Check out WTJU Rock’s most played artists from the last 10 years
On the occasion of WTJU’s 2021 Rock Marathon (go donate!), we decided to look back at 10 years of online playlists from our rock department.
What’d we discover? The biggest stand-out is the sheer number of artists that we’ve played. WTJU’s eclectic, freeform schedule lends itself to musical diversity. And that’s exactly what WTJU Rock delivers — around 21,300 different artists over the last decade.
And the most played artist? David Bowie, who passed away five years ago and has been the subject of many a tribute show on WTJU.
Yo La Tengo, featuring WTJU alum James McNew, shows up on the top 10 lists of male-fronted bands and female-fronted bands. It’d be a disservice to say that either Georgia Hubley or Ira Kaplan leads Yo La Tengo — they formed the band as a couple in 1984, and both lend songwriting and vocal talents. (McNew has rounded out the trio on bass and vocals since the early 1990s.)
(Click here or on image for larger version.)
A number of other artists didn’t quite make the top 10 lists, but deserve honorable mention. Being a freeform station, no artist gets thousands of spins on WTJU. But these artists have each been played quite a bit: The Rolling Stones, Tame Impala, Moon Duo, Wilco, Sparks, Ween, Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Guided By Voices, Beck, Neil Young, Steve Gunn, Prince, Andrew Bird, Invisible Hand, Fugazi, New Boss, Lucy Dacus, and Blondie.
