Song · Bachman Turner Overdrive
“Roll On Down The Highway” by Bachman Turner Overdrive
From the album Not Fragile (1974)
“Roll On Down The Highway” by Bachman Turner Overdrive appears on 11 radio countdowns from 8 stations between 1997 and 2023. It was first released in 1974 on the album Not Fragile. Its best result is #255 on the WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,319 classic rock song of all time.
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Bachman-Turner Overdrive cut "Roll On Down the Highway" for Not Fragile in 1974, and it was the song that had to follow "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", the biggest hit they ever had. It started as a car commercial that never happened: Fred Turner and Randy Bachman had a deal to write for Ford, Ford passed on everything, and Robbie Bachman helped Turner turn one of his ideas into this.
Turner hollers the lead, Blair Thornton plays guitar, and Randy, who produced the record, takes the solo. It's four-on-the-floor truck-stop boogie with no apologies, the kind of thing Cash Box figured was made for the car radio. It went to 14 on the Hot 100, 4 in Canada and 22 in Britain, where it turned out to be the band's last hit.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 485 | 104.5 KZEP | KZEP Memorial Weekend Top 500 (1997) | 500 |
| 2002 | 484 | 92.3 KGON | KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2002) | 923 |
| 2004 | 518 | 92.3 KGON | KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) | 923 |
| 2010 | 255 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2011 | 648 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) | 1100 |
| 2012 | 664 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) | 1200 |
| 2014 | 289 | Big 100 | BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) | 1000 |
| 2016 | 986 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 | 1007 |
| 2021 | 792 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) | 1043 |
| 2021 | 393 | WCSX | WCSX Rock & Roll 500 (2021) | 499 |
| 2023 | 642 | 101.5 WPDH | WPDH Top 1015 (2023) | 1015 |
Also listed as: Roll on Down the Highway; Roll Down The Highway; Roll on Down the Highw; Roll On Down the Highway.
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