KVRQ 98.9 FM -- New Classic Rock Station in Seattle

I have to admit it: I'm not exactly nuts about Classic Rock. I love some of the bands, though. The music itself isn't the problem for me -- I just don't want to hear it over and over and over again.

Most of those songs from that era (Led Zep, The Who, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, etc.) are ingrained in my head, both from hearing them on the radio over the years, and from having them in my CD collection. Also I heard them over and over and over and over again where I used to work (a company that provided music for radio stations all over the United States).

So when I heard there was a new "classic rock" station in Seattle, KVRQ 98.9, for a while I decided to ignore it.

But after a while, curiosity got the best of me, and I gave them a listen.

Imagine my surprise, they're actually quite good: they play a lot of 90's rock tracks, and some 80's stuff I haven't heard in a while. They seem to be very 80's and 90's heavy, with a few 00's thrown in, which I like. I just heard Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California", and the other night while cleaning the house I heard "Under The Bridge"; then I heard Quiet Riot's "Metal Health" ("Bang Your Head") -- a track I hadn't heard in a long time. Then there was a track by Tool. Then Danzig's "Mother". Then "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails. Then I heard Motley Crue's "Dr. Feelgood". You get the idea.

It sounded great on my Sangean PR-D5 mini-boombox. Nikki Sixx's bass sounded terrific.

And along with the newer classics on KVRQ you still get Black Sabbath, Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin -- and don't forget Ozzy Osbourne. I've heard "Over The Mountain", "Flying High Again", and a few other Ozzy staples.

I've noticed they play a lot of the classic songs that KBRE 105.7 The Bear (a station I've written about previously in this blog) includes in the "gold" part of their playlist: 80's and 90's heavy. The main difference, of course, is The Bear plays a lot of new rock, too.

I haven't heard a lot of nu-metal (aside from Disturbed) or rap-rock on KVRQ yet. Not sure if that's their cup of tea. Being a Seattle station, they do play a good dose of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice In Chains.

KVRQ is on 98.9 FM locally, but they also have an online stream on their website (http://989rocks.com/), so most of the people who read this blog can probably listen. I don't think they geo-fence, but I'm not sure. I see they're on Tune-In, for those who use that app.

http://tunein.com/radio/Rock-989-s26280/

For those of you into classic rock from the 80's and 90's, they're worth giving a try.

And if you want to hear newer rock mixed in, with a Seattle flavor, there's always KISW 99.9. They have an online stream, too.

KZOK 102.5 FM is the Seattle classic rock staple -- they play a lot of the 70's stuff everybody knows. They're starting to toss in a few 90's tracks into their playlist, though. They also have an online stream.

Addendum, 12-10-2017:
KVRQ "Rock 98.9" unfortunately is no longer with us. :-(  The company that owns the station decided to flip the format from Rock to Country music. This was after a local change in ownership of several radio stations in the Seattle area, which has caused several stations to change formats or frequencies. 98.9 was a good Rock station -- it played a lot of great music and it lasted just over a year and a half. RIP "Rock 98.9".