What is M.O.R?

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I thought M.O.R. stood for Middle Of the Road, as in bland and harmless adult-contempo-style tunes. I suspect, however, that this isn't correct. But what does it really mean? Where does this term come from? What kind of people use it, anyway?

― 1 1 2 3 5, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I think "MOR" really does stand for "Middle of the Road." I think it came into use as a play on AOR (album-oriented rock, what we would now call "classic rock") when that format ruled the FM airwaves, as a dig at singer/songwriters like James Taylor and Jackson Browne. I could be wrong, though.

― Mark, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

MOR is middle of the road, and AOR is indeed album-oriented rock, and M.O.P. stands for Mash Out Posse.

― M. Matos, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Coldplay. Travis. Elbow... Radiohead.

― Ben Butler, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Mum's Overdose Reeks

― nathalie, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i think Middle of the Road originally referred to bland popular music, a different thing to bland Adult Orientated Rock

― m jemmeson, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

When Anthony McPartlin said on my TV that MOP stood for "Monkeys On Parade" was he joking or did his straight face betray the fact that he was deadly serious and was believing what his researchers had told him? I thought MOP stood for mop and shit.

― Greg, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

MOR = Carly SiMon & James TaylOR.

― Simon, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

one year passes...

Je pense que ça veut plutôt dire Mangez des Ourang-Outangs Rôtis.

Signed...
A Swedish Boy.

― Marcelin, Tuesday, 15 April 2003 12:42 (twenty-three years ago)

The difference between AOR and MOR is that AOR has guitars and sometimes even screaming (although in a rather "controlled" way) rather than singing.

MOR is, well, mainly what was called easy listening in the 60s (except Burt Bacharach and Serge Gainsbourg sometimes made quality material, something 70s MOR act never did)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 12:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Geir what do you think of the Providence scene in general?

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 12:53 (twenty-three years ago)

james taylor /= serge gainsbourg

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 12:58 (twenty-three years ago)

James Taylor is way too respectable to be considered MOR. No MOR act writes his own songs.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 13:00 (twenty-three years ago)

MOR= Midnight Oil Roxx!

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 13:01 (twenty-three years ago)

Geir you're completely ignorant of the origins and the meaning of the term if you think James Taylor isn't MOR. He (along with Elton John and every other early 70s wimp) define(d) the market. Thankfully radio stations like this (and like AOR, MOR is strictly a radio - instead of critic - derived term, just like 'active rock' and 'adult contemporary') are almost extinct in America.

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 13:06 (twenty-three years ago)

I think Serge Gainsbourg is French isn't it ? Like James Taylor ???
But Gainsbourg is MOR isn't it ???
Please Answer

― Lewis The Ass, Tuesday, 15 April 2003 13:36 (twenty-three years ago)

The term MOR predates AOR by some distance. Every decade has its own MOR artists and, yes Geir, may of them DO write a lot their own material - The Carpenters and Bread for example.

― Dadaismus, Tuesday, 15 April 2003 13:41 (twenty-three years ago)

i always thought AOR was ADULT ORIENTATED ROCK...but i suppose that would mean you'd have Alanis Morrissette records peppered with sex noises and such, and that would never do.

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 13:48 (twenty-three years ago)

Some critics (like Greg Tate) occasionally referred to it as Apartheid Oriented Rock.

― s woods, Tuesday, 15 April 2003 13:54 (twenty-three years ago)

haha!

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 13:54 (twenty-three years ago)

Though maybe he actually meant Apartheid Oriented RADIO, which would make more sense.

― s woods, Tuesday, 15 April 2003 13:55 (twenty-three years ago)

James, what is 'active rock'?

― s woods, Tuesday, 15 April 2003 13:58 (twenty-three years ago)

I mean, I know what Inactive Rock is (Stone Roses, for instance). But 'AR'--is that a real term?

― s woods, Tuesday, 15 April 2003 13:59 (twenty-three years ago)

I know, a friend in radio (clear channel nonetheless) first mentioned it to me about six years ago. basically post-altrock aor, a more butch modern rock. I always thought it sounded like 'workout rock' but that's not the case sadly.

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 14:07 (twenty-three years ago)

Every decade has its own MOR artists

I would add that every country has its own MOR artists too. Coldplay is MOR in UK but not quite to that level here in the states. Creed is MOR in the states.

Active Rock is another radio term used to describe stations that are heavier/younger than MOR Rock. Lately it's very close to modern Alternative Stations...they have much the same charts these days. The difference this week seems to be the inclusion of White Stripes on the Alternative Chart. (really the difference is in the old music the two stations play, not the new stuff so much, i.e. Ozzy vs. Green Day.)

― teeny (teeny), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 14:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Creed doesn't get played on Adult Contemporary (MOR's chic-er cousin) nearly as much as Coldplay.

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 14:10 (twenty-three years ago)

right now Coldplay and Norah Jones pretty much own MOR

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 14:11 (twenty-three years ago)

AC chart
Active Rock chart
Alternative chart

Coldplay doesn't get played on AC. Hot AC is another story. (AC has older audience; Coldplay is seen as too weird, I'm guessing.) Creed only really gets played on Hot AC. There really isn't a MOR format anymore but there used to be...audiences and genres have fractured too much.

― teeny (teeny), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 14:19 (twenty-three years ago)

To clarify, Rock is the closest to what the AOR format used to be, but there are few of these stations left.

― teeny (teeny), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 14:23 (twenty-three years ago)

Hot AC!!!

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 14:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Hey men,

I think you are all wrong. AOR means: All Organizations are Rotten.
YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH That's a great definition, isn't it ?

Answer if it was funny ...

Lewis the Ass

― Lewis The Ass, Tuesday, 15 April 2003 14:52 (twenty-three years ago)

I completely disagree that every generation has their own MOR acts. MOR belongs to the pre-baby-boomers, and will never ever belong to anybody else. Anybody under the age of 60 is too credible to like MOR much.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 15:10 (twenty-three years ago)

And, no, Coldplay is definitely not MOR. Coldplay is high quality singer/songwriter pop music with a hint of indie.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 15:11 (twenty-three years ago)

how is that different from MOR in reality?

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 15:16 (twenty-three years ago)

taint

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 15:16 (twenty-three years ago)

Anybody under the age of 60 is too credible to like MOR much

Silly remark and totally inaccurate into the bargain.

― Dadaismus, Tuesday, 15 April 2003 15:21 (twenty-three years ago)

Isn't this term an anachronism? It's a mostly-extinct radio format. At least in the USA.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 15:27 (twenty-three years ago)

it doesn't even really exist as muzak anymore either

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 15:30 (twenty-three years ago)

You are not funny guys, I have been trying to integrate myself for 1 hour now, and you don't like my jokes!!!!!!!!!!!

You are too serious I think!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, that's a good point guys, but I HAVE THE SOLUTION: MOR is My Open Reason !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's all folks !!!!

― Lewis the Ass, Tuesday, 15 April 2003 15:37 (twenty-three years ago)

"Too credible"? I don't know what you mean. I'm WAAAY into the higher age bracket at ILM (but well under 60, you whippersnappers), and I like MOR just fine. I grew into it just like I've grown into everything else. Geir, sorry, I know it's useless to argue with you, and I even occasionally agree with you, but you haven't said a sensible thing in this thread yet. "A hint of indie"? What rubbish, what absurd factionalization.

― matt riedl (veal), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 21:00 (twenty-three years ago)

M.O.R.WEAPONS

― SplendidMullet (iamamonkey), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 21:06 (twenty-three years ago)

but isn't the middle of the road a dangerous place?

― gaz (gaz), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 21:31 (twenty-three years ago)

Geir, for fuck's sake, you are MOR! Middle Oriented Rock, Middle Of the Road, Adult Oriented Rock, Album Oriented Rock, the terms 'rock' and 'pop' are insignificant in this debate, it's all the same! A dull melange of crapulence! Remember that scene in South Park where Stan's grandpa locks him in a room and plays Enya at him? That's you that is! ARGH!

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 21:44 (twenty-three years ago)

more fun with radio station slice n dice...

CHR = Contemporary Hits Radio
AAA = Adult Album Alternative
DOR = Dance-Oriented Rock (also, Dropped on Request, but that's something else)

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 04:37 (twenty-three years ago)

I always thought MOR implied a sense of being halfway between styles in an effort to cater to some kind of universal audience. Like, mainstream country or AOR. As such, according to my definition, MOR incorporates AOR, AR, adult alt., etc - call it an umbrella label for bastardized genres.
Am I talking shit?

― Fabrice (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 06:36 (twenty-three years ago)

MOR is forever associated with those born in 1950 or earlier and will never ever be associated with anybody else.

30 year-olds listen to music that isn't all that different from what they were listening to when they were 20. Thus, Coldplay and Travis cannot be considered any more MOR than Stone Roses were.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 11:31 (twenty-three years ago)

Geir. You can use "MOR" to refer to whatever you want, but you are trying to establish an historical definition that is simply wrong. The conventionally-accepted understanding of "MOR" is an American radio format defined in the 70s by 70s artists, one of the key ones being James Taylor. It has nothing to do with who wrote the songs (in fact, most key MOR artists were also songwriters) and did not (at least at that time) mean easy listening (but those same MOR artists today are played next to easy listening artists, having been redefined as such).

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 11:43 (twenty-three years ago)

"Is forever". "Will never". "Cannot". Geir, your rule book sucks ass, especially if you wrote it yourself. How old are you anyway, son? What do you know about what 30-year old humans do?

Ray Conniff IS The Carpenters IS James Taylor IS ...Celine Dion. What makes it MOR is its position on the ROAD, not when it got on the road.

― matt riedl (veal), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 12:00 (twenty-three years ago)

James Taylor doesn't fit in with Ray Conniff, Carpenters nor Celine Dion. James Taylor is a highly respectable singer/songwriter, and just the fact that there was hardly any "rock" elements in his music doesn't make him MOR.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 12:18 (twenty-three years ago)

Geir, when's the last time you had an oil change?

― s woods, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 12:25 (twenty-three years ago)

DEATH TO FORMATS!
HIRE COMPETENT DJs WITH DECENT RECORD COLLECTIONS AND LET THEM PLAY WHAT EVER THE FUCK THEY WANT!
HANG THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR/ CUZ THE 'MUSIC' THEY CONSTANTLY 'PROGRAM' SAYS NOTHING TO ME ABOUT MY LIFE!
HANG THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR!/
HANG THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR!/
HANG THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR!
HANG THE BLESSED PROGRAM DIRECTOR!

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 12:34 (twenty-three years ago)

Geir: "were" hardly any rock elements: besides electric guitars & bass, rock drumming, blues-based (though smooth) vocal style, rock-oriented song structures and 1st LP on Apple records. I think James Taylor fits neatly into the list of artists I mentioned, and the fact that you find him "highly respectable" (I find them all highly respectable) makes him no less MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. You don't have much of a leg to stand on, ya Oslo weasel.

― matt riedl (veal), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 18:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Gainsbourg=MOR?? He (co)wrote his own material, btw.

― Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 21:25 (twenty-three years ago)

Geir (again) doesn't know his facts - MOR (like the other examples gabbenb cites) is a radio derived (instead of rockcrit derived) term and hence pretty strictly defined (the tight parameters of radio defined genres and be seen by noting that 'adult contemporary' and 'hot adult contemporary' are two different categories). Saying James Taylor isn't MOR and Ray Coniff is MOR isn't going to change the fact that a station that plays Ray Coniff isn't going to be categorised as MOR by the trade papers even if it says it is MOR. Geir has no understanding of what these terms mean or how they work in the industry that defined them.

― James Blount (James Blount), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 22:26 (twenty-three years ago)

Geir does it occur to you that MOR may have a different definition in Norway and in the USA?

― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 22:32 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm confused but not by MOR / AOR or any of the examples. Where did "orientated" come from, as in Adult Orientated Rock? One doesn't "registrate" a car.

― bflaska, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 23:16 (twenty-three years ago)

spin on 'album oriented rock' - I guess they figure all the people who listen to adult oriented rock used to listen to album oriented rock

― James Blount (James Blount), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 23:28 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm totally in agreeance with bflaska.

― s woods, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 23:33 (twenty-three years ago)

"Agreeance" is a real word that means what Durst said (tho admittedly it is rarely used anymore).

"Orientated" is in general usage in the UK, but in the US "Oriented" is the preferred usage (except for in some technical language, maybe). As we're talking about definitions per American radio station formats, AOR is "Album-Oriented Rock," not "Adult-Orientated Rock."

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 17 April 2003 03:34 (twenty-three years ago)

It's MOR of what you want.

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 17 April 2003 04:17 (twenty-three years ago)

haha!

― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 17 April 2003 05:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Travis and Coldplay are not MOR nor AOR (although closer to the latter). They would most correctly be called "adult alternative", along with Matchbox 20, Hootie & The Blowfish and Counting Crows (only those three suck while Coldplay and Travis are actually great)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 17 April 2003 10:45 (twenty-three years ago)

(only those three suck while Coldplay and Travis are "actually" great)

― matt riedl (veal), Friday, 18 April 2003 21:32 (twenty-three years ago)

one month passes...

i'm in such awe that any of you feel so strongly about this. in actuality, arguing to the point of exhaustion over which genre a band fits into doesn't change what the band sounds like. either you like it or you don't. most of these new genre titles were made up by some geeks who were under the impression that they were making the world a better place. from what i can gather, there will never be a concrete definition for terms like MOR, AOR, ect because a large part of the debate traces back to differences in perspectives.

― jake, Monday, 16 June 2003 00:10 (twenty-two years ago)

most of these new genre titles were made up by some geeks who were under the impression that they were making the world a better place

those wacky geeks

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 16 June 2003 00:20 (twenty-two years ago)

most of these genre terms were conceived by radio and trademags who were doing it in the name of accuracy and efficiency, not altruism

― James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 16 June 2003 04:04 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

I was hoping to get guidance from this topic about the meanings but it seems like everybody is just as confused as I am :(

modern-day AOR to me is Adult Contemporary Alternative (or whatever it is called), which is the kind of stuff they'd play on VH1 or belongs on a station that Dick Clark or Leeza Gibbons advertises. "Coast 99.9 plays all the hits from the 70's, 80's, 90's and today!" *cue music that your mom recognizes and likes from ten years ago*

― Cunga (Cunga), Sunday, 27 February 2005 09:23 (twenty-one years ago)

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