Popular bands in the 70s rode the momentum into the 80s with extensive tours and/or lots of radio time (ACDC, Aerosmith, Eagles, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, ZZ Top, Tom Petty, Clapton, Rolling Stones).
Rock bands that blew up mainstream wise where very good (Dire Straits, Van Halen, The Police, Def Leppard, Guns n Roses, U2).
Metal music started a huge upward swing in the 80s (Metallica, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Anthrax).
Pop Music which is a fucking LAUGHING STOCK now a days was actually respectable in the 80s (Duran Duran, Whitney Houston, David Bowie, Journey, Michael Jackson, The Cars). Even cheesy shit like Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and Tina Turner is 10x better then fucking Katy Perry, Spice Girls, Britney Spears, and Taylor Swift
TLDR: Most 70s groups continued success into the 80s, pop musicians actually had REAL talent, new rock bands kicked ass, and metal started to boom