Here are my faves. These are bands who hung around awhile.
Beatles....I mean, was there anything else?
Moody Blues
Aerosmith ...simply the greatest American rock band ever!
ACDC.....no holds barred, very straightforward hard music with bluesy touch.
Steve Miller Band
Def Leppard
Foreigner
Ted Nugent
Motley Crue
Van Halen
Hall and Oates
Hooters
Billy Idol
Fleetwood Mac
Bee Gees
Duran Duran .......probably the greatest pop band ever.
U2
The Cars
Spandau Ballet
REM
Pet Shop Boys
Matchbox 20
Smashmouth
They Might Be Giants.......weird stuff but catchy
For some lesser known stuff check out:
The Low Road.......band out of Philly who really can jam, folky pop stuff. Hard to describe.
Kix ..... hard rock band from the 80's that simply kicked butt in Baltimore but had only one national hit.
The Models ......an Aussie 80's pop band.
The Subdudes....Primitive Streak is an awesome album with alot of slide guitar
I probably have about 20 others I could put here....but enough for now!!