The description of a radio station that reads “Best Mix of the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and Today!” has a lot of responsibility on its hands for sorting through over 40 years of tracks while also satisfying the ears of listeners from all generations. So I gave them a fair shot to see what they thought the best hits were, and how many of them I owned music downloads of.

First song I listened to was Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers. Definitely one of the biggest hits from the band and of 1992. Not a bad start for A-1 Radio. Second track was Billy Idol’s 1982 hit Hot In the City. You can’t think of the 80s and not think of Billy Idol. Not personally a fan, but can definitely understand it’s placement on a greatest hits station.

Below is video of Billy Idol with his song Hot in the City:

Third song is 1998’s Pink by legendary rock band Aerosmith. Although this was a very popular song for the 3rd decade of music the band would release, it’s definitely not one of my top song favorites from them. I’d hope that this station plays their classic tracks from the 70s like Sweet Emotion and Dream On.

Here is a video of Aerosmith and their hit song Pink:

Traveling back to the 80s decade of rock, A-1 decided to follow Aerosmith with Styx and Mr. Roboto which was released in 1983, and is still a classic track. So far most of the music could be categorized in rock & roll categories, with a common feel starting to emerge. Creedence Clearwater Revival’ Susie Q would also be played, giving some recognition to the 1968 cover of Dale Hawkins’ 1957 hit. I’ve finally caught the station making an error by including a track out of their 40-year range. Since it’s a great mistake, and the song was popular through the early 70s, I’ll let it slide!

All the sudden out of nowhere, this radio station sends me on this total surprise road and plays Bette Midler’s 1990 hit From A Distance! I thought I was getting variety of rock over the decades, but maybe they really are quite the variety selectors. You’ve got to please the masses I suppose! They follow it with another soft classic from Bryan Adams with Do I Have To Say the Words (1992), then Warrant’s Heaven (1989). So all in all, if you have no idea what you want to listen to, A-1 Radio might just be perfect.