What's an Oldie? (Was: WODS & WROR Flip To All Christmas)

[Chuck Igo]

Mark pondered -

> WODS may call itself an oldies station, but that's a farce in my opinion. 
> They seem more in love with disco, Captain & Tennille, and other '70s 
> lame-o's than any kind of serious oldies from rock's first 10 years ('54 
> to '64).  Like where's the Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, NYC 
> doo-wop, or for that matter even pre-"Burnin' Love" Elvis already ?  The 
> Beatles will probably be next on the chopping block as time marches on.
>
> All Christmas music may be the only way this station even sticks its 
> little toe into the '50s, seeing that they MIGHT play "A Christmas Song" 
> by Nat King Cole.  When the jingle bells stop ringing, what's the chance 
> that they (or any other station in Boston) is going to play "Send for Me", 
> "Nature Boy", or any of the other outstanding work that Mr. Cole left 
> behind ?
>
> Nah, I just had better be happy with my CD's from Collectors' Choice, 
> Rhino, and Bear Family because Boston Radio can't deliver the goods in 
> REAL oldies anymore.  Despite a sizeable part of the population being 55+ 
> (maybe the largest percentage in history?), it seems that the powers that 
> be have decided that we don't bloody matter.  Or that we can be placated 
> by '70s pop pablum masquerading as "oldies" when a lot of us were 
> listening to hard rock or Celtic folk or entirely other things ... maybe 
> even the real oldies ... during that decade of dubious musical value.
>
> Ranting concluded.  Resuming Christmas shopping.
>
>

when the Oldies format first kicked-off in the early 80's, an oldie was 
considered anything 10-25 years old.  "nothing newer than 1974" was the 
benchmark by which oldies were measured at an oldies station for which i was 
hired to do middays in 1989.  that said, by today's calendar - 15 year old 
songs were hits in 1992.  25 year old songs were hits in 1982.  that Oldies 
103.3 still plays stuff from '64 is them pushin' the envelope.  43 year old 
songs.

one person's Oldie is Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock"    while 
another's "oldie but goodie" brings them back to junior high school when 
their parents would drop them at the mall in the family's Chevrolet 
Citation.

it's a "to-may-to // to-mah-to" kind of thing, but a 25 year old song is not 
a recurrent in any format.

i tip my hat to them for sticking by that which has helped them to remain 
consistent and steady.  the word is Oldies.  simple and easy to remember, 
and means different things to different people with the bottom-line being 
"not new"

- -Chuck Igo
(* i've worked with Peter Falconi, JJ Wright and Harry Nelson.  i won 
records (real vinyl) from Dale.  i currently work for a station that once 
called itself Oldies and after 13 years of branding itself as such is now, 
while still playing 43 year old songs, called Big Hits.)  (happy?  Dan B? 
Don A?)