Every Baby Boomer Alive Has a Core Memory To Go With These 5 Songs From 1980

Popular music of a specific time period has a way of seeping into all corners of our collective memory, even if we don’t consider ourselves to be avid pop music listeners. The ubiquity that these tracks achieve inevitably spills over into the core memories we make, transporting us back in time whenever we hear them years later. For baby boomers, that’s especially true of these five songs from 1980.

“Rock With You” by Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was practically inescapable in the year 1980. His fifth studio album, Off The Wall, came out the previous October and became a smash hit, thanks to hits like “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”, the title track, and “Rock With You”. The last of these three was especially pervasive, topping the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching Top 10 status in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

“It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me” by Billy Joel

Billy Joel’s “It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me” is all about resisting the urge to succumb to fleeting trends and ideas. The track is inherently nostalgic, bringing baby boomers back to earlier times that seem out of vogue and even cheesy by today’s standards. Indeed, this track is the sonic equivalent of a lot of baby boomers’ ideas about music: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It’s still rock and roll to me.

“Cars” by Gary Numan

Virtually every baby boomer can conjure memories of the car they were driving in 1980 when they listen back to “Cars” by Gary Numan. The synth-heavy production is so evocative of the 1980s that it’s difficult not to feel like you’re stepping into a time machine when you listen. Your car might have even been a DMC DeLorean like the one Doc uses for his time machine in Back To The Future.

“Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2” by Pink Floyd

Most baby boomers were well past their rebellious teen phase in 1980. Still, that didn’t stop Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2” from embedding itself into this generation’s collective memory. The iconic rock track from The Wall captures a specific attitude that tends to wane as we grow older and more weary of defiance for defiance’s sake. Listening to this song brings those feelings front and center.

“Crazy Little Thing Called Love” by Queen

Queen was riding high in the late 1970s and early 80s, providing baby boomers everywhere with countless hits that could soundtrack their core memories made around this time. That certainly includes “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, which Queen released in December 1979 in the United States. By 1980, the track was among the top rock songs of the day, peaking at No. 1 on charts worldwide.

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