Oldies Music Format About to Encompass the '80s, Too? How Did That Happen?

A few years ago a friend of mine told me something astonishing: that she had actually heard the Police tune "Every Breath You Take" referred to as an oldie and played on a station featuring that format. I've always thought of that genre, preferred by many members of my parents' generation, to include music from the '50s and '60s roughly fitting into the early rock and roll era.

But aging is a funny process, one that finds numerous ways to alter one's perspective if not the very essence of the world around us. Now that it's almost 30 years since the first strains of '80s music were unleashed into pop culture and about 20 since the '90s became an active term of frequent use, I suppose it is indeed time to redefine the way we categorize music and bundle it into timelines. Right under my nose, in fact, a great deal of '70s music has become widely contained under the oldies umbrella, which creates, in my mind, the awkward, even surreal notion of bands like Led Zeppelin, Queen and the Eagles possibly popping up on oldies radio. I'll tell you one thing, though: the day I hear the Cars or Cyndi Lauper referred to as oldies will be the day I check into the nearest convalescence home. Guess I better get started on the paperwork.

• About.com's Oldies Music Website