AOR (1977)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

According to the OED3 draft entry, "AOR" for "album-oriented rock" is
"orig. US" (first cite 1979).  But this 1977 cite suggests that the
abbreviation originated in the UK:

     "Making the Rounds" with Vic Short
      Blue Island (Ill.) Sun Standard, August 11, 1977, p. 9
      A new music term is AOR, just cropping up in London, so maybe
      you don't yet know that the three little letters stand for Album
      Oriented Rock; another rather new term is jazz/progressive, which
      takes in much more, they say, than merely the limited fusion
      aspects of rock-pop-jazz...


--Ben Zimmer