# Why no more 'ONLY oldies' stations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 13, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-more-only-oldies-stations/816059 "2018-06-13T23:36:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-more-only-oldies-stations/816059/41 "2018-06-15T16:46:17Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > I remember growing up there were lots of radio stations that targetting my parents generation by playing ONLY stuff from the 50’s-70’s years ago (at the time). However, every radio station in my area that (that includes older pop in their playlists) is always some variation of ‘hits of the 80’s, 90’s, **and today** ’. This is due to location: You don’t have any stations which focus on classic rock, but instead [Adult Album Alternative (AAA)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult_album_alternative) stations, which are broader and, therefore, can draw a larger audience. This is common in smaller markets, where you need a larger portion of the total potential audience to justify existing at all. > [@](#): > > Was there a major shift in music styles in the 70’s and 80’s? Yes, but not one which will be reflected on AAA stations: Rap, punk, and disco all came into the mainstream in that era, but AAA stations studiously ignore this, focusing instead on the future development of guitar-oriented traditional rock music to the exclusion of all else, until punk was calmed down a bit and branded as New Wave for MTV. Why? AAA is straight White person radio, and, apparently, straight White people would rather hear Creedence Clearwater Revival than The Sugarhill Gang or Richard Hell and the Voidoids. What else has happened was the death of Oldies stations, which were stations which focused on pre-Beatles rock and roll, instead of picking up the thread around the British Invasion and focusing on psychedelia, singer/songwriter, and Southern rock. Oldies stations played more pop-folk (Kingston Trio), doo-wop, and teen idol music like Bobby Vee, plus, of course, giants like Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and Elvis. That music is largely gone from terrestrial radio for the simple fact the biggest demographic for it is too old and dead to bother with. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-more-only-oldies-stations/816059/42 "2018-06-15T16:47:04Z")
**dstarfire** , for what it is worth, I understood your question from the first post. I did not respond because: 1. I didn’t have an answer. 2. Trying to fix everyone else’s misunderstanding sounded like a lot of work. . ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-more-only-oldies-stations/816059/43 "2018-06-15T17:35:41Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > What else has happened was the death of Oldies stations, which were stations which focused on pre-Beatles rock and roll, instead of picking up the thread around the British Invasion and focusing on psychedelia, singer/songwriter, and Southern rock. Oldies stations played more pop-folk (Kingston Trio), doo-wop, and teen idol music like Bobby Vee, plus, of course, giants like Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and Elvis. During the late 1960s and much of the 1970s at least, that was a fair description. But once Album Rock became late 1960s and later, without the pop/bubblegum from the immediate post-British invasion era, at least IME the oldies stations picked that up. They’d be where you’d hear the Grass Roots or the Young Rascals. I think you’re right that the pre-Beatles stuff still dominated the format, though. > [@](#): > > That music is largely gone from terrestrial radio for the simple fact the biggest demographic for it is too old and dead to bother with Yeppers to this. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2018, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-more-only-oldies-stations/816059/44 "2018-06-16T03:31:01Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > But I wanna hear “Stairway to Heaven” and “Layla” a few thousand more times. ☹ If you’re in a large market, you’re in luck! But folks who want to hear “Mellow Yellow” or “Greenback Dollar” are gonna depend on specialty shows, or satellite radio, or other delivery methods. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-more-only-oldies-stations/816059.md?page=2)