The KROQ Top 106.7 Countdowns is an end-of-year countdown that lists the top "106.7" songs on the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

station

KROQ KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The stat ...

as voted by listeners. The countdown started in 1980, and ran every year until 2009. Since 2009, the list has been compiled by fans from playlist data. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, KROQ's proximity to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

and the

music scene gave it a unique place in the development of the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

genres. In its heyday, KROQ was considered the most powerful radio station in the world. It was the top-rated station in the

Los Angeles metropolitan area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

, and its "ROQ of the 80s" format was copied nationwide. Its renegade roots, and willingness to experiment, came along at the same time as the birth of punk and new wave. The choices made by the station and its staff had a worldwide impact. This is reflected in the annual list of most popular songs. The end of year countdown was the first among the station's "lists". Among others released are the "List Of 106.7 Biggest KROQ Bands" and "Flashback 500" or "Firecracker 500" (presenting the 500 most popular songs). In April 2020, the station released a COVID Quarantine edition of the "Top 106.7 Songs of All Time", with

Everlong "Everlong" is a song by American rock group Foo Fighters. It was released in August 1997 as the second single from their second studio album, ''The Colour and the Shape'' (1997). The song reached number three on the US ''Billboard'' Alternativ ...

by the

Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...

topping the list.

Countdowns by year

Lack of female artist representation

Over the years, bands like

the Go-Gos The Go-Go's are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboards, Belinda ...

and

the Bangles The Bangles are an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. The band recorded several singles that reached the U.S. top 10 during the 1980s, including "Manic Monday" (1986), "Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986), " Hazy Shade ...

made the list, but didn't make the top spot. Missing Persons, fronted by

Dale Bozzio Dale Frances Bozzio (née Consalvi; born March 2, 1955) is an American rock and pop vocalist. She is best known as co-founder and lead singer of the '80s new wave band Missing Persons and for her work with Frank Zappa. While with Zappa, she perf ...

, topped the chart in 1981, the chart's second year. However, since its inception, the number of female artists has decreased over the years, with

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on 8 December 1966; ) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second album, ''I Do Not Want What ...

being the only woman, or female act, to top the countdown. This is the same phenomena seen on the

Billboard's ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart that went seventeen years without a woman topping the chart from 1996 to 2013. Over the years, KROQ's Weenie Roast has also faced allegations that it does not pay enough attention to gender equity.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{cite web , url = https://archive.org/details/cftp-kroq-1983-12-31 , title = Crap From The Past - Bonus: KROQ/Los Angeles, Top 106 Of 1983 Countdown , date = 1983-12-31 , via = archive.org Record charts

Top A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be spun on its vertical axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect. Once set in motion, a top will usually wobble for a few ...

Countdowns by year

Lack of female artist representation

See also

Notes

References

External links