Elvis Presley was 18 years old when he recorded his first song at Sun Records Studio. Presley, as an unsigned artist, recorded his first two songs as a birthday gift for his mother in 1953.¹⁸

On his third album, Electric Ladyland, Jimi Hendrix recorded a wailing, powerful version of "All Along the Watchtower," a song written and first recorded by folk singer Bob Dylan. Hendrix's version of the song, with its many electric guitar solos and wailing vocals, was vastly different from Dylan's quiet, harmonica-infused track. Dylan eventually changed the way he performed his own song to better reflect Hendrix's style—perhaps the greatest compliment ever paid to a young man who adored the folk singer's work.¹⁹

The band Black Sabbath, with frontman Ozzy Osbourne, is named after an Italian horror flick released in 1963. The film, Black Sabbath, features three distinct tales. The first is about a beautiful young woman stalked by a caller who can see her every move. (Sound familiar, Scream fans?) The second involves the search for a bloodthirsty zombie. And the third is a psychological thriller about a nurse gripped by guilt after stealing a ring from a dead woman's hand.²⁰

The music videos cited by the National Coalition on Television Violence as the most violent on television in 1985: ZZ Top's "Legs," the Rolling Stones' "Under Cover of the Night," and Michael Jackson's "Thriller."²¹

In the first half of the 1980s, the artist cited by the National Coalition on Television Violence as producing the most violent music videos: Michael Jackson.²²

One of the first albums to receive the "Parental Advisory" label: Frank Zappa, Jazz From Hell (1985)
Number of verses containing "explicit content" on Frank Zappa's, Jazz From Hell: zero (The album is entirely instrumental, meaning that it contains no lyrics. The title of one song, "G-Spot Tornado," earned Zappa the sticker.)²³