Lucky bloody you. The only thing I played in the late ‘70s was paintbrushes in Kindergarten.
Well, I was 18 in 1979, and there was a wide range of music influences going on for a kid with a guitar, a loud amplifier, no pot to p*ss in, and an attitude.
Standbys like Hendrix, Zeppelin, Deep Purple, etc., were the norm, and then suddenly Eddie Van Halen came out in 1978 and just blew the guitar world upside down...
...Randy Rhoads came along a few years later, died young, and left a legacy of monster guitar licks behind him.
...Stevie Ray Vaughn came along in the mid 80s and showed the world how Blues was SUPPOSED to be played on beat-up old Fender Stratocaster, and then HE died as well...
Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Malmsteen, etc., ...amazing string benders... so much to learn.
The early 80s were a great time to be a young dude... I loved it. The Girls were crazy-hot, the local rock venues were jumping, and there was always a place that hired hard rock cover bands where a budding young Electric Gypsy like myself could make a couple bucks, chase some serious skirts (and CATCH them - haha!), and just basically live wild and run amok for a little bit.
Worked as a grease monkey during the weekdays, taught guitar during the weeknights, shot guns on the weekends, played guitar during weekend nights.
Reagan was in charge, the country WORKED, and life was cool. Yeah, I remember a time when a President, a Pope, and a Prime Minister teamed up and took down An Evil Empire...
Yeah... it was GOOD...
Does any of it matter today? No, not really. But it was a Life all in it’s own while it lasted, and for just a little while, I didn’t have a frigging care in the world. I guess that’s what it means to be “free”...