The radio station we listen to at work has a Golden Oldie Hour in the afternoon. It has played some songs that I would never have considered Golden Oldies, namely stuff from the early 90's. So when should songs be considered Oldies? 15 years? 20? 30?
It depends on your own view, I think. For me, anything from before I was interested in music would be an Oldie - so, about 25 years would be my boundary for this. (I´d never consider Van Halens "Jump" old, somehow...)
I replaced my Police Greatest Hits CD recently and was looking at the liner stuff and was mortified to realize Roxanne was over 25 years old now. I'm frickin' taping racing stripes to my walker...
Personally, I give that status to an era, namely the 50s and early 60s.
But I considered that to be the "oldies" when I was a kid in the 70s.
I thought about it some upon hearing a spate of remakes of songs I remebered when I was younger and thinking that they didn't need to remake that song, as the original still had legs. I suppose I still stand by that, but then you realize the song is 20+ years old and that there are a lot of people generally unfamiliar with the originals, just as bands in the 70s and 80s were remaking 50s and 60s songs.
I blame corporate radio. I used to listen to stations that would play a 60s tune and follow up with some early new wave and then some metal. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest, the Cars, Black Sabbath, and then maybe some Seger and/or Springsteen all in a row, all equally valid, and all rock. Now you listen to one station and never hear what you hear on a 2nd station, and then a 3rd station for other stuff, even though it is all supposed to be rock.
I guess that's why I listen mostly to tapes and cds now. I heard that the latest Rolling Stones CD is supposed to be pretty good, but you won't hear it on the radio. It's not old enough to be "classic", and the Stones aren't considered to be "cool" enough for the new rock stations, so what is left?
Celestial Healer
Gavgoyle
