In the 80's, I was recently divorced and raising two sons on my own. The soundtrack for our lives back then was varied. Folk music (which my sons liked o.k. and heard a ton of because I was running a concert series and there was a steady flow of musicians through the house; rock, jazz, gospel, blues, reggae,country and classical. There were certain recordings that defined those years for us, and yesterday I did volume one of that "soundtrack." Reading all the postings in this thread, which I am thoroughly enjoying, I realize that our soundtracks vary, not just because of personal taste, but the country we live in. There's a definite split in this thread, with some music spanning all countries, and some being completely unfamiliar to everyone but the people who live in the country where it was popular.
My Volume One Soundtrack includes people like Dire Straits, The Police, R.E.M. and Tom Petty, who most people have probably heard, if they listen to rock at all. Others like Robyn Hitchcock, Bob Mould, and Timbuk3 are more obscure, even in this country. My oldest son was more into heavy metal, which I never could get serious about, and my younger son was more into alternative rock like R.E.M., and groups like Crowded House, INXS. Like me, he also loved rhythm and blues and soul. That'll probably end up on volume Three.

I've offered to send a copy of volume One to a couple of my friends in Canada (no, there aren't any tracks by Celine Dion on there...) I'll be interested in seeing if they can enjoy the music. Of course, if you don't like rock and pop music, it doesn't make much different whether you've heard individual tracks or not.

Maybe at some point, I'll start a thread to see which musicians have made it overseas (or up to Canada.)

Jerry