# Oldies older than you in your MP3 collections **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 6, 2008, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307 "2008-03-06T08:24:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/1 "2008-03-06T08:24:09Z")
**Excluding** artists you really like (enough to have an entire album by, say) what songs in your collections were released before you were born? In other words, artists whose music predates you that you have a casual interest in. While it’s fun to see what people really like from “way back when” when those threads arise, it might be interesting to see what else caught your attention, too. Your personal one hit wonders from days gone by. Born in 1977: Andy Pratt “Avenging Annie” Aretha Franklin “Chain of Fools” Blue Oyster Cult “Don’t Fear The Reaper” Bob Dylan “Hurricane” Bobby Vee “Run To Him” Bread “Everything I Own” Brian Eno “Baby’s On Fire” Cat Stevens “Wild World” Cher “Dark Lady” Creedence Clearwater Revival “Who’ll Stop The Rain” David Essex “Rock On” Deep Purple “Smoke on the Water”, “Hush” Don Mclean “Vincent” Doobie Brothers “Black Water” Dusty Springfield “Son Of A Preacher Man” Heart “Magic Man”, “Crazy On You” Helen Reddy “Angie Baby” Jefferson Airplane “Someone To Love”, “White Rabit” Joan Baez “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” Lemon Pipers “Rice Is Nice” Lynyrd Skynyrd “Simple Man” Neil Young “Heart of Gold” Question Mark [?] & the Mysterians “96 Tears” Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs “Lil’ Red Riding Hood” Simon and Garfunkel “The Boxer”, “The Sounds of Silence” Steely Dan “Reelin’ In The Years” The Bryds “Jesus Is Just Alright” , “It Won’t Be Wrong” The Grass Roots “Temptation Eyes”, “Let’s Live For Today” The Velvet Underground “Pale Blue Eyes” Tommy James “Hanky Panky” Van Morrison “Moon Dance” Willie Nelson “I Never Cared For You” ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/2 "2008-03-06T09:05:11Z")
Tons. But most surprising to me is “Can the Circle Be Unbroken” by the Carter Family. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/3 "2008-03-06T11:58:54Z")
I’m 47, and there’s a lot. I mean, practically all the classical music is much older than I am. There’s also a lot of Roy Orbison, a lot of Fats Domino, some Elvis, some older Johnny Cash stuff, some Louis Jordan. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/4 "2008-03-06T12:09:13Z")
Bicycle Built for Two? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/5 "2008-03-06T12:13:30Z")
I’m 26. I’d say 75% of my collection dates from before I was born. The oldest music I listen to regularly is by John McCormack, some of which was recorded in the 1910s. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/6 "2008-03-06T12:17:24Z")
[QUOTE=Fern Forest] Tons. But most surprising to me is “Can the Circle Be Unbroken” by the Carter Family. [/QUOTE] I’ve got that one, too – plus several other old Carter Family tunes. My favorite is “I’m Thinking Tonight of my Blue Eyes.” I have some other old country stuff, older than me, too. “The Ballad of Floyd Collins (which I like becasue I remember my grandmother singing it),” “Long Black Veil,” bunch of Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline. I’m not a huge George Jones fan, but I do have “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” which is older than I am. I have some fold music, too – Peter, Paul & Mary, and Judy Collins among others. The songs will be older than I am, even if the recording isn’t. And I like musicals, so I have several soundtracks with songs that are older than I am – “Guys & Dolls,” “Man of la Mancha,” “Mame,” “SHowboat.” I was born in 1960, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/7 "2008-03-06T12:22:12Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] I’m 26. I’d say 75% of my collection dates from before I was born. The oldest music I listen to regularly is by John McCormack, some of which was recorded in the 1910s. [/QUOTE] Ooops missed edit window: Dick Haymes - Little White Lies The Elegants - Little Star Domenico Modungo - Volare The Kalin Twins - When The Rock-a-teens - Woohoo The Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense & Peppermint (or whatever that was called) Thunderclap Newman - Something In The Air Zagers & Evans - In the Year 2525 Brian and Michael - Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs ---
**Author:** ![puppygod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@puppygod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puppygod)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/8 "2008-03-06T12:55:06Z")
Tons. In my mp3 collection among others I have a lot of radio hits from 1920s. I’m not that old. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/9 "2008-03-06T13:01:13Z")
I’m a classical and jazz fan, so there’s more of the collection than I can list where the composition dates way back before any of us were born, and there’s a lot where even the recording dates before I was born. The oldest classical composition I’ve got is ‘Chants de l’église Milanaise’, which dates from the 5th century. The oldest jazz recording I have is the Louis Armstrong ‘Complete Hot Fives and Sevens’, the earliest of which is from Nov. 12, 1925 ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/10 "2008-03-06T13:05:03Z")
K-K-K Katie Mama He’s Making Eyes At Me. And of course my Scottish music was written well before I was born- released- it must have been. Question- where does this leave Turn Turn Turn by The Byrds? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/11 "2008-03-06T13:41:25Z")
I have entire albums of MP3s older than I am in my collection, and I’m 55. [ul] [li]Seven selections by John Philip Sousa’s band. [/li][li] **Lullabye of Broadway: The Complete Busby Berekley at Warner Brothers** (due to my love of Harry Warren)[/li][li]Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin. (The Millennium Anthology)[/li][li]Original Broadway cast of **Kiss Me Kate**. [/li][li]Oscar Levant plays Gershwin (I have four versions of “Rhapsody in Blue” alone). [/li][li]Various public domain blues numbers.[/li][li]Songs by Tome Lehrer. [/li][li]The Best of Spike Jones.[/li][/ul] I like the old music. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/12 "2008-03-06T19:09:21Z")
Hmm, singles only, excluding “artists I like enough to have the whole album”, that pre-date my birth? Quite a lot, far too many to list; mostly Rock and Roll and R&B from the 50s and 60s (I was born in 1970). Motown standards, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Everly Brothers, Dion, and lots of “one hit wonder” songs from the 50s like _Wipeout_ by the Surfaris, and doo-wop songs. _Just like The Penguins, The Orioles, The Moonglows and The Four Satins – The easy stream of laughter flowing through the air: René and Georgette Magritte, with their dog après la guerre…_ (-Paul Simon) I have quite a few recordings from Jazz vocalists too, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Mel Tormé and the like. If you INCLUDE the “whole album” artists it’s not even close: Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, The Who, The Doors, etc. If you include Classical and Jazz albums, the music pre-dating my birth year in my MP3 collection (all 15 GBs of it so far) probably form a majority, maybe 55%. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/13 "2008-03-06T19:12:01Z")
I don’t know what these “mp3” things are to which you refer. But as far as my _albums_ go, I’d say probably 60% of them (at least) were made before I was born. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/14 "2008-03-06T19:35:03Z")
I was born in 1984. I’m a huge fan of early punk music. So, a lot. I also like a lot of early rock 'n roll (I’m quite fond of early Elvis, for example), so there’s music in my collection that was recorded before my _dad_ was born. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/15 "2008-03-06T19:53:52Z")
Oh, tons. I have hundreds of recordings made before 1958, in fact back to the dawn of recorded sound - the 1870s: Transcriptions of wax cylinders, Edison Diamond Discs and Berliner Graphophone discs WWI records by Harry Lauder, up through the start of electrical recording (1927) pre-war blues country music’s beginnings big bands blues records from the labels that predated Chess (Aristocrat) Muddy Waters’ first recordings by Alan Lomax from when he worked on the Stovall Plantation Imperial and Specialty label R&B from New Orleans Arguably the first rock & roll record: “Good Rockin’ Tonight” by Wynonie Harris (he beat Ike Turner with “Rocket 88” by five years) All of Little Richard All of Elvis on Sun, and RCA, including outtakes and unreleased material, box sets and such Obscure, hard to find R&B, doo-wop and early rock and pop sides Yeah… I’ve got a bunch! ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/16 "2008-03-06T19:56:38Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] I’m 47, and there’s a lot. I mean, practically all the classical music is much older than I am. There’s also a lot of Roy Orbison, a lot of Fats Domino, some Elvis, some older Johnny Cash stuff, some Louis Jordan. [/QUOTE] I’m 49 \*Excluding \* classical standards (Mozart, Bach, etc) there isn’t much. I was never a big Elvis or DooWop fan. I do have a lot of Big Band stuff, though, so I guess that qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/17 "2008-03-06T20:41:23Z")
Wow, guess I’m going to be in the minority in this thread. I’m 42, born in '66. The only song I know of for sure is The Stones - Satisfaction. I guess I prefer newer stuff/ alternative along with some '70s and 80’s classic rock. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/18 "2008-03-06T21:42:44Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] I don’t know what these “mp3” things are to which you refer. But as far as my _albums_ go, I’d say probably 60% of them (at least) were made before I was born. [/QUOTE] Well yes, but we’re not talking about albums which is why I excluded from my list Elvis, Tom Petty’s first album and the Zombies. I think you might call these MP3 things “singles” or perhaps “45s.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/19 "2008-03-06T21:47:39Z")
There’s hardly anything _newer_ than me in my mp3 collection. Most of that isn’t even music, but comedy routines and such. My daily listening fare is pretty much pop and jazz from 1925-40. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307/20 "2008-03-06T22:10:18Z")
Artists we only have one song by? Byrds- Turn Turn Turn Buffalo Springfield - For what it’s worth Dell Vikings - Come and Go with me Donovan - Catch the Wind Earth Wind and Fire - Reasons Genesis - Follow you, follow me Modern English - Melt with you (I didn’t realize this one was so old. Just barely made the list, though.) Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody Ray Charles - (Night time) Is the Right Time Roy Orbison - Crying The Who - Baba O’ Riley [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldies-older-than-you-in-your-mp3-collections/440307.md?page=2)