Just because it's old ...
Doesn't mean it's an "oldie"!!!
That seems to be the general consensus of our recent "What Is An Oldie?" Poll.
In fact, when tabulating and analyzing all of the responses we received, it seems that the majority of the oldies music fans out there seem to think that "The Oldies Era" ends at about 1975 ... or right before the dawn of The Disco Era.
(Sure, we still had folks insist that it shouldn't run beyond 1963 ... that The British Invasion began another new era in music ... but if I'm going to cover "oldies" and retain any sense of passion about it, I've at least got to include the music that means the most to ME ... and that would be that so-called "Beatles Era" of 1964 - 1970. Music changed in SO many ways during these years ... and British Rock was just one aspect of this.)
We had the whole Motown / Atlantic / Stax Soul Thing going on ...
Psychedelia found its way on to the charts ...
As did HUGE country cross-over hits by artists like Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Roger Miller.
West Coast and East Coast falsetto sounds by the likes of The Beach Boys and The Four Seasons ...
Pop sensations like The Monkees, Tommy James and the Shondells, The Turtles and Paul Revere and the Raiders ...
Local Acts like The Buckinghams, The Cryan' Shames and The New Colony Six ...
Girl Groups like The Chiffons, The Shirelles, The Ronettes, The Shangri-Las and The Dixie Cups ...
And so much more. (And they all got played side by side every single day and nobody thought ANYTHING at all about it!)
Of course a REAL Oldies Station has GOT to include "Roots of Rock" artists like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and The Everly Brothers ... this is an absolute MUST ... as are break-out stars like Connie Francis and Brenda Lee ... Bobby Darin and Ricky Nelson ... the list truly does go on and on and on ...
(My God, if you're not going to play '50's music on an oldies station, where on earth ARE you going to play it?!?!? This music risks disappearing forever as though it never even existed ... despite the fact that it was this very music ... and these very artists ... who paved the way for what you ARE playing. Are listeners REALLY going to have to wait a hundred years until some enterprising "music archaeologist" digs it up again and rediscovers it like a fresh batch of dinosaur bones???)
Compiling a list of the Top 20 Hits documented between 1955 and 1975 certainly includes enough songs to fill ANY radio station playlist with more variety than that which is currently being offered today ... so maybe an oldies station dedicated to these twenty years would work.
But can I draw the line at 1975??? Sure, I'll miss not hearing many of my '70's favorites ... and even some of the '80's stuff ... but ALL of that music is easy enough to find elsewhere on the dial ... IN SPADES!!! There are at least a dozen other stations in town playing those same 200 - 300 tired songs again and again and again ad nauseam ... my "OLDIES" station doesn't have to play them, too!
Why not advertise yourself as "We play the songs you don't hear anywhere else" ... or "We play the music the OTHER radio stations have forgotten all about" ... and then actually PLAY some of this GREAT music!!! Be the station that stands out in your community by playing the stuff the oldies fans want to hear ... and the stuff you're NOT going to hear on every other stop up and down the dial. How 'bout this ... "We play the songs you love ... and the songs you forgot all about!" ... and then mix it up a bit ... play the stuff you're already playing but then plug in a "Wow" song or two every couple of hours! Your listeners will respond ... and then tell others about the GREAT music your station is playing.)Another overwhelming response establishing during our series was the fact that MOST of us are not embarrassed by the term "oldies" ... as far as oldies fans are concerned, it helps to define a specific era in music and it helps define the music and artists that we love. There are certain songs and certain artists that will NEVER be considered "oldies" ... and NO radio station is going to expand their listening audience by including them ... instead, you're simply going to drive away more and more of the REAL oldies fans ... because WE know the difference! (Or, if you're not going to stick to the playbook, then stop calling yourself an oldies station ... if you're going to give us a steady dose of late '70's, '80's and even early '90's music, you've given up your right to associate yourself with the oldies community. Stick with your "Greatest Hits of" tag and leave it at that!)
There are others on the list who believe that good music is simply good music ... and that as long as you're playing good music, the listeners will come and stay. I subscribe to that theory ... I don't really care if it's "Chattanooga Choo Choo", "Mystery Train", "Last Train To Clarksville", "Long Train Runnin'", "Midnight Train To Georgia", "Morning Train", "Train In Vain" or "Hey Soul Sister" by Train ... this is ALL good music. (I'm also one of the growing minority that believes that ALL of this music can co-exist alongside each other on one radio station dedicated to playing "The Music of Your Life" or "Music For The Ages" if programmed properly. But then you can't really call that oldies either!)
While this series may be over (and thanks again to EVERYONE who voiced their opinion on this one ... the response was overwhelming ... and proof positive that oldies music fans not only KNOW what they want ... but are PASSIONATE about their oldies!!!), we're not done yet when it comes to making programming suggestions. In fact, this just may be the next big wave for Forgotten Hits ... perhaps the next most logical step would be building the ULTIMATE Radio Play List!!! (After all, better radio benefits ALL of us!!!)
Stay tuned!
(kk)
