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1970s and 1980s Students! Reveal yourselves

A great resource is the Billboard listings, and the Grammys. College radio was established at the time, and they would be the explorers of less known music. There are a few college radio play charts by year sources. Even college radio would license through ASCAP and BMI, so there should be data.
 
This 1986 H.S. graduate remembers being unable to escape “Shout” by Tears for Fears, and Don’t You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds.
 
Suggest me some tracks

Any British student in the 70s or 80s with an interest in music would have listened to the John Peel Show on BBC Radio One.

All I can suggest is go to the source: The Perfumed Garden is a downloadable selection of many of Peel's shows from the mid 1960s to his untimely death in 2004. The audio quality is ... authentic. That's what analogue radio sounded like!
 
Did they listen to AM radio?

In the early 1970s you got everything from George Harrison to Melanie to Badfinger. have a playlist of those songs I used to hear in the car in 1970-75.

Later 1970s you get Chicago to Disco. Plus, you know, Kiss. Then Queen, Van Halen

1980 Dire Straits, J Giles Band, Cars, Police

Then Talking Heads, Psychedelic Furs, Duran Duran…
 
Did they listen to AM radio?

In the early 1970s you got everything from George Harrison to Melanie to Badfinger. have a playlist of those songs I used to hear in the car in 1970-75.

Later 1970s you get Chicago to Disco. Plus, you know, Kiss. Then Queen, Van Halen

1980 Dire Straits, J Giles Band, Cars, Police

Then Talking Heads, Psychedelic Furs, Duran Duran…
I played the Melanie album frequently, as well as the first two (and IMHO the best) CTA then Chicago albums. Saw them in concert at school in the Spring of 1970. Excellent in concert back then. Also have to add in Blood, Sweat and Tears - particularly the one with 40,000 Headmen on it. Don't forget Isaac Hayes Hot, Buttered Soul as well. John Mayall's Blues from Laurel Canyon got plenty of play.
 
Here's a '60's and '70s playlist on youtube music I've used.


1970s:

1980s
 
The early 70s were great musically

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Only 20 years and 20 genres to pick from? Any clues? How old are they? Carly Simon or The sex Pistols? Tom Jones or The Talking Heads? Bob Dylan or Metalica?
 
I remember hearing Back in Black in middle school at a party (early 80s) and thinking how bad ass that was. My first stadium concert was the Police. 70s are easy cause so many legendary artists were still relevant. Especially if you like classic rock. 80s always gets a bad rap, but in truth, there was so much great music in that decade. The British rock scene was flourishing with the likes of Roxy Music and Peter Gabriel among many others. The American rockers still had alt bands like REM and Talking Heads. By the early 90s grunge bands were kind of the last gasp of what I always considered to be Rock music. Of course I’m talking specifically about popular music and preferences were clearly moving toward R&B and rap by the end of the 80s. If you’re looking for nostalgia from the 80s dial up a John Hughes film from the decade. He was pretty tapped into mainstream at the time.
 
As a late seventies college student I remember listening to most of what has been posted here but also George Benson Breezin' and Grover Washington Jr. Mr. Magic were in heavy rotation as well.
 
As a late seventies college student I remember listening to most of what has been posted here but also George Benson Breezin' and Grover Washington Jr. Mr. Magic were in heavy rotation as well.
A bit before me but Benson probably “introduced“ me to jazz in a way. The 70s had some technical virtuosos playing popular music. Thank you for bringing him up.
 
Ted Nugent
BTO
James Brown
Santana
Journey
Donna Summer
ELO
Tangerine Dream
The Tubes
Miles Davis
Tony Williams
Stanley Clark
Kenny Bassett
Huey Lewis
Meat Loaf
Michael Jackson
Janet Jackson
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Pointer Sisters
The Temptations
Diana Ross
Al De Meola
Chick Corea
Herbie Hancock
CCR
Adam Ant
B-52s
Dolly
Loretta Lynn
Pavarotti
Dean Martin
Sammy Davis Jr.
Blue Eyes
Elvis
Kenny Rogers
Glen Campbell
Van Morrison
Aretha Franklin
Paul McCartney
Weird Al Yankovic
Barbra Streisand
The Gatlin Brothers
Rod Stewart
Tony Bennett
Cher
Madonna
Smokey Robinson
Frank Zappa
Bob Marley
Johnny Cash/June Carter
Ronnie Milsap

Martha Stewart (I bet she could have if she tried)

Take your pick, I know I missed a lot of country western, jazz, gospel and good ol R&R from the 70/80s
 
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This is what I was listening to in the 70 along with Jeff Beck.

 
Geeze there was a lot... Punk, new wave, arena rock. Quite a few are already mentioned. REM was hatched in that time frame as well.

There was also this really, really bad thing called disco...
 
A lot of music made in the 70s and 80s. Some of it good. Some of it very good. Some of it bad. Some of it very bad...

What would be on my list would probably not be on someone else's list.
 
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