Thanks, all!

I frequently use YouTube at work on low in the background for listening to albums so thanks for reinforcing that idea. This gives me a number of new ones to check out. I also have a number of Pandora stations that can help sometimes. I've been depending on the Wikipedia discography listings quite heavily, too, and have put together a spreadsheet with what I have , what I know I want, and many of the suggestions here that I want to check out.

I've been going through the list this evening and my potential list between the ideas I already had and what's been suggested here has grown a lot. You've helped my put albums with some of the artists I was considering, but there's a lot more to go.

EDIT: Just found a very good Queen Platinum (Greatest Hits Vol 1, 2, and 3) and a very good Journey Greatest Hits (2008) for an already good price plus a 1/3rd off coupon and free shipping. Grabbed them!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: StarTraveler,

Roxy Music Avalon. The greatest make out album ever released.

“Popular songs,” I’d look for something from the band, America. Pop, but not sappy. Lots of suggestions for compilation albums, you might look there.

Better get some Skynyrd too, they’re certainly not sappy either, but got a lot of mainstream air play.

Alice Cooper, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Madonna, Journey, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Not quite sure if Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, or Judas Priest fits the criteria.
The Doors, Beatles, Yes, Hollies, Dead, Hendrix, Moody Blues, Righteous Brothers, Chicago, Genesis, Bob Dylan, Rush, Ramones, Van Halen, King Crimson, The Clash, Boston, Styx. Bad Company, The Cure, Dio, Ozzy, Foreigner, The Cars, cream, Carly Simon, Barbara Streisand.

Gustofer, Avalon sounds interesting. I’m going to try to catch a song or two from it tomorrow.

TMats, I have Skynrd covered with the Thyrty box set. It’s one of my favorites.

400m, I have a few of the ones you listed and have an album picked out for a number of the others. I’m not sure about a few of those off the wall suggestions. Madonna? (Haha, just kidding)

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
Roxy Music Avalon. The greatest make out album ever released.

Avalon for sure, I listed the greatest hits Roxy/Ferry album as an intro compilation.

Thanks, everyone! I've copied all of the suggestions made so far and pasted them into spreadsheet with the artists and suggested works (where there was one or more). A quick sort, combining duplicates, and we have a list of about 125 artists. I'll add to it for a while, including any more suggestions that come in, and post the combined list sometime soon in case anyone else might be interested.

now you know how to reply when asked "what do you want for your birthday".

Put Sirius/XM and Pandora on your phone. You can Bluetooth it to a nice system outside, the boat, etc. We’re about the same age, lately I’m stuck on yacht rock.

CDs are okay but I've found streaming to be a financial godsend, so I second those suggestions.

I'm a little bit older than you and in my case my hearing ain't what it used to be, what with decades of gunpowder going 'BANG' so close to my noggin (even with earpro) and various amplifiers too often set at '11', among other noise sources that tend to wreak havoc on ear drums. So lower-fi streaming services like Spotify or Amazon Prime don't seem all that sonically bad to me these days. Younger ears might disagree with that, but the absolute wealth and volume of material that's so easily accessible makes it a no-brainer choice...at least for me.

Lots of excellent artists already listed. In theory the 70s were supposed to be my musical decade since my teen and high school years were spent there. However the 80s and into the 90s is where I found my 'groove'. Not sure how metal fits into your scheme of things based on what you listed in your OP, so I'll refrain. But in case they already haven't been cited, I'll add Pixies, Talking Heads, Jane's Addition and Concrete Blonde, which barely touches the tip of this particular iceberg. Alt-rock (along with many forms of metal) was a big part of my own personal 'heavy rotation' in those days, and they certainly were a big part of 70s and 80s music scene and culture.

So much good stuff from that era and so many great suggestions already. Two compilations that I really enjoy that would be good additions are The Rolling Stones Grrrr(the triple album with the gorilla head) and Stevie Wonder the definitive collection. I have everything by both of these artists and these collections are absolutely top notch.

Thanks for the suggestions on streaming and for the new artists. I have a number of really great Pandora stations (my country/bluegrass station is my favorite, followed by great movie themes and 60s/70s/80s stations). The only thing I don't like about Pandora is that you can't pick a song you want to hear now (or at least I've never figured out how to do that, anyway). I also didn't realize it but we have access to Amazon Music through Prime so I'll check that out soon. I'll check out Spotify, too, but I don't think I want to add a paid subscription. We'll see.

Monoblok, I understand what you mean about the hearing issue. I'm getting hearing aids soon to help with the frequencies that have gone to pot. I went to the hearing doctor suggested by my insurance company a few months ago and then found out that their hearing aid department is NOT on our insurance for some reason. Costco, hear I come.