One of the most depressing trends of the late 1990s and 2000s was the gradual elimination of classic oldies on terrestial radio. Tomorrow is Elvis' 75th birthday and had he lived today, he'd probably just be another old man living in protected quarters like what Elizabeth Taylor is doing today, with the occassional interview about once a year. Well, like most things from the '50s, that decade only gets as much respect as the decades before in more of an historica light than a nostalgic light for those who lived those times as the '50s ended a half century ago now, meaning you have to be at least 55 to even just remember 1959. Because of these aged demograpgics, you just look for music of this era just because you enjoy the historical feel of the songs just like you would with a Baroque or Romantic period music. It's also a shame given that many cities still have a classical station or two, and forsaking mid-20th century popular music is disappointing given the more musical quality in those songs compared with music of the past 30-some years. But, I'd say this is the general trend in North America considering what got removed from the '50s and '60s:

1995: Pre-Beatles (pre-1964) music gets reduced to around 3 songs/hour, though on various segements (especially Sunday Night), programs such as "the doo-wop shop' get aired. Many stations add more pre-disco '70s.
1999: Only around 1 or 2 pre-Beatles songs an hour with some stations even dropping stuff from this era altogether. Mid-to-late '70s now common on "gold stations"
2002: Pre-Beatles practically extinct with the lone exception such as Shout or Stand By Me, the average song played is now around 1972 with even a couple '80s songs played (mostly either Kokomo, Uptown Girl, or early decade Disco hangovers such as Celebration). Playlists also get cut, meaning many classic soul/Motown songs, particularly from the mid-60s, get removed.
2005: Jack FM radio starts to replace oldies stations for good; those that remain are similar to 2002, but with fewer mid-60s songs, more early '80s and a couple mid-'80s.
2006: Some stations try to reverse this trend briefly by becoming "True Oldies", with a playlist similar to 1995 as described above. However, even these start to revert around 2007. 
2008-now: Oldies continue to die a slow death on terrestial radio in the following ways:
1. Switching to "gold-based, adult contemporary": Mostly soft rock from the '70s-present
2. Switiching to Classic Rock, much at the disdain of MOR, Country crossover, and R&B listeners as many point that their region already has a classic rock station.
3. Morphing into "Classic Hits"- mostly '70s and '80s with some late '60s and even a little early '90s.

It's pretty safe to say that we're in the post-Boomer era as far as finding a good radio station.

.....and enter Youtube...the saviour of oldies music.  :)

Yeah, the 60's music isn't considered classic anymore, but now oldies.  Whenever I listen to the Classic Rock Station here in Tampa, the oldest song they play is Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama.  In the early 00's, you could still hear "Born to Be Wild" and various Who songs, but not anymore. 

Nice article, yelimsexa but sad. I miss the Oldies on the radio, too. Thanks for sharing this info.

They used to still have the old doo wop hits on the radio when I was a baby--we have home movies from like 1991 where you'd hear songs like "Blue Moon" by the Marcels playing on the radio station in the background.

We lost most of our oldies stations.  There's only a classic rock station the repeats itself.  Thank you internet.

This makes me glad that back home, I have XM Radio.  So I can turn to a station playing anything just about anything I want to hear.

I have not listened to broadcast radio in several years now.

We've got a couple of oldies stations here & It's getting pretty rare to hear anything from the fifties & the songs they play from the 60's are the same dozen or so every day. Most of the songs they play are from the 70's & even up to the mid 80's. 8-P

Not here, we had pre 70s music up until 2005 and then it was over after that year. I guess maybe it depends which area of the country/world someone lives in.

Also, I feel the term "classic hits" is a more politically correct subsitution for "oldies", given that the "old" has a negative connotation to the youth; just like you don't call old TV, Movies, or even video games "oldies".

I listen to a local station that plays lots of music from the 60s, 50s, and some from the 40s as well.
I guess I am fortunate.

Also, I feel the term "classic hits" is a more politically correct subsitution for "oldies", given that the "old" has a negative connotation to the youth; just like you don't call old TV, Movies, or even video games "oldies".



I use both terms, classics and oldies.

The 'oldies' station in my area still plays stuff from the 60's.    They don't play much from the 50's anymore...in the past two years, that deacade has been replaced with music from the 80's.    I freaked when I heard them play 'Love Is A Battlefield"...and I'll just die when I hear them play 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', or anything from the 90's!

We have 2 classsic rock stations who still play a lot of 60's.  The AC stations have pretty much abandoned older music for new stuff, though. 

Personally, I only listen to the 'oldies' channel, otherwise, I listen to my i-Pod.

I like oldies (from 60's and 70's especially)...and we have an oldies radio station in Brisbane. However, I discovered today that a really old DJ is on each Sunday afternoon nad plays much older hits (on request). I heard Thumbellina sung by Danny Kaye (in 1952) and Lavendar Blue (Dilly Dilly) sung by Burl Ives (in 1949).

Bruce Hornsby and the Range!  That's the era I hear mostly on piped-in music systems.  1985 -- 2000 mainstream pop/rock.  Allinis Morrissette, the Gin Blossoms, the Rembrandts, The Fine Young Cannibals, Blur, spurf, snort, skope, schlep...

http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/12/dontknow.gif

All things fade with time  :\'(

It wouldn't be so bad except...
in the case of music it tends to get worse  >:(

All things fade with time  :\'(

It wouldn't be so bad except...
in the case of music it tends to get worse  >:(


They rarely play anything before 1970 anymore, except on oldies specialty shows.  The Beatles and the hard rock bands still get some play.  The singer-songwriter stuff (just call it the new Adult Contemporary) is taking off.

This is why I rarely, if ever, listen to what passes for oldies/classic rock in my area(WSEN in Syracuse).  Music Choice channels on digital cable all the way!  ;D

That's okay, with YouTube who cares about what they play on the radio :)

That's okay, with YouTube who cares about what they play on the radio :)


AND I-pods and online downloading.  :D

Not on the radio station I listen to,  it is set up to play the greatest hits of all time from the 60s, 70s and 80s.

What I find sad is that most people today don't know music from, say, the '50s beyond Elvis, or the '60s beyond the Beatles, a couple of Stones songs, "Unchained Melody" (ugh), etc.

Where I'm from, FM radio stations that play "classic rock" keep playing the same songs over and over again (Stairway to Heaven, Sultans of Swing, etc.) I can easily think of rock songs that are rarely or never played.

And the only station that plays non-rock music from the '50s, '60s and '70s is an AM station!  >:( It's the only one that keeps the memories alive.

We are fortunate that we have the world wide web so we can find out what songs and artists were big several decades ago, and be able to download the music to hear what they sounded like.