I'm quite shy of admitting my fondness for early pop records to people of my own generation. I often listen to the American Graffiti soundtrack, have been listening to a lot of the early Phil Spector hits this evening and just discovered this Skeeter Davis song from 1963.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpWu_V-3GLM

If I had to choose a period where pop music was at it's best I think I would go for 1960-65. But how many people born after 1970 would agree?

I've been working with someone in their early 20s for the past couple of weeks and we'd alternate when it came to playing music; one day his music and one day mine. This week he asked if we could just listen to my music as "it was the real thing, proper musicians not processed stuff."
I'm quite proud that I've introduced him to The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Cream, BB King and Jimi Hendrix.
I've also got a neighbour whose teenage daughter is a huge fan of Matt Monroe.

I love music from before my time, not as early as the 60s though on any big scale. Born in December 1990, and I love music from the 90s and 00s too, but I love listening to music of the 80s along with several Motown artists, Barry White, Stevie Wonder etc.

I've just recently turned 22 and I love a range of music from the 60s up til now. Some eras are blank spots for me like the early 90s but I would say that most people of my age are the same in the sense that no one I listen to only likes 'chart' music or refuses to listen to stuff older than 5 years old or whatever.

I think radio does a disservice to younger people to assume that we only listen to whatever is in the top ten. Radio 1 for example should definitely incorporate some older music in with the current stuff and they could even mark it down as part of the BBC's educational remit - e.g. playing songs and artists who are influential to the current generation of stars. Easy example is this current Charlie Puth and Meghan Trainor hit, Marvin Gaye. As ghastly as that song is, it's trying to be a soul-pop record and references some of Gaye's best tracks so why not play a few of those as well so that say the youngest listeners who are only getting in to music actually understand the song. I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of 12 year olds singing a long to the line "Let's Marvin Gaye and get it on" without getting the reference at all.

Too many young people of many eras were happy to "pigeon-hole themselves," choosing to listen to only contemporary music. They just followed the flow created by the popular radio and later, TV programmes.

My youngest daughter's (17) favourite band is Fleetwood Mac and I had to take her to the gig at the Hydro. My youngest son's (19) fav band is Led Zeppelin. My other kids like Faith No More and Dr Dre...amongst others.

I know I'm only speaking anecdotally but almost everyone I know likes at least some old songs and artists etc. even if they aren't really big music fans or whatever. It's all more accessible than ever before as well. People don't have to be lead along by radio, TV etc. any more and I think it would be smart for those mediums to reflect that in their programming.

I'm 25 and listen to older music as well as current music. I mostly listen to older pop and dance though. I've got songs by ABBA, Blondie, Dean Martin (mostly the Italian songs though; bought a compilation after hearing Mambo Italiano in a restaurant), Bananarama, Human League, Mel & Kim, 80s Madonna, Aaliyah (90s but I class that as old) and some old Eurovision, amongst others, on my iTunes. I also go onto Youtube and look for stuff. If I like a song, I'll listen to it, no matter what decade it's from or what genre it's from. I'll even listen to movie soundtrack songs, even if I don't like or know the movie they're from. It's the song that matters. Only stuff I don't really listen to is classical (unless it's a piece from a TV show, film or video game), opera, heavy metal, 'dad rock' or boybands/middle of the road singers.

OP, go to any classic oldie song on YouTube and you will see at least a few young people admitting to liking it.

I think the only people who would make you feel somehow embarrassed about what music you like aren't worth listening to anyway.

I grew up listening to '60s and '70s music. I buy a lot of modern music, but my collection is made up primarily of older music. My top 10 albums are all from the '60s and '70s.


One of the newest comments on YouTube about Dreams by Fleetwood Mac is: "I must be the only 14 year old girl here haha."

You've made an oldie very happy by saying that song is ghastly! I don't think Radio 1 would expand their remit, even to play artists who are referenced by current ones, good idea though it may be. Contrary to what some people think, Radio 2 play a fair number of current artists including that Meghan Trainor/Charlie Puth song. Of course, youngsters probably wouldn't want to dent their credibility by listening to the station, but those into oldie music should give it a whirl, provided no-one catches them listening of course!

I grew up with my gran's playing Doris Day, my dad the beach boys and my mum the bay city rollers so I like some of there records they are probably the oldest songs I have.

There's the Back To The Future test too. Earth Angel or Johnny Be Goode?

I increasingly feel I may be in the former category.

I remember giving a talk in school about my love of Abba & older music & was practically laughed out the class! I wonder how many of them enjoyed Mamma Mia. I grew up listening to the likes of the Beatles, the who, abba, bob seger & neil diamond. Love older music

You have great taste


That Skeeter Davis song is superb. Goffin/King were the greatest 'pop' composers bar none. My favourite era is 1958-1963 and I am definitely 'Earth Angel'

I'm happy to oblige! It's horrendous.

As for Radio 2, I wouldn't mind having a good mix of oldies and newer stuff (though I think they pick rubbish modern songs) but the only chance I really get to hear it is in the morning, where the unbearable egomaniac Chris Evans is eternally ranting about how rich he is and all of his mates etc. while talking over all the songs!

Can I ask what sort of generation you are?

I don't hear Chris thank goodness, but I get to hear egomaniac Steve Wright instead! Love the show Steve.

I'm sensing a theme with these Radio 2 DJs...

Steve Wright has the wonderful combination of being egotistical AND thick! I don't mind Simon Mayo though.

Looks like I'm alone in liking that one then..

I have quite an eclectic taste in music. I'll listen to anything really.

My brother was a death metal vocalist, a close family friend was a putting out reggae tracks in the 60s (name has slipped my mind, but my uncles knew him), my dad is into queen, my mum loves Motown, my sister is into gangsta rap and r'n'b, and I'm a bit of a pop queen, but what I'm getting at is there was always music on in the house.

It's a bit of a mind**** simultaneously hearing Korn, Stevie Wonder and Tupac, whilst I was listening to the Vengaboys..

I can't say I listen to a huge amount of pre-60s music, but I've been to 50s, 40s and 20s parties and they were awesome. The best part was getting to dress up and dance to the awesome music.

I'm quite eclectic when it comes to my taste in music...I'll listen to something from most genres (death metal and screamo are foreign to me... though I can maybe understand the allure of death metal even) and have things on my playlist from every decade from the 1940's to the present. I think my favourite decade has to be the 1980's, overall. Though the 60's and the 90's have some great stuff too. By far my least favourite is the 2000's, also explaining why it's probably made the smallest contribution to my collection... the 2010's have already outnumbered it in terms of tracks and we're only just over half way through them!

I'm 23 years old, and my tastes in music aren't typical. Nor is my latecoming to the music scene....I was about 19 or 20 before I started listening to music at all, and previously most music was just background noise to me. Not sure what happened to change my mind, but I'm never without it now. My friends are also quite open-minded about what we listen to - in a big group we tend to settle for mostly 90's and 00's cheese because it's familiar to everyone and is easy to sing along to. My closer friends are happy to put on music from any decade when we're in the car, though they're a bit more conservative about rock music than I am and they tend to stick to pop. Though recently they've branched out and will listen to the classical music and scores I also have on my playlist (this thing is huge, seriously!) which is something they wouldn't have considered before.

So long story short, anything from anywhen I'm generally easily pleased. I listen to stuff from the 40's to the present, with a preference for 60's-90's mostly.

That's easy to avoid. Listen to it online while wearing headphones

I wish more people weren't so embarrassed by their taste in music. Then people like the OP wouldn't have to worry about being seen as sad.

The early 90s was mostly all about "alternative", which was the wishy-washiest of genres. I was in highschool at the time and I remember the local alternative station played everything from new wave to grunge to metal, all under the banner of "alternative".

That said, here are some songs that we liked in 90/91 that I think have held up fairly well (just from a quick scan of my library.. I've definitely left out the huge hits):

Peter Murphy - Cuts you up
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Kiss Them For Me
Jesus Jones - Right Here, Right Now
Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Happy
Jane's Addiction - Been Caught Stealing
Primus - Tommy the Cat


Back to the original post about oldies.. I'm sure the repurposing of older music into new mixes is helping expose young people to older music.

Here's an example:
Nina Simone - Feeling Good (Bassnectar Mix)

Don't worry, I grew up with ABBA and was laughed out of the class for still liking them in the 80s, yet now they're far more popular than Adam Ant, who was the big thing then.

I adore Matt Monro's voice! Radio 2 was playing music from the 50s and 60s when I was little in the 70s and 80s and mum had it on all the time, some of those songs stick with me. There's a 50s song called 'Freight Train' that makes me feel a bit sad, but I love it.

I was born in 1969, from the 60s I like all the 'uncool' stuff, Petula Clark, some of Cilla's, Glen Campbell, Neil Diamond. I never got into the Beatles and the Who type group, but just to stay uncool, I like Paul McCartney on his own!