Hailed Or Reviled, Music Of 1978-83 Just Won't Die

July 13, 2003

The Hartford Courant reports that it's been called "the worst period in rock history," yet music made between 1978 and 1983 just won't die.

For proof, look at the summer concert schedule — it seems like it's all from that era: KISS, AEROSMITH, OZZY OSBOURNE, IRON MAIDEN, STEELY DAN, THE EAGLES, HEART and, of course, the mullet-rock of JOURNEY, STYX and REO SPEEDWAGON.

Why won't these bands go away? What keeps audiences coming back to hear songs they've already heard millions of times? STYX guitarist Tommy Shaw has a theory, stemming from the fact that STYX, JOURNEY and REO SPEEDWAGON all had No. 1 albums in 1981.

"This was a very specific time in people's lives when this music was imprinted on their psyches, and it was the soundtrack to so many events in their lives," Shaw says from a tour stop in Rochester, N.Y. "And so I think when you put all three of them together, it's basically, here's the movie to your life and here's the soundtrack that goes with it." Read more.

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