Decades

Who owned each decade. Pick an era to see the leading metros, the artists who defined it, and the highest-scoring songs. Scores are era-normalized and weighted US:UK 3:1.

Leading metros

  1. 1London♪321.3
  2. 2New York♪191.9
  3. 3Los Angeles♪148.5
  4. 4Detroit♪93.2
  5. 5Chicago♪86.7
  6. 6Melbourne♪48.5
  7. 7San Francisco-San Jose♪48.4
  8. 8Birmingham♪40.8
  9. 9Liverpool♪40.8
  10. 10Boston♪38.2
  11. 11Minneapolis♪30.2
  12. 12Philadelphia♪28.2
  13. 13Montgomery♪27.4
  14. 14Sheffield♪24
  15. 15Glasgow♪17

Defining artists

  1. 1Madonna · Detroit34.7
  2. 2Michael Jackson · Chicago29.4
  3. 3Lionel Richie · Montgomery23.9
  4. 4Hall & Oates · Philadelphia23.4
  5. 5Phil Collins · London20.9
  6. 6Prince · Minneapolis20.1
  7. 7Whitney Houston · New York19
  8. 8Duran Duran · Birmingham17.7
  9. 9George Michael · London15.8
  10. 10Air Supply · Melbourne14.1
  11. 11Stevie Wonder · Detroit13.6
  12. 12Huey Lewis and the News · San Francisco-San Jose13

Signature songs

  1. 1“Eye of the Tiger” : Survivor · Chicago · UK / US #1 (1982)
  2. 2“Every Breath You Take” : The Police · London · UK / US #1 (1983)
  3. 3“Don't You Want Me” : The Human League · Sheffield · UK / US #1 (1981)
  4. 4“I Just Called to Say I Love You” : Stevie Wonder · Detroit · UK / US #1 (1984)
  5. 5“Flashdance... What a Feeling” : Irene Cara · New York · UK / US #1 (1983)
  6. 6“Billie Jean” : Michael Jackson · Chicago · UK / US #1 (1983)
  7. 7“Karma Chameleon” : Culture Club · London · UK / US #1 (1983)
  8. 8“Down Under” : Men at Work · Melbourne · UK / US #1 (1982)
  9. 9“(Just Like) Starting Over” : John Lennon · Liverpool · UK / US #1 (1980)
  10. 10“Hello” : Lionel Richie · Montgomery · UK / US #1 (1984)
  11. 11“Total Eclipse of the Heart” : Bonnie Tyler · Swansea · UK / US #1 (1983)
  12. 12“Physical” : Olivia Newton-John · Melbourne · UK / US #1 (1981)