Oldest people who liked rock music

[bandit957]

Who were the oldest people who liked rock music? By that, I don't mean those who are the oldest now, but who were born the earliest.

I remember reading that Jimmy Carter (born 1924) listened to Led Zeppelin records while he worked in his office.

I was shocked to hear that my grandparents liked rock music, but I don't think they really did, except for an occasional soft rock song like "Show Me The Way" by Styx. One day, we had the radio on, and my grandmother started talking about what a great song that was.

I had teachers who didn't like most rock, but it turned out they were a lot younger than I thought.

[wriddle082]

My maternal grandmother was an Elvis fan.  She was born in 1917.  Elvis fans in general may be some of the oldest, since he was the first really big name rock artist.

[KeithE4Phx]

Before rock & roll, there was rhythm and blues, which became popular after the war.  But if you're talking how the mainstream version is defined today, it has to start with Bill Haley and his Comets, with Rock Around the Clock in 1955.  Those who were in high school at the time were born around 1940, plus/minus a couple of years, making them 80ish today.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Who were the oldest people who liked rock music? By that, I don't mean those who are the oldest now, but who were born the earliest.

Whomever gave Mozart his first commission, back in the 1700s, in Austria.

[GaryV]

Ed Sullivan?

[1995hoo]

I'm not sure whether you'd consider the Beatles "rock," but the late Queen Mother (born in 1900) was reportedly a big fan of theirs.

[Molandfreak]

My great grandfather (1902-2007) liked some "˜80s power ballads. I'm not sure you could say he was really a fan of the artists, but more impressed with the synth sounds.

[frankenroad]

My parents were born in the 1920s and had no use for Rock.  My sisters and I (born 1951-1960) are huge fans.  I would guess that people born before 1940ish would not be fans.

A couple funny stories, relating to this topic. 

1.  A couple years ago, when the movie Bohemian Rhapsody was released, I was telling some friends (three friends, all born in the late 1940s) about it, and they had *never* heard of Queen.   I literally asked them what rock they had been living under.  They would have been under 30 when Queen first came on the scene.

2.  In 1979, I was in the car with my grandfather, who was born in 1899, and Janis Joplin was mentioned on the radio.   He said "Janis Joplin?  She's been dead for several years"  I was shocked that he knew who she was.   Turns out my grandparents used to play bridge with Janis's parents.

[JayhawkCO]

My grandma who was born in 1920 used to play Eagles songs on her organ when I was a kid.

[Henry]

My father's favorite station was the "Big 89" WLS. It became a rock & roll (Top-40 for the older crowd) station when he started high school, and that was all he says he'd ever listen to. After WLS flipped formats to News/Talk, he decided that he'd had enough and tuned into oldies stations WJMK (104.3), and later WLS-FM (94.7) after the former station changed formats.

[kevinb1994]

My dad, back in the day, would tune in to 102.7 WNEW-FM (which was once tied to what is now WNYW on Channel 5, but there was no such thing as a Fox affiliation in those days, as then-WNEW-TV was already a former Dumont station, with Dumont having gone defunct around the time that my dad was born). WNEW-FM was one of those historic progressive rock FM stations (it was once owned by Metromedia, another defunct company), home to the likes of Alison Steele (AKA The Nightbird (RIP)). Unfortunately, the station isn't what it used to be, a victim of changing times (and changing tastes).

My dad's parents were more old-school. For example, my late grandmother (who died last year) had enjoyed the likes of Tom Jones ("She's A Lady"  (1970), originally a song by Paul Anka-both artists were on Columbia AKA CBS).

My mother's younger sister is a fan of the Eagles' "Hotel California"  (1976), specifically the title track (1976) from the album of the same name (1976). My mother and her younger sister would have both been in high school when that song was a hit (in 1977), though, by the time it topped the charts (in May of 1977), my mother was about to graduate from Jackson Memorial High School (and then Elvis would die in August of that year). My mother apparently remembers when some of the Beatles' songs were translated into Mandarin Chinese, such as "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" , a single off their White Album (1968). Her favorite Beatle would have been George Harrison (RIP).

Back in the day, I believe that there was Dave Matthews Band and ELO music played at my uncle's house in Jackson, NJ (according to my uncle Bill). Dave Matthews Band was one of my favorites growing up.

[DandyDan]

Buddy Holly's last concert was at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, about 10 miles west of where I live. And one of the women I work with, who must be 60 or so, likes to talk about how her parents were there. Presuming they are alive, they would have to be in their 80's for sure.

[hbelkins]

I'm not sure whether you'd consider the Beatles "rock," but the late Queen Mother (born in 1900) was reportedly a big fan of theirs.

If the Beatles aren't rock, I don't know who or what is.

[1995hoo]

I'm not sure whether you'd consider the Beatles "rock," but the late Queen Mother (born in 1900) was reportedly a big fan of theirs.

If the Beatles aren't rock, I don't know who or what is.

Some people consider the Beatles to be "pop" and regard that as a separate genre from the heavier "rock."

[triplemultiplex]

Some people consider the Beatles to be "pop" and regard that as a separate genre from the heavier "rock."

Those people are wrong.

"Pop" isn't a genre as far as I'm concerned.

[Rothman]

My father's parents (born in the early 1920s) like listening to Janet Jackson.

[hbelkins]

Some people consider the Beatles to be "pop" and regard that as a separate genre from the heavier "rock."

Those people are wrong.

"Pop" isn't a genre as far as I'm concerned.

I think "pop" has become a catch-all for music from any genre that becomes popular, or music that doesn't really fit into a more neatly-defined category.

How would you classify old songs like "Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'Round The Old Oak Tree" or "Bad Bad Leroy Brown?" Songs like "Come Sail Away" or "More Than A Feeling" were rock songs that became pop songs, but while it's easy to categorize Boston or Styx as rock, I'm not sure where Tony Orlando & Dawn or Jim Croce fit.

[SectorZ]

My father's parents (born in the early 1920s) like listening to Janet Jackson.

Does she count as rock because she won a grammy for best female rock vocal performance one time?

[jp the roadgeek]

No one in my grandparents generation (born 1908-1925) liked it.  My grandmother (God rest her soul) was so cute about my mom and aunt's (mom currently 73 and aunt would be 68) taste in music.  She'd always talk about them playing Bob Dylan records and how he sounded like a "sick cow"  and "Oh that awful dirty song that went Lady lay across my bed."   They were too into polkas and big band, but my uncle got her into some modern soft rock and country in her final years.  As for my parents:  my mom was at Woodstock in 69 and knew a couple famous musicians when she lived in Boston for a summer.  My dad was more into early 70's prog rock like Yes, King Crimson and the like.

[frankenroad]

....   She'd always talk about them playing Bob Dylan records and how he sounded like a "sick cow"  ...

She wasn't wrong.

[Roadgeekteen]

I'm sure that there was a 90 some year old born in the 1860s who liked Elvis.

[michravera]

My maternal grandmother was an Elvis fan.  She was born in 1917.  Elvis fans in general may be some of the oldest, since he was the first really big name rock artist.

My Dad's mother, born in 1913, was a Willy and Dolly (and Lawrence Welk) fan -- Not exactly the champion of rock, but "Hip Country" at the time. My Mom's mother, born 1920, loved Elvis and Buddy and Richie. Her son, my uncle, was a Country-Rocker (at one of his first gigs in Tahoe, the promoters made them change their band's name as "too suggestive").

[ErmineNotyours]

I was lucky to go to Vancouver's Expo 86 on B.C. Weekend when I got to see a free performance by Chilliwak, a group I had seen on MTV and I was a fan.  The group has been around for a while, and there was a late-middle-aged woman dancing in the aisle.  On the trip to Canada a year earlier, I went to a restaurant and saw what looked like a teenager and her mom with the same new wave haircut.  Things are different in Canada.

[Osthagen]

Muddy Waters (born 1913) had a high enough opinion of the Rolling Stones to cover one of their songs in 1967.

Ronald Reagan (born 1911) claimed to be a Bruce Springsteen fan. He played "Born in the USA" at one of his rallies for the 1984 election, which left the Boss fuming.

Far from the oldest, but my maternal grandfather (born 1939) had "Wonderwall" by Oasis in his banjo repertoire.

[michravera]

Ed Sullivan?

Ed Sullivan was born in about 1890. I'm sure that there were some record company executives and talent scouts were born before that who also liked Rock-and-Roll. Keep in mind that Bill Haley and Elvis Presley were only the first European-Americans to get involved and popular with it. African-Americans invented both the concept of Rock-and-Roll and its name. The term "rock" was already in current use by the time that Hailey's group recorded "Rock Around the Clock". That was sort of the reason for the song's popularity! It's sort of like Blondie using the term "rap" in "One Way or Another". Apparently, it was already a term that had current use by 1978. Nigel Harrison (one of the authors of "One Way or Another") was born in 1951.