Oldies - Playing the Greatest Hits of the 50's, 60's, and 70's

Syaoran Li

Shouting The Battle Cry of Freedom
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Feb 19, 2017
So, I figured I'd start a thread on my favorite music radio format. One that isn't all that much of a thing nowadays but was a big thing in the 80's, 90's, and even into the 2000's.

"Oldies" is all about playing the hits of previous eras and is part of the wider "Classic Hits" format that largely succeeded it in the late 2000's and all throughout the 2010's. But there is a difference. All oldies are classic hits but not all classic hits are oldies.

"Classic Hits" basically refers to any mainstream music that's more than 20 years old. At this point, guys like Smash Mouth and the Backstreet Boys can qualify as classic hits.

"Oldies" is more specific and generally is associated with the Boomers and Silent Generation and can best be described as the popular hits and beloved songs from around the birth of Rock & Roll to around the death of Disco (or about 1955-1980) although some of the earlier oldies stations kept their playlists limited to 1950-1969.

Generally any kind of mainstream rock, pop, or R&B from 1955 to 1979 can qualify. Certain specific genres would include Doo-Wop, the British Invasion rock artists, Disco, Motown, Rockabilly, and the original bubblegum pop acts of the late 60's and early 70's.

Some staples of oldies radio would include these songs...








 
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I'll allow it.

That album came out in 1980, right at the very last possible year for the deadline. Plus, there is significant overlap between the oldies and the classic rock formats and AC/DC is a classic rock icon.

What about Christopher Cross' hit "Sailing"? Could it fit or it's close but no cigar?

Interesting to note then some 1970s bands like REO Speedwagon, Foreigner and Journey got higher success in the 1980s. The Moody Blues menaged to adapt to the 1980s with the 1981 album "Long distance voyager" with the hit "Gemini dream"

As for the death of disco, I could 1979 was the beginning of the end with the Disco demolition night, Disco bands like Kool & the Gang, Earth, Wind & Fire menaged to do some transition from disco to dance or funk. Some said disco died around 1982, when Michael Jackson album Thriller was a big success. Btw, I saw that article from last December about the Bee Gees and the death of disco.
 
Fuck yes, I love those old-time hits. I grew up with my father listening to them on the regular.
When we first came to Brazil, we listened to an early-evening radio show that played exclusively oldies goldies. It's themse song was this neat instrumental.
 
"Classic Hits" basically refers to any mainstream music that's more than 20 years old. At this point, guys like Smash Mouth and the Backstreet Boys can qualify as classic hits.
The oldies station I listen to on my drive to and from work started playing Haddaway last year. That makes me feel fucking old.

Maybe a bit cliche, but probably my favorite of theirs. Nothing like the personal relationships of an entire band falling apart to make some fucking hits though.

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Had to add, because I'm tired of hearing the inferior version.
 
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