# Quintesential riffs of your generation

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintesential-riffs-of-your-generation/131687>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 10, 2002, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintesential-riffs-of-your-generation/131687 "2002-10-10T15:13:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintesential-riffs-of-your-generation/131687/61 "2002-10-16T11:21:00Z")

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For classic 80’s Song riffs I’d add

Crowded House- _Dont Dream It’s Over, When You Come_  
Duran Duran- _Rio, A View To A Kill_  
Wang Chung- _Dance Hall Days, Everybody Have Fun Tonight_  
Queen and David Bowie _Under Pressure_  
Kim Wilde- \* Kids In America \*  
Toto- _Rosanna_  
Billy Joel- _A Matter Of Trust, Allentown_

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**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintesential-riffs-of-your-generation/131687/62 "2002-10-16T11:38:14Z")

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Are we still talking about riffs, or just songs?

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**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintesential-riffs-of-your-generation/131687/63 "2002-10-16T17:55:18Z")

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C’mon guys…what about Angus’s riff at the beginning of _Thunderstruck_? Everybody knows that one.

I’m a child of the eighties, so 70’s funk is slightly ahead of my time (although I _love_ it). It’s funny how many songs will start that I recognize as one of Will Smith’s or MC Hammer’s, only to hear _Mr. Big Stuff_ or something similar. Damn my cursed memory as I can’t think of other examples right now.

True story (that made me feel older): Mr. Snicks and I went to Best Buy. Not finding the albums we wanted in the racks, we asked the nice sales boy (he was probably all of 17) where they kept their funk. The sales associate looked puzzled, then said “Maybe over by the New Age?”

Hey, at least he tried to be helpful. It’s not his fault he doesn’t understand the true beauty that funk is.  
Snicks

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**Author:** ![HookerChemical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@HookerChemical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HookerChemical)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintesential-riffs-of-your-generation/131687/64 "2002-10-16T19:06:51Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Rilchiam \*  
> \*\*Are we still talking about riffs, or just songs? \*\*

A good question, though it can be difficult to tell the difference. A lot of poeple can’t tell you what a riff is. As I guitarist, I usually go on gut when calling something a riff.

There are some parts mentioned I wouldn’t call a riff, but I’ll not pick a nit unless there are other snobs around.

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**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintesential-riffs-of-your-generation/131687/65 "2002-10-16T21:09:22Z")

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How about the openings to both Bonnie Tyler’s _Total Eclipse of the Heart_ and Air Supply’s _Making Love Out of Nothing At All_? Not riffs, per se, but fairly memorable I think. 🙂

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