Classic Countdown

The Classic Countdown is a syndicated weekly, four-hour, hit-packed, oldies countdown program which was written, produced and hosted by Radio Hall-of-Fame broadcaster Dick Bartley. It is flagshipped at WCBS-FM in New York City and is syndicated across the country by United Stations Radio Networks and internationally via Radio Express.

Twenty featured songs from a particular month — alternating between 1970s and 1980s from week to week — are featured and played countdown-style, from No. 20 to No. 1. The Billboard Hot 100 chart is the standard for this ranking.

Though Bartley had hosted national radio shows since 1982, it was not until June 8, 1991, that he launched a countdown show. It was originally named American Gold. The concept of American Gold was loosely based upon the formats of other ABC shows, American Top 40 and American Country Countdown, except charts from a particular month or week from years' past were used. Differences between American Gold and the Classic Countdown were as follows:

Bartley announced his departure from ABC effective March 31, 2009. His last American Gold show, a 1975 Yearbook, was released to stations March 28, and relaunched the weekend of April 1 by the United Stations Radio Networks under its current name. ABC likely still holds rights to the "American Gold" name, which originates with ABC's former subsidiary Watermark Inc..

The current Classic Countdown focuses on the 20 biggest hits of the current month from a particular year in the past. The year range is currently 1971-1987. As with American Gold's countdowns of past years, Bartley would announce headlines, pop culture trends (such as styles, popular movies and TV shows, etc.) from that particular month. Music from the 1970s and 1980s fills out the playlist. (Unlike Rock and Roll's Greatest Hits, which still includes some 1960s titles and has started to add early 1990s, music on the Classic Countdown has strictly been from 1970-1989.)

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