Oldies, Remakes, and Spin-Offs

 Theme & Word of the Episode:

• The episode focuses on the word "oldie," exploring its definition, history, and how its meaning has shifted over time, especially in the context of music.

Origin and Evolution:

• "Oldie" combines "old" with the suffix "-ie," recorded first in 1874 to describe an old person.
• By the 1940s, it expanded to refer to old tunes or films.
• In the 1960s, as radio became widespread, stations began using "oldies" to describe music from earlier decades (primarily the 1950s and 1960s).

Phrase "Oldie but a Goodie":

• Credited to LA DJ Art Laboe, coined in 1958, originally for compilation albums of recent (not very old) rock and roll records.

Changing Definitions:

• There’s no set time threshold, but "oldie" generally refers to music at least 20–30 years old.
• Songs and media from the 1980s and 1990s are now also considered "oldies" as time passes.

Personal Reflections:

• The hosts discuss how songs meaningful for them or their parents are now seen as oldies. They reference wedding songs by Def Leppard (1987) and others, joking about how music from their own youth is now sometimes called oldies.

Cultural References and Remakes:

• Discussion of "The Wonder Years" (originally aired 1988–1993), and its reboot, and similar generational TV shows like "That '70s Show" (1998) and "That '90s Show."
• They observe how today, shows and music quickly become "oldies" and reflect on generational cycles of nostalgia.

Modern Attention Spans:

• The hosts comment on how viewing habits have changed, with many preferring shorter content or binge-watching series, affecting the longevity and classic status of media.

"Classic" vs. "Oldie":

• Parallels are drawn to cars, which in many US states are "antique" at 25 years, comparing this to the shifting perception of oldies in music.

On Creating Classics:

• They debate whether creators know when they’re making a classic, concluding it's usually not possible.
• Reference is made to "The Office" cast being unaware during production of the show’s future iconic status.

Ending Note:

• The episode wraps up with encouragement to listeners and the hope that perhaps their own podcast will one day be considered a classic or oldie.

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Any views expressed on this podcast are those solely of the hosts and is for entertainment purposes only. None of the content is medical advice or financial advice.

Special thanks to Tim Wright aka CoLD SToRAGE for his permission to use the song Operatique.

Transcript

I Hate Talking: 0:29

Welcome to episode 69 of I Hate Talking. Hi everyone. So, we alluded to this particular word last time when we were talking, I guess, about music, but perhaps some of the things related to Coldplay or the Beatles, or the Animals or just different bands and the music that they produced at certain time periods of history. So that is our word or phrase of this episode is oldie. Oh, oldie, OK. Have you forgotten? Well, I didn't know what what you were talking about. Alie Alie, yeah, Alie but Edie. Well, there you go. Maybe we'll do a phrase too. to be uh a 2 for 1, we can do the word oie and ooie but a goodie, as the phrase, OK? So I don't think it's any surprise to anyone that the word oldie was simply a combination of the word old with the suffixi being used together to produce the word oldie. So that is the formation of the word, and it was first used in 1874, according to our research, wow, to describe an old person. Oh, OK. And then in the 1940s, it was expanded to include an old tune or an old film. OK. And that's how primarily we use it today, I think, to describe primarily music. I guess it could describe a film or a movie as well, but I think when I hear the term oldie, I'm typically thinking of a song. Yeah, I agree. I think of music when I hear that, but I've heard it, yeah, with TV or movies, and even like food, like something that's like an old fashioned comfort food. But definitely music is what I think of first. And then music was the primary thing that this term was used for in the 1960s. So essentially when radio became more of a common format, that any particular radio station that was playing popular songs from previous decades were described as oldies. And there were a number of radio stations that were playing music during that 1960s, 1970s period that were playing music from the 1950s and 1960s. So, is that only in 10 years then? Is that what you're saying makes an oldie? So we'll get into that in a moment because there's not really a specific agreed upon definition of oldie, but there are some general rules that we'll look at. And then actually, in some of the research here, as I'm scrolling down, it actually indicates that the phrase oldie but a goodie, was a popular phrase coined in 1958 by Los Angeles DJ Art Laboe. OK. Well, what songs would he talk about then, being an oldie and goodie? Like in the 50s, cause obviously the, what I think of as an oldie is a 50s song. So what do they think of as an oldie? Like something from the twenties, like uh flapper music. So, according to a website, Malt Shop Memories Cruise in 1958, that this particular DJ produced a compilation of different rock and roll records, and these would have been from the 50s, so not really that old. Because this was in '58 and was only playing things from just a few years previous. Wow, OK. So it's almost like saying, nowadays, you know, there's songs that get really popular, and then you don't hear about them for a couple of years, and then you play it again, you're like, 05 years ago, that was really a banner. So that kind of what they're talking about? I suppose so, but I don't think that's how it's generally used. And again, that is, yes, and anytime because there wasn't really any specific rules on this particular term to describe a set number of years that have to be reached in order to be considered an oldie. Here's a question, because I hear some people call the music we did in high school and college oldies, and that's a little bit like ouch. Do you think our parents bother uh were hurt when we call their music oldies? They definitely called it that. Like I remember driving in the minivan with my family. And the old station was on. Now it's what they, the parents dance, you know, had at their wedding and things like that. I don't think I have a particular issue with the term because that is what they are. I suppose my issue is more that they don't appreciate the music of my era as much as I would like them to. The kids, yes, -- these -- kids, -- these kids these -- days new music. No, cause my parents, the song their song, quote unquote, was what's it called that one where it's like, why do birds suddenly appear? The carpenters, is that who it is? Every time you are near, I'm not gonna see it. -- you -- all that. Sounds familiar, but I think it was from before my time. Well, yeah, no, that's my parents like their song when they were dating. Yes, that was my joke of a point. I don't know this music because it's an oldie. I see, but you do know it, right? -- Are you really don't know -- oldies. I'm sure I would recognize it if I heard it, but I would not be able to quote any of the lyrics or the artist or anything about that particular song. OK, so that's the song my parents say is their song. What do you think is our song? Do we have a song? I don't know, we had a number of wedding songs. I'm not sure if there's any particular one that stands out more than others. Some of them I don't even know if I would remember. Can you remember any? Yes, I do remember this specific song that I chose, or maybe 2. So there was Or Some Sugar on. It's not our song, but you did that. -- That -- was at our wedding or the reception, I guess our heat cutting song and they only let you play like 30 seconds of it. Which I guess we'll have to look up that song because that's probably an oldie even when we played it. I would guess that's, that was a pretty old song even at that time. So let's see when that song was released. That was by Def Leppard. I had never heard that song, and you suggested it, and then I listened to it later and I was like, oh my goodness, he played this with grandparents and churchgoing. So, that song was originally released by Def Leppard. In 1987. Ah. So I think that would have been probably classified as an oldie at the time of our marriage. OK. The other song that probably is even worse than that one. -- And there's a -- reason you only chose two songs in our entire body. Yes, so, that is a song by hot action cop called Fever for the Flavor. And that was released in 2002. So, probably not quite oldie status by the time of our wedding. Oh man. But getting close. -- 2002 -- was our songs, but these are the songs that are important to me. Do you know what song we dance to? I would know it if it came on or you said it, but I would not be able to remember it on my own. OK. Do you know what song I came down the aisle to? I remember what song we exited to or -- Whatever that's called when -- you was an oldie, yes. That was, I can't think of the name, but I know the lyrics. I see skies of blue and trees of green. Red roses too, yeah. Yes, so that was the song What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong was the famous person that sang that. That was released in 1967. OK, yeah. So that might have been the oldest song that we played at our wedding. Yeah, probably. I guess we did a hymn, that probably beat that out, but As far as modern music goes, it was the oldest. OK. So, what are your most memorable songs cause apparently the ones that I remember are the ones that I picked, and probably the reason that I picked them is because I already liked them before that particular time of our lives. And I just had to give those ones to you because you cared so much. But also, like, we have a lot of very conservative people coming in. We can't. We did play the radio edit version of Fever for the Flavor. Right. We danced to a Matthew West song. I, I'm so bad at titles on. So, our first dance song was by Matthew West, When I Say I Do, and that was I can't be right. This says it was from 2019. But we are married long before that. So let me see when he actually made it. There's a different artist. When I say I do. Clint Black. It was in 1999 though. -- But I don't -- think time travelers and we played -- music that was that's just a -- Mandela effect. But that's the song that we dance to. Maybe it was a re-release or something. We can't play it. The copyrights I'm sure, but. Clint Black, is it Clint Black is the version? No. I'll look at my Spotify. I have it, and once that I while I play it to be sappy. So it is a re-release apparently because the original one was released in 2009. March of 2009. Is that right? Yeah, it could have been, could have been. Internet sleuth, -- you have lots of information about us -- we're giving away all kinds of how old we are. Yeah, this is it. OK. Does this sound familiar? Yes, but don't play it because we'll get copyrighted and banned from Spotify or something. So that was our first dance on and then I walked down the aisle to. No one I don't even know the name of. Apparently they weren't that memorable to you if you don't even remember them at all. I can sing them, -- but nobody wants to hear -- that. It was titled Here We Stand. Do you remember that one? Does that ring a bell now? That rings a bell, yes. My uncle sang it for us, and I walked down the aisle to it. Apparently, Usher did a song called Here I Stand in 2013, so my search results are inundated with all of that. -- I don't see anything before our -- time and it was not an Usher song. Apparently that's a re-release too, because there's even an Usher song from earlier in 2008, so, people are just rehashing the oldies. Look at that, of the sheet music and everything. There you go. Yeah, that's right. Here we stand by T Carter music, is what it was. In 2007. That's when T Carter music was established, so maybe sometime after that. But relatively recent, so probably not an oldie at the time of our wedding. Yeah. Well there you go. So, I had more classic songs than you did. And I had more wholesome songs. So maybe I did appreciate my parents' music more than you appreciated theirs. Well my parents would not have listened to that music either. The carpenters are pretty wild for them. That's true. So, in a roundabout way, I guess we've touched on perhaps some of the definition of a oldie. And the reason that I think that this is sort of a shifting term is because when it was originally used in the 1970s, It sort of was describing music from the 1940s, mainly the 1950s, a little bit of the early 1960s, and then that sort of stuck for a period of time, maybe a decade or so. So since radio format was relatively new to the populace, that was sort of the first music that was played, and then at a certain period that was the quote unquote old music, as new music kept being produced. But then as time progressed, the oldies term became used for just older music in general, not necessarily specific things from the late 40s to the early 60s, and according to most accepted definitions now, it will typically refer to music that is at least 20 to 30 years old. OK. So our Coldplay example from their formation in 1991 with whatever their first album was. It was 24 years ago. 28, no. More than that, what date are you talking about? 1990s? Isn't that what we said 1991 was the formation of. OK, no, I was incorrect. I was, I was thinking of something else 1996. So 30 years ago. Yeah, 29 years ago. So, Uh, even the general definition of an oldie, being 20 to 30 years old, it pretty much fits the bill that whatever Coldplay's first album was, is now considered an oldie. By that definition. OK, I, I feel that. And then it still can be used to generally describe music from The late 40s, 1950s, even early 1970s, but now because we are in 2025, it is including songs from the 80s and even 90s. OK, well, here's a crazy thing that I saw recently. Do you know the TV show The Wonder Years? Yes, and I think they again rehashed that and made another spin-off. Oh really? Yeah, isn't there the girl's perspective or something like that? Oh, no, no. The Wonder Years has Fred in it, and that's the older brother of Boy Meets World. You're thinking of Boy Meets World, Corey's real life brother. Has a spinoff? No, I I'm thinking of something else. There is apparently a reboot and it did extremely poorly. Of the Wonder Years? Yes. It had two seasons. Yeah, I'm gonna have to look it up, cause what I think you're thinking of is in the Wonder Years, the star is Fred Savage. And then years later there was Boy Meets World. And Ben Savage is Fred's younger brother, and he starred in it. And then they rebooted that with taking Ben Savage's quote unquote daughter. And reliving it through her eyes. And a funny story, but there's another show that's not Wonder Years reboot. OK, I'll look up Wonder Years reboot in a minute. All right, so what show are you describing? Boy Meets World. -- I think you get Fred and Ben -- because they were in the same show. No, they're not in the same show, they're real life brothers, brothers and they look the same or something very similar. I see. So one time I was at a TV taping. For a show, I don't even remember what it was. But it was like 25 or so years ago, and it's a show that Fred Savage was in. And we were watching it was funny, it was like a sitcom. And then at the end of the show, we were leaving and we saw Fred, who was the star of the show, with his brother Ben. And I had a friend scream out, we love you, Corey Matthews. And Fred turned around, he's like, this is my show. Like, he was offended or half joking. That his brother, who was not in the show, just watching it, got the attention, not him. Hm, I see. Yes, you know, guess what friend that was. I don't know, but do they listen to this podcast? Probably not. I mean maybe but. She's not a podcaster. We'll talk later. I don't, I don't know. Anyways, but all over the place in this in this episode, but there was a, yeah, there's a Wonder Years reboot. You've never heard of this apparently. It was canceled after 2 seasons, low viewership and a change in ABC's scheduling strategy. Show it to me because I can't find that on Google. I just googled Wonders Years reboot or remake. Yeah, I think it came out in 2021, maybe 2023. It's hard to tell on the dates here, -- but we're gonna have to watch -- it. No, it was terrible. -- Nobody -- watched it. OK, y'all don't know what we look like. But to give you a hint, the person I get called out, number one, especially when I was younger, was Winnie from the wetter years. People would often think I was her. Do you think I look like that? Mm. I don't see it, but I get it so much when I was a kid. Maybe like you probably had the same style, I think, as a kid. Yeah, I got called Winnie all the time. Anyways, I wanna watch this now, I guess I didn't know I had a remake. You do not look like her at all right now. So, yeah, I mean, she's beautiful. I'd love to look like her, but I don't think we age the same. The Wonder Years remake, you can watch on your own. I don't particularly for that. She's 50 years old. That's interesting. I guess we're getting old. All these songs that we're talking about are oldies. All the people that we grew up watching on TV are like really old. There's the reason I brought up the Wonder Years. Let's circle back and bring it back to the word of the day. Because the reason I'm talking about Wonder Years is that it seems like a really old show. It was made in, was it the 80s, depicting the 60s. So they were saying nowadays, if you made something, it would depict, like, the early 2000s. Isn't that crazy? That is crazy. Like that just, you know, the Wonder Years talks about the 60s and Vietnam and stuff. So it's just bizarre to think about. I mean, 9/11 happened in the early 2000s, so it'd be really crazy to think about a kid telling the story about living through 9/11 right now. That's true. Yeah, Wonder Years 1988 uh 1993. So, there you have it. Yeah, I guess there's other, probably considered oldies now by most standards, Forrest Gump, where it's describing some of the events that happened. A quote unquote long time ago when that was originally created. Or what's the other one? I mean, there's that 70s Show, which that was made when in the, oh, early 2000s, early 2000s, so, yeah. And I mean, it's interesting because they, they seem like classics that depicting something from the past. Yes, first air date was 1998 for that 70s show. -- I just feel like and now they made -- it that 90s show. Did you know that? All these remakes are terrible. OK, well, see that's, I guess that's what I'm saying is like, that just seems so lame to do the 90s or early 2000s, but I guess it's not lame. I don't know. Apparently it's lame because I don't think either of us knew that that even existed. At 90s show, no. No. It also might have something to do with generational bubbles where maybe that was something that was Popular with our generation or even the baby boomers as it were. That they could relive some of those things that were during their formative years and perhaps the bubble of people that are coming of age now are just either not there yet, or something of that nature, or they're just interested in different things. Yeah, and I think nowadays even, I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but I think movies aren't even a big thing anymore, cause everyone's attention span, it's like the shorter clips. Like you try to play a 1, 11.5 hour movie nowadays, and people just get lost and lose interest so quickly. And so I think that that's part of the culture now is like, it's much quicker little snippets, the Netflix 30 minute shows or whatnot, hour shows. You're not getting drawn out storylines anymore. Perhaps, but there's also those people that binge watch those shows and watch 6 hours of shows all at once, and they're just Is gonna be 12 episodes within that time frame. Yeah, -- there's a whole meme about it right where both -- ways. Yeah, where it's like a 4 hour show, no way, but binge watching 6 hours of a 1 hour show, definitely. There you go. Well, it works for both the short attention span and the people that want to watch a longer anthology. So we've just find our oldies, we've used it in some different contexts and phrases. The thing that I sort of land on I guess is 25 years and I actually equate that to when a vehicle is considered a classic or antique, and in the United States, most states recognize that 25 years is when you can apply for your antique. License plate and status of a vehicle. Oh wow, really? It's not very long, I guess in our old perspective now, 25 years used to be like a long time to me, -- but I guess not anymore -- bands getting up there. It can be a classic car soon, but it's had like most of its parts replaced because one of the criteria for an antique, it has to be mostly original or restored condition. So there has to be some like original parts and there's other more detailed requirements around that. So like the being -- that -- if you overhaul the, I think you would need to either. Remanufacture parts or use original. Parts that are reclaimed from wrecks and junkyards and things like that. That's crazy. Do you remember growing up, some of my friends' parents had cars that were so old, they didn't have seat belts, and that was legal. -- It was supposedly -- at least I was told it was. Timman Taylor in Home Improvement. Oh really? No, I'm trying to make an oldie reference and it went way over your head apparently. I believe it because I'm sure home improvement is very old as well. OK, there was there home improvement remake? I don't know. Google it. I don't think so. -- I bet there -- is. -- I bet there is and it probably -- is. The thing I'm desperately trying to get our family into is get smart. So they did, they did pitch it and Tim Allen was interested, but whoever played Jill, Patricia Richardson was never interested. So you couldn't do without her. Or they'd have to kill her off. There, yeah, there would have to be some complexities there, they would have to be explained or something, right. So, yeah. OK. Yeah, I mean, I like him. I think he's, he's busy doing other stuff right now. Uh yeah, Get Smart, the original Get Smart, trying to get our family on board with. Our kids aren't super interested yet, but I really think if they give it a chance, they'll like it. So I'm gonna keep pushing it cause it's such a funny show. I suppose so. I've tried the same with music and they. I don't really seem to be all that interested in that either. There's a couple of them that did enjoy Audioslave for a while, but now they don't enjoy it anymore. So, I guess, for our final thing, we gotta look up when Audio Slave was formed, and when those songs originally came out. 2001, so more recently than Coldplay. But not by much. OK. 2001, yes, too long ago. So you're saying that's an oldie. 2001 to 2025, 24 years, it does fit within the scope of 20 years. So what do you think people think, like when you're creating something, whether it's music or television or whatever it is, do you think the person knows at the time this is gonna be an oldie or a classic or anything? Because you're not ever do anything right, like, this is classic. Like you can't call it that while you're doing it, right? Unless it's specifically composed in such a way that it is a quote unquote classic, so maybe like a remix, remake. thing of a classic song, classic show, classic sound. Yes, I think in everything that we've described, they were new sounds, new hits. At the time, and now are still somewhat popular and are in the category of oldies. Yeah, like, I mean, I'm a big Office fan, and they talk a lot about when they were doing it, they really enjoyed what they were doing, but they did not know what a hit it was. They kept thinking they were gonna get canceled. And I mean, the office is huge, even, you know, it just continues to get bigger and bigger and more popular. So they were just talking about like, no, we did not know this was gonna be. What it is. So I think that's interesting to think that. When you're doing something, if you're enjoying it and you believe in it, keep going. But you never really know until it's all done years later. If it was a success or not. So you're saying our podcast will someday be a classic? Why not, let's keep dreaming. There you go. So, I don't think we think that right now, but maybe in the future, we'll have a hit. I don't know, I enjoy doing it no matter what, but Yeah, you can enjoy something, but we're asking the question if you know that you're creating something that is going to be a monumental achievement. No, if I'm gonna put my retirement fund, I'm not investing in this. I suppose I would take the same tact, but hopefully our listeners have a little bit more enthusiasm for our podcast, and if you do, you can always like, share and subscribe and Who knows, you can always send us text and donate some money. We don't currently have a way to do that right now, but if that's something that you're interested in doing, yeah, and then perpetuity, who knows, we'll get licensing and hopefully not kick off Spotify for any sound bites that sneak their way in on the songs that we played. I think we'll edit all those out. So, I hope so. So, from your friends at I hate talking, until next time, remember, it is only through talking that we begin the journey to understanding.