It's 1971 this time, a year of classic albums from across the pond, like the Who's "Next," Led Zeppelin IV, David Bowie's "Hunky Dory." There were funk and soul classics from Marvin Gaye, who issued his masterpiece "What's Going On?" on the same year as "There's a Riot Goin' On" from Sly and the Family Stone, and Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain." Folk classics came from Joni Mitchell and Carole King. Former Chicago postman John Prine issued his fabulous debut. Apollo XIV landed on the moon. Joe Frazier defeated Muhammad Ali to claim the heavyweight title.

It's 1996 this time. There were phenomena like the Spice Girls and the macarena. Fugees scored big with The Score. Beck dropped his best yet, Odelay. Tupac released the first-ever double album in rap. Sublime and Rage Against The Machine both issued debut albums.

It's 1989 this time, the year the Berlin Wall came down and Neil Young was rockin' in the free world. Veteran artists like Tom Petty, Lou Reed and Bonnie Raitt all had big albums. B-52s and Fine Young Cannibals both issued their most successful works. There were hip-hop albums from De La Soul and Beastie Boys. Madonna and Janet Jackson had huge years. Alternative bands were emerging like Pixies and Nirvana. The bad boys of Detroit swept the Lakers for the NBA title. On TV, both Seinfeld and The Simpsons began a long and successful run. It's 1989, our year on this episode of Time Machine from The Current.

It's 1964. The British Invasion was in full swing, and the sound of young America was coming from Detroit's Motown, with big hits from the Supremes, the Temptations and the Four Tops.

It's 2005 this time, the year Kanye West and Gorillaz both dropped their second albums. Coldplay issued their third, while John Prine checked in with his first new album in six years. In the indie-rock world, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah set the blogosphere on fire, and Spoon released one of the year's best. Hurricane Katrina slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast, killing 1800 and leaving 80 percent of New Orleans submerged. Your favorite song might have been your ringtone on your cellphone -- if you owned one.

It's 1978 this time, a year of some great debuts from artists like Devo, the Police, The Cars, and we first learned of a new guitar hero named Eddie Van Halen. Funkadelic had One Nation Under a Groove. Warren Zevon was an excitable boy. Cheap Trick became rockstars, thanks to their Live at Budokan album.

It's 1999, the year Santana became a pop star, releasing one of the biggest albums of the year. Boy bands like BSB and NS ruled the pop charts. Meanwhile, Wilco dropped "Summerteeth." Magnetic Fields released the cult classic, "69 Love Songs." Former grocery-store stocker Kurt Warner was the talk of the NFL, winning the MVP and the Super Bowl for the St. Louis Rams. Napster debuted, and we first learned what filesharing is.

Hear music from Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, and Aretha Franklin as Bill DeVille heads back to 1967.

We're taking a sonic journey to 1972. The Rolling Stones made a double-album masterpiece. There were soundtracks like "The Harder They Come" which starred Jimmy Cliff, and "Superfly" which featured the music of Curtis Mayfield. Lou Reed took a walk on the wild side. We leaned on Bill Withers, while Eagles were taking it easy. It was Nixon over McGovern in a landslide.

The year 1992 was when grunge became the mainstream, with Stone Temple Pilots and Alice In Chains. R.E.M. were "Automatic For The People." Dr Dre had "The Chronic," and Beastie Boys invited you to "Check Your Head." There were debuts from PJ Harvey, Rage Against The Machine and Tori Amos. Neil Young gave us "Harvest Moon," and Whitney Houston was a star of screen and song. Bill Clinton won the Presidency, and only four out of every 100 Americans had a cell phone.