Just a rant on how i listen to the radio day in, day out and hear probably 2 or 3 of the same "oldies" played in a day, usually "Come on Eileen" or "Save a Prayer" or "Imagine" etc.... and mostly the songs that were so - called mega hits of the time. These are classics as many would argue but when you hear them played over and over they become annoying and irritating and i find myself yearning for some "NEW" Oldies if you know what i mean!!

Perhaps a song from the 70's or 80's that reached the top ten but is never spoken of or hasn't been played since it was out, and one that get's you going "I REMEMBER THAT, GOSH IT'S YEARS SINCE I HEARD THAT!!" instead of ruining good songs by playing them in a loop for infinity! It's an idea for a radio show if anyone wants to steal it, the FORGOTTEN HITS hour or something like that!!

I did actually hear a "NEW" oldie the other day and that's what got me so worked up as i hadn't heard it since i was a child and it felt like a new song again, and i wondered how many other forgotten hit's there are out there. Here's the song i heard:

This is a problem with most radio stations and compilation albums, same track by the same artists with very little variation
Lucky for me, a local radio station started last year that has no playlist and allows dj's to play what they like and listeners to request what they want, and the result is I rarely play cd's in the car anymore.
This policy has also allowed KC FM to attract names like Paul Burnett, DLT & Tony Blackburn (who absolutely raves about being able to play his own choice of music and appears to recommending the station to his contempories)

Compilation-wise, may I recommend a recently released 3-cd set 'Edge Of The 80's' which contains some superb stuff you won't have heard in donkey's years

It is why I rarely ever listen to radio these days. Far too many stations are dictated and strangulated by their playlist. Notice too, it's rare they will ever play anything from the 60s or 50s unless its by Elvis, The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. It's pretty much 70's and 80's all the way wherever "oldies" are concerned.

Like KC FM, Harvey Goldsmith's favourite radio station Big L also allows the DJs to choose what they play and Mike Read does have a habit of selecting genuine obscurities and little played tracks which is refreshing. Like Tony Blackburn and DLT, Read knows about his music passionately. I can't say I detect any passion in most modern day DJ's.

The irony of it all for me is years ago I listened to "oldies" stations because I loathed the current day music. Now, years later the oldies stations are playing all that drivel I didn't want to listen to all those years ago!

I agree completely, but corporate requirements have killed pretty much all creativity from commercial radio in this country (with a few notable exceptions).
That said, I heard "Good News Week" being played on Gold over the weekend.
If you want to hear something different may I recommend Big L on Sky Digital channel 0190 or www.bigl.co.uk
Radio as it used to sound!

Gold is excellent at times - especially Nicky Horne's album show and the retrochart countdowns - but otherwise tends to be stifled by the curse of the playlist.

On dear old R2, Pick Of The Pops would be much better if it went back to doing just one year and playing that week's Top 20 in full instead of what it's currently doing, which is to pick the blandest and most obvious tracks from the chart of any given week. Whereas Gold count down old charts in full and usually have a relevant guest in the studio so you get a much better flavour of what that year was actually like musically.

The best one, however, is still Sounds of the Sixties, with Brian Matthew doing a very skilful mix of familiar favourites and classics you'd totally forgotten.