60s Oldies

[CTListener]

"(Otherwise, how do you explain to listeners why you are playing 3 Dog Night's 1973 hits but not their 1969 hits?)" It could possibly be the same way that Elvis Presley's 100+ catalog was reduced to two songs! They quit playing the Beach Boys 1963 hits and everything by the Four Seasons before the late 70s as well!

Funny, though, that two of the Seasons/Valli songs still on many classic hits stations' playlists are "Grease" and "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)," sentimental songs about years the stations can't play songs from!

 

[firepoint525]

"(Otherwise, how do you explain to listeners why you are playing 3 Dog Night's 1973 hits but not their 1969 hits?)" It could possibly be the same way that Elvis Presley's 100+ catalog was reduced to two songs! They quit playing the Beach Boys 1963 hits and everything by the Four Seasons before the late 70s as well!

Well, with Elvis, his earlier career and later career were separated by that period of about half a dozen years or so when he made all those lame movies and did little else. Much easier than explaining why your dividing line comes right in the middle of one of your main artists' careers.

At any rate, it isn't likely to happen, so why worry about it? The next "generational divide" is likely to be about 1975-ish, simply because they can more likely get away with it. And hopefully, even that is still several years away.

 

[firepoint525]

I don't think the average listener is going to notice that you're not playing "One" anymore but you are playing "Joy to the World." Or that you're still playing Elton John's "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" but not "Your Song." Unless you've got a weekend request show and are telling your jock to answer requests for an "aged out" song with a BS line like "Sorry, we don't have that one" (the line Terry Young uses on Sirius XM's '60s channel when a request comes in for a mid-charter that was dropped from the playlist after Sirius took over, even though the caller remembers hearing it on that very channel just three years ago) and play one of the generationally correct songs instead. Otherwise, your average listener is going to notice only that a bunch of "new" songs are being played (the mid- and late '80s hits), not that the station isn't playing "House of the Rising Sun" anymore.

One of my biggest pet peeves with any radio station is that they try to condense their major artists' careers down to just one or two of their biggest hits. And this doesn't seem to be done with any regard to when they were hits. They just try to turn their biggest artists into de facto "one (or two) hit wonders." :

 

[CTListener]

I don't think the average listener is going to notice that you're not playing "One" anymore but you are playing "Joy to the World." Or that you're still playing Elton John's "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" but not "Your Song." Unless you've got a weekend request show and are telling your jock to answer requests for an "aged out" song with a BS line like "Sorry, we don't have that one" (the line Terry Young uses on Sirius XM's '60s channel when a request comes in for a mid-charter that was dropped from the playlist after Sirius took over, even though the caller remembers hearing it on that very channel just three years ago) and play one of the generationally correct songs instead. Otherwise, your average listener is going to notice only that a bunch of "new" songs are being played (the mid- and late '80s hits), not that the station isn't playing "House of the Rising Sun" anymore.

One of my biggest pet peeves with any radio station is that they try to condense their major artists' careers down to just one or two of their biggest hits. And this doesn't seem to be done with any regard to when they were hits. They just try to turn their biggest artists into de facto "one (or two) hit wonders." :

The problem is that there's no dollars-and-cents reason for stations to be going deep on Three Dog Night or the Grass Roots or even Rod Stewart anymore. Their prime hitmaking days are 40 years in the past and even though Stewart had a couple of '90s AC hits and is still out on the concert circuit doing standards, nobody in the money demos is listening anymore. So if you're going to play Three Dog Night or the Grass Roots on your classic hits station, you must restrict their exposure to avoid driving off the audience you're trying to attract with all that '80s music you've added -- hence, "Joy to the World" and "Midnight Confessions," their songs that do best in testing, and nothing else. Want to hear "Eli's Coming" or ""Temptation Eyes"? Try HD or satellite, where pleasing the youth-obsessed ad agency buyers isn't a consideration. As for Rod Stewart, a couple of his later hits, plus maybe "Maggie May" and "If You Think I'm Sexy," is probably as much as you'll dare play.

 

[firepoint525]

The problem is that there's no dollars-and-cents reason for stations to be going deep on Three Dog Night or the Grass Roots or even Rod Stewart anymore. Their prime hitmaking days are 40 years in the past and even though Stewart had a couple of '90s AC hits and is still out on the concert circuit doing standards, nobody in the money demos is listening anymore. So if you're going to play Three Dog Night or the Grass Roots on your classic hits station, you must restrict their exposure to avoid driving off the audience you're trying to attract with all that '80s music you've added -- hence, "Joy to the World" and "Midnight Confessions," their songs that do best in testing, and nothing else. Want to hear "Eli's Coming" or ""Temptation Eyes"? Try HD or satellite, where pleasing the youth-obsessed ad agency buyers isn't a consideration. As for Rod Stewart, a couple of his later hits, plus maybe "Maggie May" and "If You Think I'm Sexy," is probably as much as you'll dare play.

I think you're missing the point here, at least a little. Who said anything about "going deep" on anyone's hits? Hippie Radio just played 3 Dog Night again. Now the classic hits FM just a little further on up the dial indeed plays only a few 3DN hits, but their playlist is '70s-centered anyway. They currently play from about mid''60s to late '80s, of which they have added a few more lately.

 

[radiobum]

The last several posts make the case why satellite radio was able to find a niche and a radio listener who'd didn't live through the 60's and early 70's will never know all the groups they're missing-even relatively well known ones like Love.

 

[landtuna]

The last several posts make the case why satellite radio was able to find a niche and a radio listener who'd didn't live through the 60's and early 70's will never know all the groups they're missing-even relatively well known ones like Love.

I cannot tell you how many times one of my kids (22 thru 38) has watched a commercial using an Oldie, or watched a show like Cold Case where they play the past 50 years of songs and asked me if I ever heard it before. When I tell them the title and artist they usually say they like it and want to hear more. I just got done downloading Rod Stewart's complete discography for my 24-year old daughter (who grew up in Eastern Europe and had never heard him before).

 

[deltas69]

the 54 plus demo is a lot sharper than "tests" show...they remember all of the music from say 63 through 83 or so..and i say this from experience playing in live bands and dj gigs for that age group for over 20 years...after that..not much to enjoy anyway for that demo..the biggest problem is with OTA radio there is just not much time to play all those songs during drive times..and that demo stops listening after 6 pm..so you have morning drive...and afternoon drive...say 60-90 minutes..and you have 4000 plus songs from that time span.so....what ends up getting played is the same old songs ...for the few stations that still are playing..the same old songs.....

 

[oldies76]

As for Rod Stewart, a couple of his later hits, plus maybe "Maggie May" and "If You Think I'm Sexy," is probably as much as you'll dare play.

Recently heard "You Wear it Well", "Reason To Believe" & "Young Turks" on our local AM oldies station.

I can understand cutting back on older 50's & 60's music (as much as I dislike that), but since the main timeline to the target audience is roughly 1974-1993, those hits should be played frequently and not just the same one or two songs by an artist or group.

 

[firepoint525]

There was this misconception that "oldies" stations were playing a lot of '50s and early '60s oldies in 2005 and 2006, but really, they weren't. Oldies 96.3 was '60s-centered when they changed to "Jack" in 2005. Classic hits stations really weren't all that different, except that they provided an avenue to add '70s and '80s songs to their playlist, so it was really more of an imaging change than a flat-out format change. Maybe a little more emphasis on late '60s music on the classic hits stations, versus the mid '60s emphasis of "oldies" stations.

 

[CTListener]

There was this misconception that "oldies" stations were playing a lot of '50s and early '60s oldies in 2005 and 2006, but really, they weren't. Oldies 96.3 was '60s-centered when they changed to "Jack" in 2005. Classic hits stations really weren't all that different, except that they provided an avenue to add '70s and '80s songs to their playlist, so it was really more of an imaging change than a flat-out format change. Maybe a little more emphasis on late '60s music on the classic hits stations, versus the mid '60s emphasis of "oldies" stations.

WDRC-FM Hartford tried a full-blown switch to '70s-'80s hits in 2005, but feedback from listeners and advertisers was apparently so negative that they backtracked and brought back the oldies only 5 months later. Over the past two years, though, a much more gradual transition has occurred and the station has successfully transitioned to a mainly '70s-'80s mix with a couple of ultra-familiar mid- to late '60s super hits an hour.

 

[DoubleC]

here in Albuquerque when the Classic Hits Station Went More 70's & 80's we did The traditional Oldies Centered in 1965 with 50's and 70's in The 10 months we have been on FM we have grown from 20,000 listners to 55,000 the advertisers that use us get a GREAT response...the Best kept secret is young folk like the 60's stuff becasue it is NEW to them i am always having winners on my show that are 25,26 28 along with 45 and 50 yearolds...Yes the AGENCIES avoid us but we make it up with Directs that GET a RESPONSE

 

[landtuna]

here in Albuquerque when the Classic Hits Station Went More 70's & 80's we did The traditional Oldies Centered in 1965 with 50's and 70's in The 10 months we have been on FM we have grown from 20,000 listners to 55,000 the advertisers that use us get a GREAT response...the Best kept secret is young folk like the 60's stuff becasue it is NEW to them i am always having winners on my show that are 25,26 28 along with 45 and 50 yearolds...Yes the AGENCIES avoid us but we make it up with Directs that GET a RESPONSE

I've been waiting a long time to hear someone in the biz say what has also been my personal experience. ;D

 

[CTListener]

here in Albuquerque when the Classic Hits Station Went More 70's & 80's we did The traditional Oldies Centered in 1965 with 50's and 70's in The 10 months we have been on FM we have grown from 20,000 listners to 55,000 the advertisers that use us get a GREAT response...the Best kept secret is young folk like the 60's stuff becasue it is NEW to them i am always having winners on my show that are 25,26 28 along with 45 and 50 yearolds...Yes the AGENCIES avoid us but we make it up with Directs that GET a RESPONSE

I've been waiting a long time to hear someone in the biz say what has also been my personal experience. ;D

Nice to hear this, but can the mega-chains afford to blow off the agencies the way your station has? I assume your station is an independent or a small regional chain because there's no way a major metro big-chain station would ever get the go-ahead from corporate to do what you're doing.

 

[landtuna]

Nice to hear this, but can the mega-chains afford to blow off the agencies the way your station has? I assume your station is an independent or a small regional chain because there's no way a major metro big-chain station would ever get the go-ahead from corporate to do what you're doing.

I'm not in the biz but was replying to DoubleC who works at one of these stations. The station I use for reference is one I listen to over the 'net - KODS "The River" 103.7 out of Reno. It seems to belong to a small cluster of Reno-based stations that play Oldies and eschew agency biz for local, direct advertisers.

 

[FRR]

Please remember I am not saying a commercial radio station could make money playing the Oldies but some obviously are successful at it.

Being part of the 65+ generation, I broke away from commerical radio many years ago. First I went to satellite radio and now I listen to internet radio. And since I'm "spoiled" by not having to listen to commercials, I also find myself being annoyed by TV commercials. I buy or rent TV sitcoms and drams on DVD. It's worth the cost to eliminate the commercials.

I'm with you!

 

[PirateJohnny]

Maybe it was the market I grew up in, but my local AM Top 40 station played oldies back in the 60s/70s, too. I was exposed to a lot of music from before my time and I still like to listen to it today. I'm 54. My iTunes library includes Buddy Holly, Led Zeppelin and even new artists like Lady Gaga and Ke$ha.

I have basically categorized my music into 1955-1963, 1964-1975, 1976-1985, 1986-1999. Pre-Beatles, Beatles to Disco, Disco to MTV and New Stuff.

I grew up on Top 40 and I still find some new songs that I like.

But I digress. If I were dial surfing and heard Buddy Holly, I would stop on that station. But advertisers don't want to reach me. i'm earning more $ and spending more $ than I ever have, BUT, I rarely stray outside of my tried and true product selections. I do, however, pay attention to sale ads. That's why advertisers don't try to reach me.

 

[semoochie]

Actually, if you're 54, they're still trying to reach you. It's 55 when it all falls apart but you aren't an average listener because you came to this board. I heard the 50s as Oldies too and like them for that but my wife is the same age and doesn't feel that way at all! She barely makes any connection before The Beatles.

 

[landtuna]

I heard the 50s as Oldies too and like them for that but my wife is the same age and doesn't feel that way at all! She barely makes any connection before The Beatles.

And then there is my wife (born in 1960) who has told me a hundred times over the years she wishes she had been born a decade earlier "because she's one of those people". :