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The "Oldie" Debate

That remix/mashup helped Elton John become the first artist in history to have Top 10 UK hits in six different decades (the 1970s to 2020s).

And a remixed version of Whitney Houston's version of "Higher Love", recorded in 1990, also became a hit recently (#7 AC, #12 Hot AC, #1 Dance).
 
kevtronics said:
And a remixed version of Whitney Houston's version of "Higher Love", recorded in 1990, also became a hit recently (#7 AC, #12 Hot AC, #1 Dance).
Click to expand...
The remix, which was produced by Norwegian DJ Kygo, is of a cover of "Higher Love" that was previously unreleased anywhere outside of Japan. The Kygo/Whitney Houston remix peaked at number two in the UK.
 
kevtronics said:
That remix/mashup helped Elton John become the first artist in history to have Top 10 UK hits in six different decades (the 1970s to 2020s).

And a remixed version of Whitney Houston's version of "Higher Love", recorded in 1990, also became a hit recently (#7 AC, #12 Hot AC, #1 Dance).
Click to expand...
Elton just missed the '60s as well!
 
I recently watched the PBS show on Andy Williams. Well before my time, but what a top notch talent. With superstars it really doesn’t matter what the era was.
 
landtuna said:
Some of you may know I live with my 10 year old granddaughter (5th grade). I don't think she could explain what an Oldie song is but she definitely can pick out the songs of that era. [...] She also identifies Oldies songs used in TV commercials. She doesn't usually know the title or the performers but does place the 'sound' in the Oldies era. She never listens to the radio so she isn't picking it up there.
[...]
She is definitely unusual but makes me wonder how many other kids are like her? Unfortunately, unlike my generation, she doesn't have the luxury of what we called T-40 radio but that hasn't stopped her from using online sources like YouTube to find the Oldies.
Click to expand...
Kids' taste is much more era-agnostic as compared to how it used to be. Every kid knows and loves some songs from 30 to 40 years ago, and they're more accepting of it as just part of the world of interesting music. They still prefer contemporary sounds, but are open-minded, not really associating old music with anything, whereas for example in the '80s when I was a Gen X teenager, if I heard, say, a Beatles song, it sounded so old-fashioned and out of touch, and square, just like my parents' generation, so I wasn't particularly into it, to say the least. (I have since come around.)

Anyway my daughter is 12 and has a knack for pegging music as being from the '60s. Music from the '70s thru '90s is also "old" sounding to her, but she doesn't differentiate much within that range. But '60s music, is a bit more alien and sounds "like The Kinks" (her main reference point, thanks to Mom playing Village Green Preservation Society and a few hits in the car last year). If you play her music from before the '60s, it all sounds extremely foreign to her, and she's just not into it at all.

My impression (just from interacting with the kids in my life) is that kids are developing their musical preferences from:
  1. what the parents, teachers, other adults around them listen to
  2. songs & references in movies (mostly kid movies & musicals)
  3. autoplay on streaming services
  4. YouTube rabbit holes
  5. word of mouth among peers at school
These days there's very little shared listening experiences with peers, like there used to be when radio & music TV were big. Radio in particular is seen as a bizarre artifact of times past, with crappy sound, too little variety, and too many ads. No kid listens to the radio. Not even satellite radio.

Even hearing music through speakers instead of earphones is a rare novelty these days. Kids, and most adults now too, just listen with headphones to their own personalized streams on their smartphones and laptops. They have their own little silo of algorithm-curated music that's not all that similar to what their friends are listening to. Also, music is also just not as integral to the average person's life & identity as it used to be in generations past. The role music plays in most people's lives is mainly just passive background/lifestyle themes, the occasional melodramatic lyric they'll sing along to, soundtrack cuts, and nostalgia.
 
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