The 80’s Were The Absolute Golden Years For New Jersey Music

If you think about all the incredible talent that New Jersey has produced over the years, it's pretty impressive.

We have some of the best singers and musicians, actors and actresses, and sports stars with New Jersey ties who dominate the entertainment and sports worlds. I would say we have had an unusually high number of Garden State residents rise to the top.

But when you look back on the music scene, and we've had an amazing one over the years, you could certainly make an argument that the Golden years for New Jersey music was centered around the 1980s.

If you need any support for that, all you'd have to do is look at two lists we found that really help make the case. If you check out Rolling Stone's list of the best albums of the '80s you'll find the Garden State is all over it.

Check out the albums that made the Rolling Stone Best Albums of the '80s list. And yes, they're all Bruce albums...

The River (#86)

Nebraska (#43)

Tunnel of Love (#25)

Born In the USA (#6)

Really, no Bon Jovi? Well, that's an argument for another day.

And if you look at a list compiled from chart rankings, video rotations, airplay and other factors compiled by Top 40 Weekly, the New Jersey dominance is even more evident.

Just think. If albums from artists in each state were evenly distributed on the top 100 of this list, each state would have two albums. New Jersey has 6. Here they are.

Whitney- Whitney Houston (#95)

Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston (#83)

Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi (#62)

Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen (#61)

The River - Bruce Springsteen (#42)

Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen (#9)

There is no doubt we have some amazing artists in the Garden State right now as well. The terrific Charlie Puth comes to mind immediately, and maybe there will be another Golden Age.

But there is no doubt the '80s may have been the New Jersey music peak. So far.