I think ITR is referring to the old AOR FM format. It hadn’t been dubbed “classic” yet. It was a boomer format, though. Anything from “Satisfaction” on could be in regular rotation. What I found was that in the 80s, they started adding a lot of metal to the playlist. It was in the 90s, when grunge got popular, that they started making the “Classic Rock” distinction.
I’d say it’s more of a romantic friendship.