It wasn't unheard of to hear Michael Jackson on some Rock stations for a period of time in the 80s.

Beat It was a big AOR hit in the 80s. Peaked @ #14. So did Say Say Say & Thriller (single). But most of the rest of his content was not AOR oriented. Hell, the whole AOR format changed post 83 to steer away from Top40 titles and go hard rock, hair, then alternative, then playing it safe avoiding hard rock tracks.

WLS gives 0 shits about the 80s. If you notice they do not play more than a few hits from an artist at one time. (That was a BIG CBS rule too). They are playing the same handful of burnt out hits hoping to pick up The Drives listeners when they tune out. If CBS didn't sell to Entercom, WLS would not have the path they have taken, KHITS would have been right up their rear end.

Z