Why doesn't the tone control work for the bridge-only pickup selection on a Stratocaster?
On the majority of Stratocaster guitars whether made by Fender or by Squier, when you select the bridge pickup alone, neither of the tone controls affect the sound. The bridge pickup is "always on 10" no matter what you do with either tone knob. However the tone controls do work for the other four switch positions.
There are some songs from certain time periods that say a ton of about a decade. Sweet Freedom by Michael McDonald is one of them.
The vast majority of solid-body electric guitars today are pretty much manufactured the exact same way they were 60 years ago. Planks of wood make up the body and neck, and simple passive (meaning non-"active") electronics are used for pickup selection, the pickups themselves, volume control, tone control and output jack.