334578
Registered: 07/03/08
Posts: 655
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Reply with quote | #1 |
I know a lot of people on here talk about the fact that oldies radio doesn't play music before 1964 anymore. That got me to thinking. Has it always been this way? What I mean is, what was the shelf life of "oldies" from previous generations? Did they play songs from the 1910's in the 1930's, or was that considered too old? If you think about it, that we can still hear songs from 1964 in 2009 is actually pretty good. That's 45 years! Would they have been playing a song from 1900 in 1945? To me, that actually seems like a longer period of time than the era that the Beatles have been with us. Maybe it seems shorter because I've been alive for most of it. Do any of our members who collect pre-1955 music have any thoughts on this?
Ken |
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Hykker
Registered: 03/06/07
Posts: 792
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Reply with quote | #2 |
I don't think "oldies" as a musical genre existed much before the early 70s. Yeah, radio stations would throw in the occasional "flashback" tune, but even then a 6 month old song would be considered an "oldie"......when a song dropped out of the top 30 it was usually gone for good, unlike the past 35 years or so where hit songs became recurrents once they fell off the charts but continued to be played.
Also keep in mind that the rock & roll era pretty much coincided with the end of old time network radio-ie The Shadow, Jack Benny, Fibber McGee & Molly, etc. Music was just used as fill between network programming. The whole concept of music radio as we know it (ie-dj playing the hits) came out of the rise of television and the programming hole that was created when many of the old network radio shows moved to tv.
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ded
Registered: 02/02/04
Posts: 630
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Reply with quote | #3 |
DJing was actually begun in the 1930s. Big Band was the music played but there were DJs all across the country. There were also network DJs that played the hits and the big bands did what they could to get their songs played. If you watch The Benny Goodman story you can see a little taste of how that worked. The west coast listeners actually heard more records than the east coasters because of the time delay, and this often helped sell records in the west.
The Top40 style of DJ was created in the mid-1950s. Depending on who you ask it was credited to the Storz Brothers, Alan Freed, or others. The oldies format was born in the 1960s as some stations opted to play big band music, the music you grew up with, the music of your life, and other aptly-named formats.
The evergreens of music were played on the MOR stations as part of the music rotation, and that did include some big band, depending on the station and the market.
One reason you don't (and didn't) hear the records of the 1920s and before is the quality. Electric recording was not introduced 'til the mid-1920s so recordings produced before that time were acoustic, and if you've ever heard one broadcast you know they sound horrible on the air.
Dave
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PaulBigelow
Registered: 03/23/04
Posts: 3,509
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Reply with quote | #4 |
This type of music (if it gets played at all) are usually relegated to "special programs". KNCT near Austin, TX devotes a few hours Sunday afternoons to big band recordings of the 30's and 40's though they do not delve into acoustic-era recordings.
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Henri
Registered: 01/31/04
Posts: 1,200
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Reply with quote | #5 |
I remember that in the eraly sixties KFWB would have a "memories" weekend and play songs from the last couple of years!! It was very popular and made Art Laboe think there might be a market for that!!!
The only place you can hear 40's, 50's, etc is on Satellite Radio. 1890-1920's can be heard at my house!
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Darrell
Registered: 01/31/04
Posts: 2,260
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Reply with quote | #6 |
Quote: Originally Posted by Henri
The only place you can hear 40's, 50's, etc is on Satellite Radio. 1890-1920's can be heard at my house!
Where is your house on the dial?
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