[Ads-l] oldies but goodies

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Great work, Ben. Uncovering that 1932 citation in archive.org is impressive.
Garson

On Tue, Oct 11, 2022 at 12:02 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The Associated Press obituary for longtime radio DJ Art Laboe gives him
> credit for coining "oldies but goodies."
>
> ---
> https://apnews.com/article/art-laboe-obituary-disc-jockey-oldies-but-goodies-0d9ed352a61dd702e26f3b07b33df984
> The DJ is also credited with coining the phrase “oldies, but goodies.” In
> 1957, he started Original Sound Record, Inc. and in 1958, released the
> compilation album “Oldies But Goodies: Vol. 1,” which stayed on the
> Billboard’s Top 100 chart for 183 weeks.
> ---
>
> The expression goes at least as far back as 1932 to refer to musical
> "oldies."
>
> ---
> https://archive.org/details/motionpictureher108unse/page/71/mode/1up
> Motion Picture Herald, Sept. 24, 1932, p. 71, col. 3
> Bing Crosby, San Francisco Fox [...] His list of songs, he admits, runs
> largely to "oldies, but goodies" and includes such numbers as "Dinah,"
> "Paradise," "Song in My Heart," "Was That the Human Thing to Do?", "Mine,
> All Mine" and "I Surrender, Dear."
> ---
> https://archive.org/details/sim_life_1934-07_101_2592/page/45/mode/1up
> Life, July 1934, p. 45, "Records"
> Dallas and Limehouse Blues, in which the Casa Loma band further displays
> its musical virility in this revival of two oldies but goodies.
> ---
>
> Also as early as 1934, singular "oldie but (a) goodie" or plural "oldies
> but goodies" could be used for old sayings:
>
> ---
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111109138/oldies-but-goodies/
> Courier-Post, Camden, NJ, Feb. 10, 1934, p. 8, col. 4
> "Walter Winchell on Broadway"
> Things I Never Knew 'Til Now [...]
> That one of the better definitions of friend is revived by Peggy F. Hawley
> of Jackson Heights --source not recalled: "Every man should have a
> fair-sized cemetery for the faults of his friends." That other oldies but
> goodies include: The only way to have a friend is to be one -- and -- it is
> chance that makes brothers -- but hearts make friends. I like this one, too
> -- When two friends part -- they should lock up each other's secrets in
> their hearts and exchange keys.
> ---
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111109336/oldie-but-a-goodie/
> Arcadia (Calif.) Tribune, Dec. 31, 1935, p. 3, col. 1
> "The Sports Panorama" by Eddie Read
> We think the S.M.U. gang will -- to use an "oldie but a goodie" -- cloud up
> and rain all over the Cards. And they won't need any help from Old Man
> Weather.
> ---
>
> Both singular and plural forms were well established for musical oldies by
> 1937.
>
> ---
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111109375/oldie-but-a-goodie/
> Buffalo (NY) News, Mar. 22, 1937, p. 7, col. 3
> The Casa Lomas wound up a pleasant Saturday night with "Clarinet Marmalade”
> (an oldie but a goodie you cutie) and probably added another 500 customers
> or so to their appearance here on April 3.
> ---
> Hollywood Reporter, July 22, 1937, p. 4, col. 4 [Proquest]
> Silly, but intriguing, Al Jarvis' titles for his new KMTR airing. It's
> "Oldies but Goodies."
> ---
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111109197/oldies-but-goodies/
> Pomona (Calif.) Progress Bulletin, Sep. 22, 1937, p. 11, col. 5
> Thursday's Programs [...] KMTR [...] Oldies but Goodies, 11:30.
> ---
>
> (KMTR was a Los Angeles radio staton later renamed KLAC.)
>
> We previously discussed "oldie," defined by OED3 as: "Something old or
> familiar, esp. an old song, tune, or film which is still popular; also in
> _oldie-but-goodie_. Also: a well-known or hackneyed idea or joke; a
> cliché." Garson antedated standalone "oldie" to 1931.
>
> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2020-September/158101.html
>
> --bgz
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org