Van Halen logo in silver with banner in blue, purple, green and orange, Warner Bros. logo at top center and copyright info at bottom edge.

Van Halen is an American rock band that was most active from 1974-1999. The Rock band consisted of Eddie Van Halen (guitarist), David Lee Roth (vocalist), Alex Van Halen (drummer) and Michael Anthony (bassist). Sammy Hagar eventually replaced David Lee Roth as lead vocalist in 1985. The band’s debut album titled “Van Halen,” release in 1978, was considered revolutionary and original and helped to influence rock and roll from that point forward. The songs that appear on Van Halen are:

Side A

1.    Runnin’ With the Devil

2.    Eruption

3.    You Really Got Me

4.    Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love

5.    I’m the One

Side B

1.    Jamie’s Cryin

2.    Atomic Punk

3.    Fell Your Love Tonight

4.    Little Dreamer

5.    Ice Cream Man

6.    On Fire

All though Rolling Stone did not give the album a good review when it was first released it now lists the album as number 27 out of the 100 best debut albums of all time. The band toured for a year after, releasing their debut album, as the opening band for Black Sabbath. This tour created a reputation for the band and allowed them to introduce themselves to their fans. 

A young boy (Peter Rowan) in monochrome staring forward, on left edge is red banner with white text " U2 WAR"

U2 is an Irish rock band that was formed by ban members Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. in 1976. The band’s sound is composed of Bono’s smooth timbre, and the expressive melodies performed by The Edge’s guitar. War is U2’s third studio album and was released February 28, 1983.

War is considered the first politically charged album that U2 created. For example; “Sunday Bloody Sunday” is about the conflicts that  occurred in Northern Ireland in 1972, “Seconds” is a song about nuclear weapons and their abundance, and “New Years Day” is about the Polish solidarity movement. “New Year’s Day” remains one of U2’s most played and most popular songs of all time.

The boy that is pictured on the album cover is Peter Rowen, the brother of Bono’s friend Guggi. Peter Rowen also appears on the covers of Boy, Three, The Best of 1980-1990 and Early Demos. It was believed that a picture of a child would be more effective than tanks or guns because war can be emotional and psychological between loved ones, it is not just a physical thing.

U2 toured for about ten months and played 110 gigs to promote the War album. 

Image of Toni Basil in a red, white, and blue cheerleading uniform alongside capitalized red text on a white rectangle with thin blue lines (resembling lined paper) on a blue background.  

Toni Basil was born Antonia Christina Basilotta on September 22, 1943.  She is an American choreographer, actress, and singer-songwriter.  In 1982, her song “Mickey” was released.  Basil choreographed and directed the video for the song. The music video became popular on MTV, and by 1983 the single had sold more than 2 million copies. It was ranked as Number 5 on a VH1 list of 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the ‘80s in 2009. The “Mickey” single currently hangs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Tommy Tutone-2 867-5309  in the middle in pink  on a blue license plate with a road in  the background.

Tommy Tutone was a band based in Willits, California that was founded in 1978 by Heath and Jim Keller. Keller played the lead guitar and sang supporting vocals while Heath was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist, and occasionally played keyboard as well. The other members of the band rotated throughout the band’s career. The band was most active in the 1980s and 1990s and is most well known for their single “867-5309/Jenny.” This song hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982.

The song was written by Alex Call and Jim Keller and was released on the album titled Tommy Tutone 2. There are various stories as to the origin of the idea for the song. Alex Call states that the number came to him in a dream while Tommy Heath explained that the number belonged to a girl that he knew. The song caused a lot of problems for companies and individuals that had the famous telephone number. Nonetheless, the song remains popular and it has been covered several times by artists such as the Foo Fighters, the Goo Goo Dolls and Everclear. 

Black, illustrated image of the Presidential Seal altered to include the names of the Ramones' band members (Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee, and Tommy), an apple tree branch instead of an olive branch, a baseball bat instead of arrows, and with the words "look out below" replacing "e pluribus unum," all on a neon pink background. 

The Ramones band logo was created by New York City artist, Arturo Vega in 1975. The logo was based off of the American Presidential Seal, but had a few variations to it. An apple tree branch instead of an olive branch since the band thought they were American as apple pie, the eagle holds a baseball bat instead of arrows due to one of the band member's love for baseball, the scroll reads "Look out below" instead of "e pluribus unum", and the arrows on the logo represented the band's strength and aggression. The logo also replaces where the presidential emblem read "Seal of the President of the United States" with the pseudonyms of the band members. 

The Ramones had a major influence on the 1970s punk movement in the United States and in the United Kingdom. They are often mentioned as one of the greatest rock bands of all-time and in 2002 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The original four members were Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Colvin), Johnny Ramone (John Cummings), Joey Ramone (Jeffery Hyman), and Tommy Ramone (Erdélyi Tamás). 

Photograph of Tom Petty on a pink background.  

Tom Petty is an American singer, songwriter, and musician from Gainesville, Florida. Known both as a solo artist and the frontman for the band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Tom Petty's hits include, "Free Fallin'", "I Won't Back Down", "Learning to Fly", and "The Waiting". Over the years he has sold over 60 million records with his various bands which included the Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. 

Four black and white photographs of The Who band members (Roger Daltry, Pete Townshend, John Entwhistle, and Kenney Jones) within white circles in the corners of a square image of the Union Jack, surrounded by capitalized black text on a white background.  

In 1979, the English rock band The Who played five sold out nights at Madison Square Garden in New York on September 13-14 and 16-18. This was their first U.S. show after the death of drummer, Keith Moon, and served to introduce new drummer Kenny Jones. The New York Times reported after their first show, that “The Who have remained a superb performing band throughout their long and varied recording career, and it was this facet of the group that a packed Madison Square Garden celebrated Thursday night.”

The band was formed by singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, guitarist John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon and became known for their representation of the auto-destructive art movement of the time by destroying guitars and drums on stage. Since their inception the group has sold hundreds of millions of albums. Their fourth album in 1969, Tommy, was made into a film in 1975 and Townshend was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Image of The Who's Long Live Rock single cover (a photograph of the band with a blue border and yellow, red, and blue text) on a black background.  

The song Long Live Rock was written by Pete Townshend, the Who’s guitarist and principal songwriter. The single was recorded in 1972 and later released on the band’s 1974 album Odds & Sods, a collection of rare recordings.  The song was featured in the 1973 film That’ll Be the Day, where it was performed by actor Billy Fury. A remixed version was included in the compilation, The Who-Thirty Years of Maximum R&B, released in 1994.

Black text over a background with the image of the Union Jack (red, white, and blue).  

Considered one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century, The Who is an English rock band that formed in 1964. The original group consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. As of 2024, only Daltrey and Townshend are involved in the band. Their popular songs include "My Generation," "Pinball Wizard," and "I Can See for Miles." In 1990, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Rectangular black and white photograph of Craig Reid surrounded by capitalized black text on a yellow background.  

The Proclaimers are a Scottish band formed by twin brothers Charlie and Craig Reid in 1983. The brothers were born in Leigh, a district in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1962, Craig being the younger brother by 30 minutes. When growing up, they listened to early rock ‘n’ roll and country greats such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Merle Haggard and Hank Williams, and played in punk-rock bands when in school.  

After forming the Proclaimers in 1983, they enjoyed a strong local following in Scotland, particularly in Inverness where they performed regularly.  Their first big break came in 1986 when a fan sent their demo tape to the band The Housemartins, who were so impressed they invited The Proclaimers to join them on tour.

The group first made the UK singles chart in 1987 with their hit song 'Letter from America' which made it to number 3, but the group are probably best known for their 1988 hit 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)' which had worldwide sucess and made it to the No. 3 in the United States Billboard Hot 100 in 1993 when the song appeared in the film Benny & Joon.