Explore by Year: 1970–1989 - Past Tunes — Timeless Music, Unforgettable Stories

The Past Tunes time machine

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Explore 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.

Pick a year.Find a memory.

The 1970s / Side A

The 1980s / Side B

Spirit in the Dark: The Piano Inside the Soul ↗

Chapter Two: Listening at Close Range ↗

What’s Going On: A Question That Opens an Album ↗

Coat of Many Colors: One Object Holds a Whole Story ↗

Hot Pants: The Groove Is the Main Character ↗

Tired of Being Alone: Vulnerability with a Steady Pulse ↗

Tapestry: A Great Songbook at Conversational Distance ↗

Music: The Conversation Continues ↗

Quiet Fire: Restraint with an Inner Glow ↗

Every Picture Tells a Story: A Voice with Rough Edges ↗

Superstition ↗

Young, Gifted and Black: A Voice Across Different Rooms ↗

Amazing Grace: When the Room Becomes Part of the Record ↗

Trouble Man: Marvin Gaye Thinks in Film ↗

There It Is: A Voice Inside the Rhythm ↗

Get On the Good Foot: Movement Built from Small Parts ↗

Let’s Stay Together: Intimacy Across an Album ↗

Rhymes & Reasons: Small Shifts, Deeper Colours ↗

Jackson Browne: A Debut at Conversational Distance ↗

Innervisions (1973) ↗

Let’s Get It On: The Arrangement of Intimacy ↗

Jolene: A Plea Carried by a Restless Pattern ↗

The Payback: Staying Inside the Tension ↗

Call Me: Soul Music with Room to Breathe ↗

Fantasy: Hearing the Album as a Whole ↗

I’ve Got So Much to Give: The Voice and Its Setting ↗

Stone Gon’: Staying with the Slow Build ↗

Killing Me Softly: Beyond the Familiar Title ↗

For Everyman: A Personal Voice Looks Outward ↗

I Will Always Love You: A Farewell Without a Villain ↗

Take Me to the River: Earthy Rhythm, Open-Ended Feeling ↗

Wrap Around Joy: Familiar Warmth, a Broader Frame ↗

Heart Like a Wheel: The Interpreter Finds the Centre ↗

Can’t Get Enough: A Big Sound with a Clear Centre ↗

Late for the Sky: Letting a Thought Unfold ↗

Beautiful Loser: Rock Energy with a Reflective Centre ↗

Just Another Way to Say I Love You: Variation Within a Signature ↗

Feel Like Makin’ Love: The Album Has Its Own Date ↗

Atlantic Crossing: A New Frame for a Familiar Voice ↗

Songs in the Key of Life (1976) ↗

Sir Duke and Isn’t She Lovely ↗

Hotel California: The Song Everyone Misunderstands ↗

Sparkle: Aretha Franklin in Curtis Mayfield’s Songbook ↗

Get Up Offa That Thing: The Energy of an Invitation ↗

Live Bullet: The Band and the Room ↗

Night Moves: Memory Has a Sound ↗

Let the Music Play: The Rhythm Holds the Room ↗

A Night on the Town: Public Energy, Private Feeling ↗

The Pretender: Everyday Motion, Complicated Feeling ↗

Sir Duke and Isn’t She Lovely ↗

Hotel California: The Song Everyone Misunderstands ↗

Got to Give It Up: A Party Heard from Inside ↗

Here You Come Again: Crossover Without Losing the Voice ↗

Simple Dreams: Different Songs, a Recognisable Voice ↗

Blue Lights in the Basement: Intimacy in a Wider Room ↗

Foot Loose & Fancy Free: The Band Gives the Voice Its Ground ↗

Running on Empty: The Road Enters the Record ↗

Living in the USA: A Voice in Motion ↗

Stranger in Town: Big Choruses, Human Scale ↗

Chaka: A Solo Voice with Room to Move ↗

Blondes Have More Fun: A Voice Meets the Dance Floor ↗

9 to 5: A Working Day Becomes a Pop Hook ↗

Mad Love: A Familiar Voice Meets a Sharper Edge ↗

Against the Wind: Forward Motion, Looking Back ↗

Naughty: The Voice Meets a Detailed Groove ↗

What Cha’ Gonna Do for Me: Rhythmic Freedom, Clear Direction ↗

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

Thriller: The Album That Ate the World ↗

Sexual Healing: A Human Voice Meets an Electronic Pulse ↗

Truly: Lionel Richie Steps into His Solo Spotlight ↗

Chaka Khan: A Name, a Voice, Many Colours ↗

Billie Jean: The Night the Moonwalk Stopped America ↗

Can’t Slow Down: Eight Songs, Several Kinds of Invitation ↗

All Night Long: How a Pop Record Builds a Crowd ↗

Hello: The Ballad Behind the Familiar Image ↗

She’s So Unusual: A Debut with More Than One Mood ↗

Girls Just Want to Have Fun: A Different Speaker Changes the Song ↗

Pick a year.
Find a memory.