We have a dining room background music system at 15 Craigside that provides the worst sounds, both in terms of content and sound quality, in sporadic fashion. Basically, staff members play CDs at their convenience, now and then more in tune with their personal preferences. Their average age must be around 30, while that of the residents is somewhere in the low-80's. Clearly, songs have changed over the past half a century. Worse, there is only one speaker, so if you sit right close to it, the volume is too high, while it is just the opposite for most.
But that's not the focus of this posting today, although return at the end about a solution that is being considered. No, this morning I awoke to Solid Gold Oldies on MC, or Music Choice, a free service that provides 50 channels of commercial free service 24/7, and that's 24 hours a day 7 days/week. There are also various country stations, but very few here at 15C is into that form of entertainment. This is sort of a religious place, but Christian music would rank as low as cowboy songs. Same for Latino and Mexicana. Stage and Screen? These are mostly obscure pieces. Jazz and Blues.? Not all day here. Classical music? Good for some, but continuously? Singers and Swing might be close to the best, but these are mostly modern artists covering the standards. Now and then perhaps Glenn Miller and such intrude, but not much.
What is totally lacking is a genre that covers the period from after World War II to 1960. Music Choice does not cover that era because there are not that many that old worthy of consideration.
What was popular then? Take 1950. This is a list of Billboard magazine's top popular songs of 1950 according to retail sales.[1]
Again, I know all 30. MC's Golden Oldies do not drop down to the year 1955. Surely, Golden Oldies must have played something from 1960, and this is a list of Billboard magazine's Top Hot 100 songs of 1960.[1
Nope, not a one. I rest my case.
Oh, about the 15 C music solution, I sent the following e-mail to the administration:
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I must have misplaced the form to make comments. However, it occurred to me that, when you update the Dining Room music policy, I think you should consider dropping the CD player and CDs in general. The world has changed, and Spectrum has 50 music channels--800 to 850--all which apparently come with the subscription. There are no commercials and the music goes on for 24 hours, with no repeats.
Anyway, regarding what music channels, the Programs Committee can determine what to play, but as a strawman for discussion:
Monday: 850 Light Classical
Tuesday: 848 Easy Listening
Wed.: 847 Singers/Swing
Thursday: 843 Soundscape
Friday: 830 Solid Gold Oldies
Saturday: 800 Hawaiian
Sunday: Day of quiet
Also, it occurred to me that Spectrum and Best Buy can recommend a receiver and six bluetooth speaker set that can work in a room the size of our Dining Room. This way you won't need to lay any wires.
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The administration responded by indicating they are looking into something like the above. Still need a solution for how to get the 1946-1960 period streamed into 15 Craigside.
I subscribed to the Time-Life 1950's series that had 155 songs from 1950-1959 on ten CDs. It's possible that I accumulated the full 18 CD set of 277 songs from that period. The CDs themselves are probably still circulating somewhere in 15 Craigside, for I gave them away after I moved into this retirement community. In any case, the music is in my computer and iPhone.
Finally, I must have transferred to my computer more than a hundred songs from old '78s and the following CDs representing a good cross section of Japanese music with local Hawaii ties:
I subscribed to the Time-Life 1950's series that had 155 songs from 1950-1959 on ten CDs. It's possible that I accumulated the full 18 CD set of 277 songs from that period. The CDs themselves are probably still circulating somewhere in 15 Craigside, for I gave them away after I moved into this retirement community. In any case, the music is in my computer and iPhone.
Finally, I must have transferred to my computer more than a hundred songs from old '78s and the following CDs representing a good cross section of Japanese music with local Hawaii ties:
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