Songs that you thought were a lot older

[jon daly]

Lou! TIL that Burt Young is still alive; and younger than I would've guessed.

[abefroman329]

One kid I put t'rew college, the other kid I put t'rew a wall. Tough but fair.

This whole thread reminds me of when I was a kid watching Happy Days when Mork was on and being amazed that they were able to predict Jimmy Carter's Presidency and EPCOT Center in the 1950s.

[D-Dey65]

I don't see how yall can think an 80's song is from the 60's. The sound quality difference is like night and day.

I give you "I Go Wild," by The Three O' Clock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu2PZ0J3LlY

In this case, it's not just the sound quality. Even the video itself looks like it's from an old broadcast of The Ed Sullivan Show or American Bandstand anywhere between 1965 and 1967.

[Henry]

Billy Joel was guilty of this during the 80s. Uptown Girl and The Longest Time sound like something from the 60s and 50s, respectively.

Also during the 80s, when Chicago had Jason Scheff as lead vocalist, they were stuck in the 70s (the decade of their greatest success) with their hit Will You Still Love Me? By then, Peter Cetera had already left the group, but you wouldn't know that because the lead singer sounds a lot like him.

[jon daly]

There was a lot of nostalgia in the 80s. The Stray Cats were a rockabilly group and Queen tried their hand at that old genre on "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." But the recording quality (of Queen's song, at leasdt) sounded state of the art and wouldn't be confused with the sound quality of a 45 from 1957.

[20160805]

There was a lot of nostalgia in the 80s. The Stray Cats were a rockabilly group and Queen tried their hand at that old genre on "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." But the recording quality (of Queen's song, at leasdt) sounded state of the art and wouldn't be confused with the sound quality of a 45 from 1957.

1979

[formulanone]

There was a lot of nostalgia in the 80s.

My speculation is that the marketability of nostalgia started in the 1970s as a push-back or "sweeping under the rug" of 1960s culture not long after the 1970s began. But yeah, the 1980s proved that fads and culture could be recycled and remixed until saturation...and then another decade could be regurgitated.

[roadman]

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

The event described didn't even happen until November 1975.

And, as additional facts about the disaster come to light, Gordon Lightfoot updates the lyrics accordingly.

The additional "facts" revealed about the Fitzgerald sinking in recent years have shed no new light on the disaster that Gordon Lightfoot hadn't accounted for in his original song.  And meaning no disrespect, but with Lightfoot's increasing health problems in recent years, I'd say it's more likely that he doesn't remember all of the original lyrics and ad-libs when he performs in concert.  Per the liner notes for the first pressing of Summertime Dream, the 1976 album that featured the song, Lightfoot got the inspiration for the song after reading about the tragedy in Newsweek.  A few years after the song came out, I read the original Newsweek article.  Kind of like when you've seen Airplane! and then decide to read Runway Zero-Eight, the song does reflect everything stated in the article - almost word for word.

Of course, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald still remains high on my list for the "Most Unlikely Song to make it to the Top Forty" award.

[briantroutman]

^ Could be that Gord's brains are still a bit fried from having to learn the lyrics to every song ever written.

Of course, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald still remains high on my list for the "Most Unlikely Song to make it to the Top Forty" award.

Might the seven plus-minute "MacArthur Park"  be on that list as well?

[kphoger]

Maroon 5's Sugar song made in 2014 but it sounded like a song from the 1980's

A lot of Maroon 5 songs sound like they came out around 1999.  I keep mistaking their music for something older.

When I was in 4th-5th grade I thought the Macarena was of similar vintage to songs like the YMCA and the Electric Slide, because they were commonly played along side each other at parties and such the time. Had no idea it was in fact brand new.

I remember my sister's wedding reception back in the 90s...  She taught everyone how to dance the Macarena, because nobody had heard of it yet.

[kphoger]

A lot of people think Carmina Burana is a lot older than it is.  Sure, the lyrics are from the High Middle Ages, but Carl Orff didn't set those words to music until the 1930s.

[jon daly]

Welcome back, kphoger!

[jon daly]

There was a lot of nostalgia in the 80s.

My speculation is that the marketability of nostalgia started in the 1970s as a push-back or "sweeping under the rug" of 1960s culture not long after the 1970s began. But yeah, the 1980s proved that fads and culture could be recycled and remixed until saturation...and then another decade could be regurgitated.

The other night, I watched an almost 20 year old show "That 70's Show." It was set 40 years ago. In it, they were watching Happy Days," which was set 60 years ago. If only Richie and the Fonz were able to travel into the future to watch "The Sting," (set 80 years ago,) my night would have been nirvana.

[kphoger]

Happy Days ... nirvana.

I see what you did there.

   Uncle Jim smoked pot and had a hipper record collection than his brother Don: The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles; stoner musical influences that Kurt absorbed, encouraged by older school buddies sporting tie-dyed T-shirts and feathered hair who'd drop by to mooch off Jim's food supply. "I just thought they were cooler than my geeky fourth-grade friends who watched Happy Days," Kurt told biographer Azerrad.
   From Jim's, Kurt was passed around from relative to relative–including Uncle Chuck's where the young Cobain began taking guitar lessons from one of Chuck's bandmates, Warren Mason. Mason found Kurt a proper guitar–an Ibanez costing $125–and tuition began in earnest: such classic rock standardds as 'Stairway To Heaven', 'Louie Louie' and AC/DC's 'Back In Black' being among the first songs learned.

[20160805]

A lot of people think Carmina Burana is a lot older than it is.  Sure, the lyrics are from the High Middle Ages, but Carl Orff didn't set those words to music until the 1930s.

I knew that.

"This octopus!  Let's give him boots!  Send him to North Korea!"

[kphoger]

"This octopus!  Let's give him boots!  Send him to North Korea!"

I forgot about that video!!  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for posting that!!

[roadman]

^ Could be that Gord's brains are still a bit fried from having to learn the lyrics to every song ever written.

Of course, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald still remains high on my list for the "Most Unlikely Song to make it to the Top Forty" award.

Might the seven plus-minute "MacArthur Park"  be on that list as well?

To quote Lieutenant Anderson (Baa Baa Black Sheep), Yupper!

[michravera]

A lot of people think Carmina Burana is a lot older than it is.  Sure, the lyrics are from the High Middle Ages, but Carl Orff didn't set those words to music until the 1930s.

I knew that.

"This octopus!  Let's give him boots!  Send him to North Korea!"

Of course, it's going to be tough to be "Turn Turn Turn!" for antiquity of lyrics. In 1964 on Captain Kangaroo I heard a musical rendition of lyrics that may well be older still -- "Saint Ives". It's one of the oldest riddles.

[bing101]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIzbgzwJXlo


Yes this song sounds 1980's though But it was done in 2017.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuccTS0xLtc

[Rothman]

A lot of people think Carmina Burana is a lot older than it is.  Sure, the lyrics are from the High Middle Ages, but Carl Orff didn't set those words to music until the 1930s.

I knew that.

"This octopus!  Let's give him boots!  Send him to North Korea!"

Of course, it's going to be tough to be "Turn Turn Turn!" for antiquity of lyrics. In 1964 on Captain Kangaroo I heard a musical rendition of lyrics that may well be older still -- "Saint Ives". It's one of the oldest riddles.

Saint Ives is older than the Book of Ecclesiastes?

[kphoger]

Saint Ives is older than the Book of Ecclesiastes?

Saint Ives = 18th Century
Ecclesiastes = ca. 5th—3rd Century BC

[michravera]

Saint Ives is older than the Book of Ecclesiastes?

Saint Ives = 18th Century
Ecclesiastes = ca. 5th—3rd Century BC

"Saint Ives" dates from an earlier Persian or Greek riddle. If you want to compare apples-to-apples, the English rendition of "Turn, Turn, Turn!"'s lyrics date only from their publication in the AKJV in 1607 or so.

[roadman65]

^ Could be that Gord's brains are still a bit fried from having to learn the lyrics to every song ever written.

Of course, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald still remains high on my list for the "Most Unlikely Song to make it to the Top Forty" award.

Might the seven plus-minute "MacArthur Park"  be on that list as well?

At least he did not end up in the loony bin like his drummer did.

Jim Gordon (who co-wrote Clapton's Layla) was institutionalized for murdering his mother and even Eric Clapton when interviewed about his song Layla would refer to Jim Gordon as being in the bin.

[D-Dey65]

You know, I still find it hard to believe that "Thieves," by She & Him isn't some old early-1960's tune by Patsy Cline, or somebody more obscure from that period.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeAgLIaHj0M

[roadman65]

I thought the song Palisades Park (about the now defunct NJ amusement park) was a 50's song.  It was released in 1962.