Finding NEW ways to hear OLD music

Click here to listen to Oldies while reading my Blog

I was listening to the radio the other day, flipping back and forth from the new 101.1 JACK-FM to Fairfield County's new 96.7 The Coast, when I realized these stations ARE still playing oldies. Not golden oldies, but the oldies from when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's. People are calling this music "modern oldies."
I guess it's the cycle of life.
30 and 40-somethings aren't the target of the new Hit Top 40 stations. We're the ones these new "oldies" stations want listening. This age group is considered to spend more money than seniors, so I guess we are a better sell to advertisers. I still can't believe I'm a "Modern Oldie."
I also realized how upset I'm going to be in probably only ten years when these "oldies" stations change formats again to target people who grew up in the early 2000's. I guess then I won't be such a "modern" oldie.
My photographer, Lori Golias and I were discussing how old WE as 30-somethings were feeling, when she told me about being out on another story earlier in the week. She said a group of seniors were standing around a piano singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". That made her wonder what our generation would be singing at that age. I had an image of people sitting alone in their own rooms silent with an IPOD and buds hanging out of their ears. But we agreed that when she and I are standing around a piano in 30 or 40 years, you'll probably hear us singing Madonna's "Like A Virgin" or other songs we sang when we were young. Makes you look forward to visiting senior centers in 2040, right? Well, if you want to hear songs from the 80-s, that might be where you'll have to go to get them. Although, I guess we'll also have the internet and I-tunes as well as the skills to find our music.

People who are upset that Golden Oldies are disappearing from the airwaves can go their computers to hear stations across the world that stream online. However, the internet is a new world to a lot of seniors. So that is why the Fairfield Senior Center offers computer courses. While working on a story on how the disappearance of OLDIES radio is forcing older Americans to turn to NEW technology, I had the privilege to meet the coordinator of Fairfield Senior Center computer program, Mrs. Betty Hacker. Yes, a computer teacher named "Hacker". She smiled and nodded as if she had heard the joke a thousand times when I teased her. She actually had several of the computer lab instructors and volunteers gather for me so I could see how the courses at the center work. There is a very basic course, where Hacker says people come to learn how to use the mouse and other components of the computer. There are also other courses where they teach advanced word processing, camera work shop, database entry and even how to make greeting cards and family trees. Hacker says seniors are interested in computers because their grandchildren are obsessed with them, but also because going online is almost becoming a necessity. Plus, it can be helpful for people who can't get out of the house. Anyone 50 years of age or older can attend these courses. There is a small fee for some classes. Call 203-256-3166. Click here for Fairfield Senior Center Website

While they were demonstrating how the computer lab works, we started searching for radio stations that stream live Golden Oldies. It did take a bit of patience, but we found a good website that links you stations around the world that stream Oldies live. It doesn't cost anything to listen to these stations. You just have to have the right music player downloaded on your computer.

One of the instructors helping me out, Lou Berman of Bridgeport, showed me how he listens to the old radio shows he used to listen to when he was growing up. RadioLovers.com offers free downloads of shows such as Abbott and Costello, The Baby Snook Show, Gunsmoke and many many more. Berman says its fun because he is able to share what he used to listen to as a boy with his grandson. Though he did laugh and say his grandson first couldn't believe that he listened to "shows" on the radio when he was young.

I first researched the disappearance of the Oldies stations after New York City's famous WCBS-FM suddenly changed its Oldies format on June 3rd of 2005 to JACK-FM. I received so many calls from people in this area who grew up with WCBS-FM and the legendary DJ's. They didn't understand why all the talk and weather and Oldies were gone, and in its place a mix of music and an ornery one-liner computer announcer. I was lucky enough to get an interview with the former Program Director of WCBS-FM, Joe McCoy. He had held that position for more than 20-years and is credited for making that flagship station what it was, and for bringing in names like Cousin Brucie and Ron Lundy. However, McCoy had left just about a year before the big change was made. He said he thinks the loss of Oldies format is a shame, "basically radio is pushing away anyone over the age of 54; they are basically saying you don't count." At that time I profiled KOOL 96.7 in Norwalk as the place to turn for the oldies you might be missing from WCBS-FM.

Then, about ten months later on the evening of March 29th, 2006, KOOL 96.7 abruptly switches its format from to 96.7 the Coast, playing music from the 60's to today. The same thing happened. Many of the personalities were let go. Station management says the change was made after conducting a research project on what residents from Greenwich to Westport want to hear.
If you are a fan of oldies music, I hope you enjoy the links I provided in this blog. If you know someone who love Oldies but isn't too computer savvy, maybe you could pass along the information.