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1979 The Next 100 Songs #1. The Wait - The Pretenders (1 Viewer)

Their isn't anyone like Joe Jackson, a one-man sub genre a true original artist.  That doesn't mean Joe is self-made, he studied the greats.  As a teenager Jackson was trying to find his musical identity studying everything from Mozart's sonatas and Beethoven's concertos to Duke Ellington's jazz standards and Jimi Hendrix' guitar solos.  He was so unique that critics didn't know what to make of him but I have always loved his stuff.

Where did you get the title, "It's Different for Girls"?

Joe: It was something that I heard somewhere that struck me as a cliché. The sort of thing that someone might say. And again, I thought, What could that be about? And that maybe the idea was to turn it on its head and have a conversation between a man and a woman and what you'd expect to be the typical roles are reversed. So that was the idea of that.

This is one of Joe's most successful singles.  

Released 30 Nov 1979 

 
I'll let the critics do the write-up for this one.

In 2010, Alfred Soto of PopMatters described the song as "the unlikeliest of things: a McVie rocker." Soto called it "a near-perfect punk number that snuck in below the radar" and that it was "anchored by her electric piano, (Lindsey) Buckingham's fuzzed-up 'Day Tripper'-esque riff," and "the most sarcastic lyrics of McVie's career," referring to the couplet, "I don't hold you down/Maybe that's why you're around."

Released 12 October 1979

 
Herb Feemster had a couple of 'Peaches' dating back to 1967 and had 'Reunited' with Linda Greene for this album.  The guy who wrote the tune, Freddie Perren wrote monster hits.  'I Will Survive', ABC, Boogie Fever, I Want You Back, Love Machine, etc..  

Freddie Perren used some of the same studio musicians he used on "I Will Survive" - Bob Bowles on guitar, Scott Edwards on bass and James Gadson on drums.

Edwards: "They had a basic chord chart. We were playing the changes that they had written for the song, and it wasn't working. So we took a break and while we were in the break, we were still sitting at our instruments. So I started doing a funny little thing on the bass, Bob joined in and the drummer, James, drummed in. Freddie in the recording booth heard what we were doing and cut on the tape recorder and recorded part of it.

Then when we came back from the break, Freddie said, 'What you cats were doing a few minutes ago, do that same thing to the changes of the song.' And that's what we did, and that became 'Shake Your Groove Thing.'

Released December 1978

Funky sounds wall to wall
We're bumpin' booties, havin' us a ball, y'all

 
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It had been years and years since I had heard this one and I was shocked at how much I like it.  Cross explains the two-year process before he could complete the song.

Cross: ..."I remember coming up with the verse and chorus, and the lyrics to the first verse of the chorus all came out. These tunings, like Joni used to say, they get you in this sort of trance... I got up and wandered around the apartment just thinking, 'Wow, that's pretty f--kin' great.' I just thought, 'That's really cool.' ...It took about two years before I came up with the bridge that changes all the keys to where it lifts, but it was a pretty special moment."

He never thought it would turn into a hit because he thought it was 'too introspective.'  He didn't even release it as a single until later in 1980 but the album came out late December of 79.   The song won three Grammies, best song, best new artist, best vocals.

Released 20 December 1979

If you haven't heard it in awhile its pretty good.  Much better than I remember.

 
If the backing vocals sound familiar they should, it is Linda Ronstadt.  They had shortened their name simply to 'The Dirt Band' by this point but in my mind they are the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.   

I had no idea this song came out back in 79, I used to play it in the late 80s and thought it was current at that time.

Always liked this tune.

Released November 19, 1979

 
You can trace soft country rock to a few bands but the one that broke out first is Poco.  Without Poco their would be no Eagles and not just because Randy Meisner and Timothy B. Schmidt both started in Poco and would later join the Eagles.  Poco derisively has been called the minor league of the Eagles and even Jimmy Messina of Loggins and Messina got his start with Poco.  It all happened at The Troubadour, the place where many bands formed including Linda Ronstadt who also played a role in helping to form the Eagles but Poco is credited with creating 'that sound'.  

The song is a love letter to the city of New Orleans.  Wonderful song.

Released May 1979 

...There's a full moon in sight
Shining down on the Pontchartrain

And the river she rises...

 
Bracie Smathers said:
You can trace soft country rock to a few bands but the one that broke out first is Poco.  Without Poco their would be no Eagles and not just because Randy Meisner and Timothy B. Schmidt both started in Poco and would later join the Eagles.  Poco derisively has been called the minor league of the Eagles and even Jimmy Messina of Loggins and Messina got his start with Poco.  It all happened at The Troubadour, the place where many bands formed including Linda Ronstadt who also played a role in helping to form the Eagles but Poco is credited with creating 'that sound'.  

The song is a love letter to the city of New Orleans.  Wonderful song.

Released May 1979 

...There's a full moon in sight
Shining down on the Pontchartrain

And the river she rises...
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Technically Messina got his start with Buffalo Springfield, he was the last in a string of bassists for them.

 
Bracie Smathers said:
You can trace soft country rock to a few bands but the one that broke out first is Poco.  Without Poco their would be no Eagles and not just because Randy Meisner and Timothy B. Schmidt both started in Poco and would later join the Eagles.  Poco derisively has been called the minor league of the Eagles and even Jimmy Messina of Loggins and Messina got his start with Poco.  It all happened at The Troubadour, the place where many bands formed including Linda Ronstadt who also played a role in helping to form the Eagles but Poco is credited with creating 'that sound'.  

The song is a love letter to the city of New Orleans.  Wonderful song.

Released May 1979 

...There's a full moon in sight
Shining down on the Pontchartrain

And the river she rises...
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Interesting  trivia that Schmit replaced Meisner in both Poco and the Eagles.
 

Poco emerged out of the demise of the great Buffalo Springfield (as Pip said above) led by Messina and Furay. Some of Poco’s early stuff is also really good.

 
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zamboni said:
Interesting  trivia that Schmit replaced Meisner in both Poco and the Eagles.
 

Poco emerged out of the demise of the great Buffalo Springfield (as Pip said above) led by Messina and Furay. Some of Poco’s early stuff is also really good.
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I'm a big fan of a lot their stuff from the beginning until Richie Furay left. Got less interesting for me after that. 

 
zamboni said:
Poco emerged out of the demise of the great Buffalo Springfield (as Pip said above) led by Messina and Furay. Some of Poco’s early stuff is also really good.
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Yes but 'the sound' Poco created is what directly lead to what has been called 'country rock'.  I said 'soft' country rock but in fact they are widely credited with creating the 'country rock' sound that the Eagles took to great heights.

 
Suzi Quatro had a string of hits in Europe but this is the only song that really broke for her in the US which does not resemble the rest of Suzi's work. 

"I was a part of the glam rock scene, but I don't think that glam rock transferred to the USA. I had lots of radio play with 'All Shook Up' and 'Skin Tight Skin,' and 'Can The Can' got in the lower end, but my biggest hit was a country-rock record, 'Stumblin' In.'"

Quatro was a hard rocker who was influenced by Elvis and took up his 'leather' look.  Elvis reached out to her and offered her a gig opening for him but she did not feel she was ready and said she wanted to wait till she got more established in the US.  Elvis died less than a year later.

She got an offer to appear on the TV show Happy Days as 'Leather Tuscadero' and was soo popular that Producer Gary Marshall offered her own spin-off which she rejected.  She was a well-respected bass player and influenced some of the biggest female rockers in history like Joan Jett and Crissie Hynde who both acknowledge her influence.  

Released January 1979

 
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Bracie Smathers said:
Suzi Quatro had a string of hits in Europe but this is the only song that really broke for her in the US which does not resemble the rest of Suzi's work. 

"I was a part of the glam rock scene, but I don't think that glam rock transferred to the USA. I had lots of radio play with 'All Shook Up' and 'Skin Tight Skin,' and 'Can The Can' got in the lower end, but my biggest hit was a country-rock record, 'Stumblin' In.'"

Quatro was a hard rocker who was influenced by Elvis and took up his 'leather' look.  Elvis reached out to her and offered her a gig opening for him but she did not feel she was ready and said she wanted to wait till she got more established in the US.  Elvis died less than a year later.

She got an offer to appear on the TV show Happy Days as 'Leather Tuscadero' and was soo popular that Producer Gary Marshall offered her own spin-off which she rejected.  She was a well-respected bass player and influenced some of the biggest female rockers in history like Joan Jett and Crissie Hynde who both acknowledge her influence.  

Released January 1979
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There was a good Q&A with Quatro a couple of weeks ago on the AV Club. She lives in, IIRC, Germany. Talented artist and it's a shame that the idiotic American music machine couldn't market her correctly.

The record selected here gets a great big :yawn:  from me.

 
Uruk-Hai said:
There was a good Q&A with Quatro a couple of weeks ago on the AV Club. She lives in, IIRC, Germany. Talented artist and it's a shame that the idiotic American music machine couldn't market her correctly.

The record selected here gets a great big :yawn:  from me.
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She was the first of her kind so they didn't know what to make of her.  

In taking on the challenge of the next-100 I knew I would have to take softer songs to fill out the bottom end of the list.  I like country rock and like the songs listed:

 - Just One Look - Linda Ronstadt

Linda directly influenced the Eagles.  They (many of the musicians who created the 'country rock' sound) all performed at the Troubadour and would play in each other's bands.

- You're Only Lonely - J.D. Souther

As noted Souther was Glenn Frey's room mate and good friend and he wrote many songs for the Eagles.  Souther 'dated' Ronstadt.  

American Dream - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

  Linda sang backup on American Dream, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.  A documentary came out about the music scene in Laurel Canyon but I don't know if one has come out about the Troubadour yet.

And >>>  Heart Of The Night - Poco

I like them all.  Quatro was not part of 'creating' the country rock sound but  Stumblin' In is a tune I like.  

1979 is not a deep year for music so I like the songs of what I had to chose from in filling out the bottom half of this list.

 
Bracie Smathers said:
I went to school at The University of Colorado at Boulder and this group is from Boulder.  They got played a lot in the early 80s when I living as a ski bum up in the mountains of Steamboat Springs working at a ski area.  

Great tune.

Released September 1978

They got their name from Yosemite National Park that used to do and 'apparently' are/were going to bring back. 

 'Firefall' To Return To Yosemite National Park

It's almost time for Mother Nature to play her annual magic trick at Yosemite National Park. In the impressive yearly display, a light trick makes it appear as if lava is flowing off a cliff. "Firefall" is the name for the phenomenon that creates the illusion at the park in California. It comes to life when the setting sun causes light to hit the waterfall at just the right angle. You can see "Firefall" for only a short time in February, and it draws hundreds of visitors each night. This year, the light show will occur between February 13 and 27.
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This song has always fascinated me -- there's so much cool stuff going on in the foreground and the background. Doesn't surprise me that Tom Dowd was one of the producers. 

 
Bracie Smathers said:
She was the first of her kind so they didn't know what to make of her.  

In taking on the challenge of the next-100 I knew I would have to take softer songs to fill out the bottom end of the list.  I like country rock and like the songs listed:

 - Just One Look - Linda Ronstadt

Linda directly influenced the Eagles.  They (many of the musicians who created the 'country rock' sound) all performed at the Troubadour and would play in each other's bands.

- You're Only Lonely - J.D. Souther

As noted Souther was Glenn Frey's room mate and good friend and he wrote many songs for the Eagles.  Souther 'dated' Ronstadt.  

American Dream - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

  Linda sang backup on American Dream, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.  A documentary came out about the music scene in Laurel Canyon but I don't know if one has come out about the Troubadour yet.

And >>>  Heart Of The Night - Poco

I like them all.  Quatro was not part of 'creating' the country rock sound but  Stumblin' In is a tune I like.  

1979 is not a deep year for music so I like the songs of what I had to chose from in filling out the bottom half of this list.
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I like a lot of soft/country rock, just not this one. I think it's the vocal melody that bores me. I think Quatro was/is talented and I'm glad she got paid for this record; I just am not a fan of it.

I love "Heart Of The Night"

 
Bracie Smathers said:
Suzi Quatro had a string of hits in Europe but this is the only song that really broke for her in the US which does not resemble the rest of Suzi's work. 

"I was a part of the glam rock scene, but I don't think that glam rock transferred to the USA. I had lots of radio play with 'All Shook Up' and 'Skin Tight Skin,' and 'Can The Can' got in the lower end, but my biggest hit was a country-rock record, 'Stumblin' In.'"

Quatro was a hard rocker who was influenced by Elvis and took up his 'leather' look.  Elvis reached out to her and offered her a gig opening for him but she did not feel she was ready and said she wanted to wait till she got more established in the US.  Elvis died less than a year later.

She got an offer to appear on the TV show Happy Days as 'Leather Tuscadero' and was soo popular that Producer Gary Marshall offered her own spin-off which she rejected.  She was a well-respected bass player and influenced some of the biggest female rockers in history like Joan Jett and Crissie Hynde who both acknowledge her influence.  

Released January 1979
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I thought I knew Suzi,  but her turning down Elvis & her own tv show are new to me.

 
'Diamond' David Lee Roth would give the roadies back stage passes with instructions to give them to beautiful women at Van Halen's concerts. They would get a $100 reward if the roadie sent one back that Dave slept with.

This one has an unusual sound as the guitar solo was doubled in overdubs with an electric sitar.

Released October 25, 1978

Smathers side note.  While working at a Rush concert at the outdoor amphitheater in Colorado me and three buddies all applied to work security not expecting to get called.  All but the guy who had worked security and who was the biggest of us were hired.  For some reason I got stationed behind the owner's box.  Basically the single best spot of anyone working in security.  One of my buddies got stuck in the parking lot, lol.  Anyways...

A super-hot rose girl was right next to me at this Rush concert, ugh.  Getty Lee invited her backstage.  He was hideous and she was unbelievably gorgeous.  She asked me if she should go backstage.  I just looked at her and I looked at him and said 'You do what you want but just look at that guy.'  

She declined the invitation.  

 
Bracie Smathers said:
'Diamond' David Lee Roth would give the roadies back stage passes with instructions to give them to beautiful women at Van Halen's concerts. They would get a $100 reward if the roadie sent one back that Dave slept with.

This one has an unusual sound as the guitar solo was doubled in overdubs with an electric sitar.

Released October 25, 1978

Smathers side note.  While working at a Rush concert at the outdoor amphitheater in Colorado me and three buddies all applied to work security not expecting to get called.  All but the guy who had worked security and who was the biggest of us were hired.  For some reason I got stationed behind the owner's box.  Basically the single best spot of anyone working in security.  One of my buddies got stuck in the parking lot, lol.  Anyways...

A super-hot rose girl was right next to me at this Rush concert, ugh.  Getty Lee invited her backstage.  He was hideous and she was unbelievably gorgeous.  She asked me if she should go backstage.  I just looked at her and I looked at him and said 'You do what you want but just look at that guy.'  

She declined the invitation.  
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The first VH album was released in February 1978. How does this song even qualify?

 
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Bracie Smathers said:
Yes but 'the sound' Poco created is what directly lead to what has been called 'country rock'.  I said 'soft' country rock but in fact they are widely credited with creating the 'country rock' sound that the Eagles took to great heights.
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Love this from their second album - very long extended jam, but shows their talent as much as anything

Nobody's Fool/El Tonto de Nadie, Regresa

 
Bracie Smathers said:
Suzi Quatro had a string of hits in Europe but this is the only song that really broke for her in the US which does not resemble the rest of Suzi's work. 

"I was a part of the glam rock scene, but I don't think that glam rock transferred to the USA. I had lots of radio play with 'All Shook Up' and 'Skin Tight Skin,' and 'Can The Can' got in the lower end, but my biggest hit was a country-rock record, 'Stumblin' In.'"

Quatro was a hard rocker who was influenced by Elvis and took up his 'leather' look.  Elvis reached out to her and offered her a gig opening for him but she did not feel she was ready and said she wanted to wait till she got more established in the US.  Elvis died less than a year later.

She got an offer to appear on the TV show Happy Days as 'Leather Tuscadero' and was soo popular that Producer Gary Marshall offered her own spin-off which she rejected.  She was a well-respected bass player and influenced some of the biggest female rockers in history like Joan Jett and Crissie Hynde who both acknowledge her influence.  

Released January 1979
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I did some Googling about this song and found out it was written by Chapman & Chinn. They also wrote (among other songs): Ballroom Blitz and Little Willy for Sweet, Kiss You All Over for Exile, Mickey for Toni Basil, Heart & Soul for Huey Lewis and the News and Better Be Good To Me for Tina Turner.

Mike Chapman also produced Blondie's Parallel Lines and The Knack's Get The Knack.

 
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Written by Nick Lowe and originally recorded by his band Brinsley Schwarz in 1974.  

Lowe: "I wrote the song in 1973, and the hippie thing was going out, and everyone was starting to take harder drugs and rediscover drink. Alcohol was coming back, and everyone sort of slipped out of the hippie dream and into a more cynical and more unpleasant frame of mind. ... It was originally supposed to be a joke song, but something told me there was a little grain of wisdom in this thing, and not to mess it up."

Lowe was Costello's producer, and he produced this track as well. When the song became a hit, it was quickly appended as the last track to the US edition of Costello's album Armed Forces. 

Released 1978-11-23 as a single and also January 1979 as an addition to the Armed Forces album

 
Bracie Smathers said:
Written by Nick Lowe and originally recorded by his band Brinsley Schwarz in 1974.  

Lowe: "I wrote the song in 1973, and the hippie thing was going out, and everyone was starting to take harder drugs and rediscover drink. Alcohol was coming back, and everyone sort of slipped out of the hippie dream and into a more cynical and more unpleasant frame of mind. ... It was originally supposed to be a joke song, but something told me there was a little grain of wisdom in this thing, and not to mess it up."

Lowe was Costello's producer, and he produced this track as well. When the song became a hit, it was quickly appended as the last track to the US edition of Costello's album Armed Forces. 

Released 1978-11-23 as a single and also January 1979 as an addition to the Armed Forces album
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Obviously I really wanted this one, it would have scored very well (higher than Oliver’s Army for me I think). The November 78 killed it for me. 

 
Costello's music has really held up well.  Personally I think PLU a top-20 song from the year.  

Never would have guessed in a million years that Strange Way was done by Firefall.  I thought it was some CSN project.  

 
Bracie Smathers said:
Suzi Quatro had a string of hits in Europe but this is the only song that really broke for her in the US which does not resemble the rest of Suzi's work. 

"I was a part of the glam rock scene, but I don't think that glam rock transferred to the USA. I had lots of radio play with 'All Shook Up' and 'Skin Tight Skin,' and 'Can The Can' got in the lower end, but my biggest hit was a country-rock record, 'Stumblin' In.'"

Quatro was a hard rocker who was influenced by Elvis and took up his 'leather' look.  Elvis reached out to her and offered her a gig opening for him but she did not feel she was ready and said she wanted to wait till she got more established in the US.  Elvis died less than a year later.

She got an offer to appear on the TV show Happy Days as 'Leather Tuscadero' and was soo popular that Producer Gary Marshall offered her own spin-off which she rejected.  She was a well-respected bass player and influenced some of the biggest female rockers in history like Joan Jett and Crissie Hynde who both acknowledge her influence.  

Released January 1979
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I don't think I'd heard this song in 40 years. The dude looks like Martin Short with a perm. No wonder his career didn't last into the MTV era. 

 
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Anarchy99 said:
The first VH album was released in February 1978. How does this song even qualify?
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First post, first two lines:

--------------------------------------

The rules. 

  • Any song or album released in 1979 and I believe I had at least one re-release.
  • Any song or album released from September of 1978.
Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Single by Van Halen

from the album Van Halen

B-side"Feel Your Love Tonight"

Released October 25, 1978[1]
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Record companies put out singles from albums in different ways.  

If they think a song will chart and the album isn't complete they will release a single before an album comes out.

If they release an album and a single gets a lot of air-play that they weren't expecting they will release that single AFTER the album comes out and put out singles to capitalize on demand. In this case the album came out and two singles were released AFTER the album was released.

Runnin' with the Devil Released May 6, 1978 - not eligible for my list

Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love Released October 25, 1978 - illegible and selected for my list

You called me out on my previous list.  I thought I explained this clearly.

Do you understand why it made my list?   

 
I believe most in this thread are aware of the backstory knowing these guys were heavy hitters.  Chic led by bass player Bernard Edwards and guitarist Nile Rodgers wrote and produced for a lot of artists; Sister Sledge and Diana Ross, Joe Cocker, Robert Palmer, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and even Madonna.  

One night they had a meeting at the famed 70s disco Studio 54 with singer Grace Jones but the doorman wouldn't let them in when ironically they could hear one of their songs playing inside.  They were obviously pissed off and began to write a song called F___ Off!  They realized that wouldn't play so they eventually settled on 'freak out'.  Nile Rogers knew "Le Freak" was going to be a monster record even though the record company hated the song. He recalled:

"By the time the song ended, after about seven and a half minutes, we'd cleared the conference room. We were just sitting there by ourselves - myself, Bernard Edwards and our attorney. Everybody else was outside trying to figure out how to tell us how much the song sucked, and wondering did we have anything else on the album that was better."

The song that the record company thought 'sucked' turned into the best selling single of all time for Atlantic Records with 13 million sales.

Released September 21, 1978

 
Bracie Smathers said:
I believe most in this thread are aware of the backstory knowing these guys were heavy hitters.  Chic led by bass player Bernard Edwards and guitarist Nile Rodgers wrote and produced for a lot of artists; Sister Sledge and Diana Ross, Joe Cocker, Robert Palmer, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and even Madonna.  

One night they had a meeting at the famed 70s disco Studio 54 with singer Grace Jones but the doorman wouldn't let them in when ironically they could hear one of their songs playing inside.  They were obviously pissed off and began to write a song called F___ Off!  They realized that wouldn't play so they eventually settled on 'freak out'.  Nile Rogers knew "Le Freak" was going to be a monster record even though the record company hated the song. He recalled:

"By the time the song ended, after about seven and a half minutes, we'd cleared the conference room. We were just sitting there by ourselves - myself, Bernard Edwards and our attorney. Everybody else was outside trying to figure out how to tell us how much the song sucked, and wondering did we have anything else on the album that was better."

The song that the record company thought 'sucked' turned into the best selling single of all time for Atlantic Records with 13 million sales.

Released September 21, 1978
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I went to a K-6 independent elementary school. For the 6th grade graduation ceremony, we wanted to sing this. The music teacher wouldn't let us and forced us to do "The Circle Game."

 
Teenage angst song about suicide over a girl.  Sting, is "about a teenage suicide, which is always a bit of a joke." Sting claimed that the lyrics took him only five minutes to write.  Their was controversy for its single cover art, featuring Stewart Copeland hanging himself. 

 Sting's joke worked as it became the first song to chart for the Police.  Stewart Copeland began by trying to break in with the punk crowd who hated the Police as sell outs.  This was the first solo they released so Stew in trying to get some sort of cred with the punk crowd 'claimed' that this song and Roxanne were banned by the BBC. They weren't, but the story got out and helped boost their credibility with the punk crowd.  

Released 2 November 1978

 
This song is based on a true story that took place with 10cc's Eric Stewart and the Moody Blues Justin Haywood in Barbados not Jamaica.  Stewart tells the story:

"Justin and I were on a para-sailing raft in the middle of the ocean and I was strapped into this parachute gear. I was towed behind a speedboat at high speed. I took off and waved goodbye to Justin. He was then left on the raft with three black guys, one Jamaican and two from Barbados. The Jamaican guy said to Justin, 'I like your silver chain, man, I'll give you a dollar for it.' Justin replied, 'come on, it's worth a lot more than that and it's a present from my mother.' And this guy said, 'If this was Jamaica, I would cut your hand off for that.' I came back and asked Justin if he wanted to have a go. He said, 'No, let's get off this raft as quick as we can, I have had some problems.' 

Graham Gouldman sang lead on this track, giving 10cc the distinction of having three UK #1 hits all with different lead vocalists (Lol Creme sang lead on "Rubber Bullets" and Stewart on "I'm Not In Love").

The lyrics came from several other sources. The expression, "Don't you walk through my words" came from a report about a radio DJ in Newcastle who was challenged when he walked through a group of black guys talking together. The line, "I don't like cricket, I love it" came from a conversation Gouldman had with a completely different Jamaican guy in a hotel in Jamaica. They ended up talking about sport and when Gouldman asked his new West Indian friend if he liked cricket he replied "I don't like cricket," before pausing. He then said. "I don't like cricket, I love it."

This wasn't a big hit in the US as some American stations had policies against playing reggae.  I used to play it a lot because 'I don't like-it, I love-it.'

Released September 1978

 
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I love this song, the walking bass intro, Rikie's swinging-swaying wrap-around vocals and the 'shoop-the-coop' cool lyrics.  Rickie's description is even cool.  Phillip Marlowe land?  Who talks like this?

“About the place on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Cahuenga. I used to write in the building above that hamburger joint. It’s called the Hollywood Building. And it was really Phillip Marlowe land up there. I’d go in there and nobody would be there, the lights would be burned out in the hall, and it looked out on an alley. It was thrilling to go to Danny’s because you never knew if you would get out alive. The thrilling feeling in the empty sound of your steps on the stairs and no one else there, and opening the door, and it’s so old and the smells…looking out at the alley.” Rickie Lee Jones

Released February 28, 1979

 
Tommy Shaw gets credit but says the song wrote itself.  

"It's one of those songs that kind of wrote itself," Tommy Shaw explained. "I was in my house in Michigan, 1978, at the piano. I came up with this slow, dirge-y thing, very dark. I just started singing, and those are the first words that came out ('Oh, mama I'm in fear for my life...'). I've never been in trouble with the law - I don't know where it came from."

Released January 9, 1979

 
Written while Jackson was a member of his earlier band Koffee & Kream, the song represented a departure from that band's style and was indicative of Jackson's move in a more cynical direction.  

Joe recalled in his autobiography "Fools in Love" was a "rebellion" against his then-current band's music, citing the song as an instance of his new style emerging.

Over a looping reggae bassline, which I hoped was vaguely sinister, I catalogued all the sick and deluded things that lovers did to each other, but ended each chorus with a twist: "I should know because this fool's in love again". I wasn't in love, but the juxtaposition of the romantic and the cynical suited my new style to a tee.

— Joe Jackson

Released June 1979

...Fools in love, gently tear each other limb from limb

 
Chrissie Hynde:  "I was never too interested in high school. I mean, I never went to a dance, I never went out on a date, I never went steady. It became pretty awful for me. Except, of course, I could go see bands, and that was the kick. I used to go to Cleveland just to see any band. So I was in love a lot of the time, but mostly with guys in bands that I had never met. For me, knowing that Brian Jones was out there, and later that Iggy Pop was out there, made it kind of hard for me to get too interested in the guys that were around me. I had, uh, bigger things in mind."

The Pretenders was the big thing Chrissie had in mind.  Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Martin Chambers (drums, backing vocals, percussion).

We'll delve more into the Pretenders later for now and this song Hynde wrote it  and as she says: "like all the other London punks, I wanted to do reggae."

Released 27 December 1979 in the U.S.

 
Both "Water of Love" and "Down to the Waterline," as well as "Sultans of Swing," were among the five songs included on Dire Straits' demo tape that the band sent to Charlie Gillett, who played the tape on his radio show leading to the band's first recording contract.

Some believe the song is about Mark Knopfler's marriage breaking up.  Mark's take:  "Water of Love.  I wrote it because I was so fed up. I felt I was going no place. I could see my future stretching out in front of me long and bleak."

This was the first exposure to critics who praised Knopfler's phrasing finding it 'clever' and 'superbly crafted' linking it to J.J. Cale's blues sound.  

"Water of Love" has received support from classic rock radio stations as being among the greatest classic rock songs of all time; for example in 1991 C95 ranked it as #224 all time. The Rolling Stone Album Guide commented on the "stark, romantic vision" of this song...

Released 7 October 1978

 
Written by Michael and Randy but you can hear signature's in Michael's performance that foreshadow future mega-success.  

They lifted from Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up": "Let's dance/let's shout (shout)/gettin' funky's what it's all about" and the rhythmic pattern from Teddy Pendergrass's "Get Up, Get Down, Get Funky, Get Loose" (from his album Life Is a Song Worth Singing, released a couple of months previously).

All-five of the brothers Jackson with their biggest hit on Epic records after leaving Motown.

Released February 11, 1979

 
The Kinks joined the disco crowd on this tune.

"(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman" was inspired by Ray Davies watching Superman: The Movie in late 1978.

I've always admired Superman comics. I went to see the film when it came out at Christmas - that Christmas was three years ago - I was overwhelmed ... I thought it was so true to the comic books and I wanted to write kind of a rock disco cause I hate disco music as a rule ... but now we've got a sort of mix with a rock and roll backbeat and it works real well.

– Ray Davies, 1981 

Released 12 March 1979 

 
Toto, a group made up of six very talented session musicians who had backed up artists like Boz Scaggs, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand and Jackson Browne. Written by their keyboard man David Paich with lead vocals by Bobby Kimball.

David Parch (piano, backing vocals) came up with the title. "Hold the line" is what you tell someone on the phone if you want to put them on hold while you're taking another call. 

Paich: "When I was in high school, all of a sudden the phone started ringing off the hook, and I had a situation where I was at the dinner table and I had three girls all call at the same time, so all the lights were flashing. I was kind of juggling girlfriends, and that's how that came about."

Crossing the halfway point of the list with a good pop song from 79.

Released October 2, 1978

 
Produced by Alan Parsons and partially written by Peter White who had been touring with Al's band for a few years wrote the electric piano riff which starts the song.

From an album that is far more complex with songs about the palace in Versailles about the early days of the French Revolution and A Man For All Season.

The signature tune was a simple song about going home for Christmas and those nostalgic memories.  

Released November 1978 

 
Bracie Smathers said:
Toto, a group made up of six very talented session musicians who had backed up artists like Boz Scaggs, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand and Jackson Browne. Written by their keyboard man David Paich with lead vocals by Bobby Kimball.

David Parch (piano, backing vocals) came up with the title. "Hold the line" is what you tell someone on the phone if you want to put them on hold while you're taking another call. 

Paich: "When I was in high school, all of a sudden the phone started ringing off the hook, and I had a situation where I was at the dinner table and I had three girls all call at the same time, so all the lights were flashing. I was kind of juggling girlfriends, and that's how that came about."

Crossing the halfway point of the list with a good pop song from 79.

Released October 2, 1978
Click to expand...
Still really enjoy this one.  

 
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