Oldies

A visit to Robert James Mosley's Northeast Baltimore home was a trip through oldies music heaven.The smooth strains of the Drifters, Platters, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino or some other 1950s or 1960s act always wafted through the house when he was home.And often, consumed by the music, Mr. Mosley would be in the middle of the living room doing a little two-step."He just loved his oldies," said his nephew, Rick Mosley of Baltimore. "Just give him his oldies and that would be all he needed."Mr. Mosley, 55, died Aug. 3 at his Parkside home of a heart attack.

OK, I realize that at a place named Oldies Music Legends the food might not be the top priority. I'm not stupid. Still, given the choice of eating dinner with or without Little Richard, I'll pick Little Richard unless it's been a very bad day.I suppose you'd describe Oldies Music Legends as a supper and dance club. It's one huge slate-gray room decked out with black and white photos of the stars, lots of neon and a black and white tile dance floor. Sunday is karaoke night and sometimes local bands perform, but the main entertainment is music from the '50s to the '70s.

Two oldies return to TV tonight: Roger Moore and "Welcome Back Kotter." The former stars in a TV-movie thriller and the latter joins the cable Nick-at-Nite lineup.* "The Nanny" (8 p.m.-8:30 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- Miss Fine, Miss Fine, wherefore art thou Miss Fine? Fran (Fran Drescher) is cast as Juliet in an off-Broadway "Romeo and Juliet." And the repeat includes a guest star as Romeo: Peter Marc Jacobson, the series' executive producer and Ms. Drescher's real-life husband. CBS.* "The Man Who Wouldn't Die" (9 p.m.-11 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2)

ACID EATERSRamones (Radioactive 10913) It's easy enough to appreciate the concept behind the Ramones' "Acid Eaters" -- a dozen psychedelic oldies revved up and remade by America's most enduring punk band. Too bad the execution tends more to bad trips than transcendental experiences. Funny as it is to hear the band rip through a breakneck "My Back Pages" or hot-rod "Somebody to Love" with Traci Lords on harmony, the band's remake of "Journey to the Center of the Earth" pales in comparison to the original, while Pete Townshend's harmony vocals on "Substitute" only underscore how weak Joey Ramone's lead is. Turn off, tune out, drop this.

Longing to see Elvis gyrate to "Jailhouse Rock" or hear Roy Orbison cry for a "Pretty Woman?"Impersonators of the rock-and-roll icons are coming to the Westminster Moose Lodge on Sunday in a benefit for a fire victim.The imitators -- authentic right down to the blue suede shoes -- will sing golden oldies from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Those who want can take the mike and sing a tune or two.Proceeds from the show will benefit Virginia Mitten, 71, whose John Street home and nearly all her possessions were destroyed in a fire Nov. 7, 1993.

A couple of long-lost Orson Welles films, a pair of Cary Grant vehicles and two Frank Capra versions of the same story are on the list of oldies making their video debuts this month.While most critics cite "Citizen Kane" as Welles' greatest achievement, a few prefer his 1966 production "Chimes at Midnight," a collection of scenes from Shakespeare's Falstaff plays starring Keith Baxter as Henry V, John Gielgud as Henry IV and Welles as Falstaff. Gus Van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho" was influenced by Welles' treatment of the Henry/Falstaff relationship, while the battle scenes in Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V" owe something to Welles' technique.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has come up with something entirely different in political campaigning. Rather than making news, he is making olds.In Michigan the other day he announced the "Job Training 2000 Act" to provide training for young people,the identical program he had announed back in January. A couple of days earlier he announced he would take steps to put the brakes on political spending by unions, which he also had announced last month. In each case, there were a few added details to give the whole thing a little gloss.

THE VOICES on the radio, huddled around their microphones the other night like some glad survivors gathered around a roaring campfire, sounded like old friends remembering a rambunctious way of life that seems to have slipped away.Alan Christian: "I drove into town in the late '60s and heard two guys on the air yelling and screaming. You gotta remember, it was Vietnam, the anti-war movement. I'm thinking, 'My God, the station's been taken over.' Then I hear one of them say, 'Call that guy a cab.' It was Charley Eckman and Artie Donovan hollering at each other."

I'M WATCHING the Republican convention the other night, and everything is going great, except that the TV ratings are in the tank and most people, including Ted Koppel, would rather watch reruns of "Bridget Loves Bernie" than what passes for democracy in action.If the convention is short on news, though, it is long on good feeling. It's a regular lovefest, sort of like Woodstock, if everyone who'd gone to Woodstock had worked at Smith Barney.Anyway, it's all goodness and light, until it comes time for Bob Dole to take on the age issue.

LONDON -- Its logo is a triangular British road sign that features two stooped senior citizens, one with a cane. It promises to "out" people who lie about their age. It hopes to be very politically incorrect and has started by calling itself The Oldie.The Oldie, a new biweekly magazine, wants to be a sort of Rolling Stone for the graying set. Mixing humor and rant with serious reportage, it wants to do battle with the cult of youth. To borrow a phrase from Huey Lewis and the News, a group few at the magazine would have heard about, The Oldie wants to make it hip to be square.