Talkin' bout YOUR generation...

I have to agree with Jeffloistarca. I'm also 42 and I think He hit it right on the head. "The one band that captured my imagination in my early teens was Frank Zappa and the Mothers. Hands down the most talented musician ... and by far the best live show I've seen". Perfectly worded and true Jeff. I also listened to tons of Led Zepellin, Queen and Pink Floyd. I think I have seven copies of Dark Side ..." It's called ADDICTION.

Good thread Trejla. My choice would be Led Zepplin. I was big into Zepplin. It would have been the years of 1971-1977 for my time period. I still have a 8 track recording of a 4 hour special my local radio station did when John Bonham died. I was crushed September 25 1980. Oddly enough, I don't listen to much Zepplin anymore. I guess I'm getting old.

Since we are expanding the thread, other faves were:

The Stones (yes, they used to be good)
Skynard
Black Sabbath
Pink Floyd
Aerosmith (they used to be good too)
Deep Purple
AC/DC (they still are pretty good)

I have a different take on this. Saturday Night Fever was definitely the most defining album of my teenage years. I got so sick of it, and anything that had to do with disco, that I became a head bangin' heavy metal dude. Led Zep was #1, followed by Van Halen and AC-DC. I also listened a lot to Ted Nugent. Nowadays, I'm more into jazz and classic rock.

First some background: My father being a proud Black man who had just finished serving his country during the Korean Conflict (War) knew he wanted to move his young family into a new neighborhood with new schools and a public park and bird sanctuary near by. Northeast Philadelphia developed as a result of 'White Flight'(whites moving out of older sections of the city where blacks could find affordable housing). I did not have much contact with children of my age in the Northeast because of fear of the unknown on the part of my neighbors. The music I listend to was not influenced by anyone in my community until I got to highschool. My parents gave me a radio and much to their chagrin I took to listening to Country music and I loved it. From there I went to Frank Sinatra and then Motown. 45s were the music mode of the day and I listened to songs, not artists.
For the ages of 11 through 17 I can remember hearing The Gressroots' Live for Today, The Beatles' Tomorrow never Knows, Nina Simones' Four Women, The Supremes' Reflections of My Mind, Cannonball Adderleys' Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, the Temptations' Ball of Confusion, Blues Magoos' We Ain't Got Nothin Yet, John Lennons' Cold Turkey, the Associations' Requium for the Masses and Creams' White Room. These days I listen to a lot of Avant Garde, electronic, polyphony, contempoary Japanese Psychedelic, jazz and a lot of the music previously mentioned. When I got to highschool I did listen to Alice Cooper but we all have our skeletons (check out "The Ballad of Dwight Fry). It's the music that keeps me together!

1974-80 for me. Seems to be a popular age range so far. Some high school regulars that haven't been mentioned yet:
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Bruce Springsteen
Neil Young
Bob Seger
Steely Dan
Elton John
Bachman Turner Overdrive