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♪320.8
  2. 2New York♪190.8
  3. 3Los Angeles♪146.7
  4. 4Detroit♪92.1
  5. 5Chicago♪84.9
  6. 6San Francisco-San Jose♪49.7
  7. 7Melbourne♪47.6
  8. 8Birmingham♪40.6
  9. 9Liverpool♪39.2
  10. 10Boston♪38.7
  11. 11Minneapolis♪29.9
  12. 12Philadelphia♪27.6
  13. 13Montgomery♪26.2
  14. 14Sheffield♪23.8
  15. 15Glasgow♪17.3

Defining artists

  1. 1Madonna · Detroit34
  2. 2Michael Jackson · Chicago27.4
  3. 3Hall & Oates · Philadelphia23
  4. 4Lionel Richie · Montgomery22.5
  5. 5Prince · Minneapolis19.9
  6. 6Phil Collins · London19.8
  7. 7Whitney Houston · New York18.1
  8. 8Duran Duran · Birmingham18
  9. 9Air Supply · Melbourne15.1
  10. 10George Michael · London14.6
  11. 11Stevie Wonder · Detroit13
  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“Don't You Want Me” — The Human League · Sheffield · UK / US #1 (1981)
  3. 3“Every Breath You Take” — The Police · London · UK / US #1 (1983)
  4. 4“(Just Like) Starting Over” — John Lennon · Liverpool · UK / US #1 (1980)
  5. 5“Flashdance... What a Feeling” — Irene Cara · New York · UK / US #1 (1983)
  6. 6“I Just Called to Say I Love You” — Stevie Wonder · Detroit · UK / US #1 (1984)
  7. 7“Abracadabra” — Steve Miller Band · San Francisco-San Jose · UK / US #1 (1982)
  8. 8“Down Under” — Men at Work · Melbourne · UK / US #1 (1982)
  9. 9“All Night Long (All Night)” — Lionel Richie · Montgomery · UK / US #1 (1983)
  10. 10“Hello” — Lionel Richie · Montgomery · UK / US #1 (1984)
  11. 11“Ghostbusters” — Ray Parker Jr. · Detroit · UK / US #1 (1984)
  12. 12“Upside Down” — Diana Ross · Detroit · UK / US #1 (1980)