Discovery
| Released: | June (Jet) |
| Produced by: | Jeff Lynne |
| Billboard 200: | 5 |
| CashBox 200: | 5 |
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| Billboard, June 16, 1979, p. 82 |
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| CashBox, June 16, 1979, p. 60 |
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| Record World, June 16, 1979, p. 1 |
| U.S. Billboard charted singles: | Hot 100 | AC |
| Shine a Little Love | 8 | 40 |
| Don't Bring Me Down | 4 | |
| Confusion | 37 | 41 |
| Last Train to London | 39 |
Top 3 Tracks
"Shine a Little Love"
"The Diary of Horace Wimp"
"Last Train to London"
I think this LP was the first one I purchased after a family move, so this is an album I associate with summer; specifically, summer in a new city in a new house. I had always enjoyed ELO on the radio, so I bought this based on the strength of "Shine a Little Love," the first single. The whole album is heavily influenced by disco (particularly the bass lines), but that was in my wheelhouse at the time. Since I didn't have many LPs at the time (or much of a life, for that matter), this album was played daily in my room. Haven't listened to it much this millennium, however, I took a train from Brighton to London in July 2010. The song Last Train to London was an earworm from the time I entered the Brighton train station until I exited at Victoria Station.
Bad Girls
| Released: | April (Casablanca) |
| Produced by: | Giorgio Moroder & Pete Bellotte |
| Billboard 200: | 1 |
| CashBox 200: | 1 |
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| Billboard, May 5, 1979, p. 78 |
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| CashBox, May 5, 1979, p. 15 |
| U.S. Billboard charted singles: | Hot 100 | Disco | R&B | AC |
| Hot Stuff | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Bad Girls | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Dim All the Lights | 2 | 1 | 13 | 44 |
| Walk Away | 36 | 35 |
Top 3 Tracks
"Dim All the Lights"
"Hot Stuff"
"Bad Girls"
To call this thing a concept album about prostitution might be a stretch, but let's go there anyway. It's easier to call it a concept album about sex. I was twelve when this released so both sex and prostitution were things we didn't discuss at our house (I was a preacher's kid). That made this forbidden music which made it that much more attractive to me, naturally.
Critic William Ruhlmann of allmusic.com puts it best when he calls this album "the artistic and commercial peak of [Summer's] career and, arguably, of disco itself." I also get a chuckle out of this from Robert Christgau: "You tend to suspect anyone who releases three double-LPs in eighteen months of delusions of Chicago, but Donna is here to stay and this is her best album." Multi-platinum sales, Grammy award and multiple nominations, #1 album, #1 singles, yada yada yada...
Critic William Ruhlmann of allmusic.com puts it best when he calls this album "the artistic and commercial peak of [Summer's] career and, arguably, of disco itself." I also get a chuckle out of this from Robert Christgau: "You tend to suspect anyone who releases three double-LPs in eighteen months of delusions of Chicago, but Donna is here to stay and this is her best album." Multi-platinum sales, Grammy award and multiple nominations, #1 album, #1 singles, yada yada yada...
Christopher Cross
| Released: | December (Warner Bros.) |
| Produced by: | Michael Omartian |
| Billboard 200: | 6 |
| CashBox 200: | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard charted singles: | Hot 100 | AC |
| Ride Like the Wind | 2 | 24 |
| Sailing | 1 | 10 |
| Never Be the Same | 15 | 1 |
| Say You'll Be Mine | 20 | 15 |
Top 3 Tracks
"Sailing"
"Never Be the Same"
"Ride Like the Wind"
A fantastic collection of pop songs. Allmusic says this: "soft rock albums hardly ever came better than this, and it remains one of the best mainstream albums of its time." At the time though, most critics panned this album, but it sold 6x platinum and won 5 Grammy awards including, unfortunately, the dreaded Best New Artist while famously beating Pink Floyd's The Wall for Album Of The Year. The songwriting is good, the supporting cast is top-notch LA studio personnel, and the production by Michael Omartian is tight.
Cool for Cats
| Released: | April (A&M) |
| Produced by: | John Wood & Squeeze |
| Billboard 200: | - |
| CashBox 200: | - |
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| Billboard, April 21, 1979, p. 62 |
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| CashBox, April 21, 1979, p. 15 |
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| Record World, April 14, 1979, p. 77 |
Top 3 Tracks
"Up the Junction"
"Slap and Tickle"
"Goodbye Girl"
Awesome, goofy, early New Wave/power pop. This was Squeeze's sophomore effort and it is better than most. When Jools Holland plays piano with the group, they always sound like a pub band to me and that suits this music just fine. Miles ahead of the group's debut, UK Squeeze, but not quite as good as the follow-up, Argybargy.
My high school's mascot was the Black Cats. Sadly, despite my best efforts, the title track of this album would not be considered for my senior class song in high school. An early example of "the man" keeping me down. Teachers were always stifling my creativity. So what did we end up with as our senior class song? "All The Way" by Triumph.
My high school's mascot was the Black Cats. Sadly, despite my best efforts, the title track of this album would not be considered for my senior class song in high school. An early example of "the man" keeping me down. Teachers were always stifling my creativity. So what did we end up with as our senior class song? "All The Way" by Triumph.
Morning Dance
| Released: | March (MCA) |
| Produced by: | Jay Beckenstein & Richard Calandra |
| Billboard 200: | 27 |
| CashBox 200: | 32 |
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| Billboard, March 17, 1979, p. 98 |
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| CashBox, March 17, 1979, p. 17 |
| U.S. Billboard charted singles: | Hot 100 | AC |
| Morning Dance | 24 | 1 |
Top 3 Tracks
"Morning Dance"
"Jubilee"
"Starburst"
The band's breakthrough album. The title track stayed in the Top 40 for 8 weeks - the rare smooth jazz crossover hit. This wasn't the first Spyro Gyra album I purchased; in fact, I dubbed a cassette copy of a friend's LP. It was, however, the first Spyro Gyra I ever heard because of the radio airplay. You would recognize music from this album not only from the radio, but also as background music from The Weather Channel and, for a short time in the '80s, as prize cue music from The Price Is Right.
In 1979, my primary means of transportation was a blue 10-speed bicycle from Sears. I had been given a bright yellow AM bike radio which attached to the handlebars. It provided me company as I wove in and out of traffic without a helmet. I must have heard Morning Dance on that radio, because every time I hear that song I think of riding down Marguerite St. on that bike.
In 1979, my primary means of transportation was a blue 10-speed bicycle from Sears. I had been given a bright yellow AM bike radio which attached to the handlebars. It provided me company as I wove in and out of traffic without a helmet. I must have heard Morning Dance on that radio, because every time I hear that song I think of riding down Marguerite St. on that bike.
These are my personal top 50 albums released in 1979. The following criteria was used on a very slippery sliding scale:
- How often I enjoyed the album at the time of release
- How often I've enjoyed the album over the past 30+ years
- Overall quality of the album
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