that I simply can't hear enough of. They were so wacky, that Cheap Trick, what with that Rick Nielson and Bun E. Carlos and all.

2. The Police: It always kind of makes me a little sad that The Police get lumped in with the classic rock genre these days (and every time I hear a Police song on some Lite FM station, a little more of my soul burns away), as they were rather cutting edge at the time, but what are you going to do? Hey, at least they get a lot of air play. The Police are simply, like, one of the best bands ever. Oh Sting. Where did you go wrong?

3. Pink Floyd: I have this theory that classic rock radio is based completely upon the complex interweaving of two elements--Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. They are the Super Ego and the Id. The Yin and the Yang. The Peanut Butter and the Chocolate. With out one, the other will overwhelm the listener. Without both, classic rock collapses in upon itself. Granted, I am much more of a fan of the earlier, more psychedelic Pink Floyd (like One of These Days and anything off of Atom Heart Mother), but Dark Side of the Moon is good enough for me.

4. Led Zeppelin: 'Cummon. Who doesn't love Stairway?

5. Queen: I am always kind of amazed that Queen managed to get as popular as they did in the realm of testosterone drenched, beer swilling arena rock, what with Freddy Mercury and all, but then I'm also constantly amazed that people were surprised that Rob Halford of Judas Priest is gay. Pretty much any Queen song is a good one. That's right. We are the champions. No time for losers. We are the champions. Of the world.

6. Yes: While some of the greatest transgressors of my very important rule about good rock and roll (if your guitar solo is longer than 15 seconds, you are just wasting time), I simply can't shake my geek-rock pedigree. These guys rule. The Wyrm section of Starship Trooper always makes me happy. Always.

7. The Rolling Stones: Again, I am a solid Beatles man, but I always love a good Stones tune. Sympathy for the Devil is for my money, their best tune ever. I mean, heck, they sing about the Bolshevik Revolution. Who woulda thought? I really think they should have hung it up in, like, 76' or something, so they could have gone out with some dignity, but still, they are the Stones.

8. John Lennon: Yeah, putting him in is kind of a cheat, but as opposed to most of the other post Beatles solo stuff, his was actually good. Ok, his heavily Yoko infected work was kind of nightmarish (don't get me wrong--I like Yoko as an individual and an artist, but she really shouldn't have been singing...), but his really dark stuff, like God, Mother, and Working Class Hero are great.

9. Neil Young: The only time I got to see Neil Young live was during his unfortunate blues period, which is kind of a bummer, but still, he was great. Solo or packed in with those CSN guys, Neil is simply great. Very gritty. Excellent music for wallowing in depression.

10. Styx: So I was watching the Styx: Behind the Music on VH1 the other day, and discovered that not only was Mr. Roboto the death-knell of the band, but that Dennis DeYoung is, in fact, completely barking mad. This being said, I certainly have a soft spot in my heart for these guys. Again, how did these guys make it big in classic rock? Who knows. Domo arigato indeed.