Karaoke Forums

How old need a song be to be an oldies? and how many cover versions is needed before an oldies become standard?

Just wondering?

_________________
I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

My teenage daughter thinks a song is old after a year.

I googled the question and this is what I got  for oldies-
Lyrics for the Billboard Top 100 songs from 1950 to 1989

I couldn't find anything for standards, but I would think it would have
to do with age and holding it's popularity. To me it's a song that is so old people have forgotten who sang it, but it is so popular people still sing it.

_________________
[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

My idea of an oldies is...... those songs that were first recorded in the 60s and before.

Examples are: Put your head on my shoulder, Green green grass of home, Hello Darling,

Standard seems to be songs from the jazz/swing genre that stand the test of time and are still covered by current singers.

Examples are: ..........I have problem here

_________________
I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

oldies... seems it's anything more than 15 years, although I remember someone saying to me once that most radio stations look at if it's beyond the last decade... i.e. since we're in 2006, anything 1989 or older.

I personally think anything before 1972, but that's me! I refuse to accept my era is now "oldies"! !

I guess "The Shrimp Boats Are A Coming" is a long lost antique...

_________________
Join The Karaokle Singers Social Network. Upload Your Music!!

I am with you on this one, except I push the line further back.  :oh yeah:

_________________
I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Standards - I think of Happy Birthday, traditional x-mas songs, etc...

_________________
[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

I have a section on standards and traditionals they are songs that multiple atists have recorded  Actually have some that are public domain.....

_________________
Join The Karaokle Singers Social Network. Upload Your Music!!

One radio station had the oldies placed in the 50s and 60s, about a year ago they changed their format to the 60s to 70s for the oldies.  The claim the change was due to population turnover.  What they are really trying to say in a nice way is that they think I'm dead and six foot under.

_________________
Singing just for you

Our radio satalite station have the Golden Oldies selection mostly from the 60s and 50s. The programer must be my age

_________________
I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Unfortuneately certain terms in certain artistic areas become distorted over time and are subjective, they are vague.  Among such distortions are the now somewhat ambiguous terms such as  "Classic"  "Standard"  "Oldie but Goody"  and for we vintage instrument collector's even the term "Vintage" (although according to we collector's DOES have an acceptable definition, the buying and selling market alike both exploit the traditional definitions, rendering them somewhat ambiguous today. Seller's love to throw around the "word" vintage regardless of whether the instrumet IS vintage or not, because Vintage (like with a fine wine to many a buyer becomes confused with VALUABLE.).  The seller can get away with this, because there's no regulated time-span governing the generically used phrase "Vintage guitar".  It's not as regulated as the antique furniture market.  There's an accepted definition, but that's not carved in stone. Just a subjective area still


Classic, and Standard song's usually have a few things in common. The songs have "Influence" and "Extreme popularity", and are readily recognized MANY year's after their release. They remain famous, and popular LONG after the average song is forgotten or never became known by most outside of a very small listening bracket. How long a time period ?  There's no set span in terms of years. Most song's we hear within the course of a year will be forgotten within perhaps 3-10 year's down the road, the "standard" might not be known by some of the younger folk today, but it will popup sometime down the road and "Rejeuvenate" becoming known not just by the nostalgic listener, but by the younger newer listener's alike. hearing it's ressurgence as  perhaps "adult Contemporary", "Easy listening" or  (in the case of mellow, or slow rock ballads), Muzak might keep it alive, perhap's even the Boston Pop's.. If it was from the "British Invasion" times of music  (1960's), and popular today, few will dispute it's status as being "Classic Rock"; Some influental station, or person somewhere decided to exhume it at some point. Somehow, (and it's anyone's guess as to why) these are the song's that don't die... (Classic Rock) although not limited to the 60's 70's or even 80's  (IE  Dire Straits) is an example of younger development of a genre in which "classic" or "standard" music is establishing itself, and while we can't know whether or not all will recognise "Free Bird" in 75 years, or that will become one of Rock music's "Golden Standards" of next century (song's often referred to as the top 5000 songs covering about 14 genre's in a century often are termed "Golden Standard's"); we do know that some folk, classical and traditional standard's have lasted well over 100's of years. Perhap's it's nothing more than the advent of MTV that boosted song's such as "Money for nothing" and "Skate Away" to become big enough hit's for Dire Straits in 1982, and that catalyst for exposure might of course serve as the "foot in the door" that can ressurect such song's giving them a chance at possibly becoming "Golden Standards" of this century in the rock genre (way down the road)... We can't know yet.. It's anyones guess what will be the top songs of the next turn of the century. Those become "Golden Standards" according to certain individual's definitions... or "true" standards within their genre.

Unfortuneately, "Good song" is also subjective. so song's such as Tony Orlando's "Tie a Yellow Ribbon", that only a few liked years back as a "Happy love song" endured to become a popular wedding band "standard" among the more conservative crowds... Good or bad song has nothing to do with this, it's subjective as to what "Good" and "bad" is.  Standard's however need not be song's we all like, many of us hate them because constant FM radio play of these "pop" songs  drove us bonkers... "IE. Stairway to Heaven."  It get's played in million's of music store's by kid's that like the "Classic" riff. So Standard is in many way's tantamount with "famous", recognized by most, etc. Any composer would only wish their song became a "standard", because in a sense, these are the songs of all songs. More popular than other's among a larger segment of the listening spectrum. These are the song's that get played at Wedding's,  Bar Mitsvah's. and for some reason, really caught on, and granted a LONG LONG life.

The Standard "Show tune" however, and "Gospel" as well as "classical" song will span generations, they've been played in school's, churches, but in Rock,  thing's become MUCH more subjective, and even vary in accordance to the age of listeners. Rock isn't that old when compared to traditional older genre's. 50 Year's isn't a long time comparatively; .  To those of you that are 30, Metallica, and those 20  the Black Crowes are classic,  Certain songs these artist's have out ARE considered classic Rock, however not by the strict 50+ year old "Traditionalist", that believes classic rock should be 60's (British invasion period) to perhaps 70's rock being the most recent acceptible period. HOWEVER because of the term's ambiguity, the strict traditionalist's thought's aren't necessarily bearing of more weight. Generally year's of people, remember the "standard" MANY years to come, and the song's have become influential enough, and popular enough for many to want to keep alive. "The test of time" is really what this comes down to of course. while most song's we hear within the course of a year will be forgotten within several year's down the road, The Classic, or Standard will be heard in the elevators, dentists office, schools music rooms, international larger radio stations, and played among guitarists millions of times a day while picking up new instruments to "try them out"...  The "Standard" has endured the test of time, has gained popularity because of it's endurance, and has become famous, Among these song's, the TRUE "Standard" will be known as the industries "Gold Standards" and be only about 5000 song's remembered of the last century...If you are questioning a song that's become "Public Domain" here in the United States, because it's older than 75 years, it's "standard" or "classic"  LOL.  There is no set regulation on "time-span" involved to deem a composition "a standard",  these are just generally accepted concepts..

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

It definitely varies from person to person as to what is an "oldie". To me it's anything before 1990.  But there are real oldies like 40's through 60's and then more recent ones.  Just depends.

My older brother told me recently that was into "american standard music" and I had no idea what he meant.  It turns out he means Rat Pack music! I have no idea where he got that term from.

_________________
~Suzanne Lanoue~

Most of the songs in Rod Stewart - The Great American Songbook vol 1- 4 are standard IMO

_________________
I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

The so-called Rat Pack wasn't a group in the normal sense, but consisted of a loose confederation of actors, comedians, and singers lumped together by the media under that name in the early '60s. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford formed the core of the Rat Pack, and they appeared together in several movies, including Robin and the Seven Hoods and the original Ocean's Eleven...

Hope this answers your question
                      Jackson

_________________
Singing just for you

I can't help but think of 'oldies' as songs from the 50's and 60's and that will NEVER change for me even as time goes on.  I tend to think that the term oldies is a term that changes generically with time, but which can remain a fixed point individually and personally depending upon what era you were born in..  

For that reason, I don't like the term oldie at ALL really.. It's just not a fixed or concrete term.. That's why when I refer to music, I tend to refer to them by their decade and genre (which can be general or very specific).. 80's pop, 50's blues, 70's rock.. etc etc.