Oldies music - makes me feel good!

By my bed, I have an Internet Radio. And it's tuned in to an oldies online radio station. When I wake up in the morning, I turn it on straight away. And my day always starts off with me having a little sing-song.

This morning, Supertramp’s, ‘It’s Raining Again’ came on and as I was singing along to it, I came to a realisation that at the time, this song pretty much passed me by but it still made its  way into my memory banks and all these years later I was singing along to it.

When it came out at the back end of 1982, it wouldn’t have been a record I’d have bought. At the time, I was travelling on fairgrounds and the music I’d be buying would have a dance beat and a good bassline because that’s what sounded good on rides and that’s what I liked at the time.

However, it’s a song I’ve grown into over the years, like so many others. How does that happen? Is it because of nostalgia?

There’s no doubt that the older I get, the more nostalgic I become. I’m probably no different to many other people.

And what I’ve noticed is that as I get older, mainstream radio has no attraction for me. They don’t look past the same old tired hits when they play oldies, and stations like ‘Gold’ are no different. They act as though there were only The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in the 60s, and not many more artists in the 70s.

It’s now the 80s, 90s and 00s that make up most oldies radio.

But I digress...

Going back to ‘It’s Raining Again,’ I wouldn’t mind betting it’s not one of the most played oldies on mainstream radio and that’s why I get my fill of oldies radio from online stations.

They give me the opportunity to warble in my ‘Joey Falsetto’ singing voice along to the songs of my halcyon days.

And what I realise is that although I had my favourites back in the day, so many that weren’t have grown on me over time and have become part of the fabric of my life.

Many of them, without realising, have become memory joggers and can transport me back to a certain place at a certain time, and for that I love them. I also think that we were spoilt with the amount of music we heard.

I don’t hear too much new music, but when I do, I’m disheartened that so much of it sounds the same and so bland.

However, I’m sure to those in the demographic it’s meant for, it’s as good as what we thought ‘our music’ was.

 I do feel though, that music doesn’t play as important a part in their lives today as it did for us.

No longer do you have to go to a record shop to buy your favourite records. No longer do you need to sit by the radio trying to record that new song you love whilst stopping it before the presenter speaks.

Today it’s all so easy to get music – Spotify, Deezer and suchlike mean that you don’t really need to put yourself out to hear the music you want. They just ask Alexa and she’ll play you whatever they want. They have YouTube and Vimeo to watch the videos – and videos really did kill the radio star.

Now, you don’t necessarily have to have talent – just show enough flesh and it can become a hit. I’m saddened by the way it’s changed.

My son Henry sends me new LPs of artists he likes – and yet never buys any for himself – he listens via his iPhone – even he knows how disposable ‘his’ music is.

He recently told me that he knows that music is disposable today and doubts that anyone will be listening to the stars of today in 50 years, or even 5 for that matter.

And to me that’s sad.

But it makes me glad that I got to be growing up when Pop music was king: when music seemed so important. When we couldn’t wait for ‘Top of the Pops.’ When I spent all my birthday and Christmas money on records.

Perhaps that was just me. But I doubt it.

And so, tomorrow, I’ll turn on my radio again and before I get out of bed, I’ll be set for the day, cheered up as I sing along to Roger Whittaker’s, ‘Last Farewell’ and giggle to myself as I remember how much I hated it when it came out and charted and how much I love it now.

Happy days, happy memories.