It was R.E.M. who showed other Eighties bands how to get away with ignoring the rules – they lived in some weird town nobody never heard of, they didnt play power chords, they probably couldnt even spell spandex. All they had was songs. – Rob Sheffield
Thanks to the greatest invention of recent years, the MP3-playing alarm clock, I can now choose the song that wakes me up in the morning. – Rob Sheffield
At an incredibly divisive point in pop history, Donna Summer managed to create an undeniable across-the-board experience of mass pleasure – after Bad Girls, nobody ever tried claiming disco sucked again. It set the template for what Michael Jackson would do a few months later with Off The Wall. – Rob Sheffield
American Horror goes for a very specific kind of Seventies suburban downer ambience – Flowers in the Attic paperbacks, Black Sabbath album covers and late-night flicks like Lets Scare Jessica to Death. It even has Go Ask Alice-era urban legends. – Rob Sheffield