Oldies Radio Online: The 50s, 60s and 70s, Playing Now

Published 17 September 2026

Oldies radio is the format that sequencing was invented for: one song from 1963 next to one from 1971, chosen by someone who knows why they belong together. Open the oldies genre page on 72FM, pick a station and press play — no download, no account.

What counts as oldies

There is no agreed definition, and stations differ. In practice the format usually means the rock and roll, soul, pop and country of roughly 1955 to 1979 — the period when the single ruled — with some stations reaching back to the big bands of the 1940s and others drifting forward into the early 1980s. If a station's name mentions gold, classics or a decade, its playlist will tell you within three songs where it draws the line.

The stations people vote for

• Classic Vinyl HD is the most-voted station in the entire public directory, not just in this genre: pre-1970s pop, big band, crooners and early rock, streamed at 320kbps.
• .977 Oldies — a long-running internet station built on the 50s to 70s core.
• Gold (United Kingdom) — classic hits as a British national station plays them.
• 1.FM Back To The 50's & 60's and Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel — two different takes on the same decades, one Swiss, one American.
• Laut.FM 1000 Oldies and the German 50s, 60s and 70s on Radio streams — decade-by-decade, if you want one era and nothing else.
• Nostalgie New York — 60s to 90s classics with a city's accent.

Oldies is not only American

The format exists everywhere, in each country's own back catalogue:

• RocaFM Clásicos streams the Spanish-language golden oldies of Latin America.
• Radio Armisa and other Italian stations play the anni 60 and anni 70 alongside liscio and balera.
• Goldy Mukesh and Rafi-era stations stream the golden age of Hindi film song, which is its own enormous oldies format.
• German Schlager Gold stations do the same for the postwar German hit parade.

Trying another country's oldies station is the fastest way to hear what a place was singing while you were listening to something else. World music radio goes wider.

Why the format works better on radio than on a playlist

An oldies playlist is a list of songs you already chose. An oldies station is someone else's memory: the record you forgot, the B-side that was a hit only in one country, the sequence that makes a familiar song land differently. The surprise is the product — which is the whole argument for radio over on-demand, and the nostalgia radio guide makes it at length.

Related formats worth knowing

• 80s radio online and 90s radio online, for the decades just after.
• Soul radio and disco radio, for the parts of the era that became genres of their own.
• Country radio online, for the classic country side of the same years.

Sound quality

Oldies stations tend to stream generously — 128kbps is common and several run at 256 or 320kbps — which suits music that was mastered for vinyl and radio in the first place. Each station card on 72FM shows its bitrate; what 320kbps actually sounds like is the honest comparison.

Where to start

1. Classic Vinyl HD, because the directory's listeners put it first.
2. Gold or .977 Oldies, for a station that sounds like a station.
3. A single-decade stream when you want one era exactly.
4. Another country's oldies station, for the songs you never heard.

All of them are on the oldies genre page, free, an hour a day without an account.