New, to me at least, for 80s music on the radio: play 30 year old Casey Kasem Top 40 countdown shows, exactly as originally broadcast. Prefab nostalgia, plus all of those songs that never had enough staying power to be otherwise memorable.
The particular set that I listened to was on Lite 96 (from Petoskey, MI), WXLT 96.3 on your dial. It should be possible to radio-carbon date the original show down to the exact week, based on what was being played - I heard Huey Lewis and the News, a cut from Chicago 16, and a Blondie cut that probably hadn't been on the air since 1982 (Island of Lost Souls; no, I don't remember it either).
The blog Brandland USA did this 2008 piece on the revival of American Top 40:
Yes, you can still catch Casey Kasem’s original 1970s American Top 40 radio shows on your local FM. The shows have returned from a tape morgue in Hollywood, and have been completely remastered. They were remastered by “syndicated radio junkies” at the Cabot, Arkansas based audio restoration firm Charis Music Group. Charis has posted original “Cue sheets” on its website so nostalgia junkies like us can read along with the shows.
And with that hint, I was able to search enough to find this set listing on Stax of Wax, the precise music played 30 years ago on the July 4 weekend show in 1982.
