I don’t listen to Classic Rock very often anymore, but occasionally a song will pop-up somewhere and I’ll think “wow! I had forgotten about that one. What a great song.”
For some reason, standard Classic Rock stations seem to have a set list that excludes many, many songs, so we rarely hear them anymore.
One example is “Captain of Her Heart”. What a great song with unusual chord changes.
Youtube video
I know exactly what you mean. Every once in a while a station will make a mistake and play something forgotten, and I’m like “Hey! I used to like that song!”
And now thanks to used record stores and iTunes store, I have them!
I listen to Spotify, and they rarely don’t have a song I remember fondly.
About a year ago I was eating in a barbecue place that had as ambient music a playlist of songs from the 70s and 80s. Halfway through the meal I heard Gerry Rafferty’s “Get It Right Next Time,” and realized I hadn’t even thought of that song in about 20 years, although I loved it when it was on the radio. I wasted no time in downloading it from Amazon and adding it to my playlist.
Periodically I wonder what other songs I’m forgetting that I used to love. It’s always a nice day-brightener when I come across another one.
Practically every day I wake up with what I call my WTF?? song in my head. It worries me. It’s like a prelude to dementia or something. Two most recent ones were Dead Skunk by Loudon Wainwright III and I’ll Do Anything for You by Denroy Morgan.
Also playing in the WHERE DID THIS SONG COME FROM!!! hit parade in my head: Mouth and McNeal’s How Do You Do and that instrumental named Popcorn that I do not know who made it.
I occasionally remember a line from a song, so I look up the rest of the lyrics and I realize the only line from the song I recognize at all was that one original line!!
WTF is up with that? Most recently it was the song Take My Breath Away by Berlin. I knew the line Take Amy Breath Away, but nothing else.
This perhaps?
Yes indeedy!
I’ve been going through that a lot lately! Like there’s a 80’s light rock radio station playing in the back of my mind.
I can’t remember what yesterday’s one was, already. But it is definitely now considered a forgotten hit.
For no reason whatsoever, Foreigner’s “That Was Yesterday” popped into my head this morning. I haven’t heard or even thought of that song in a couple decades.
The artist was “Hot Butter.”
Back forty-plus years ago, I was on the air at a small radio station. I made a number of friends there, and one of them is still on the air. Only once a week, but he’s still there, and he plays a lot of “half-forgotten old songs.” He’s happy to take requests.
How could I remember not only the song, but the name of the song and NOT remembered the name of the band was Hot Butter? Like, it’s a wonder I didn’t think the name of the actual song was Hot Buttered Popcorn!
After putting it off for years – decades, really – I have finally subscribed to SiriusXM. I’ve been discovering whole song catalogs that I listened to as a teenager but had forgotten long ago.
The Deep Tracks station is great for this. Classic Vinyl and Classic Rewind are also gold mines. Today on the drive to work I heard The Doors’ Back Door Man, the first time I’ve heard that song since the mid-90’s. Ah, memories…
It’s become a luxury I can’t do without. Half-forgotten old songs are the only thing I ever want to hear anymore.
I like Swedish Chef’s cover better than the original.
The Boston Pops version ain’t bad either:
In a month, or less, you’ll begin to see how short their playlists are. It’s just a different short list than you’ve been used to.
Was driving the other day, fiddling with the dial, when I heard some half-faded radio station playing “Day by Day” from Godspell, a song I don’t think I’ve heard since the 1970s.
I had a Youtube link, but SDMB wouldn’t allow me to post it. 
Heh. When I first got SiriusXM, I started calling the 1970s channel, “The Frampton Channel,” because they played so much Peter Frampton. But they do change things up, and I rather like them, to the point where listening to free, over-the-air, commercial radio is a painful experience.
I am glad that the 60s channel got rid of Cousin Brucie. He may have been good back in the 1960s, but now, he’s in love with his own voice. Nothing but talk and very little music.
A genre that is almost completely gone from Classic Rock stations is Southern Rock. You might hear “Ramblin’ Man” by the Allman Bros but you’re never going to hear “Whipping Post” or “Statesboro Blues.” And you sure won’t hear “Fire on the Mountain” by the Marshall Tucker Band or “Hurry Sundown” by the Outlaws. Those used to be Album Oriented Rock staples. I loved that genre of music, but time and changing tastes about what is “Rock” have passed it by.