Starting at 10 a.m. Friday, classic rock fans will enjoy — and argue about — a Pittsburgh radio tradition all Memorial Day weekend. The 102.5 WDVE Memorial Day 500 Countdown will take listeners on a journey through the top 500 classic rock songs of all time … as determined this year.
This special holiday weekend program began in 1985. “But it took a bit of time off, so (it’s been) on and off since 1985,” said WDVE program director John Moschitta. “We brought it back to coincide with ‘DVE’s 50th anniversary in 2019. We thought it was appropriate.”
The countdown will air from 10 a.m. to midnight Friday; 11 a.m. to midnight Saturday; 8 a.m. to midnight Sunday; and Monday starting at 9 a.m.
As for how the list is made? It seems to be a secret. Chad Tyson, afternoon drive host on ‘DVE, can’t say for certain. “We just let the ‘DVE scientists from the music lab, if you will, do their thing. I’ll get the list tomorrow and we’ll start tearing into it,” he said.
Tyson will be on the air from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday and will start the countdown up again after the overnight break at 11 a.m. Saturday. He also gets the honor of crossing the finish line on Monday evening with the list’s highest-ranking songs.
Tyson has been at ‘DVE since August 2019, so this will be his fifth Memorial Day 500 with the station. He tends to like the earlier part of the list best.
“My favorite parts of the countdown are actually the first two days because we get really cool stuff that you don’t hear a lot,” he said. “There’s some cool stuff we get in there early in the countdown. You’ve got to listen to the end of it, too, because you invested all the time over the weekend. You’ve got to find out how it’s going to end. It’s like a great TV show.”
‘DVE Electric Lunch’s Michele Michaels agreed that it’s a weekend-long commitment for Pittsburghers near and far. “It doesn’t matter how old a person is or what they’re doing over the weekend — they’re compelled to keep checking in. ‘What number are they on? Are you kidding me? That song sucks! Number 68 is not better than number 100!’
“It’s almost like arguing about the Steelers or the Pirates on a barstool. It’s so much fun and brings back so many cool memories,” Michaels said.
We are officially 24 hours away from the start of this year's #DVEMemorialDay500!
Where will you be listening from this weekend? #iHeartRadio #Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/xgVlRFGG81
— 102.5 WDVE (@DVERADIO) May 23, 2024
She has been at ‘DVE for almost 40 years — long enough to see every Memorial Day 500. According to Michaels, the program director at the time of the countdown’s inception had connections to Indianapolis. “So it’s a play on the Indy 500,” she said.
Moschitta thinks that the Memorial Day 500 is so popular because music fans love lists — and this is a big one.
“Plus, there are quite a few songs on the list you might not have heard in a while,” he added.
As for the list itself, Tyson and Michaels aren’t sure what will climb to the number one spot this year.
Last year’s list was topped by “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin. No. 1 the year before was Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” — with “Stairway” right on its heels at No. 2.
Rounding out the 2023 top five were “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Another Brick in the Wall” by Pink Floyd, “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, and “Dream On” by Aerosmith.
Tyson doesn’t think that “Stairway” will snag the big prize again this year.
“There’s countdowns where it’s always No. 1, no matter what year it is. Ours changes up. … Not major changes, but there are changes, especially in the top 10.”
As for Michaels’ predictions for the countdown’s final stretch, she has a couple of safe bets. “All I can say is, ‘Stairway to Heaven’ will be in there somewhere. I think ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ will be in the top 10. Other than that, I really have to wait to see myself,” she said.
WDVE is part of iHeartRadio, meaning that listeners can download the free iHeartRadio app and listen all weekend, no matter where they are.
“You can be in another town or visiting relatives on the West Coast and still check in … or if you grew up in Pittsburgh and you now live in Tampa or Phoenix or Canada,” Michaels said.
She will be traveling this weekend, but distance won’t keep her from tuning in. “We’re going to be rocking it. … We’ll be with people aged 5 to 75, so it’ll be big fun.”
“The listeners are really what’s fun because it’s a huge tradition for them to just listen to it all weekend,” Tyson said. “They’ve been doing this for as long as we’ve been doing the countdown. We have the soundtrack for Pittsburgh’s Memorial Day weekend.”
Alexis Papalia is a TribLive staff writer. She can be reached at apapalia@triblive.com.
