[Ads-l] Antedating of "Old School" (Music)

[Ben Zimmer]

Fred was posting about the adjectival use of "old school," but these are
good antedatings for OED's n.2 (the musical sense, esp. for hip-hop), as
the cites for that only start at 1987.


On Sat, Apr 20, 2024 at 11:19 PM mr_peter_morris at outlook.com <
mr_peter_morris at outlook.com> wrote:

> Billboard, June 5 1982
>
> "as for black music stations ... they're not as impressed with track
> records  as programmers from the old school"
>
>
> https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UyQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT21&dq=%22old+school+%22+R%26B&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7iMviqtKFAxVtXEEAHb_yDg4QuwV6BAgMEAY#v=onepage&q=%22old%20school%20%22%20R%26B&f=false
>
> =======================
>
> Spin, May 1986
>
> "Symptomatic of the old school's failure to meet the challenge of ..."
>
>
> https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ELfnhp4T-T4C&pg=PA41&dq=%22old+school%27s+failure+to+meet%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwibqIPxqNKFAxU1VUEAHSUwByMQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=%22old%20school's%20failure%20to%20meet%22&f=false
>
> ===================
> Spin, Aug 1986
>
> "I can't wait sounds like the old school"
>
>
> https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6_7o2bblz_cC&pg=PA40&dq=%22hip+hop%22+%22old+school%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiq8oe9qNKFAxVTR0EAHSIODtkQ6AF6BAgIEAI#v=onepage&q=%22hip%20hop%22%20%22old%20school%22&f=false
>
> ------ Original Message ------
> From "Ben Zimmer" <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM>
> To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Date 20/04/2024 18:02:37
> Subject Re: Antedating of "Old School" (Music)
>
> >Good find, Fred. I wonder if this deserves at least a bracketed cite:
> >
> >---
> >_Tan_, Mar. 1955, p. 17, col. 1, "On the Records" by James Goodrich
> >Roy Hamilton, a big-voiced ex-choir singer with training in the classics,
> >is now setting on recordings a new pattern for rhythm and blues vocalists
> >which amounts to something quite radical for the field. Crooning blues in
> >the polished and sedate style of a concert artist, he appears as a direct
> >opposite of old-school r&b singers who depend on raucous, off-color
> >presentations to make their way.
> >https://archive.org/details/sim_tan_1955-03_5_5/page/16/mode/2up
> >---
> >
> >Perhaps this would better fit OED's adj. 1b ("Reflecting, exhibiting, or
> >adhering to traditional values or old-fashioned ways; outdated, no longer
> >in vogue," with cites from 1946) rather than adj. 2 ("Of, designating, or
> >relating a style or genre of music regarded as relatively traditional,
> >old-fashioned, or uninfluenced by newer styles"). After all, the writer is
> >talking about "old-school (r&b singers)" rather than "(old-school r&b)
> >singers."
> >
> >--Ben
> >
> >On Sat, Apr 20, 2024 at 11:45 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> >wrote:
> >
> >>  old school (OED, adj. 2., 1988)
> >>
> >>  1986 _Spin_ 1 Oct. 42 (ProQuest)
> >>
> >>  The reincarnation of Grace Jones, religious or mystical pop,
> altruistic,
> >>  collaborative superjam projects, the Monkees, and old-school hip-hop
> funk.
> >>
> >>
>

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