Where To Find Old School Classics?

When it comes to classic content, I believe there is a sort of “Ying and Yang.” While more and more out of print *music* and film are being resurrected in the digital world, believe it or not there are still issues finding them. Some of my biggest concerns are:

Not enough seasoned people are using computer technology, and sharing their memories with us! (biggest issue I feel).
We have a situation where the last several generations of children were not exposed to classic entertainment history, therefore there is absolutely no interest by young people (with the exception of an occasional Marvin Gaye song). So sad.. ?
Because classic music is no longer played like it used to be, there is a severe decline in fandom. Yes more vinyl are being sold, but consider the biggest number appears to be from the UK (which is very telling about the decline of our own interest in American music, foreigners appreciate our music more than we do as a whole). This is why seasoned folk are so important to the internet, especially when we talk about Black entertainment.
There just isn’t enough bloggers of color on the net, period. And I’m afraid it is a direct reflection on the fact that a significant amount of us don’t read. And if I remember correctly, the school statistics still show this. Click here.
I also think Facebook has made people lazy. People rather copy and paste, rather than actually take the time to write something of value using their own words.
Blogging takes a considerable amount of dedication. I’ve seen soooo many blogs that haven’t had any posts since more than 8 years. Their blogs are just sitting in cyberspace dormant. Like space debris, it’s just there.
We don’t share other bloggers that are creating awesome new content about our classics! We’re working hard to keep music history alive! So few of us are doing it, therefore it’s not appreciated. Please make the extra effort and share us. Show your appreciation. The Black community is notorious for not supporting each other. Hint, hint.
Many Facebook group owners don’t show love to bloggers as much as they should.
Many classic blogger’s sites themselves are sooo old, they’re not optimized for search engines.
Last biggie is, many old school artists/studios still don’t fully understand today’s digital culture, and lock their gems away in license/copyright bullshit. If you charge too much for your license so that no one can see your historical work, who’s benefiting? Absolutely no one!! Not even the studio. Daaahhhh.

SpotifyThrowbacks.com

So, despite the difficulties in finding new/old written content on the net about many of the classics we grew up with, how can we rediscover our music so we can relive them? There are a few things that I’ve done, I know will help you!

Search and find newsletters where “classics” is the subject matter.
Subscribing to blogs are sometimes the same as looking for newsletters.
I’ve rediscovered classics from listening to podcasts on iTunes.
Cable TV has awesome music channels. You can Shazam as much as you like!
Old shows such as MTV are great to use with Shazam!
70’s and 80’s parties are a great source too! Actually, this is something we all should do more often. However, try to find parties where the music is diverse.
I’ve said earlier, explore internet radio. There is an infinite wealth of music stations that play a range of oldies! All day and every day. Rare oldies, the kind of oldies that’ll make you say “Oh Shit! I haven’t heard that in ages!”
Explore foreign internet radio! I’ve found quite a few of non-English radio stations that exclusively play American classic music.
YouTube has almost every song on the planet. I guess this is one of the flip-side benefits of the illegal uploading. We get to enjoy the music we would not hear otherwise (if legal streaming doesn’t have it).
Old magazines! Yes, old magazines. Why? They will often have old celebrities you’ve forgotten about, that can open a flood of memories, and songs you loved.
Barbecues and cookouts!! You are bound to hear some oldies there.
Most churches (Black churches in particular) consistently have seventies themed parties, or play at least a sizable number of oldies.
Sift through your Google+ Account. Google isn’t heavily active with classic content, but it is a decent source.
Don’t forget that the Shazam application itself has suggestions of music similar to what you’ve just Shazamed!
Facebook has a wealth of classic music groups.
Streaming services like Spotify, Tidal, iTunes, etc, all have suggestion features, based on similar songs. Pandora does an excellent job too.
Gather with some old friends and discuss some of your memories of your favorite performers, and or movies.
We don’t think about it much, but Documentaries can also be a great source. Free video streaming such as TubiTV has music documentaries that may play music you really like.
I’ve came across a lot of videos on YouTube that contain “Top Ten Rock Music,” Or “Best Music From The 80s,” etc. Sometimes you’ll find a lot of gems there too.

Wow! I worn myself out remembering all these resources and ideas.. LOLOL.. I do hope tho, that the seasoned folks who are not exploring the internet like they should, understand what they’re missing in terms of not accessing classic music. Do you realize you no longer have to break your neck finding album/CD stores, only to pay an arm and a leg for that rare album? Just use Spotify? Legally! And Free!! And artists get compensated!! Sure you can use YouTube, but you get so much more with Spotify. I’ve seen offers for On-Demand radio for $5 a month. Come on now guys!! A lot of visitors that may be reading my article spend more money than that on cancer sticks!! Yet a lot of you hypocrites talk about “supporting Black business,” and you refuse to invest $5 a month to listen to your favorite Black artist. I digress.