Explore by Year: 1970–1989

The Past Tunes time machine

Pick a year.
Find a memory.

Explore American music from 1970 to 1989 through the stories already in our archive. Years refer to record releases or events in the story, rather than the date an article was published.

The 1970s / Side A

The 1980s / Side B

Some songs appear in more than one year: an album, a single and a landmark performance can have different dates. This is a curated reading guide, not a complete chart database.

1970More stories to come

There is no dedicated story for 1970 in this guide yet. Explore an artist collection or choose a highlighted year above.

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1971More stories to come

There is no dedicated story for 1971 in this guide yet. Explore an artist collection or choose a highlighted year above.

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19721 archive story
Talking Book era · original release

Superstition ↗

19731 archive story
Album release

Innervisions (1973) ↗

1974More stories to come

There is no dedicated story for 1974 in this guide yet. Explore an artist collection or choose a highlighted year above.

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1975More stories to come

There is no dedicated story for 1975 in this guide yet. Explore an artist collection or choose a highlighted year above.

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19763 archive stories
Album release

Songs in the Key of Life (1976) ↗

Songs in the Key of Life album tracks

Sir Duke and Isn’t She Lovely ↗

Hotel California album release

Hotel California: The Song Everyone Misunderstands ↗

19772 archive stories
Sir Duke single

Sir Duke and Isn’t She Lovely ↗

Hotel California single

Hotel California: The Song Everyone Misunderstands ↗

1978More stories to come

There is no dedicated story for 1978 in this guide yet. Explore an artist collection or choose a highlighted year above.

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1979More stories to come

There is no dedicated story for 1979 in this guide yet. Explore an artist collection or choose a highlighted year above.

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1980More stories to come

There is no dedicated story for 1980 in this guide yet. Explore an artist collection or choose a highlighted year above.

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1981More stories to come

There is no dedicated story for 1981 in this guide yet. Explore an artist collection or choose a highlighted year above.

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19822 archive stories
Album release — 1999 is the title, not the year

1999 — The Double Album That Broke Prince Into the Mainstream ↗

Thriller album release

Thriller: The Album That Ate the World ↗

19831 archive story
Billie Jean single and Motown 25 performance

Billie Jean: The Night the Moonwalk Stopped America ↗

19844 archive stories
Album and film

Purple Rain — The Album and the Film That Owned 1984 ↗

Single release

When Doves Cry — The Hit With No Bass Line ↗

MTV Video Music Awards performance

Like a Virgin at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards ↗

First appeared on Like a Virgin

Material Girl ↗

19852 archive stories
Material Girl single and music video

Material Girl ↗

Debut album release

Whitney Houston (1985): The Debut That Announced a Voice ↗

19861 archive story
Single release

Papa Don’t Preach ↗

19871 archive story
Album release

Whitney (1987): The Second Album That Sealed It ↗

1988More stories to come

There is no dedicated story for 1988 in this guide yet. Explore an artist collection or choose a highlighted year above.

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1989More stories to come

There is no dedicated story for 1989 in this guide yet. Explore an artist collection or choose a highlighted year above.

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