Oldies?

[RealDealBS]

I have been doing "oldies" on my shows for roughly 20 years and it has always remained pretty much the same. I enjoy them from a listeners standpoint and forget about the trends and research of it all. I find people tend to get boiled up into the business end of it and forget about what the listener really wants. Many people I know who tend to be in their 20's or 30's really enjoy oldies (not quite as much as I do), but they know them from hearing them on commercials or American Idol or growing up with them. I was in Memphis for Elvis Week 2008 and noticed the median age of fans was 23-45, why is this? Where are they picking up on it when most were infants when Elvis was in his heyday (or not even born). I met kids in high school there, really engrossed in the whole 50's-60's thing. I am 39 years old and grew up with oldies being played constantly in my house. It's funny being 39 years old and getting e-mails and letters from people saying they grew up listening to me and the music. Why is it connecting with young people and not connecting with people in the radio biz? I will never be afraid to reach out there and find out what the listeners want as opposed to being told what they want. I had a very informed discussion with a girl who was 19 years old about Henry Mancini just about a week ago, that is my research-talking to listeners and seeing what they like. Oldies radio is not dead, it's very much alive, think before you program, the oldies you drop may have been a sure bet. www.realdealbobsteele.com

 

[JenniferB]

My 30th is in March. I grew up with Oldies in my house as well! When everyone else was into Duran Duran and Madonna I was into the MONKEES, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Doo Wop, Mama's and Papa's, etc. Oddly enough one of the formats I work for is Oldies. Listen to them 9+ hours a day! Another reason I think many even younger people are drawn to oldies is because they are bored with the current options. Or following the roots of those they DO listen to now! It's pretty darned cool if you ask me!

 

[JenniferB]

PS: Don't get me wrong...I love the 80's too! A 80's child indeed, but you gotta LOVE those oldies!

 

[steve732]

Well Said ! I think that the typical " The Sky Is Falling" intimidation that comes from corporate entities can be dangerous. Since big companies took over radio, it's like Hollywood....They want to dictate to the American people what ( in their terms) YOU want to hear. The stations then follow suit ? Best example I can give is CBS-FM... Once an oldies station pulling top numbers, then after 2 format changes, people are STILL bantering back and forth over the station. Younger audiences tout that they have to have it their way, 50's and 60's are dead and I've read so many times on this website the fact that anyone who listens to oldies is an old fart or somehow sub culture or a geezer.. Fact is Oldies music 50's-60's are an art form.
New artists constantly cover and record their versions of those 5o's and 60's songs. Check out the TV ads...and most of the time there's a cadillac commercial or something backed with an Oldies Song.. Go to a movie and most of the time there's a couple of Oldies songs in the movie. Fact is, people LOVE it. IT's a classic ( no pun intended) example of how the few try to dictate to the many. I do appreciate music, all types and like Cousin Bruce Morrow says " If It's Good, It's Good !. But to all the PD's out there who may read this, there's still money in the Oldies format, and it's how well you present it, Don't FM-ize it like Scott Shannon does aka 24/7 Scott. Go back and put the personality back in radio and play more than the typical elevator oldies that caused the stations to fail.She's a fickle format, don't automate it , play it. Loud and Proud.

 

[TheFonz]

Another reason I think many even younger people are drawn to oldies is because they are bored with the current options. Or following the roots of those they DO listen to now! It's pretty darned cool if you ask me!

I think that today's radio listener gets bored with short play lists. Any format that will cover 30+ years of chart music (Oldies, Classic Country, etc) attracts listeners because of the variety.

 

[firepoint525]

I'm kinda like Jennifer, only a little older. I will be 45 in November. I grew up listening to the hits back in the '70s, and into the '80s. But even then, I heard a lot of oldies, because stations mixed in '50s and '60s along with it! So even though I'm not old enough to remember when they were "hits," I still listen to them because I still have memories associated with hearing them at certain times when I was growing up!

 

[andreajesus]

look, does it MATTER how old somebody is to like oldies? look at me, i'm gonna be 50 in april, i like the 70's/80's stuff as much as ANYBODY (man, i saw a GREAT Chicago/Doobie Brothers concert this past summer at Jones Beach...), BUT...i am like the biggest FREAK in my neighborhood because i love my doowopps, my r and b, and my Motown as much as and even MORE than the fans who WERE around when this stuff was hits in the FIRST place!!

 

[GridLeakBias]

look, does it MATTER how old somebody is to like oldies? look at me, i'm gonna be 50 in april, i like the 70's/80's stuff as much as ANYBODY (man, i saw a GREAT Chicago/Doobie Brothers concert this past summer at Jones Beach...), BUT...i am like the biggest FREAK in my neighborhood because i love my doowopps, my r and b, and my Motown as much as and even MORE than the fans who WERE around when this stuff was hits in the FIRST place!!

There is no age limit for Oldies. What are oldies? Usually, they are musical memories of our high school days, and earlier.

My memories probably relate to yours, except mine happened ten or twenty years before yours.

For sure, your recalls and mine bring back the same type memories: first date, first kiss, first dance, Saturday night movies, going steady, junior/senior prom…we all have gone through the wonderful years of growing up, with all its miseries and memories.

 

[pqgeorge]

look, does it MATTER how old somebody is to like oldies? look at me, i'm gonna be 50 in april, i like the 70's/80's stuff as much as ANYBODY (man, i saw a GREAT Chicago/Doobie Brothers concert this past summer at Jones Beach...), BUT...i am like the biggest FREAK in my neighborhood because i love my doowopps, my r and b, and my Motown as much as and even MORE than the fans who WERE around when this stuff was hits in the FIRST place!!

There is no age limit for Oldies. What are oldies? Usually, they are musical memories of our high school days, and earlier.

My memories probably relate to yours, except mine happened ten or twenty years before yours.

For sure, your recalls and mine bring back the same type memories: first date, first kiss, first dance, Saturday night movies, going steady, junior/senior prom…we all have gone through the wonderful years of growing up, with all its miseries and memories.

I'm with you. Oldies rule! I personally got really into the oldies the first time I saw "American Graffiti" back in November, 1973. I've enjoyed the music practically with my first transistor radio (at the tender age of 4, in 1964). But it was "Graffiti" that gave me the respect I have for this great music, right to this day. In fact, today I operate all-oldies WXRB-FM, a 24/7 non-commercial station that plays the music from 1952-1979 (with a couple of oldies based crossovers from the 80's like Orbison's "You Got It" and The Capris' "Morse Code Of Love"). The call-letters of WXRB-FM are a tribute to the late Bob "Wolfman Jack" Smith and his great Mexican Border Blaster X-E-R-B/1090". When the 80's, 90's and the 2000's are all but a footnote in music history, I'll betcha that the music of rock's first 25 years will still be remembered fondly for many years to come.

As for my personal memories of the oldies, well..... 1976, a coming-of-age year for me, the current music of the day and the oldies meshed very well for me, with my friends and.... of course the girlfriends! Wouldn't change a thing~! ;D


Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
General Manager and "Chief Bottlewasher"
WXRB-FM, Dudley, Massachusetts

http://wxrbfm.org

 

[davideduardo]

Well Said ! I think that the typical " The Sky Is Falling" intimidation that comes from corporate entities can be dangerous. Since big companies took over radio, it's like Hollywood....They want to dictate to the American people what ( in their terms) YOU want to hear. The stations then follow suit ?

Please, please don't let facts get in the way of your conclusion.

In reality, the larger stations spend lots of money doing research to find out what the listeners want to hear, song by song, over and over, usually several times a year.

But to all the PD's out there who may read this, there's still money in the Oldies format, and it's how well you present it,

It does not matter how you present it; 50's and 60's oldies appeal to folks who are in their overwhelming majority over or well over 55. For all practical purposes, there are no ad dollars in larger markets for that age group, so doing old oldies gets old listeners and very, very low revenue potential.

 

[RicoGregg]

I'm with you. Oldies rule! I personally got really into the oldies the first time I saw "American Graffiti" back in November, 1973. I've enjoyed the music practically with my first transistor radio (at the tender age of 4, in 1964). But it was "Graffiti" that gave me the respect I have for this great music, right to this day. In fact, today I operate all-oldies WXRB-FM, a 24/7 non-commercial station that plays the music from 1952-1979 (with a couple of oldies based crossovers from the 80's like Orbison's "You Got It" and The Capris' "Morse Code Of Love"). The call-letters of WXRB-FM are a tribute to the late Bob "Wolfman Jack" Smith and his great Mexican Border Blaster X-E-R-B/1090". When the 80's, 90's and the 2000's are all but a footnote in music history, I'll betcha that the music of rock's first 25 years will still be remembered fondly for many years to come.

A major misconception about Wolfman Jack needs to be cleared up.

In the late 60s, I was a teenager in San Diego County, waiting for my high school years to end (just had a 40 year reunion recently), and I was already an avid radio lover. Wolfman Jack on XERB was a big favorite of mine back then.

XERB/1090 was NOT an oldies station. At the time, the "RB" in the calls stood for two things: Rosarito Beach, and Rhythm & Blues. It was primarily an R & B/Soul station. In the radio listings of the San Diego Union/Evening Tribune (2 different Copley papers in those days), XERB was listed as Soul/Black. Just as depicted in American Graffiti, many thought Wolfman Jack was black.

There was an XERB Super Golden jingle that was heard in the movie. That was played twice an hour at the most. The rest of the hour was contemporary R & B music. If the Wolfman "played" a song by a white artist (Wolfman was actually voicetracked. The tracks were driven down from L.A. to Rosarito Beach), a liner with psychedelic fx in the background played, and the 1090 staff announcer shouted "A Wolfman Kaleidescope!"

It was either 1969 or '70 when 1090 changed it's calls to XEPRS, and their new image logo became 1090 Soul Express, as their new jingles went. Wolfman Jack remained part of the lineup, as did the music policy.

Wolfman Jack was not associated with Oldies until he was cast in American Graffiti.

 

[pqgeorge]

I'm with you. Oldies rule! I personally got really into the oldies the first time I saw "American Graffiti" back in November, 1973. I've enjoyed the music practically with my first transistor radio (at the tender age of 4, in 1964). But it was "Graffiti" that gave me the respect I have for this great music, right to this day. In fact, today I operate all-oldies WXRB-FM, a 24/7 non-commercial station that plays the music from 1952-1979 (with a couple of oldies based crossovers from the 80's like Orbison's "You Got It" and The Capris' "Morse Code Of Love"). The call-letters of WXRB-FM are a tribute to the late Bob "Wolfman Jack" Smith and his great Mexican Border Blaster X-E-R-B/1090". When the 80's, 90's and the 2000's are all but a footnote in music history, I'll betcha that the music of rock's first 25 years will still be remembered fondly for many years to come.

A major misconception about Wolfman Jack needs to be cleared up.

In the late 60s, I was a teenager in San Diego County, waiting for my high school years to end (just had a 40 year reunion recently), and I was already an avid radio lover. Wolfman Jack on XERB was a big favorite of mine back then.

XERB/1090 was NOT an oldies station. At the time, the "RB" in the calls stood for two things: Rosarito Beach, and Rhythm & Blues. It was primarily an R & B/Soul station. In the radio listings of the San Diego Union/Evening Tribune (2 different Copley papers in those days), XERB was listed as Soul/Black. Just as depicted in American Graffiti, many thought Wolfman Jack was black.

There was an XERB Super Golden jingle that was heard in the movie. That was played twice an hour at the most. The rest of the hour was contemporary R & B music. If the Wolfman "played" a song by a white artist (Wolfman was actually voicetracked. The tracks were driven down from L.A. to Rosarito Beach), a liner with psychedelic fx in the background played, and the 1090 staff announcer shouted "A Wolfman Kaleidescope!"

It was either 1969 or '70 when 1090 changed it's calls to XEPRS, and their new image logo became 1090 Soul Express, as their new jingles went. Wolfman Jack remained part of the lineup, as did the music policy.

Wolfman Jack was not associated with Oldies until he was cast in American Graffiti.

I'm well aware of XERB's real status in life as an R and B station back in the mid to late 60's and early 70's. Most of the stuff in Lucas's "Graffiti" was modified somewhat to fit the plot of the movie. That I'm well aware. I know that Wolfman wasn't even at XERB in 1962, the timeline of the movie. The radio station scene in the movie with Wolfman and Richard Dreyfus was actual filmed at KRE/KBLX, not "south of the border" as many would think. The tower in the movie wasn't even tall enough for 1090 kHz. The studio is now a living, breathing radio museum.

XERB DID modify it's soul/r and B format to include some current Top 40 material in around 1970. I've heard many tapes of XERB complete with local ads such as "Just Jeans", "Oldies But Goodies" collections and some auto cut-rate auto body repair shop in Southern California..

No doubt, the XERB scenario in the movie was embellished somewhat. BUT, it made for some great movie entertainment and put the Wolfman on the map. I loved the book that Wolf did just prior to his untimely death in 1995. It's a great read. Check it out sometime. In spite of the "not-exactly" 100 percent truth of the story of Wolfman Jack at XERB in the movie, "'Da Wolf" was a great radio and TV entertainer and was a big hero of mine since 1973. He still is! That's the way I say it, and I'm gotta stick to it! And I'm proud to have our call-letters (and my ham call-letters) stand in tribute of the Wolfman and his "Southern California Giant" XERB/1090.

Cheers,

Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
WXRB-FM, Dudley, MA

 

[pqgeorge]

Well Said ! I think that the typical " The Sky Is Falling" intimidation that comes from corporate entities can be dangerous. Since big companies took over radio, it's like Hollywood....They want to dictate to the American people what ( in their terms) YOU want to hear. The stations then follow suit ?

Please, please don't let facts get in the way of your conclusion.

In reality, the larger stations spend lots of money doing research to find out what the listeners want to hear, song by song, over and over, usually several times a year.

But to all the PD's out there who may read this, there's still money in the Oldies format, and it's how well you present it,

It does not matter how you present it; 50's and 60's oldies appeal to folks who are in their overwhelming majority over or well over 55. For all practical purposes, there are no ad dollars in larger markets for that age group, so doing old oldies gets old listeners and very, very low revenue potential.

Well, in that case, David.... it will be up to us so-called "low revenue potential" stations, or in the case of my station "zero revenue potential" (a.k.a.: non-commercial) stations to keep the oldies music flowing. I'm 48 years old and enjoy the music tremendously and so do my listeners, many who are well below 35 years old. "Success" in radio does not have be equated to 100 percent "bottom line" performance. Yup, radio is a business. But it can be little more than that, as well.

No commercial potential? Well, so be it!

Have a nice day!

 

[andreajesus]

look, does it MATTER how old somebody is to like oldies? look at me, i'm gonna be 50 in april, i like the 70's/80's stuff as much as ANYBODY (man, i saw a GREAT Chicago/Doobie Brothers concert this past summer at Jones Beach...), BUT...i am like the biggest FREAK in my neighborhood because i love my doowopps, my r and b, and my Motown as much as and even MORE than the fans who WERE around when this stuff was hits in the FIRST place!!

There is no age limit for Oldies. What are oldies? Usually, they are musical memories of our high school days, and earlier.

My memories probably relate to yours, except mine happened ten or twenty years before yours.

For sure, your recalls and mine bring back the same type memories: first date, first kiss, first dance, Saturday night movies, going steady, junior/senior prom…we all have gone through the wonderful years of growing up, with all its miseries and memories.

probably...8) but again, WHY are we even having this thread? the POINT is this: it don't matter how old somebody is or has to be to like the oldies - again, i use me as an example - almost 50, but yet i can give you oldtimers a run for the money when it comes to 50's/early 60's music knowledge, if NOT the memories...i have gone to SO MANY doowopp shows over the past 25 years, and yet i am one of the youngest people there. i am probably one of the few in the demographic of MOST oldies/greatest hits stations who like stuff outside the typical range these days - for example, last summer, we got WCBS-FM back in New York (yeah!!). Granted, it is a DIFFERENT station than when I first started on this journey in 1984, but it is an oldies station that I can listen to 'cos it's got not only the music that i grew up with (Doobies, Chicago, Manilow, Queen, etc.) but the stuff i started listening to on CBSFM the FIRST time around - in other words, to quote Joe Causi, "fuhgeddabout it!", cos CBSFM is BIG with EVERYBODY in NYC and otherwise, NO MATTER HOW OLD YOU ARE!!

 

[davideduardo]

- in other words, to quote Joe Causi, "fuhgeddabout it!", cos CBSFM is BIG with EVERYBODY in NYC and otherwise, NO MATTER HOW OLD YOU ARE!!

Let's be a little less euphoric here, since unfettered euphoria tends to blind from its brightness.

CBS FM in the most recent currency book in New York reached under 10% of the NYC population (12+), meaning only about one in 11 people even listend for a few minutes a week. At any given moment, only one out of every 30 radio listners is listening to CBS-FM.

Even in the core 45+ and 55+ groups, the listenership is a small percentage of total radio listenership... just as it is for all formats.

This is no fault of CBS-FM. But to say that oldies or classic hits (the industry term for 70's CHR songs) are big with everyone is a real exaggeration.

I do think CBS-FM is better now than it was in its last pre-Jack years. Those 60's songs were kind of crispy, and even though I played many of them when they were currents, enough is enough.

 

[JH_Radio]

Are you kidding? I love the Oldies!
Iam 26 and grew up with them WOGL (Which is nothing like it was 15 years ago) or WODE (Which isn't even an Oldies station anymore)
My dad has a tun of 45's, which i now got. Don't get me wrong, I like my classic hits, and Mainstream CHR/Hot AC/AC too, but Oldies rule.
I also remember relaxing and sleeping to the sounds of B/EZ on 100.7 WFMZ. Most Recently it was Smooz Jazz 97.5 WJJZ. Both of those no longer exist.
John

 

[8638]

look, does it MATTER how old somebody is to like oldies? look at me, i'm gonna be 50 in april, i like the 70's/80's stuff as much as ANYBODY (man, i saw a GREAT Chicago/Doobie Brothers concert this past summer at Jones Beach...), BUT...i am like the biggest FREAK in my neighborhood because i love my doowopps, my r and b, and my Motown as much as and even MORE than the fans who WERE around when this stuff was hits in the FIRST place!!

There is no age limit for Oldies. What are oldies? Usually, they are musical memories of our high school days, and earlier.

My memories probably relate to yours, except mine happened ten or twenty years before yours.

For sure, your recalls and mine bring back the same type memories: first date, first kiss, first dance, Saturday night movies, going steady, junior/senior prom…we all have gone through the wonderful years of growing up, with all its miseries and memories.

I'm with you. Oldies rule! I personally got really into the oldies the first time I saw "American Graffiti" back in November, 1973. I've enjoyed the music practically with my first transistor radio (at the tender age of 4, in 1964). But it was "Graffiti" that gave me the respect I have for this great music, right to this day. In fact, today I operate all-oldies WXRB-FM, a 24/7 non-commercial station that plays the music from 1952-1979 (with a couple of oldies based crossovers from the 80's like Orbison's "You Got It" and The Capris' "Morse Code Of Love"). The call-letters of WXRB-FM are a tribute to the late Bob "Wolfman Jack" Smith and his great Mexican Border Blaster X-E-R-B/1090". When the 80's, 90's and the 2000's are all but a footnote in music history, I'll betcha that the music of rock's first 25 years will still be remembered fondly for many years to come.

As for my personal memories of the oldies, well..... 1976, a coming-of-age year for me, the current music of the day and the oldies meshed very well for me, with my friends and.... of course the girlfriends! Wouldn't change a thing~! ;D


Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
General Manager and "Chief Bottlewasher"
WXRB-FM, Dudley, Massachusetts

http://wxrbfm.org

We're the same age. Got my first transistor at about age 4, also! The music has always been magical to me. I listened to doo wop way before it was nostalgic, and loved it. I remember a period when no Philadelphia stations (lived in South Jersey then) programmed oldies, on AM or FM. That really sucked! To get a radio oldies fix, I had to drive north (CBS-FM) or south (XTRA 104/DC market).

This music may be fading from the radio, but nowadays we have Internet streaming, which keeps it alive and well. Jack the Mac into an FM modulator, and, voila, I have a 'station' to listen to anywhere on my property.

I didn't leave radio, radio left me. And that's fine.

 

[Don62]

I didn't leave radio, radio left me. And that's fine.

Think how many other businesses survived after doing what radio did to its loyal "customers."

Nada. Zippo.