What songs or artists, when you hear them, take you right back to when you were a teen?

Sorry, it’s Peech Boys, not Peach Boys.

The first song that came to my mind was “Sugar, We’re Going Down” by Fall Out Boy. That was a hit in my early years of high school and hearing it takes me right back to waiting with my friend by the gym for my other friend to be done with baseball practice (we were probably listening to it by sharing the earbuds to his iPod). The good old days.

Another song I associate strongly with high school is “Rockstar” by Nickelback. I don’t really care for Nickelback, but I admit to liking this one song. Very specific memories of driving around town with this song playing in my friend’s Audi. I must’ve heard it a 100 times that year.

Other artists that I associate with high school: Kanye West, T-Pain, Akon, Natasha Bedingfield, Rihanna, Fergie, Black Eyed Peas, Sean Paul, Eminem, Daughtry, Lil Wayne, Alicia Keyes, Souja Boy, Flo Rida, All-American Rejects, My Chemical Romance, Panic! At the Disco, etc. I didn’t necessarily personally listen to all these artists much (I listened to some of this, but also indie artists like Animal Collective), but it’s what I heard on the radio, what my friends listen to, and their songs bring me right back to that time.

(From this answer you might be able to tell I was in high school from 2005 to 2009).

1995 Spiderman theme song

Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin takes me to 9th grade.

I was into metal as a teen and as a pre-teen. Anything Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Slayer and old metallica. I was also into Prog like Dream Theater and classical, especially solo classical guitar. From ~age 11 to my early 20’s I was inseperable from my guitar.

Hot Time Summer in the City and Summertime. I think they came out around the same time and they played them over the pool intercom non-stop that summer. I was 13 or so.
And “Someone left the cake out in the rain….” Lots of people didn’t get it but I did. My family was discinigrating around me.
Also Mother and Child Reunion for the same reason.

Songs from the 60’s. There were so many good ones, too many to list.

Same as @Are You, add Prince, MJ, Nirvana, 2 Live Crew, Garth Brooks, Alicein Chains, Blind Melon, Chili Peppers.

Jimi Hendrix

Turtles (they went to same Jr High; few years after me, neighbor was on roadie team)

The Mamas and the Papas

Beatles

Tears for Fears
Shout/Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Depeche Mode
People are People/Everything Counts

Madness
Baggy Trousers/House of Fun

Elvis Presley- It’s Now or Whenever
I was on summer vacation in 1960.

The Playmates- Wait for me.
It was November, 1960. I was laying in bed, recovering from a dislocated right shoulder.

Gene Chandler- Duke of Oil
It was spring, 1962. I was working out on the high bar at my junior high school.

The Four Sneezin’s- Sherry
I was just starting high school, and I was really looking forward to the Cuban missile crisis! ;-P

Peggy March- I will follow him
It was March, 1963 and I was wishing that someone felt that way about me.

Rolling Scones- Satisfaction
We were cruising Van Nuys Blvd on a night in June, 1965.
I was really looking forward to going to UC Berkeley, and dropping out in Jan, 1966!

Stones- Get off of my Cloud
It was December, 1965. I was at Berkeley, blowing my ‘rents money on food, comics, and tunes.

Bob Dyldo- I Want You
Spring, 1966. I was at my consolation college: San Fernando Valley State.

Well I was feeling old until I saw @Brian1946‘s list. I guess for me it would be bands like Genesis, Blue Oyster Cult, Boston, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Jeff Beck, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, Blondie, Pink Floyd. Those are some of the bands/artists you would know.

I’m like @Brian1946. Specific songs bring me back to certain times.

Bel Biv Devoe – Poison reminds me of going to my first parties with friends. Cheap beer and laughing with my friends while we were stuck in the closet for seven minutes in heaven.

Faith No More – Epic I remember drawing the bird from their Angel Dust cover on my blue canvas binder one year.

Lost Boys Soundtrack – Cry Little Sister First cassette tape.

Helmet – Unsung reminds me of hanging out with my friend Suzanna after school. Watching the skateboarders fuck around near the lockers. Actually the whole In The Meantime album.

Blind Melon – No Rain reminds me of walking in the ocean while it was raining with some of my closest friends.

Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun Song was played a shit ton on KROQ when my parents moved to Orange County. This song reminds me of being depressed and angry because I hated being in Orange County.

Filter – Hey Man Nice Shot reminds me of walking from Anaheim to Santa Ana one day after school with my friend Brian.

There’s a ton more. But I’ve got to run some errands. Thanks for this walk down memory lane. Also fun to listen to what other people have posted!

Just yesterday I kept riding buses back and forth so I could relax and listen to songs I love. Only when my cell battery finally got exhausted did I get off my bus stop.

Riding a bus on the way home looking at the sun slowly sink on the horizon ——- while listening to The Working Hour by Tears for Fears. Heck of a sublime experience.

I did that many times in the 80s in high-school and college. I miss inserting a pen or pencil into that cassette wheel twirling it to rewind or fast forward —— to conserve battery power. Lol

I miss my Walkman my Dad gave me.

@mazingerz88 I remember that pencil trick. Always carried a pencil with me when I was using the Walkman.

@raum Those colorful Walkmans, some even waterproof. Eye candy!

Actually I only owned one given by my Dad. Really a special model. Elegant not sporty. Small and silver metallic. It was just the size of the cassette itself. Pull from the bottom to extend the body, open the cartridge, pop the cassette in, close and slide it back to its original size. Pretty cool device.

Never had one of those pretty ones! Usually just basic silver. Plus being the youngest of four kids, I was usually stuck with the beat-up, hand-me-down Walkmans. But that was fine by me!

@jca2 my list would be virtually identical to yours. I remember when Disco and Soul Music were rising to their apex, and the five years or so after the decline of Disco. I listened to the regular radio from the mid-to-late 1970s to the mid 1980s.

I would have to put heavy emphasis on the bands Air Supply, Journey, and The Police.

@Dutchess_lll I was a big McArthur Park fan as well (someone left the cake out in the rain)—the Richard Harris version. But found it on record albums after the Donna Summer version came out in 1978, I really felt the singer (Richard Harris) was pining for a lost love, which I could relate to strongly.

Songs on Joplin’s Pearl album because my dad owned it. I’d listen 2 or 3 times a week.
“Oh Lord…won’t you buy me…a Mercedes Benz…my friends all have Porsches I must make amends…”
You can really hear her Texas roots in that song.

Any movie by Roman Polanski.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEmg5GaAHbk

Newcleus: Jam On It (circa 1984).

Jam On It reminds me of both elementary school and college.

Jam On It video above is a good example of break dancing, which used to be really popular. I grew up in a city right north of NYC so that Bronx stuff was right in our backyard.

When I was a young teen, I remember the local radio stations WPLJ and WNEW (both from NYC) were still playing what’s now considered classic rock. At the time, I was sick of it. WNEW used to have “Zeppelin-Stones-Beatles-Who Day” which was nothing but those four groups all day. Friends that were just a little older than me were into Rush, Yes, Pink Floyd, Neil Young, Allman Brothers and the four Zeppelin, Stones, Beatles and Who. That music was not what I was into, so I started listening to New Wave (Depeche Mode, Psychedelic Furs, Joe Jackson, Devo, B-52’s, Ramones, etc.) and also R&B and classic disco. I also liked newer rock, some one hit wonder stuff like Donnie Iris and Zebra.

Now I love the Stones and Zeppelin.

Bad Company
Led Zeppelin/Robert Plant
Depeche Mode
Communards
Men Without Hats
Boy George
Bronski Beat
Pet Shop Boys
Prince
Pat Benatar
Sade
Blondie
Lime
Gloria Estefan
Blue Monday
Music Box Dancer

@JLeslie: I was thinking about Lime the other day.

Also, Loverboy.

I listened to Lime briefly this past weekend. I was going through music from my teen years for a Zumba song. Lime didn’t make the cut. A lot of the nightclub music either is too long or doesn’t change the beat enough within the song for Zumba. Zumba needs various distinctive parts in a song.

Duran Duran
INXS
Echo and the Bunnymen
The Smiths
Talking Heads

“These eyes.”
Anything by Jim Croce or John Denver.

When I was little, one of my babysitters loved John Denver.

I loved John Denver when I was little. Also, the Carpenters. Simon and Garfunkel.

I thought of a group from my pre-teen years that I still listened to a lot in my teens and still now—ABBA! I still think they are fantastic.

I could name a lot of groups from the 70’s, but it’s before I was a teen.

My sister liked Echo and the Bunny Men.