But do you think that hearing a song over and over (airplay) contributes to its popularity?
Reason I'm interested is that sometimes I pick up on a song and it really rings with me - then I discover it's an old 60s/70s song or track that I missed when it charted, or was published and I find that it's really a high quality song and well put together. This very rarely happens with recent stuff, which I [u][b]do[/b][/u] listen to quite a bit.
I think the 60s to 80s (maybe a spill into the 90s) produced some wonderful popular music and wouldn't be surprised if, in 50 years time, music from this time-span will still be played and enjoyed, by old and young alike.