Old Songs

What’s the oldest song you listen to on a regular basis?

My own lifetime goes back to the 70s, when lots of great music was being created, and entire genres were evolving out of whole cloth. Punk was nascent and metal was still brand new. Funk and disco exploded onto the popular scene, and pop gobbled up those influences.

I grew up listening to the likes of Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, and Journey on the contemporary pop stations throughout my youngest years, but my parents also listened to older stuff, especially from the early days of rock and roll.

I love music that’s older than this, but I discovered most of that much later in life.

Today, I want to take you way back, first to the origins of rock and roll—such an important parent genre for so many forms of music to come. This piece is a bit more of a personal journey than a dry history, and so I’ve invited an expert for this part of the tale: Brad Kyle runs Front Row & Backstage here on Substack, and Brad brings a wealth of knowledge about rock music and beyond. …