# So what exactly is "oldies"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-exactly-is-oldies/732962 "2015-09-29T16:49:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-exactly-is-oldies/732962/21 "2015-09-30T16:18:46Z")
> [@ElderSign](#): > > My local classic rock station ranges from Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Guns N Roses, Foo Fighters and other 1990s acts, but mostly hard rock, not any 1960s folk rock, Rolling Stones, or Beatles. > > Really depends on the radio show producer and station. Really? The Rolling Stones and Beatles end up in fairly heavy rotation from time to time on the Dallas classic rock station. So does Zeppelin, Aerosmith, 38 Special, Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, REO Speedwagon, etc… Not much in the way of GnR, Motley Crue, Poison, or other hair bands, and nothing newer than about 1990; I can’t say that I’ve ever heard Foo Fighters or Nirvana on 92.5 KZPS. Sometimes we get out-of-spec stuff like Jimmy Buffett songs though. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-exactly-is-oldies/732962/22 "2015-09-30T16:25:55Z")
I would personally define oldies as “Pre-Beatles rock & roll, in addition to non-rock pop music circa 1955-1975”. Classic rock I would define as beginning with the Beatles and ending somewhere in the early '90s. Once in a blue moon, I’ll hear Nirvana or Bush or Third Eye Blind on one of the classic rock stations around here and it strikes me as odd, but then again nobody bats an eye at GnR or Metallica getting classic rock airplay anymore. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-exactly-is-oldies/732962/23 "2015-09-30T18:24:02Z")
I can’t think of Punk, metal or anything after the 70s as oldies. Punk didn’t want to be an oldie music. Attitude music isn’t conducive to oldies. Since then it’s been an endless rehashing of styles, trends and fads so chronology is confused, so harder to define “oldie”. In addition there is much less consensus on what a good tune might be for 80s thru the present. There are at least 10 different subgenres of metal. Is that going to result in “oldies”? The oldies will be pop and of no interest to lots and lots of rock fans. When the oldies format started in my city in 1972 it was 50s and 60s music. A lot of Kinks, Beatles, Elvis, coasters, bacharach, del shannon etc. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-exactly-is-oldies/732962/24 "2015-09-30T18:35:14Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Is that the same for Classic Rock or is it less? I say that because I’ve noticed my local Classic Rock station has been playing Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Smashing Pumpkins for the last five years. They’ve added Green Day and Foo Fighters in the last two years. Face it. We’ve hit middle age. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-exactly-is-oldies/732962/25 "2015-10-06T05:21:25Z")
To me, oldies are specific type of rock, generally soft/slow rock from c. 1958-1964. Essentially, rock between the initial explosion of rock n’roll and the British invasion - the period that tends to receive less critical acclaim or attention. I always thought oldies fans thumbed their nose a little at the mainstream, as this is supposedly the “dark age” of rock - between Elvis being drafted and the arrival of the Beatles. In the Southwest, this “Oldies” subculture is often Mexican American (it was once common among gangs or ‘Lowrider’ clubs), but elsewhere it used to appeal to a more conservative demographic of people who disliked later mainstream rock or pop. There is a fairly specific playlist of what qualifies as “oldies” and what does not. A few songs from before 1958 or after 1964 (some as late as 1975 or so) are part of the canon. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-exactly-is-oldies/732962/26 "2015-10-06T08:02:06Z")
It’s always been “the music that was popular 15-20 years ago.” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-exactly-is-oldies/732962/27 "2015-10-06T10:26:53Z")
Music from the inception of Rock & Roll through 1979. 80s music\* should \*be oldies due to age but it is a mystical entity unto itself. Swing and big band music likewise. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-exactly-is-oldies/732962/28 "2015-10-06T12:19:24Z")
Interesting, In my mind “Oldies” was a somewhat disparaging term. Classic songs are songs that are 20+ years old that you like. Oldies are 20+ year old songs that you don’t. Obviously not the common usage. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-exactly-is-oldies/732962/29 "2015-10-07T01:24:59Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Is that the same for Classic Rock or is it less? I say that because I’ve noticed my local Classic Rock station has been playing Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Smashing Pumpkins for the last five years. They’ve added Green Day and Foo Fighters in the last two years. Our local Classic Rock station has rebranded itself without the “Classic” by adding the same list of bands (plus The Tragically Hip, The Pursuit of Happiness, Loverboy, 54-40 and other Canadian content). ---
**Author:** ![stosh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@stosh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stosh)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-exactly-is-oldies/732962/30 "2015-10-09T02:11:20Z")
I grew up listening to the rolling stones and led zeppelin. It scares me to know that they are “oldies” now. I never thought I would be this old. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-exactly-is-oldies/732962.md?page=1)