Oldies & Nostalgia

The upcoming 30-year high school reunion has generated a renewed interest in oldies music and nostalgia for me. It doesn't seem that it's been over a generation since we walked the halls of Andrew Warde High School. The older we get, the more quickly time seems to pass.

The last several months I've become hooked on the Saturday Night Oldies show on WABC with host Mark Simone. The show attempts to re-create the glory days of Top 40 music on AM radio, specifically, WABC, which was home to legendary disc jockeys during our youth. By the early 1980s, though, a clear FM signal in stereo and more music options had all but eliminated music on AM radio. WABC eventually became all-talk radio in May of 1982.

Now, though, host Mark Simone caters to the "baby boomers" by reminiscing about what life was like for all of us in the 1960s and 1970s by playing the top music of days gone by and encouraging phone calls and Internet message board chatter. He even has interviews with the popular musicians of that era.

Naturally, the show has become "appointment radio" for me, and I never miss a Saturday night oldies program. I wrote to Mark thanking him for all his efforts.

"What a nice surprise to hear from News 12," he responded. "I spend a lot of time in Connecticut and watch it quite a bit. Thanks for your kind words and taking the time to write. Great to know you were listening. Spread the word!"

This coming Memorial Day weekend, Mark hosts his oldies program Saturday night, and the the station airs its annual Memorial Day Rewound all-day Monday by rebroadcasting parts of shows from the 1960s and 1970s. Mark wraps up the nostalgic weekend with a Post-Rewound program Monday evening from 6 to 8 o'clock.

So what were the Top Ten songs on June 24, 1976, our graduation day? Here's the official list from WABC Music Radio's survey:

1. Silly Love Songs by Wings
2. Kiss and Say Goodbye by The Manhattans
3. Love Hangover by Diana Ross
4. Misty Blue by Dorothy Moore
5. More, More, More by Andrea True Connection
6. Get Up and Boogie by Silver
7. Sara Smile by Daryl Hall and John Oates
8. Shannon by Henry Gross
9. Turn the Beat Around by Vicki Sue Robinson
10. Welcome Back Kotter by John Sebastian

Maybe we'll hear at least one of those songs on this weekend's Saturday Night Oldies show!

Paul