see also:

• photography and camping main index page
• piano sheet music backup

• the 40s in the West were dominated by wartime big band swing, jazz (including the rise of bebop), smooth “crooner” pop, boogie‑woogie, and early rhythm and blues, with country and western also growing strongly, these were mainly accessed via monoaural radio or crackly old style monoaural 3-5minute 78RPM shellac records

• Edith Piaf (French) La Vie En Rose¹⁾ if you love an iconic French lady rolling her R's in an iconic song

• Bing Crosby White Christmas
• female singers for war time troops
  • Vera Lynn (UK) - the British “Forces' Sweetheart” with hits like We'll Meet Again and White Cliffs of Dover
  • Gracie Fields (UK): Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye performed for troops and refugees
  • Marlene Dietrich Lili Marlene
  • Josephine Baker (a trailblazing Black American French spy) J'ai deux amours(1930), La Vie en Rose
  • Andrews Sisters (US) Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
  • Dinah Shore (US) I'll Walk Alone
• big band swing and bepop
  • Glenn Miller and his Orchestra Chattanooga Choo Choo
  • Duke Ellington Cotton Tail (1940), Take the 'A' Train (1941), C Jam Blues (1942), Black, Brown and Beige (1943 suite)
  • Dizzy Gillespie: Salt Peanuts (1941), A Night in Tunisia (1942), Groovin' High (1944)
  • Thelonious Monk: 'Round Midnight(1944)
  • Charlie Parker: Billie's Bounce (1945), Now's the Time (1945), Anthropology (1946), Yardbird Suite (1946)
  • Jimmy Dorsey and Tommy Dorsey
• Nat King Cole
• Ella Fitzgerald – became a leading jazz singer of the era, famous for scat singing
• Perry Como and Frank Sinatra – major crooner stars
• Hank Williams - re-shaped country music in the late 1940s; I'm so lonesome I could cry²⁾
• orchestral works:
  • Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 “Leningrad” (1941) – premiered during the siege of Leningrad, symbolizing Soviet resistance
  • Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra (1943) and Piano Concerto No. 3 (1945)
  • Prokofiev's Cinderella ballet (1944–45) and Flourish, Mighty Land cantata (1947)
  • Bernstein's Symphony No. 1 “Jeremiah” (1942)
  • Rodrigo's Concierto de estío for violin (1943)

• higher quality Long Play (“LPs”) 20-23 minute 33⅓ RPM and 45 RPM (“singles) vinyl records become popular (introduced in 1948 and 1949 respectively) - the singles were used in jukeboxes in cafes
• the 50's were the decade when modern music was born thanks to the rise of the electric guitar and improved vinyl records for distributing quality recorded music more widely giving birth to rock music from its roots in country and western, and blues in particular, and it built upon and supported a significant cultural shift amongst young adults but it was still a decade of smooth crooners like Frank Sinatra and had some wonderful jazz to polish it off.
  • the Gibson Les Paul guitar became popular throughout the 1950s after its introduction in 1952 and gained a reputation among professional musicians for its sustain, build quality, and humbucker pickups producing thick, powerful tones ideal for rock, blues - although heavy, it again became popular in the late 1960's driven by demand from influential players in blues and rock music.
  • the Fender Stratocaster was introduced in 1954 its popularity grew steadily throughout the late 1950s, as it was lighter, produced cleaner, brighter tones, and allowed for fast, expressive playing styles. It particularly became popular after being adopted by notable performers like Buddy Holly in 1957.
• Hank Williams was an early pioneer of country music in the 1940s, but struggled with back pain and substance abuse, and in 1953, died in a car aged 29 but he would have a major influence on many artists
• it was also the era when passenger flights became more common, especially for the new 50's rock and roll stars - sadly Ritchie Valens aged 17, Buddy Holly aged 22, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson aged 28, as well as the pilot were to die in the same plane crash in 1959. Otis Redding was also to die in a plane crash on December 10, 1967, while several band members of Lynyrd Skynyrd died in a plane crash in 1977.

• Chuck Berry - the forefather of rock'n'roll - Rock And Roll Music, Johnny B Goode³⁾, Maybellene, Sweet Little Sixteen, Roll Over Beethoven⁴⁾
• Ritchie Valens - La Bamba⁵⁾, Come on Let's Go⁶⁾
• Little Richard - Long tall Sally, Tutti Frutti, Good golly Miss Molly
• Chubby Checker - The twist
• The Big Bopper - Chantilly Lace
• Bill Haley and the Comets - Rock around the clock
• Joe Turner - Shake rattle and roll
• Carl Perkins - Blue suede shoes⁷⁾
• Lewis - Great balls of fire
• Bobby Day - Rockin Robin
• Elvis Presley - Heartbreak hotel, Jailhouse rock, Return to sender
• Eddie Cochran - C’mon Everybody⁸⁾
• Dale Hawkins - Susie Q⁹⁾
• Wanda Jackson - Let’s Have A Party¹⁰⁾
• Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On¹¹⁾

• Johnny Cash - I walk the line¹²⁾, Ring of fire¹³⁾
• Elvis Presley - Don't Be Cruel¹⁴⁾, Suspicious minds¹⁵⁾, Always on my mind¹⁶⁾
• Eddie Cochran - Summertime blues¹⁷⁾
• Buddy Holly and the Crickets - It doesn't matter anymore¹⁸⁾, Peggy Sue¹⁹⁾, That'll be the day
• Everly Brothers - Bye Bye Love²⁰⁾, All I have to do is dream²¹⁾
  • Paul McCartney and John Lennon used the Everly Bros to work out how to harmonise each other
• Tammy Wynette - Stand by your man²²⁾
• Willie Nelson - Always on my mind²³⁾
• Patti Page - Tennessee Waltz²⁴⁾

• Doris Day - Que Sera, Sera²⁵⁾
• Domenico Modugno - Volare²⁶⁾
• Nat King Cole - Mona Lisa²⁷⁾
• Bobby Darin - Dream Lover²⁸⁾, Splish Splash²⁹⁾
• Paul Anka - Diana (doo-wop) ³⁰⁾
• Everly Brothers - Wake up little Susie³¹⁾
• Roy Orbison - Ooby Dooby³²⁾
• The Shirelles - I Met Him On A Sunday³³⁾
• Smiley Lewis - I Hear You Knocking³⁴⁾
• Johnny Preston - Running Bear³⁵⁾
• Burt Bacharach composed hundreds of easy listening songs (including fifty-two US Top 40 hits) for Marty Robbins, Perry Como, Gene Pitney, Cilla Black, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones and B. J. Thomas, and in the 1960's mainly for Dionne Warwick

• The Platters - The Great Pretender³⁶⁾, Only you (doo wop)³⁷⁾
• Fats Domino - Blueberry Hill³⁸⁾, I Wanna Walk You Home, Ain't it a shame

• Miles Davis & John Coltrane - Kind of blue³⁹⁾
• Art Blakey - Moanin⁴⁰⁾
• Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong - Porgy and Bess
• Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook

• by now rock and pop music had become well embedded albeit still frowned upon by the christian elders of the community, but rock music truly burst open to a far more complex and heavier genre as the decade progressed as bands experimented with the new analog synthesizers (and often LSD) while the crooners of the 50's fell out of popularity
• the Beatles arriving in America in 1964 totally changed the US music landscape and many American singers became to be seen as too conservative and old school and rapidly lost popularity amongst the youth and would never regain it
• illicit drugs, especially LSD became a feature of many rock bands - unfortunately, quite a few of the 60's rock stars would die young from drug overdoses (Brian Jones of Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Morrison of The Doors, and Janis Joplin all died at aged 27yrs, while Marianne Faithful almost died being in a coma for 6 days in 1969) or developed psychoses (Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd), and these deaths, along with other factors would severely adversely impact the free love culture of the hippy movement of the late 60's.
• by the mid 1960's the advent of stereo vinyl record technology, and later, stereo FM radio in the early 1970s, encouraged artists to explore with the stereo separation of sound channels while families would start investing in expensive stereo “high fidelity” HiFi systems - previously all consumer music was the same in both ears
• in the mid 1960's, electronic music generated by sound generators supplemented with modifications of audio tape recordings were used to create the iconic Doctor Who theme in 1965 and was experimented with extensively by Pink Floyd who often used sounds from everyday objects to create their music - see Dr Who example of early sound generators and tape manipulation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsRuhCflRyg
• studio recordings were generally done with 4 track tape recorders using 1” tape although by 1968, 8 track tape recorders were being used in the US but had not yet made it to Abbey Road Studios in the UK until c1972
• electric versions of 12 string guitars were invented such as the Rickenbacker in 1964 which was played by George Harrison.
• guitar and vocal effects machines such as the Binson Echorec allowed for echo reverb effects while the Uni-Vibe in 1968 added swirling chorus and vibrato effects. The Fuzzbox pedal clips the top of teh waveform of the input signal to create a rough, over-driven texture.
• by the late 1960s, the portable cassette player allowed music to be taken with you for the first time without resorting to radio, and it allowed easier recording of music and voice than large tape to tape systems which had preceded it, but the audio quality was poor until the early 1970's when Dolby B noise reduction was introduced along with better chromium based tapes
• complex analog synthesizers were invented and combined with 8 track audio recording tape and extensively used by bands such as Pink Floyd
  • George Harrison bought a Moog and used it in his Beatles song Here comes the sun in 1967
  • a demonstration of how these were used is in this video of Wendy Carlos using a Moog, made for BBC in 1970: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsW2EDGbDqg

• many of my favs from this decade were part of the “psychedelic rock” era which started c1964 and then progressed into heavier rock and prog rock by the early 1970s
• Beatles early albums and singles
  • Eleanor Rigby⁴¹⁾, Strawberry fields forever⁴²⁾
• Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album
  • With a Little Help from My Friends, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, A Day in the Life⁴³⁾
• Beatles - The White Album
  • While My Guitar Gently Weeps⁴⁴⁾, Back in the U.S.S.R.⁴⁵⁾, Revolution 1⁴⁶⁾, Revolution 9⁴⁷⁾, (Hey Jude not on album but as a single)
• Beatles - Abbey Road album
  • Come Together⁴⁸⁾, Something⁴⁹⁾, Oh! Darling⁵⁰⁾, Octopus's Garden⁵¹⁾, I Want You (She's So Heavy)⁵²⁾, Here Comes the Sun⁵³⁾, Because⁵⁴⁾
• Credence Clearwater Revival (US) - Proud Mary⁵⁵⁾, Have you ever seen the rain⁵⁶⁾, Bad Moon Rising⁵⁷⁾, I Put A Spell On You⁵⁸⁾, Heard it through the grapevine⁵⁹⁾
• The Doors (US): - Touch me⁶⁰⁾, Riders of the storm⁶¹⁾, Light My Fire⁶²⁾, The End⁶³⁾, Love Her Madly⁶⁴⁾
  • the alluring voice of Jimmy Morrison who died aged 27yrs
• early Pink Floyd (UK): (perhaps listen to 1970s Pink Floyd first as these could do your head in and requires patience, headphones, volume and dedicated time - this is not sugar coated pop music!)
  • early LSD inspired Syd Barrett psychedelic rock exhibiting flight of ideas (apparently helps to be stoned when listening to it) Astronomy Dominé⁶⁵⁾, The gnome⁶⁶⁾, See Emily play⁶⁷⁾ more pop style, Arnold Layne⁶⁸⁾ about a guy who steals knickers from clothes lines, Jugband blues⁶⁹⁾, Flaming⁷⁰⁾, Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk ⁷¹⁾, The scarecrow⁷²⁾, Bike⁷³⁾
  • without Syd Barrett as he has now become psychotic, early experimentations of found sound and the assistance of the new analog synths, with more prog rock styling played in Pompeii and a couple of more “normal” ballads
    • Echoes⁷⁴⁾⁷⁵⁾ must watch the Pompeii version not just listen to it, you need to become immersed in the experience - how can 4 guys create and play this amazing music live back in 1971!
    • A Saucerful of Secrets⁷⁶⁾, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun⁷⁷⁾, If⁷⁸⁾, Fat Old Sun⁷⁹⁾,One of These Days⁸⁰⁾,
    • Atom Heart Mother⁸¹⁾ brilliant avant garde experimental music to do your head in - not for everyone but very different! see a 2016 Japanese cover version⁸²⁾, a 24 minute Japanese rock symphonic version⁸³⁾, or a 46 minute classical symphonic version⁸⁴⁾
• Procol Harum (UK) - A Whiter Shade of Pale ⁸⁵⁾, original: ⁸⁶⁾ - a great song with somewhat confusing Dali-like surrealistic emotive lyrics but which can be explained by a guy in unrequited love in a brief relationship but which she is breaking off. Apparently the author had never read The Miller's Tale by Chaucer which seems to be referenced but is not.
• The Beach Boys (US) - California Girls⁸⁷⁾, Good Vibrations⁸⁸⁾, Surfin' U.S.A.⁸⁹⁾, Little Deuce Coupe⁹⁰⁾, Fun, Fun, Fun⁹¹⁾, I Get Around⁹²⁾, Barbara Ann⁹³⁾, Wouldn't It Be Nice⁹⁴⁾
• Wilson Pickett (US) - Mustang Sally⁹⁵⁾
• The Who (UK) - Pinball wizard⁹⁶⁾

• The Everly Brothers (US) - Love Hurts⁹⁷⁾, Ebony eyes⁹⁸⁾ a plane crash tear jerker
• The Rolling Stones (UK) - You Can't Always Get What You Want⁹⁹⁾, Time Is on My Side¹⁰⁰⁾, It's All Over Now¹⁰¹⁾, Heart of Stone¹⁰²⁾, As Tears Go By¹⁰³⁾, Lady Jane¹⁰⁴⁾
• Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons (US) - Sherry,
• Del Shannon (US) Runaway
• Neil Sedaka (US) My calendar girl
• Dion Dimucci (US) Runaround Sue
• The Seekers (Aussie) - Georgy Girl¹⁰⁵⁾, Morning Town Ride¹⁰⁶⁾, The carnival is over¹⁰⁷⁾, A World of Our Own¹⁰⁸⁾, California Dreaming¹⁰⁹⁾, Red Rubber Ball¹¹⁰⁾, The Last Thing on My Mind¹¹¹⁾ - Melbournian country pop style band
• The Animals (UK) - The House of the Rising Sun¹¹²⁾, We have got to get out of this place¹¹³⁾
• Roy Orbison (US) - Only the Lonely¹¹⁴⁾, Ooby Dooby¹¹⁵⁾, Running Scared¹¹⁶⁾, In Dreams¹¹⁷⁾, Blue Bayou¹¹⁸⁾, Oh, Pretty Woman¹¹⁹⁾
• Elvis Presley (US) - Wooden heart¹²⁰⁾
• The Hollywood Argyles (US) - Alley Oop¹²¹⁾
• Bob Dylan (US) - Blowin' in the Wind¹²²⁾, A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall¹²³⁾, The Times They Are a-Changin'¹²⁴⁾, Mr. Tambourine Man¹²⁵⁾, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue¹²⁶⁾, Lay Lady Lay¹²⁷⁾
• Leonard Cohen (Can) - Suzanne¹²⁸⁾, Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye¹²⁹⁾
• Janis Joplin (US) - Come On Take Another Piece Of My Heart¹³⁰⁾, Ball and chain¹³¹⁾ - another singer who died aged 27yrs
• The Byrds (US) - Mr Tambourine Man¹³²⁾
• Otis Redding (US) - (Sittin' On) The Dock of The Bay¹³³⁾, I Can See Clearly Now The Rain Is Gone
• Ralph McTell (UK) - Streets of London¹³⁴⁾
• Righteous Brothers (US) - Unchained Melody¹³⁵⁾
• Scott McKenzie (US) - San Francisco¹³⁶⁾ a tribute to the hippy, free love and gay scene of San Fran in the late 1960s
• The Easybeats (Aussie) - She's so fine¹³⁷⁾, Friday on my mind¹³⁸⁾
• The Flying Circus (Can) - La La¹³⁹⁾
• The Monkees (US) - Daydream believer¹⁴⁰⁾
• The Turtles (US) - Happy Together¹⁴¹⁾
• The Moody Blues (UK) - Nights in white satin¹⁴²⁾
• The Supremes (US) - You Just Keep Me Hanging On¹⁴³⁾
• The Ronettes (US) - Be my baby now¹⁴⁴⁾
• The Shirelles (US) - Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?¹⁴⁵⁾
• The Shangri-Las (US) - Leader of the Pack¹⁴⁶⁾
• Jefferson Airplane (US) - at Woodstock: Somebody To Love¹⁴⁷⁾, White rabbit¹⁴⁸⁾,¹⁴⁹⁾ - the iconic LSD / Alice in Wonderland song
• Mary Hopkin (Welsh) - Those Were The Days¹⁵⁰⁾
• Marianne Faithfull (UK) - As Tears Go By¹⁵¹⁾, Sister Morphine¹⁵²⁾ - heroin addict in hospital waiting for her next hit
• Crosby, Stills & Nash (US) - Suite Judy Blue Eyes¹⁵³⁾
• The Zombies (UK) - She's Not There¹⁵⁴⁾, Summertime¹⁵⁵⁾
• The Kinks (UK) - You really got me¹⁵⁶⁾
• Led Zeppelin (UK) - Whole Lotta Love¹⁵⁷⁾ Dazed and confused¹⁵⁸⁾, Thank you¹⁵⁹⁾, What Is and What Should Never Be¹⁶⁰⁾
• Steppenwolf (Can) - Born to be wild¹⁶¹⁾
• Cream (UK) - White room¹⁶²⁾, Sunshine Of Your Love¹⁶³⁾
• Linda Ronstadt and The Stone Poneys (folk US) - A different drum - Linda's 1st hit which showcased her incredible vocal talent, and although folksy, she made it into a feminist break up song - Linda was to be instrumental in bringing together the Eagles
• The Small Faces (UK) - Itchycoo Park
• The Lemon Pipers - Green Tambourine
• The Shadows (US) - Apache¹⁶⁴⁾ - instrumental - presumably inspired Ennio Morricone and his spaghetti western movie themes
• Bert Kaempfert composer and had his horn dominant orchestra - A swinging safari¹⁶⁵⁾ a catchy instrumental heavily influenced by South African kwela style music; composed many others such as Strangers in the night and Wooden heart
• Engelbert Humperdinck - another crooner of the 1960s along with Frank Sinatra, etc (not my style but they were important to many in the 60s)

• the 70's was the peak of rock music - prog rock, country rock, pop rock, glam rock, heavy metal, punk, new wave and disco
• Abbey Road Studios finally upgrade to 1“ 8 track recorders in 1972 but then further upgraded to 16 track recording tape machines a year later, allowing bands like Pink Floyd to really experiment much more fully with their sounds
• the introduction of a wide range of new guitar effects pedals had a significant impact on the guitarist's rock sounds - eg. the MXR Dyna Comp which was released in 1972 and was amongst the 1st audio compression pedals and smooths the dynamics and adds sustain. This was supplemented by new guitar amps such as Hiwatt
• while some of 1970s Pink Floyd is chill out music, like many other 70s rock bands, much is heavy rock - immersive loud music demanding your full attention - its not sugar coated pop music to put on in the background!
• the advent of stereo FM meant that one could record stereo radio in stereo onto portable cassette tape players if one could not afford to buy vinyl records or recorded cassette tapes
• MTV became very popular, although initially, TVs were only mono and home video recorders were only mono - this would change in the 1980s with both being stereo

• Pink Floyd (UK) Dark Side of the Moon album (March 1973) ¹⁶⁶⁾
  • a unique and ground breaking music album which arose after several years experimenting with new sonic techniques and analog devices
  • for some of their sounds they had to physically tape together many segments of recorded tape
  • their concerts were also ground breaking in their visuals
  • official Pink Floyd Youtube site with lots of videos: https://www.youtube.com/@pinkfloyd/videos
  • Time^167)168) cover by Sina et al 2022¹⁶⁹⁾ cover by Aurum Prisma¹⁷⁰⁾, Breathe (In the Air)¹⁷¹⁾ Moby cover¹⁷²⁾, Us and Them¹⁷³⁾, Brain Damage¹⁷⁴⁾ live cover by Sina et al 2026¹⁷⁵⁾, Money¹⁷⁶⁾, On the run^177)178) - cool analog synth instrumental highlighting sequencer-driven sound and arpeggiated trance motifs
  • The Great Gig In the Sky the band asked a session singer, Clare Torey, to sing without words according to their chosen backing music to portray grief of death of a loved one - it is a powerful, emotive unique “song” worth listening to her original version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PMnJ_Luk_o as well as later version by Sam Brown and co https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWZ6hmHj2MA
  • in a similar style created later in 1973 was the German group Tangerine Dream's Phaedra album using a modular Moog based on the techniques used in “On The Run” from “Dark Side of the Moon” ¹⁷⁹⁾
• Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here album
  • a great chill out album
  • Wish you were here ¹⁸⁰⁾ Moby cover¹⁸¹⁾ Sina et al jamming 2023¹⁸²⁾
  • Shine on you Crazy Diamond ¹⁸³⁾
    • a very long prog rock lament and tribute to the band's former leader, Syd Barrett, who developed a chronic psychotic illness after using LSD
    • this track was one of the first in music to utilize soft synth pads with synth solos which became stylistic references for later synth musicians in art rock, ambient, and electronic genres
    • a 2025 studio cover version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-PXYv3bSUU
  • Welcome to the machine¹⁸⁴⁾
• Pink Floyd The Wall album
  • Roger Waters decided to create this album after an unpleasant altercation with a “fan” whilst performing on stage and his feeling of needing to create a wall between himself and the rest of the world - perhaps something we all can relate to when we do our best in our jobs and yet the public seem to feel they can still abuse us on a regular basis
  • this album mainly deals with the many psychological and emotive struggles of growing up which many of us can empathize
  • a movie was made of these songs but it is very emotive and powerful and not for the faint-hearted with many images of the horrors of war
  • it needs to be played reasonably loud with headphones
  • In the flesh - an introductory piece and the impacts of the loss of his father who was killed in WWII when he was still a young boy
  • Mother Sinead O'Conner / Roger Waters version Berlin 1990 ¹⁸⁵⁾ - the impacts of a domineering over-protective mother
  • Another brick in the wall - the adverse impacts of an abusive education system which constantly stifles individualism and creativity in its goal of conformity to an ideal - became the most played on radio - in fact, one of the few “singles” they made, and was made by asking a school's music teacher to bring school kids to the studio without permission from the school or their parents - but this, along with a new disco beat of the time, is what made this song a Number 1 hit - see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFeaOg602XE
  • Young Lust Bryan Adams / Roger Waters version Berlin 1990: ¹⁸⁶⁾
  • a very emotive and sometimes confronting middle section of songs dealing with relationship issues, lust, depression, anger
  • Goodbye Cruel World the completion of his building of his wall and his isolation from the world
  • The thin ice ¹⁸⁷⁾
  • Hey you ¹⁸⁸⁾ live RPWL & Freising Symphonieorchester cover¹⁸⁹⁾,
  • Is there anybody out there¹⁹⁰⁾, Nobody home¹⁹¹⁾ - the struggles of loneliness when you have created a barrier around you
  • Comfortably Numb ¹⁹²⁾ - includes one of the greatest guitar solos - for those who need to chill out camping; Covers: Fleesh version¹⁹³⁾, Miley Cyrus version¹⁹⁴⁾, Sons of Apollo version live with The Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony ¹⁹⁵⁾
  • the last part of the album is a satire on neo-nazism and is a warning of how easy the far right can dominate people - excerpts from the movie starring Bob Geldof¹⁹⁶⁾ , Run Like Hell¹⁹⁷⁾
  • finally, a judge orders him to tear down the wall in The Trial and Outside the Wall is about those who try to help you
• Beatles (UK) - Let it Be album - their last album as a band
  • Let it be, Across the Universe, The Long and Winding Road, Get Back
• Queen (UK) - A Night At The Opera album
  • Bohemian Rhapsody¹⁹⁸⁾
    • perhaps the most famous rock song - a rhapsody of 6 parts: A cappella introduction, 2. Ballad. 3. Guitar solo, 4. Opera section, 5. Rock section, 6. Outro
    • Bohemian as it ties with Goethe's story of Faust selling his soul to the devil (the man he shot is his previous life) and brings in many other references
  • Love of My Life¹⁹⁹⁾, I'm in Love with My Car²⁰⁰⁾, You're My Best Friend²⁰¹⁾, Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon²⁰²⁾
• Queen - A Day At The Races album
  • Tie Your Mother Down²⁰³⁾, You Take My Breath Away²⁰⁴⁾, Somebody to Love²⁰⁵⁾, Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy²⁰⁶⁾
• Queen - News of the world album
  • We Will Rock You²⁰⁷⁾, We Are the Champions²⁰⁸⁾, All Dead, All Dead²⁰⁹⁾ Brian's tribute to his beloved cat, It's Late²¹⁰⁾, My Melancholy Blues²¹¹⁾
• Queen - Jazz album - Fat Bottomed Girls²¹²⁾, Don't Stop Me Now²¹³⁾
• Wings (UK) - Band on the Run²¹⁴⁾, Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey²¹⁵⁾, My Love²¹⁶⁾, With a Little Luck²¹⁷⁾, Maybe I’m Amazed²¹⁸⁾
• John Lennon (UK) - Imagine²¹⁹⁾, Jealous Guy²²⁰⁾, Watching the Wheels²²¹⁾
• Blondie (new wave US) - Dreaming²²²⁾, Heart of Glass²²³⁾, Union City Blues²²⁴⁾, Rapture²²⁵⁾, Picture this ²²⁶⁾, Hanging on the telephone²²⁷⁾, Shayla²²⁸⁾, In the flesh²²⁹⁾, (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear²³⁰⁾
• Eagles (US) - Hotel California album
  • Hotel California²³¹⁾, Wasted Time²³²⁾, Pretty Maids all in a row²³³⁾
• Eagles - Take it Easy²³⁴⁾, Tequila Sunrise²³⁵⁾, Best of my love²³⁶⁾, One of these nights²³⁷⁾, Sad cafe²³⁸⁾, Lying eyes²³⁹⁾
• Linda Ronstadt - Simple Dreams album Blue Bayou²⁴⁰⁾, Desperado²⁴¹⁾, I never will marry²⁴²⁾, Tumblin' dice²⁴³⁾, Tracks of my tears²⁴⁴⁾
• Fleetwood Mac (UK-US) - Rumours album - Dreams²⁴⁵⁾, Sara²⁴⁶⁾, Go your own way, Rhiannon²⁴⁷⁾, Sweet Little Lies, Gypsy²⁴⁸⁾, Don't stop²⁴⁹⁾, Tusk²⁵⁰⁾
• Abba (Swedish) - Abba Gold album
  • Mamma Mia²⁵¹⁾, SOS²⁵²⁾, Dancing Queen²⁵³⁾, Knowing me, knowing you²⁵⁴⁾, Chiquitita²⁵⁵⁾, Take a chance on me²⁵⁶⁾, Money, money, money²⁵⁷⁾, Does your mother know²⁵⁸⁾, Super Trouper²⁵⁹⁾, Waterloo²⁶⁰⁾, Voulez vous²⁶¹⁾, etc
• Meatloaf (US) - Bat Out Of Hell album - coming of age issues from a male perspective and the dangers of unbridled testosterone in young men
  • 416-week run on the UK album charts; Eventually every track on the album became a hit single and the album became a phenomenon, selling an estimated 47 million copies worldwide. It was also the most profitable release in history, beating even Michael Jackson's Thriller, which cost ten times as much to make. It has sold more copies than any album by The Beatles or Led Zeppelin.
  • Bat out of hell²⁶²⁾, You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)²⁶³⁾, Heaven Can Wait, Two Out of Three Ain't Bad²⁶⁴⁾, Paradise by the Dashboard Light²⁶⁵⁾, For crying out loud²⁶⁶⁾, I'm gonna love her for both of us²⁶⁷⁾
• Bruce Springsteen (US) - Born to Run²⁶⁸⁾, Thunder Road²⁶⁹⁾
• Led Zeppelin (UK) - Stairway to Heaven²⁷⁰⁾ one of the greatest rock guitar solos made, Black Dog²⁷¹⁾, Kashmir²⁷²⁾, Immigrant song²⁷³⁾, Rock and Roll²⁷⁴⁾
• Electric Light Orchestra (UK) - Discovery album
  • Don't bring me down²⁷⁵⁾, Confusion²⁷⁶⁾, Last Train to London²⁷⁷⁾, Rockaria²⁷⁸⁾, Shine a Little Love²⁷⁹⁾, Need her love²⁸⁰⁾
  • Evil woman²⁸¹⁾, Can't get it out of my head²⁸²⁾, Living thing²⁸³⁾, Mr Blue Sky²⁸⁴⁾
• Dire Straits (UK) - Sultans of swing²⁸⁵⁾,
• AC/DC (heavy metal Aussie - you need to play it LOUD with a subwoofer vest on and enjoy the amazing guitar riffs to boot) - You shook me all night long²⁸⁶⁾, Dirty deeds done dirt cheap²⁸⁷⁾, For those about to rock²⁸⁸⁾, Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution²⁸⁹⁾, Thunderstruck²⁹⁰⁾, TNT²⁹¹⁾, Highway to hell²⁹²⁾, Hell's bells²⁹³⁾, Let there be rock²⁹⁴⁾, Jailbreak²⁹⁵⁾
• Jackson Brown (US) - The Load Out - Stay²⁹⁶⁾
• Stevie Nicks (US) - You Can Go Your Own Way²⁹⁷⁾
• Bonnie Tyler (Welsh) - It's A Heartache²⁹⁸⁾
• Suzi Quattro (US) - Stumblin in²⁹⁹⁾, 1977: Make Me Smile (Come up and See Me)³⁰⁰⁾, The Wild One³⁰¹⁾, If You Can't Give Me Love³⁰²⁾, She's in Love with You, 48 Crash³⁰³⁾, Can the Can³⁰⁴⁾, Devilgate Drive³⁰⁵⁾, Rock hard³⁰⁶⁾
• Nazareth (Scot)- Love Hurts³⁰⁷⁾
• Van Morrison (Irish) - Brown Eyed Girl^308)309)
• Billy Joel (US) - She's always a woman to me³¹⁰⁾, Honesty³¹¹⁾, It's still rock and roll to me³¹²⁾, Piano man³¹³⁾
• ZZ Top (US) - Legs³¹⁴⁾, Gimme all your lovin'³¹⁵⁾, Sharp dressed man³¹⁶⁾
• Shocking Blue (Dutch) - Venus³¹⁷⁾
• Blue Brothers movie soundtrack - Gimme Some Lovin'³¹⁸⁾, Shake a Tail Feather³¹⁹⁾, Theme from Rawhide³²⁰⁾
• Rocky Horror Show movie album soundtrack - Time Warp³²¹⁾ (iconic dance track)
  • check out the Charismatic Voice watching the full movie - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0IeQk_JIHg
• Grease movie album soundtrack - Grease³²²⁾, Summer Nights³²³⁾, Hopelessly devoted to you³²⁴⁾,You're the One That I Want³²⁵⁾, Sandy³²⁶⁾, Greased Lightnin'³²⁷⁾

• Simon and Garfunkle (US) - Bridge Over Troubled Water³²⁸⁾ album - Sounds of Silence³²⁹⁾
• Smokie (UK) - Living next door to Alice³³⁰⁾, Belinda, Lay back in the arms of someone³³¹⁾, Don't play your rock n roll to me³³²⁾, Needles and pins³³³⁾
• Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel (UK) - 1975: Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)³³⁴⁾
• Roy Orbison (US) - Penny Arcade³³⁵⁾
• Neil Diamond (US) - Sweet Caroline³³⁶⁾, Cracklin' Rosie³³⁷⁾
• Air Supply (Aussie) - All Out Of Love³³⁸⁾, Lost in Love³³⁹⁾
• Elton John (UK) - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road³⁴⁰⁾, Candle in the wind³⁴¹⁾, Crocodile Rock³⁴²⁾, Don't go breaking my heart³⁴³⁾
• Supertramp (UK) - The Logical Song³⁴⁴⁾, Breakfast in America³⁴⁵⁾, Long way home³⁴⁶⁾
• Kate Bush (UK) - Babushka³⁴⁷⁾, Wuthering Heights³⁴⁸⁾
• Rod Stewart (UK) - Maggie Mae³⁴⁹⁾, Hot legs³⁵⁰⁾, Da ya think I'm sexy³⁵¹⁾
• Neil Young (US) - Cinnamon Girl³⁵²⁾, Helpless³⁵³⁾, Old man³⁵⁴⁾, Heart of gold³⁵⁵⁾
• Lynyrd Skynyrd (US) Sweet Home Alabama, Free bird³⁵⁶⁾ - several were killed in a plane crash in 1977
• Bad Company (UK) Burnin' sky³⁵⁷⁾
• Crosby, Stills and Nash (US) Teach your Children³⁵⁸⁾
• The Kinks (UK) - Lola³⁵⁹⁾
• Nico and The Velvet Underground (US) - Femme fatale³⁶⁰⁾, Sunday morning³⁶¹⁾, I'll Be Your Mirror³⁶²⁾, Sweet Jane ³⁶³⁾
• 10cc (UK) - I’m Not in Love³⁶⁴⁾
• Lou Reed (US) - Walk on the Wild Side³⁶⁵⁾
• Dolly Parton (US) - Jolene³⁶⁶⁾
• Emmylou Harris (US) - Tulsa Queen³⁶⁷⁾
• David Bowie (UK) - Heroes³⁶⁸⁾, Space Oddity³⁶⁹⁾, Life on Mars³⁷⁰⁾, Ziggy stardust³⁷¹⁾, Starman³⁷²⁾, Changes³⁷³⁾
• Donna Summer (US) - disco queen - Hot stuff³⁷⁴⁾, I Feel Love³⁷⁵⁾, MacArthur Park ³⁷⁶⁾
• Yusuf / Cat Stevens (UK) - Cats in the cradle³⁷⁷⁾, Where do the children play³⁷⁸⁾, Sad Lisa³⁷⁹⁾, Father and son³⁸⁰⁾, Lady D'Arbanville ³⁸¹⁾
• Don McLean (US) - American Pie³⁸²⁾, Vincent³⁸³⁾
• The Rolling Stones (UK) - I can't get no satisfaction³⁸⁴⁾, Angie³⁸⁵⁾, Brown sugar³⁸⁶⁾
• Manfred Mann's Earth Band (UK) - Blinded by the Light³⁸⁷⁾
• Bee Gees (Uk-Aussie) - disco - Tragedy³⁸⁸⁾, Stayin’ Alive³⁸⁹⁾, Night fever³⁹⁰⁾, How Deep Is Your Love³⁹¹⁾, Jive talkin'³⁹²⁾
• Eric Clapton and Derek and the Dominos (UK) - Eric was infatuated with his friend George Harrison's wife and wrote this song: Layla³⁹³⁾
• Deep Purple (UK) – Smoke on the Water³⁹⁴⁾, Child in time³⁹⁵⁾
• The Sweet (UK) – The Ballroom Blitz³⁹⁶⁾, Fox on the run³⁹⁷⁾
• Daddy Cool (Aussie) - Eagle Rock³⁹⁸⁾, Come back again³⁹⁹⁾
• Umberto Tozzi (Italy) - Gloria⁴⁰⁰⁾
• Hot Chocolate (UK soul) - You Sexy Thing⁴⁰¹⁾
• Dragon (NZ) - April Sun in Cuba⁴⁰²⁾, Are You Old Enough?⁴⁰³⁾
• Split Enz (NZ new wave) - I Got You⁴⁰⁴⁾, I hope I never⁴⁰⁵⁾
• The Runaways (US) - Cherry Bomb⁴⁰⁶⁾, School Days⁴⁰⁷⁾
• Terry Jacks (Can) - Seasons In The Sun⁴⁰⁸⁾
• The Boomtown Rats (Bob Geldof) (UK) - I don't like Mondays⁴⁰⁹⁾
• The Knack (US) - My Sharona⁴¹⁰⁾
• The Romantics (US) - What I Like About You⁴¹¹⁾
• T.Rex (UK) - Children Of The Revolution⁴¹²⁾, Bang a gong Get it on^413)414)
• Alvin Stardust (UK) - My Coo Ca Choo ⁴¹⁵⁾
• Iggy Pop (US) - The Passenger⁴¹⁶⁾
• Ram Jam (US) - Black Betty⁴¹⁷⁾
• The Buggles (UK) - Video Killed The Radio Star⁴¹⁸⁾
• The Village People (US disco) - Y.M.C.A⁴¹⁹⁾
• Squeeze (UK) - Cool For Cats⁴²⁰⁾
• Promises (Can) - Baby it's you⁴²¹⁾
• Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street⁴²²⁾
• Cheap Trick (US) - Dream Police⁴²³⁾
• Status Quo (UK) - head banging music - Whatever You Want⁴²⁴⁾, Down, down⁴²⁵⁾, Rockin all over the world⁴²⁶⁾, The wanderer⁴²⁷⁾
• Black Sabbath (UK) - Paranoid⁴²⁸⁾
• Thin Lizzy (Irish) - The boys are back in town⁴²⁹⁾, Whiskey in the Jar ⁴³⁰⁾
• Skyhooks (Aussie) - Horror movie⁴³¹⁾, Ego is not a dirty word⁴³²⁾, Living in the 70s
• prog rock bands of the 70s which I never really got into - Yes (UK), Genesis (UK), etc
• for the ladies - they seemed to have loved Carole King's album Tapestry⁴³³⁾ (US)

• the arrival of digital FM synthesizer technologies such as the Yamaha DX7 and digital drum machines profoundly changed the sound of rock and pop music in the 80s - perhaps not always for the better
• the Sony Walkman compact cassette tape player became popular as a way to carry your music with you whilst walking or chilling out at the beach - albeit only via cassette tapes or FM radio
• by the late 1980's, analog vinyl records and cassette tapes would give way to more durable digital CDs while stereo MTV and stereo video recorders allowed inexpensive home recording of popular music videos, while also making the music video an important marketing strategy for artists

• Dire Straits (UK) - Romeo and Juliet⁴³⁴⁾, Tunnel of love⁴³⁵⁾, Expresso Love
• Bruce Springsteen (US) - Tougher Than the Rest⁴³⁶⁾, Glory days⁴³⁷⁾
• Bryan Adams (US) - Summer of 69⁴³⁸⁾
• Blondie (US new wave) - Atomic⁴³⁹⁾, Call Me ⁴⁴⁰⁾ extended version: ⁴⁴¹⁾, Island Of Lost Souls⁴⁴²⁾
• Robert Palmer (UK) - Simply Irresistible⁴⁴³⁾, Addicted to Love⁴⁴⁴⁾
• Irene Cara (US) - Flashdance (What a Feeling)⁴⁴⁵⁾ - Flashdance movie
• Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes (US) - (I've Had the) Time of My Life⁴⁴⁶⁾ - Dirty Dancing movie
• Patrick Swayze (US) - She's Like the Wind⁴⁴⁷⁾ - Dirty Dancing movie
• The Bangles (US) - Manic Monday⁴⁴⁸⁾, Eternal Flame⁴⁴⁹⁾
• ELO (UK) - Time album The Way Life's Meant to Be, Hold On Tight⁴⁵⁰⁾, Twilight
• Don Henley (US) - Boys of Summer⁴⁵¹⁾
• Fleetwood Mac (US) - Gypsy⁴⁵²⁾
• Queen (UK) - I want it All⁴⁵³⁾, Radio Ga Ga⁴⁵⁴⁾, Its a Hard LIfe⁴⁵⁵⁾, Who wants to live forever⁴⁵⁶⁾, I Want to Break Free⁴⁵⁷⁾, Another one bites the dust⁴⁵⁸⁾
• Queen And David Bowie (UK) - Under Pressure⁴⁵⁹⁾
• Bonnie Tyler (Welsh) - Total Eclipse of the Heart^460)461), Holding out for a hero⁴⁶²⁾, Have you ever seen the rain⁴⁶³⁾
• Soft Cell (UK) - Tainted Love⁴⁶⁴⁾
• Joe Cocker (UK) - You can leave your hat on⁴⁶⁵⁾ - 9 1/2 weeks movie
• Kylie Minogue (Aussie) - Locomotion ⁴⁶⁶⁾
• Divinyls (Aussie) - Pleasure and Pain⁴⁶⁷⁾, Boys in Town⁴⁶⁸⁾, Only Lonely⁴⁶⁹⁾
• Alannah Myles (US) - Black Velvet⁴⁷⁰⁾
• Cheap Trick (US) - Don't Be Cruel⁴⁷¹⁾
• Travelling Wilberrys (UK-US) - Handle with care ⁴⁷²⁾, End of the line⁴⁷³⁾
• Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (US) - I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll⁴⁷⁴⁾, Crimson And Clover ⁴⁷⁵⁾, Dirty Deeds ⁴⁷⁶⁾, Have you ever seen the rain⁴⁷⁷⁾, Love hurts⁴⁷⁸⁾

• Phil Collins - I Wish It Would Rain Down⁴⁷⁹⁾ Fleesh version⁴⁸⁰⁾
• Australian Crawl (Aussie) - Reckless⁴⁸¹⁾, The boys light up⁴⁸²⁾, Downhearted⁴⁸³⁾, Beautiful people⁴⁸⁴⁾
• Goanna (Aussie) - Solid rock⁴⁸⁵⁾
• Dire Straits (UK):
  • Love over gold album: Telegraph road⁴⁸⁶⁾, Industrial disease, Love over gold, It never rains
  • Brothers in arms album: So far away, Money for nothing⁴⁸⁷⁾, Walk of life
• Kim Carnes (US) - Bette Davis Eyes⁴⁸⁸⁾
• Roxette (Swedish) - It must have been love⁴⁸⁹⁾, Dangerous⁴⁹⁰⁾, Listen to Your Heart⁴⁹¹⁾
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Aussie) - The Mercy Seat
• Pink Floyd (UK) - Learning to Fly⁴⁹²⁾, Sorrow⁴⁹³⁾
• Cold Chisel (Aussie) - Khe Sanh⁴⁹⁴⁾, Choir girl⁴⁹⁵⁾, Working class man⁴⁹⁶⁾, When the war is over⁴⁹⁷⁾, Forever now⁴⁹⁸⁾
• Dragon (NZ) - Rain⁴⁹⁹⁾
• Madonna?
• Men At Work (Aussie) - Down Under⁵⁰⁰⁾
• AC/DC (Aussie) - Back in Black album
• Eurythmics (UK) - Sweet Dreams⁵⁰¹⁾
• Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty (US) - Stop Draggin' My Heart Around⁵⁰²⁾
• Martha And The Muffins (Can) - Echo Beach ⁵⁰³⁾
• Katrina & The Waves (UK-US) - Walking On Sunshine⁵⁰⁴⁾
• Cyndi Lauper (US) - Girls Just Want To Have Fun⁵⁰⁵⁾
• The Police (UK) - Every Breath You Take⁵⁰⁶⁾, Roxanne⁵⁰⁷⁾
• Guns N’ Roses (US) - Sweet Child O’ Mine⁵⁰⁸⁾, Welcome to the jungle⁵⁰⁹⁾
• Bon Jovi (US) - Livin’ On A Prayer⁵¹⁰⁾
• Michael Jackson (US) - Thriller⁵¹¹⁾, Billie Jean⁵¹²⁾
• Heart (US) - Alone⁵¹³⁾
• Roxy Music (UK) - More than This
• The Cars (US) - Drive⁵¹⁴⁾, Shake It Up⁵¹⁵⁾, You Might Think⁵¹⁶⁾
• The Jacksons (US) - Can You Feel It
• Elton John (UK) - I Guess that's Why they Call it the Blues
• Simple Minds (Scot) - Don't You Forget About Me
• Ultravox (UK) - Vienna
• Tears for Fears (UK) - Everybody Wants to Rule the World
• 10CC (UK) - I'm not in love
• A-Ha (Norw) - Take on Me⁵¹⁷⁾
• The Human League (UK) - Don't You Want Me
• ABBA (Swed) - The Winner Takes it All
• Foreigner (UK-US) - I Want to Know What Love Is
• Toto (US) - Africa⁵¹⁸⁾
• Nena (German) - 99 Luftballons
• INXS (Aussie) - Never Tear Us Apart⁵¹⁹⁾
• Dexys Midnight Runners (UK) - Come On Eileen⁵²⁰⁾
• The Proclaimers (Scot) - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)⁵²¹⁾
• Laura Branigan (US) - Gloria⁵²²⁾
• Billy Idol (UK) - White Wedding
• Bananarama (UK) - Venus⁵²³⁾
• Samantha Fox (UK) - Touch me⁵²⁴⁾
• Pat Benatar (US) - Love Is A Battlefield ⁵²⁵⁾
• Cher (US) - If I Could Turn Back Time
• Toni Basil (US new wave bubblegum glam pop) - Mickey⁵²⁶⁾
• Alice Cooper (US) - Poison⁵²⁷⁾
• The B-52s (US) - Love shack⁵²⁸⁾, Roam⁵²⁹⁾
• Sade (Nigerian-UK) - Smooth Operator
• Duran Duran (UK) - Hungry Like the Wolf⁵³⁰⁾, Girls on film⁵³¹⁾
• Dave Stewart (UK) - Lily was here (instrumental)
• Dolly Parton (US) - 9 to 5
• Belinda Carlisle (US) - Leave A Light On⁵³²⁾
• Bobby McFerrin (US) - Don't Worry, Be Happy
• Culture Club (UK) - Do You Really Want To Hurt Me
• Ghostbusters - Ghostbusters
• Icehouse (Aussie) - Great Southern Land⁵³³⁾, Electric blue⁵³⁴⁾
• Berlin - Take My Breath Away⁵³⁵⁾ from Topgun movie
• Juice Newton (US) - Angel of the morning⁵³⁶⁾, Queen Of Hearts⁵³⁷⁾
• Kim Wilde - You Keep Me Hanging On⁵³⁸⁾
• Pet Shop Boys - Go West
• REO Speedwagon - Keep On Loving You
• Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy⁵³⁹⁾
• George Thorogood & The Destroyers - Bad To The Bone⁵⁴⁰⁾
• Iggy Pop - Real Wild Child ⁵⁴¹⁾
• The Cure - Friday I'm In Love⁵⁴²⁾, Lullaby⁵⁴³⁾, Just Like Heaven⁵⁴⁴⁾
• Choir Boys - Run to paradise⁵⁴⁵⁾
• Femme Fatale - Falling In & Out Of Love⁵⁴⁶⁾
• Lita Ford - Kiss Me Deadly⁵⁴⁷⁾, Falling in and out of Love⁵⁴⁸⁾, Shot of Poison⁵⁴⁹⁾
• Steve Earle - Copperhead Road⁵⁵⁰⁾
• Marianne Faithfull - Truth, Bitter Truth⁵⁵¹⁾, So sad⁵⁵²⁾ - regrets of her lost youth wasted on heroin addiction
• Leonard Cohen (Can) - Hallelujah⁵⁵³⁾, Dance Me to the End of Love⁵⁵⁴⁾

• new sophisticated digital effects devices were introduced such as the Zoom 9030 Advanced Instrument Effects Processor which was released in 1991 and extensively used by Pink Floyd.
• the decade of DVDs, personal computers with Windows, sound cards and music, MP3 digitalized songs and MP3 players such as Apple's iPod, introduction of the internet and internet sharing of music via Napster and other mechanisms.
• in 1990, the Milli Vanilli saga where the vocalist pair were exposed as only miming and not actually being the singers (Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus as the lip-syncing performers, with the two actual main studio singers being Brad Howell and John Davis), rocked the pop music world and essentially ended their career ⁵⁵⁵⁾ - now a lot of singers mime in live concerts, although they do it to their own auto-tuned vocal tracks not other singers, and it seems to be OK with their fans
• 1990's was also a decade noted for “BritPop” dominating the charts, and the advent of the German Access Virus synth which became to be widely used in industrial music and EDM.

• Sinead O'Connor (Irish) - Nothing Compares 2 U ⁵⁵⁶⁾, Sacrifice⁵⁵⁷⁾
• Elton John (UK) - Two Rooms album of various artists covering his songs
• Radiohead (UK art rock) - Creep⁵⁵⁸⁾, No Surprises⁵⁵⁹⁾ (the importance of not having a CO alarm when you have a wood stove in your tent and you don't want to be surprised by the alarm) , Fake Plastic Trees⁵⁶⁰⁾, Lucky⁵⁶¹⁾, Last flowers to the hospital⁵⁶²⁾
• The Cranberries (Irish) - Zombie⁵⁶³⁾ - the traumas of northern Ireland and the IRA warfare, Dreams⁵⁶⁴⁾, Linger⁵⁶⁵⁾
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Aussie) - The Ship Song⁵⁶⁶⁾, Do You Love Me?⁵⁶⁷⁾, Nobody's Baby Now⁵⁶⁸⁾, Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore⁵⁶⁹⁾, Into My Arms⁵⁷⁰⁾, Henry Lee⁵⁷¹⁾, The Weeping Song⁵⁷²⁾
• Queen (UK) - Made in Heaven album - created while Freddie Mercury was dying of AIDS - his last album
  • I was born to love you⁵⁷³⁾, A Winters tale⁵⁷⁴⁾, It's a beautiful day⁵⁷⁵⁾, Too much love will kill you⁵⁷⁶⁾
• Guns n Roses (US) - November Rain⁵⁷⁷⁾
• R.E.M. (US) - Everybody Hurts⁵⁷⁸⁾ live⁵⁷⁹⁾, Shiny happy people⁵⁸⁰⁾
• Transvision Vamp (UK pop) - Baby I don't care⁵⁸¹⁾, Revolution Baby ⁵⁸²⁾, I want your love ⁵⁸³⁾, Song To The Stars⁵⁸⁴⁾, Landslide of Love⁵⁸⁵⁾
• Scorpions (German) - Winds of Change⁵⁸⁶⁾
• Sheryl Crow (US) - If It Makes You Happy⁵⁸⁷⁾, All I Wanna Do ⁵⁸⁸⁾, Soak Up The Sun⁵⁸⁹⁾, Strong enough⁵⁹⁰⁾
• Alannah Myles (Canada) - Black Velvet⁵⁹¹⁾
• No Doubt (US) - Don't Speak⁵⁹²⁾
• Natalie Imbruglia (Aussie) - Torn⁵⁹³⁾
• George Michael (UK) - Freedom 90⁵⁹⁴⁾
• Divinyls (Aussie) - I Touch Myself⁵⁹⁵⁾
• Annie Lennox (Scottish) - Why⁵⁹⁶⁾

• Meatloaf (US) - I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)⁵⁹⁷⁾
• Bryan Adams (Canada) - Everything I do..⁵⁹⁸⁾ Bryan Adams & Mel C - When You're Gone⁵⁹⁹⁾
• Bon Jovi (US hard rock) - It's my life, Livin' on a prayer, Bed of roses, Blaze of glory
• Midnight Oil (Aussie) - Blue sky mine⁶⁰⁰⁾, King of the mountain⁶⁰¹⁾
• Guns n Roses (US hard rock) - Don't cry⁶⁰²⁾
• R.E.M. (US) - Losing my religion⁶⁰³⁾, Man on the moon⁶⁰⁴⁾
• Aerosmith (US rock) - I don't want to miss a thing⁶⁰⁵⁾
• Metallica (US heavy metal) - Nothing else matters⁶⁰⁶⁾, The unforgiven⁶⁰⁷⁾
• Shania Twain (US) - That Don't Impress Me Much⁶⁰⁸⁾, You're Still the One⁶⁰⁹⁾, Man! I Feel Like a Woman!⁶¹⁰⁾, Come On Over⁶¹¹⁾
• Alanis Morissette (Canada) - Ironic⁶¹²⁾, Hand in My Pocket⁶¹³⁾, Thank U⁶¹⁴⁾
• Eric Clapton (UK) - Tears in Heaven⁶¹⁵⁾ written after his 4 year old son died after falling from the 53rd-floor window of a New York City apartment
• Concrete Blonde (US) - Joey⁶¹⁶⁾
• LeAnn Rimes (US) - How Do I Live⁶¹⁷⁾
• Tal Bachman (Canada) - Shes So High⁶¹⁸⁾
• Roxette (Sweden) - Joyride⁶¹⁹⁾
• The Offspring (US) - Pretty fly (for a white guy)⁶²⁰⁾
• The Verve (UK) - Bitter Sweet Symphony⁶²¹⁾
• Oasis (UK) - Wonderwall⁶²²⁾, Don't look back in anger⁶²³⁾, Stand by me⁶²⁴⁾, Stop crying your heart out ⁶²⁵⁾, Champagne Supernova⁶²⁶⁾
• Unique II (Austria) - Break My Stride⁶²⁷⁾
• Garbage (US) - Stupid Girl⁶²⁸⁾
• Wilson Phillips (US) - Hold On⁶²⁹⁾
• Robbie Williams (UK) - Feel⁶³⁰⁾, Better man⁶³¹⁾
• Pink Floyd (UK) - Coming Back to Life⁶³²⁾, High hopes⁶³³⁾
• Portishead (UK alt/indie) - Roads ⁶³⁴⁾
• Melissa Etheridge (US) - I Want To Come Over⁶³⁵⁾
• Bachelor Girl (Aussie pop) - Buses and Trains⁶³⁶⁾
• Matchbox 20 (US rock) - Push⁶³⁷⁾
• Hunters & Collectors (Aussie) - Holy grail⁶³⁸⁾, Do you see what i see⁶³⁹⁾
• grunge:
  • Hole (US - Courtney Love - Kurt Cobain's wife, and Melissa Auf Der Maur) - Softer Softest⁶⁴⁰⁾, Celebrity skin⁶⁴¹⁾
  • Soundgarden (US) - Black Hole Sun⁶⁴²⁾
  • Nirvana (US) - Smells like teen spirit⁶⁴³⁾, the famous unplugged semi-acoustic session for MTV in 1993⁶⁴⁴⁾ - fusion of pop melodies with noise, combined with its themes of abjection and social alienation written mainly by the shy, introvert Kurt Cobain, culminating in Kurt's suicide in 1994 at age 27 after escaping from drug rehab.
  • Pearl Jam (US rock)
• Green Day (US post-punk) - Time of your life⁶⁴⁵⁾
• Extreme (US prog metal) - More than words⁶⁴⁶⁾
• Vonda Shepard (US pop) - It's In His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song)⁶⁴⁷⁾, Searchin' My Soul⁶⁴⁸⁾, Neighborhood⁶⁴⁹⁾ - songs from the TV series Ally McBeal
• Crash Test Dummies (Canada alt rock) - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm⁶⁵⁰⁾
• Marianne Faithfull (UK) - Don't forget me⁶⁵¹⁾
• Alison Krauss (US bluegrass) - When You Say Nothing At All⁶⁵²⁾
• Trisha Yearwood (US country) - She's In Love With The Boy⁶⁵³⁾, Walkaway Joe⁶⁵⁴⁾
• Meredith Brooks (US pop) - Bitch⁶⁵⁵⁾
• Bonnie Raitt (US R&B/soul/blues/folk) - I Can't Make You Love Me⁶⁵⁶⁾
• Yothu Yindi (Aussie indigenous) - Treaty ⁶⁵⁷⁾, Djapana⁶⁵⁸⁾
• Leonard Cohen (Can) - In my secret life⁶⁵⁹⁾

• Spice Girls
• Cher - The Shoop Shoop Song
• Berlin - Take My Breath Away
• Don Henley - All She Wants To Do Is Dance
• Andrea Bocelli & Sarah Brightman - Time To Say Goodbye
• Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt - Don't know much
• Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On (Titanic movie)
• Aqua - Doctor Jones
• Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy breaky heart
• Lou Bega - Mambo No 5
• Venga Boys - The Venga Bus Is Coming, We Like to Party, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!
• Steps - 5,6,7,8
• Ricky Martin - Livin' la Vida Loca, La Bomba
• Enrique Iglesias - Bailamos
• Chumbawamba - Tubthumping⁶⁶⁰⁾
• Hanson - Mmmbop
• Jeff Buckley - Hallelulah⁶⁶¹⁾
• Toni Braxton - Unbreak My Heart
• Tina Arena - Chains
• Mariah Carey - Hero
• Madonna - Express yourself, Vogue, Beautiful stranger, Cherish
• Savage Garden - Truly Madly Deeply
• Elton John - Sacrifice
• Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
• Christina Aguilera - Genie in a bottle
• Ace of Base (swedish) - All that she wants (is another baby)⁶⁶²⁾, The sign⁶⁶³⁾
• Moloko - Sing It Back ⁶⁶⁴⁾

• digital audio workstations (DAW) such as Pro Tools revolutionized professional music recording, production, and editing on Windows and macOS computers and removed the need for difficult to use 24 track tape recording
• the introduction of smartphones and internet-based streaming of music and radio changes how music is marketed and accessed which not only essentially killed off audio CDs but illegal internet MP3 file sharing services such as Napster
• the introduction of post-processed auto-tuning of vocal tracks becomes widespread

• Johnny Cash Hurt⁶⁶⁵⁾
• Radiohead Everything in Its Right Place⁶⁶⁶⁾
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds As I Sat Sadly by Her Side⁶⁶⁷⁾
• P!nk, Get The Party Started⁶⁶⁸⁾, Just like a pill⁶⁶⁹⁾
• Coldplay, Yellow⁶⁷⁰⁾, Clocks⁶⁷¹⁾, Viva La Vida⁶⁷²⁾
• Wheatus Teenage dirtbag⁶⁷³⁾
• Avril Lavigne Sk8er boi⁶⁷⁴⁾, Complicated⁶⁷⁵⁾
• Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris: - Why worry⁶⁷⁶⁾, Romeo and Juliet, So far away⁶⁷⁷⁾, If This Is Goodbye⁶⁷⁸⁾
• Muse Submassive black hole⁶⁷⁹⁾

• Killing Heidi (Aussie) - Weir⁶⁸⁰⁾, Mascara⁶⁸¹⁾
• Green Day - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams ⁶⁸²⁾
• Linkin Park Numb⁶⁸³⁾
• Britney Spears Toxic⁶⁸⁴⁾, Baby one more time⁶⁸⁵⁾, Oops! I did it again⁶⁸⁶⁾, Piece of me⁶⁸⁷⁾
• Alicia Keys, Fallin⁶⁸⁸⁾
• Jet Are You Gonna Be My Girl⁶⁸⁹⁾
• Christina Aguilera Beautiful⁶⁹⁰⁾
• Kylie Minogue, Spinning around⁶⁹¹⁾, Can’t Get You Out of My Head⁶⁹²⁾
• James Blunt You're Beautiful⁶⁹³⁾
• Shakira Whenever, wherever⁶⁹⁴⁾
• Train: Drops of Jupiter⁶⁹⁵⁾
• Nelly Furtado: I'm Like a Bird⁶⁹⁶⁾
• Eiffel 65: Blue (Da Ba Dee)⁶⁹⁷⁾
• Moloko - The Time Is Now⁶⁹⁸⁾, Sing it back⁶⁹⁹⁾
• The Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down To Georgia⁷⁰⁰⁾ from Coyote Ugly
• Blink 182 Adam's Song⁷⁰¹⁾
• Powderfinger My kinda scene⁷⁰²⁾, These days⁷⁰³⁾
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Zephyr Song⁷⁰⁴⁾
• Ronan Keating - When You Say Nothing At All⁷⁰⁵⁾
• Vanessa Amorosi Shine⁷⁰⁶⁾
• Sophie Ellis Bextor - Murder On The Dancefloor⁷⁰⁷⁾
• The Androids - Do it With Madonna⁷⁰⁸⁾
• Sixpence None The Richer - There She Goes⁷⁰⁹⁾
• Marianne Faithfull - Sad Lisa⁷¹⁰⁾, Beware of Darkness⁷¹¹⁾, Before the Poison⁷¹²⁾
• Bonnie Raitt & Norah Jones - Tennessee Waltz⁷¹³⁾
• Lucie Silvas - Nothing Else Matters⁷¹⁴⁾ Metallica cover
• Taylor Swift - You belong with me ⁷¹⁵⁾ - one of the songs that started it all for TS showing that you can be your quirky and nerdy self and still be loved by the person of your dreams

• the death of authenticity - nearly all recorded and live music is now auto-tuned live or in post-production (whether the artist has requested it or not), removing the human pitch errors, variable nuances which are in fact what helps make music emotive and human - indeed many concerts have the singer miming to recorded audio further removing authenticity - see https://www.youtube.com/@wingsofpegasus for analyses of famous singers
• streaming audio services such as Spotify now dominate the distribution of music - many people have unfortunately thrown out their old CDs and DVDs and their players - so they are being taught to become accustomed to the new world of virtual serfdom subscribers who must pay rent for almost everything to the new technocrat feudal overlords instead of paying once and owning something - they better be saving their superannuation up! And yes I am still upset that my family took all my CDs and DVDs to the Salvation Army to de-clutter the house ala Marie Kondo - luckily I converted most to MP3s first!

• Disturbed Sound of Silence cover of Simon and Garfunkle's 1960s song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4
• First Aid Kit, Emmylou⁷¹⁶⁾
• Lana Del Rey Summertime Madness⁷¹⁷⁾, Young and Beautiful⁷¹⁸⁾, Video Games⁷¹⁹⁾
• Cigarettes after Sex
  • Apocalypse set to Lost in Translation movie⁷²⁰⁾
  • many other songs with similar moody Eric Satie x Radiohead vibe / ambience ⁷²¹⁾ and live performance ⁷²²⁾
• Mazzy Star - Fade Into You ⁷²³⁾ (not to be confused with Estonian singer Mazza Star / Maarja-Liis Ilus)
• Norah Jones Black hole sun⁷²⁴⁾
• Ugly Kid Joe - Cats In The Cradle⁷²⁵⁾
• Marianne Faithfull - In My Own Particular Way⁷²⁶⁾, The Gypsy Faerie Queen with Nick Cave⁷²⁷⁾, Falling Back⁷²⁸⁾
• The Cave Dwellers - White Rabbit⁷²⁹⁾ - cover of the iconic 60's LSD song
• Amy Macdonald - This is the Life⁷³⁰⁾
• Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper - Shallow (from A Star Is Born)⁷³¹⁾
• Radiohead - Daydreaming⁷³²⁾, Glass eyes⁷³³⁾, True love waits⁷³⁴⁾

• Adele
• Sia
• Billy Eilish - Ocean eyes⁷³⁵⁾, Everything I wanted ⁷³⁶⁾
• Ella Hooper (Aussie from Killing Heidi) - Pleasure and Pain⁷³⁷⁾
• Miley Cyrus
• Gotye & Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know
• Tal Wilkenfeld (Aussie) - Under The Sun⁷³⁸⁾
• Anna Kendrick - Cups (Pitch Perfect’s When I’m Gone⁷³⁹⁾
• Cyn - I’ll Still Have Me ⁷⁴⁰⁾
• Taylor Swift Bad Blood ⁷⁴¹⁾ - listed only for the interesting video production which went viral - not that keen on the song itself
• Florida Georgia Line Cruise ⁷⁴²⁾, H.O.L.Y⁷⁴³⁾ - male southern US country
• The Chicks - Wide Open Spaces ⁷⁴⁴⁾, Cowboy Take Me Away⁷⁴⁵⁾ - female southern US country
• Miranda Lambert - The House That Built Me⁷⁴⁶⁾, Kerosene⁷⁴⁷⁾, White Liar⁷⁴⁸⁾, Somethin' Bad⁷⁴⁹⁾ - female southern US country
• Gretchen Wilson - Redneck Woman⁷⁵⁰⁾, Here for The Party ⁷⁵¹⁾ - female southern US country rock
• Bebe Rexha - I'm Gonna Show You Crazy⁷⁵²⁾
• Kongos - Come with Me Now⁷⁵³⁾
• Psy - Gangnam style⁷⁵⁴⁾
• King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard (Aussie - Melbourne) early 70's rock style 25 albums in 10 years! Sleep Drifter⁷⁵⁵⁾, Iron Lung⁷⁵⁶⁾, Crumbling Castle⁷⁵⁷⁾, Catching Smoke⁷⁵⁸⁾, If Not Now, Then When?⁷⁵⁹⁾
• Dum Dum Girls (US) - Coming Down⁷⁶⁰⁾, Lord Knows⁷⁶¹⁾

• digital technologies and their modification of the original analog sound is sparking a niche market return to analog vinyl records which started around 2000 but which is gaining pace - although the vinyl records are very expensive
• unfortunately, “tiktokification of music” is the reason behind many “popular” songs “sounding the same”, where artists are encouraged to make songs with very catchy choruses or sections that can be used in a short video. It ends up creating very similar songs, usually auto-tuned, with cheaply made backing tracks lacking artistic flare, that focus on the chorus and the quotable lyric with all vibe and no emote and are essentially designed like click bait without substance as there is no need for the substance on TikTok. Interestingly many of these popular songs are using 1980's synth sounds and styles.
• AI generated music becomes realistic in 2024

• Bruce Springsteen Streets of Minneapolis⁷⁶²⁾ the outrage and critical rally cry when ice monsters are given permission to kill people without reasonable cause
• Chapell Roan
  • if you can forgive her for miming 5 concerts in a row (after all many of her contemporaries including TS also mime their concerts) then she has some great creative works
  • Pink Pony Club⁷⁶³⁾, Kaleidoscope⁷⁶⁴⁾, Red Wine Supernova⁷⁶⁵⁾, Casual⁷⁶⁶⁾, Picture You^767)768),Good Luck, Babe!⁷⁶⁹⁾
• The Last Dinner Party
  • cover of Blondie’s Call Me ⁷⁷⁰⁾; Sinner ⁷⁷¹⁾; Portrait of a Dead Girl ⁷⁷²⁾; The Feminine Urge ⁷⁷³⁾; On Your Side ⁷⁷⁴⁾;
• Remember Monday Fat Bottomed Girls⁷⁷⁵⁾ Queen cover by female group
• Taylor Swift
  • All too well 10 minute 2021 version ⁷⁷⁶⁾ - there are a few versions of this 2012 song each telling its story differently

• Taylor Swift
  • Blank Space⁷⁷⁷⁾ a great reminder to stay away from TS - the high is not worth the pain
• Phoebe Bridgers
• Sabrina Carpenter
• Olivia Rodrigo - All I Want⁷⁷⁸⁾, Drivers license⁷⁷⁹⁾, Deja vu⁷⁸⁰⁾
• Miley Cyrus - Heart of glass⁷⁸¹⁾ Miley's screaming glam version no where near as good as the super cool and cute Blondie's original version - see mash up version ⁷⁸²⁾
• Charli XCX - SuperLove⁷⁸³⁾, Break The Rules⁷⁸⁴⁾, Boom Clap⁷⁸⁵⁾, You (Ha Ha Ha)⁷⁸⁶⁾, What I Like⁷⁸⁷⁾
• Pale Waves - Easy⁷⁸⁸⁾
• Bonnie Raitt - Just Like That ⁷⁸⁹⁾ (not auto-tuned)
• Lucy Thomas (UK) - covers: A Whiter Shade Of Pale⁷⁹⁰⁾, Hallelujah⁷⁹¹⁾, Say something duet⁷⁹²⁾, The Prayer duet⁷⁹³⁾, Don't Cry For Me Argentina⁷⁹⁴⁾
• Obsidian Silence: Pale November - Gothic night music⁷⁹⁵⁾
• Eileen Noise - Bury The Sun⁷⁹⁶⁾
• the following is AI but are quite impressive:
  • Anne Bloom: Broken angels⁷⁹⁷⁾, I See a Perfect Girl⁷⁹⁸⁾, Memento Mori⁷⁹⁹⁾, Still breathing, not alive⁸⁰⁰⁾, Humans V2⁸⁰¹⁾, Innocence⁸⁰²⁾ - bit like Lana Del Ray
  • Lunaria: Beauty of decay⁸⁰³⁾

• Albinoni Adagio by Hauser ⁸⁰⁴⁾
• Faure - Elegie in Cmin⁸⁰⁵⁾
• Massenet- Thais - Meditation Hauser version⁸⁰⁶⁾
• Samuel Barber - adagio for strings Hauser version ⁸⁰⁷⁾ orchestral version⁸⁰⁸⁾
• Elgar Cello Concerto⁸⁰⁹⁾
• Bruch - Kol nidrei ⁸¹⁰⁾
• Handel - Ombra mai fu ^{811) 812)}
• Puccini Nessun Dorma ⁸¹³⁾ Hauser cello version⁸¹⁴⁾

• Bach - Toccata and Fugue in Dmin - modern pop version by Aussie-UK band Sky in 1980 including John Williams ⁸¹⁵⁾
• Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata, 9th symphony, Violin Romance No 2
• Beethoven - Pathetique Sonata Adagio Cantabile
• Mozart Violin concerto No 3 adagio⁸¹⁶⁾
• Chopin - Nocturne In E Flat Op 9 No 2
• Carl Orff - Carmina burana
• Eric Satie - Gymnopedie No 1
• Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto Emin Op64 2nd Mvt Andante
• Ravel - Bolero

• Ennio Morricone The Good, the Bad and the Ugly movie theme, yes, you should watch this iconic Clint Eastwood spaghetti western⁸¹⁷⁾! Danish orchestra's take on it worth a listen! ⁸¹⁸⁾

• unfortunately you can't listen to these in random order or without ads unless you pay your premium subscription
• NB. Spotify adds crunchy digital artefacts that sound like old lo-res mp3 distortion and tend to sound more compressed, flat and lifeless - (lossless Apple Music does not do this)