As a DJ, I get frequently asked, “put some old school (or skool) on”; put on a radio and you will always hear the DJ talking about playing an “old school classic” but what is “Old School”?????
To me old school / back in the day music is early house or hip hop from the mid 80’s like Marshall Jefferson – Move Your Body or LL Cool J – I Can’t Live Without My Radio, but to a teenager today old school may well mean Eminem – The Real Slim Shady or 4 Strings – Into The Night.
It’s all a matter of perspective; I’ve picked Dance tracks as that’s my field but a Soul/R’n’B fan may talk about Wilson Pickett, Tavares, Luther Vandross or R Kelly depending how old they are. Since the death of Michael Jackson, New Jack Swing has seen a massive resurgence, which is often considered to be old school R’n'B. Even in the relatively new world of Bassline, there’s still a category of “Old Skool” early 90s Dance, from which the genre was born. So when does a record become “old school”?
I present a radio show which is specifically for old school tunes but the station management have said anything less than 5 years old doesn’t qualify, this would make records like Blaze – Most Precious Love and Joey Negro – Must Be The Music old school but to me they aren’t.
Old school is probably something that is personal to the listener, again this comes back to the point that it is all comparative to age and preference in music. Music will always change and develop but there will always be old school.
To me an old school tune should be 10 years old, it must still sound good when played and most importantly (as a DJ) provoke a reaction from the crowd (why some records do this and others don’t I’ll discuss in a future blog). Some records never seem to die, stay in any pub over a weekend and I guarantee you will hear Robin S – Show Me Love or Livin Joy – Dreamer at some point, yet you will never hear Luv 4 Luv or rarely hear Don’t Stop Moving by the same artists so why those 2?
My top 5 old school tracks:
- Pulse – Lover That You Are
- Public Enemy – Bring The Noise
- Marshall Jefferson – Move Your Body
- Josh Wink – Higher State Of Consciousness
- Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
