Assuming you mean WCBS FM in NY, I too used to think of it as an Oldies Stations, but after it was converted to JACK, and then back to CBS they included lots more of '80’s music as they were going for a ‘Classic Hits’ format as opposed to ‘Oldies’.
Now, when I start hearing Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots et. al. (‘The Music Of My Life’) on CBS-FM - which I eventually will - then I’ll know I’m in trouble…
Wait, what happened to Magic 104?
And the internet:
http://destinationdoowop.bravehost.com/
Generally what you get on both these stations is stuff from the 50’s, but they also dip into the proto-rock era and post-British Invasion.
Remember when thirty years used to be a hell of a long time ago?
Changed format to “Jack FM” (70s-90s hits) about 5 years ago.
A few months ago, I was at a fast-food restaurant, and saw a group of teenagers, probably around 15 years old or so. One of the girls was wearing a Bob Marley t-shirt; one of the boys was wearing a Led Zeppelin t-shirt. My first thought was “cool, they’re old-school.” Then, I thought about it a bit more…
They were wearing t-shirts for artists which haven’t been active for 30 years. If, when I was 15 (in 1980), for me to be doing something similar, I would have been wearing something like a Benny Goodman t-shirt. Weird. 
They should have been filed under “Future Music” since the group had not been formed by that date.
In all seriousness, I don’t think the concept of “oldies” was invented by the baby-boom generation. It may have been called “standards” or “big band” or “easy listening” or something else, but there were, even in the 1960s, stations that played older, pre-rock music The audience was well aware they were listening to older material. No reason that idea can’t continue on to the present day.
I have noticed teenagers today listening to punk rock (30+ years old) or the Beatles (40+) and I vacillate between thinking that’s very encouraging (great, they appreciate their predecessors!) and thinking it’s depressing (why can’t these kids come up with their own music?).
Now. The '80s have been “oldies” for years now.
I think kids today are a lot more open-minded about music now than they (we?) used to be. And good for them.
That’s one way to look at it, but on the other hand, if they’re too satisfied by the music that’s already been done how do we avoid stagnation and retro-worship? Someone needs to support those who are making innovative music.
I worried my wife when I made her realize that the '80s alternative music that we force our kids to listen to in the car is as old now as the ‘oldies’ music that her parents made them listen to in the car.
Ditto, though they stick with 1980s adult contemporary and light rock. I think they also have a cut-off somewhere around the mid-1980s. You’ll hear Toto’s “Africa” or Foreigner’s “Waiting for a Girl Like You”, but you won’t hear other 80s fare like Ozzy Osbourne, The Talking Heads, or The Cure.
I’ve heard 80s popular music on “oldies” stations plenty of times already.
Yeah, I was remembering about how my parents used to always listen to '50s music when I was a kid, and I was impressed by how they knew all the words to these really old songs and would be familiar with all the stuff that Sha-Na-Na played on their TV show.
Then I realized that when I play '80s music in the car and sing along I am doing the same thing to my own kids. Bill Haley:me::Huey Lewis:them.
One thing to keep in mind (and I hate to repeat a cliche’) is that much of this old music is new to them. As for avoiding stagnation and retro-worship, I think it’s a bit too late to start worrying about now. For the last 20 years (at least), innovation in popular music has been marked by the referencing, breaking down, deconstructing, re-imagining, and recycling of the music of the past. Also, stylistically, there haven’t been as many radical changes in music over the last 15 years as, for example, between the years 1963 to 1968.
Being open-minded about "oldies’ doesn’t preclude them from liking new, innovative stuff. I think it’s older music fans that have trouble avoiding stagnation.
In the 90’s?
They seemed pretty old from about '97 to 2006. I already went through the 80’s oldies thing… they are Classics, by now.
When I was a kid growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, I recall hearing The Beatles on commercial radio (usually radio stations that had the word “Gold” or “Classic” in their name, to be fair) often enough for me to regard it as unremarkable that music that old was still on the radio.
Since moving to Australia, I cannot recall the last time I heard a Beatles song on the radio, but a lot of the commercial stations (with the exception of things like Nova and Triple J) seem to basically play a mix of songs from the 1970s to the present- I’ve heard Led Zeppelin and Stealers Wheel and AC/DC and various other things that I’d consider “Classic Rock” on mainstream commercial stations quite frequently. It’s a bit jarring to go from Band On The Run to Poker Face in one song, but I’ve heard it happen. Not that I’m complaining, though.
Our local “oldies” station mostly sticks to the late 60s and the 70s, but in the past few years they’ve let a few 80s songs creep into their playlist. Once “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is old enough for inclusion on their playlist I’ll officially feel “old”.
Depends on which type of 80’s music you’re talking about.
Rock & heavy metal, such as Bruce Springsteen, Billy Squier and Metallica, are generally tossed in with “classic rock”, which blankets everything from the Beatles Invasion to early 90’s grunge. However, genuine 80’s music (esp. synthpop & New Romantic) are a class all their own – the 1980’s were when synthesizers & sequencers became affordable & easy to use, and took center stage for nearly the whole decade. Even venerable classic rock artists like Rush and Iron Maiden experimented with synth music in those days.
So basically, 80’s music is…“80’s Music.” There can be no other description. (And don’t even get me started on the hair…)
Sometime within the last year my supermarket started playing Muzak versions of Duran Duran, Culture Club, Missing Persons, Blondie…I felt like it was time to start buying Geritol and sitting at home watching the Weather Channel. “Look at Cleveland and all that snow…glad I’m not there!”
Our “official” oldies station here in the US played primarily 1950’s and 1960’s in the early 1990’s. Now it’s mid-late 1970’s, and the early 1980’s starts to creep in.
Getting old sucks. It sucks ass and makes me want to start throwing things.
When they started using The Cure, Devo and Modern English to sell HP Printers, Swiffers and Hershey’s bars, I knew it was time to get my AARP application ready for mailing.
Or Target adverts. The Psychedelic Furs, Pat Benetar, etc. pimping for Target makes me want to…I don’t know.