I'm a bit of a spring chicken compared to some of you old farts (insert sarcastic face here) and grew up in the 80's.
I should have been into all the new romantic stuff but found myself listening to a lot of the older bands like The Doors, Hendrix and The Beatles but the person that really moved me was Bob Dylan. He can't sing for toffee but he had a lot to say. All along the watchtower was a brilliant piece of work written by Dylan but perfected by Hendrix imho.
Recently I've found a great 70's band called Funkadelic (RIP Eddie Hazel). The track Maggot Brain is one of the best guitar tracks I've ever heard! I'm so glad I stumbled across it. Amen for YouTube!