Top 500 of 1995

[daniel]

A media blog I read discovered that the old Pre-Clear Channel website for then-Oldies station WMJI 105.7 is *still* online and abandoned. One interesting thing I found was their chart of the "Top 500 of 1995". The link to the entire chart is here: www.opc.net/webpresentation/www/wmji/top500/top500.html

It's interesting how many of these songs, even in their top 50, have vanished from radio in the last 13 years.

WMJI is still "Majic" but like majority of Oldies stations they've added 80's things like "Flashdance" and "Footloose" to the playlist.

[Dawn]

Very cool, Daniel!

I agree, it seems like so many songs are vanishing from the oldies format. I can't remember the last time I heard Blue Moon, Tutti-Frutti, A Teenager in Love or even many of the Elvis songs on the radio, and that's just from the top 125. Probably at least half of the remaining songs on the list are seldom, if ever, played anymore, at least on the L.A. area stations.

I do miss the days of true oldies radio, when the playlist spanned roughly 1955-1972. Much as I love '70s and early '80s music, it seems like the music would work better in a separate format with a deeper playlist, rather than trying to crowd it in with older songs.

[Jughead]

I'm kind of relieved to know that back in 1995, 1981 music was still "fresh". ;D

I feel OLD now that 1981 is considered OLDIES!

[daniel]

Juggie, I hear you on that. I felt old the other day after seeing a "20th anniversary" ad for Oliver & Company... Which I saw in the theater...

Dawn: Today's "Oldies" stations consider anything from before, say, 1963 (Elvis stuff included) to be box office poison. There's an AM oldies station here that plays REAL Oldies, they don't stream online or I'd offer a link to their website.

[55dodger]

First of all Daniel, thanks for the link. It was fun looking through all those oldies.

Second, as to what's on the stations these days. That probably isn't going to change. What we can do though, is expose our younger generation to as much of the oldies as possible. Both my kids (both now in their early 20s) got a steady dose of 50s - 70s stuff growing up. And although both have developed different & diverse musically taste, they always tend to come back to what they call "dad music." It's what they know, & what they are safe with, & what the radio pretty much doesn't play anymore.

Oldies radio started with good intentions, but it has morphed into a marketing tool. That's why late 80s stuff is heard on "oldies" radio. Both my kids (remember both early 20s) consider oldies radio as "dad music." Neither want to hear Madonna on "oldies radio," they want to hear Beach Boys, Lovin' Spoonful, Beatles, etc.

So this begs the question, with the "billions & billions" of songs available, why do we get the same 100 or so songs over & over, when the people really want more.

[daniel]

Late reply... but it's all down to marketing. The ad agencies and salespeople have decided that people who listen to the "traditional" Oldies radio are most likely over 50 and therefore "not marketable". (Nevermind that the Oldies station I used to work for was mostly listened to by young families, because they liked being able to play the radio with the kids around and not have to worry about offensive content)

There are only a handful of stations that are "real" Oldies anymore. There was a satellite format that played that music, but they got bought out by Dial Global and they turned it from "The Oldies Station" to an un-named "modern Oldies" format, which is great if you want to hear "Jumpin' Jack Flash" followed by "Footloose".

[m c dornan]

Our local oldies stations chop off a decade of songs every ten years. So they long ago lost the 50s stuff. And now they've mostly lost the 60s stuff to go all 70s.

I am not happy with this.

I am becoming an antique.

I didn't like disco the first time around.

[H2IZCOOL]

The thing about "Oldies" is that they have come to mean something different than what they were first intended to mean. Back in the late '50s when rock was young (me and Suzie having so much fun) the radio stations would often have an Oldie hour where they would play former rock and roll hits. These kind of shows continued through the '60s and into the early '70s, and would generally be an ever growing playlist of songs from '55 through maybe 2 or 3 years before the then-current date. I remember when I was in grad school (probably around 1970 or so) when I heard a station do an oldies show where tey announced they would play songs from 1959 on. I remember thinking how stupid that was. Why cut out a mere 4 years of music. Add those years back in, and you have the entire rock period!

I don't recall Oldies stations coming into being until maybe the very late '70s or early '80s. But it had a whole new definition. Oldies came to mean songs of the '50s, '60s, and very early '70s. And it kept that definition for quite a while. In the '90s, in fact there'd be Oldies stations that played nothing past '72 or '73, and then there'd be '70s stations and '80s stations.

The whole idea of redefining Oldies stations as playing music of the '70s and '80s, and ignoring the earlier years has always pissed me off. It's one of the reasons that I have totally stopped listening to music on the normal broadcast bands.

[Dawn]

Just a week or so ago, Mark and I were eating at Jimmy's Diner, a cool little hamburger place that plays '50s and early '60s music. I was listening to the songs played, and it occurred to me that it had been ages since I'd heard many of them. Yet, back in the late '80s - early '90s, they were played regularly on oldies radio.

KOLA and KRTH, the local oldies stations, are now playing Livin' on A Prayer! I suspect it won't be too much longer until they start including songs by artists like Ace of Base and Pearl Jam (nothing against those artists at all, but it's hard to think of them as "oldies"!).

[edehl]

Same thing here. About a year or so ago, we lost our oldies station which played just late 60s and early 70s music. I was delighted when another station began to play oldies, but the format is so different. It's mostly 70s and early 80s (pre new-wave) music. When I'm in the car, I hop between that and our two classic rock stations, and generally I'll find something I like. But it will never be like the old days......good times I remember.

[Dawn]

Would you believe that when Mark and I were in the car pulling into our garage a short while ago, Livin' on a Prayer started playing on KOLA? I even mentioned to him that I'd just posted about it here on the Click earlier today!