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Formed in 1974, Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes were an American disco group. Comprised of musicians, Bob Crewe, Cidny Bullens, Kenny Nolan, and Sir Monti Rock III, the group produced three albums, being Disco-Tex & His Sex-O-Lettes Review, Manhattan Millionaire, and A Piece of the Rock. Some of their most popular singles were the 1974 single, "Get Dancin" as well as 1975's "I Wanna Dance Win- Choo (Doo Dat Dance). Though they disbanded in 1986, the group continued to be recognized by other musicians, most prominently of which was Elvis Costello and Pet Shop Boys. both of whom mentioned Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes in their songs.

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Live It Up was the first live album released in 1982 by musician David Johansen, who is also known as Buster Poindexter and the lead singer of the New York Dolls.  The album features multiple covers of songs by The Foundations, a British soul band who were active between 1967 and 1970. The only original song featured is the New York Dolls’ Personality Crisis. 

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Damn the Torpedoes was the name of the album released by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in late 1979. It was the band’s third album and the first released under the Backstreet Records label. Two of the album’s songs, “Don’t Do Me Like That” and “Refugee”, made the top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Rolling Stone magazine rated the album as 313 on their 500 greatest albums of all time list in 2003. The title of the album makes reference to a famous quote by U.S. Navy Admiral David Farragut. Farragut gave the order to “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” during the Battle of Mobile Bay during the American Civil War.

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Creem was a monthly rock ‘n’ roll magazine that was first published in 1969 and ended publication in 1989, though it had a short return in the early 1990’s. The magazine is credited with creating the term “punk rock”. Creem picked out punk rock and new wave movements early and are also credited with providing large amounts of exposure to upcoming artists such as David Bowie, Blondie, Lou Reed, and Roxy Music, as well as being the leaders on coverage of upcoming rock and metal groups like The Smiths, The Go-Go’s, Kiss, Van Halen, and The Cure. The “Boy Howdy” icon was designed by cartoonist Robert Crumb. 

This button is most likely in celebration of the magazine's ten-year anniversary. 

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The Los Angeles radio station 95.5 KLOS had several buttons made in the 1970s and 1980s featuring band names inside their distinctive rainbow logo.

Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Chicago, IL, in 1973. They released their first full-length, self-titled album in 1977. The band is known for its distinctive visual image and stage presence, which includes the frequent use of Hamer five-neck guitars by the group’s quirky front-man Rick Nielsen. Their second album, released later the same year, was perhaps their biggest success and featured songs “I Want You to Want Me” and “Hello There.”

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British punk band the Buzzcocks released their sixth album Modern in 1999. Following the release of their previous album All Set, the band wanted to create a more modern sound by using electronic instruments and drum machines. While not a commercial success, Modern received mostly favorable reviews from critics, some of whom described it as a reinvention of 1980s new wave music. 

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In 1978, Bryan Ferry released The Bride Stripped Bare, his fifth solo album independent from the rock band, Roxy Music. The album's title was inspired by Marcel Duchamp's artwork, The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even, which Ferry had seen as an art student while studying under the British painter Richard Hamilton. 

Some song lyrics reportedly included references to the end of Ferry's relationship with the famous model Jerry Hall, who left him for Mick Jagger before the album was recorded. Though well-received by critics, the album failed to achieve commercial success in the United Kingdom.  

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The Birthday Party was a post-punk musical group formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1978 by Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Rowland S. Harvey and Tracy Pew and was active until 1983.  The band was originally formed under the name The Boys Next Door, and enjoyed moderate success in Australia.  In 1980, the band relocated to England and changed their name to The Birthday Party.  The band relocated again to West Berlin in 1982 before disbanding shortly thereafter due to inner-band conflict.

The Birthday Party is known for its dark lyrics and abrasive music.  Their sound has been credited as being influential on the emerging gothic rock scene of the early 1980s.  After the breakup of The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and Mick Harvey went on to form the widely acclaimed band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

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Big Black was a punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois.  The band was founded by vocalist and bassist, Steve Albini and was active from 1981 through 1987.  The band was known for playing an aggressive style of punk that utilized a drum machine instead of a live drummer.  They were also notorious for controversial lyrics that dealt with taboo subject matter and challenged social norms.  The band released two full-length albums and a number of singles, EPs and live albums. 

Since disbanding, Steve Albini has had a prolific career as a record producer.  He estimates he has worked on as many as 1,500 albums.

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"Zoso" refers to a symbol associated with the guitarist Jimmy Page from the band Led Zeppelin. 

In 1971, following a disappointing reception to their previous album, "Led Zeppelin III", the band decided to release their fourth album without an official title.  The band name Led Zeppelin does not appear on the cover, and the names of the musicians are absent from the liner notes as well.  Instead, the band members each devised symbols to represent themselves. 

While the symbol appears to spell the word "Zoso", Jimmy Page has explained that it was not intended to be a word at all.  Due to Page's interest in the occult, it is likely that he was inspired by a symbol representing the planet Saturn that appeared in the alchemy textbook Ars Magica Arteficii from 1557.