Counting down my Top 79 of '79: Singles #10 - 1

A breakdown of my top singles from 1979

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Minute by Minute

The Doobie Brothers

Weeks in Hot 100: 14

Peaked: June 23

Album: Minute by Minute (Warner Bros.)

U.S. Billboard charts:
Hot 100	14
Adult Contemporary	13

Heck, this thing might have cracked the top ten even if the entire single was only the electric piano intro on repeat for three minutes, but then the smooth groove hits and Michael McDonald's vocals and man-oh-man, I just can't help but sing along. It's the title track to a great album, but it's not even the best cut on the album (see below).

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Good Times

Chic

Weeks in Hot 100: 19

Peaked: August 18

Album: Risqué (Atlantic)

U.S. charts:
Hot 100	1
Adult Contemporary	28
R&B	1
Disco	3

And there it is. That bass line. One of the most important, most sampled, most imitated bass lines of all time (see Bowie's "Let's Dance," Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust,' and, of course, "Rapper's Delight"). But then add Nile Rodgers' guitar scratching, soaring strings, and precise vocals and, baby, you got a stew goin'. Ranked #229 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

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My Sharona

The Knack
Weeks in Hot 100: 22

Peaked: August 25

Album: Get the Knack (Capitol)

U.S. charts:
Hot 100	1

According to Billboard, this was the #1 song of 1979, but #8 was the best I could do for it. New wave power pop like nothing I'd ever heard before. The Knack got more out of a one note bass line than any other.  The first New Wave #1? Could be. I like to tell people that my wife's nickname is Sharona and that the song was written about her. Apparently, the real Sharona is a real estate agent in L.A.

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Got to be Real

Cheryl Lynn

Weeks in Hot 100: 18

Peaked: February 17

Album: Cheryl Lynn (Columbia)

U.S. charts:
Hot 100	12
R&B	1
Disco	11

There's absolutely nothing in this song that doesn't work: the bass and horns intro to the funky groove to the countermelody to the key change to the backing vocals, more horns, great vocals, and did I mention that groove. Never fails to get me moving. Written by Lynn, David Foster, and Toto keyboardist David Paich.

During the 1997-98 school year, I taught 8th grade English (holycowwasthatreally21yearsago?? Those kids are now in their mid 30s. Sheesh.). Not being much for classroom management, my classes were always a little loose (but test scores were fantastic - my administrators never could quite wrap their head around the dichotomy of noisy learning). One day, out of the blue, a student named Nick sang the intro to this song and, within seconds, the whole class joined in the singing, including myself. (It was probably just a few students and myself, but "whole class" makes for a better story.) That scene in room 104 always comes to mind when I hear this song now. (End of parentheticals).

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Rise

Herb Alpert

Weeks in Hot 100: 25

Peaked: October 20

Album: Rise (A&M)

U.S. charts:
Hot 100	1
Adult Contemporary	1
R&B	4
Disco	17

If there's such a thing as a laid back disco tune, this is it.  This song became popular as I was learning to play trumpet and I was hooked immediately. I even bought the sheet music so I could play along with Herb.  It came with the lyrics which I've never heard sung other than by myself:

Of all the songs here in the top ten, this record was the first I purchased. Heck, I had lawn mowing earnings burning a hole in my pocket, so why not?

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I Want You to Want Me

Cheap Trick

Weeks in Hot 100: 19

Peaked: July 21

Album: Cheap Trick at Budokan (Epic)

U.S. charts:
Hot 100	7

One of the great live singles and great love song to boot. A power pop song that rocks so hard that it needs two guitar solos, a drum break, and a live version that is miles ahead of the studio version.  This song reminds me of my childhood friend Robert - we rode our bikes and threw the Frisbee a lot in the summer of '79.

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Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

Michael Jackson

Weeks in Hot 100: 21

Peaked: October 13

Album: Off the Wall (Epic)

U.S. charts:
Hot 100	1
R&B	1
Disco	2

One of the great album openers. Check your pulse if you can sit still during this one because the force got a lot of power. Just when you think it can't get any better, an instrumental bridge kicks in at 2:40  with a guitar solo over horns and there's so much going on I don't know what to listen to and it doesn't really matter. Just listening to the syncopated cowbell part gets me going.

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What a Fool Believes

The Doobie Brothers

Weeks in Hot 100: 20

Peaked: April 14

Album: Minute by Minute (Warner Bros.)

U.S. charts:
Hot 100	1
Adult Contemporary	22
Disco	40

According to the creators of the term "yacht rock," this is the ultimate yacht rock song, scoring a perfect 100 on their Yachtski Scale. All that is well and good, but this had quite the pedigree before that. In addition to topping the charts, it won three Grammy awards, including two top awards at the end of the broadcast:

1. Record of the Year 
2. Song of the Year
3. Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocals 

Never heard the Jim Burgess 12" disco remix? Treat yo self:

I have tickets to see Michael McDonald in July and if he doesn't play both this song and "Minute by Minute" I can't be held responsible for my actions.

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We are Family

Sister Sledge

Weeks in Hot 100: 19

Peaked: June 16

Album: We are Family (Cotillion)

U.S. charts:
Hot 100	2
Adult Contemporary	30
R&B	1
Disco	1

I always call this song "the best Chic single of all-time" and that's tongue-in-cheek but it's really not, is it? The single version gets me dancing every time, but the 8:20 full version is spectacular because Bernard Edwards lays down a great bass solo. How could bass playing be both understated and funky at the same time?  Check out his work at the break about 3:55 into the title track. It's one of the few overplayed '70s tunes that could be played every hour and it probably wouldn't bother me. To that short list, please add...

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September

Earth, Wind & Fire

Weeks in Hot 100: 17

Peaked: February 10

Album: The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 (Columbia)

U.S. charts:
Hot 100	8
Adult Contemporary	41
R&B	1

Not only the best song of 1979, this is one of the all-time greats. I gave it a grade of A+ a few years back and that seems low.

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All chart positions are peak positions from Billboard charts. These are my personal top 79 singles of those that peaked on the Billboard charts in 1979. The list is solely my opinion. Using Joel Whitburn's book, Pop Annual 1955-1999, I started with the 475 singles that peaked on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart in 1979. An initial pass through that list narrowed it down to 105 tunes, then listening, ranking, and editing began. The top 79 are presented here, in order.

Counting down my Top 79 of '79: Singles #79 - 62

A breakdown of my top singles from 1979

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	Title	Artist	Pop	AC	R&B	Disco
79	"Lady"	Little River Band	10	7
78	"Highway to Hell"	AC/DC	47
77	"Dance the Night Away"	Van Halen	15
76	"Hot Stuff"	Donna Summer	1		3	1
75	"Escape (The Pina Colada Song)"	Rupert Holmes	1	8
74	"Let's Go"	The Cars	14
73	"Heaven Knows"	Donna Summer with Brooklyn Dreams	4	17	10
72	"Suspicions"	Eddie Rabbitt	13	9
71	"In the Stone"	Earth, Wind & Fire	58		23

	Title	Artist	Pop	AC	R&B	Disco
70	"I Will Survive"	Gloria Gaynor	1	9	4	1
69	"(not just) Knee Deep"	Funkadelic	77		1	43
68	"Driver's Seat"	Sniff 'n' The Tears	15
67	"Sad Eyes"	Robert John	1	10
66	"Still"	The Commodores	1	6	1
65	"You Can't Change That"	Raydio	9	25	3
64	"Ships"	Barry Manilow	9	4
63	"The Gambler"	Kenny Rogers	16	3
62	"One Way or Another"	Blondie	24

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All chart positions are peak positions from Billboard charts. These are my personal top 79 singles of those that peaked on the Billboard charts in 1979. The list is solely my opinion. Using Joel Whitburn's book, Pop Annual 1955-1999, I started with the 475 singles that peaked on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart in 1979. An initial pass through that list narrowed it down to 105 tunes, then listening, ranking, and editing began. The top 79 are presented here, in order.

AT40, August 4, 1979 [Part 4 of 4]

I'm breaking down the AT40 show of August 4, 1979 track by track. 

So what was I doing around the time of this AT40 episode's broadcast?  Not much beyond looking forward to 8th grade (top dog at the middle school!). I don't remember much about the summer of '79; I rode my Sears 10-speed bike around town a lot, I guess. If we went on a family vacation that summer, I couldn't find any photographic evidence of it around here. In the words of Peter Gibbons, "I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything I thought it could be."  Man-oh-man what I wouldn't give for a carefree three months like that again.

Your humble blogger's 7th grade yearbook photo

Now, on with the countdown:

#10: "I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick. This was recently featured in a "Not-So-Random Five" post. One of the great live singles and great love song to boot. This was the first of 8 Top 40 singles for the band; it had peaked at # 7 a few weeks earlier.

Like he did in the first hour, Casey gives the address so listeners could receive a free copy of the AT40 Worldwide Listening Directory, a listing of stations that carry AT40..

#9:  "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer. This song was #1 back in June and was falling down the chart only because her follow-up single was in the middle of a five week run at #1. I prefer this tune to "Bad Girls" simply because of the guitar, but really Donna could do no wrong in my book.

#8:  "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" by Dr. Hook. Now here's some soft rock goodness with just a slight touch of disco.  Right up my alley as 13 year old and I still like it today. This song would spend 16 weeks in the Top 40, peaking at #6 in August.

#7:  "Makin' It" by David Naughton. A TV show theme, sung by the show's lead.  I've always liked this song with its positive attitude over a disco beat.   And, yes, I remember watching a few (if not all) episodes of the TV show.  The theme song entered the Top 40 on May 12, nearly two months after the show had been canceled.  Naughton's only song to reach the Top 40, it peaked at #5 in 16 weeks on the chart.  The TV series, on the other hand, only lasted 9 weeks. Below is an episode. If you can make it through all 24 minutes, you made it twice as far as I just did.

"There's a man in the countdown who used to be a member of a famous trio who once had all their cash stolen by a real kangaroo dressed in a sports coat. And they have photographs to prove it. That story is coming up."

#6:  "My Sharona" by The Knack. A great song from a great album. The first New Wave #1? I like to tell people that my wife's nickname is Sharona and that the song was written about her. Apparently, the real Sharona is a real estate agent in L.A. This would sit atop the Hot 100 for 6 consecutive weeks starting August 25.

Casey tells the story of the Kingston Trio touring in Australia, running over a kangaroo, dressing it in their clothes, and photographed themselves. The kangaroo was only stunned, revived, and took off still wearing their clothes (with the group's cash in the sports coat's pocket). Note - this probably isn't true, it's a urban legend-type story called "The Kangaroo Thief" that dates back to the early 1900's. But it's still a good story, Casey. Anyway, John Stewart was a member of the Kingston Trio from 1961-67, so this tall tale leads into...

#5:  "Gold" by John Stewart. Stewart was more known for his songwriting than his singing. With production by Lindsey Buckingham and background vocals by Stevie Nicks, this sounds like a mid-'70s Fleetwood Mac hit, which is probably what they were after. It peaked here at #5 in 13 weeks in the Top 40.

#4:  "The Main Event/Fight" by Barbra Streisand. This song was featured in its own post back in 2014. (Spoiler alert: I gave it a grade of 'B'). It would move up to #3 the next week, peaking there.

#3:  "Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward. I loves me some disco, but I just don't care for this one.  Something about the chorus grates on me.  Nonetheless, it topped the Top 40 charts for 2 weeks, the R&B charts for 5 weeks, and the disco chart for a week.  It was Ward's only Top 40 hit.

#2:  "Good Times" by Chic.  This song contains the most important, most sampled, most imitated bass lines of all time (see Bowie's Let's Dance, Queen's Another One Bites The Dust, and, of course, Rapper's Delight). Nile Rodgers is a musical genius and hella guitar player. The last of Chic's 5 Top 40 tunes, this one was huge: #1 pop, #1 R&B, #28 AC, #3 Disco. What kept it from earning its rightful #1 spot on the disco chart? According to my crack staff, it was The Boss (all cuts) by Diana Ross and "This Time Baby" by Jackie Moore.

Before we continue, Casey tells us what's atop the other charts:

• Country: "You're the Only One" by Dolly Parton
• Disco: "I've Got the Next Dance" by Deniece Williams
• R&B: "Good Times" by Chic
• Album: Bad Girls by Donna Summer

#1:  "Bad Girls" by Donna Summer. Summer and Moroder and the peak of their disco powers.  A huge hit, this would spend a total of 15 weeks in the Top 40, five of those weeks in the #1 spot. This is the fourth of those five. It also hit #1 on the R&B chart and, of course, #1 on the disco chart.

Billboard, August 4, 1979, p. 56

"Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."

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Previously, I've looked at these AT40 episodes track by track:
September 18, 1982
October 24, 1981
July 19, 1980
February 16, 1980
June 9, 1979
April 23, 1977

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MFD Not-So-Random Five #6

In which I select five songs from 1976-1985 based on an arbitrary theme. (Not to be confused with this blog's Random Five feature, a different exercise in arbitrariness). Today's theme: Live Top 40 hits.

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1. "I Do" by J. Geils Band (1982, EMI)
   From the album Showtime!, this single peaked at #24 in 7 weeks in the Top 40. The band's last Top 40 hit, this single is a cover of a 1965 single by the Marvelows. Like most any live Geils performance, this is a non-stop high-energy, balls-to-the-wall performance. The highlight for me is the harmonica solo by the wonderfully named Magic Dick. I quickly bought the album, followed by other J. Geils live albums.
   
   And I've just repeated this song five times before moving on with the four tunes to follow.


2. "Going to a Go-Go" by Rolling Stones (1982, Rolling Stones)
   From the album Still Life, this single peaked at #25 in 5 weeks in the Top 40. An appropriately named album as the band trudges through this lifeless cover of a Smokey Robinson tune. I submit that it only made the Top 40 because it was a Stones single. I'll take the 1965 original any day.


3. "Daybreak" by Barry Manilow (1977, Arista)
   From the album Barry Manilow Live, this single peaked at #23 in 5 weeks in the Top 40. Love this one. This song makes me feel good, but if you don't like it, I get that - it's too saccharin for some. The key to this live version is the backing vocals by Lady Flash. I recently caught Barry's act and IIRC, he sang this at the beginning of the show because of course he did. And we all sang along and were happy.


4. "She's Got a Way" by Billy Joel (1981, Columbia)
   From the album Songs in the Attic, this single peaked at #23 in 9 weeks in the Top 40. By 1981, I was buying anything Joel released, but I was pleasantly surprised by this album. This song is overwrought romantic pap, but it's also pretty easy to play. In 1982, I purchased the sheet music and quickly learned it (never had the range to sing the high G, but that didn't stop me from trying), and then used my playing/singing to seduce girls. Hey, I wasn't a jock and I didn't have a new sportscar, so I had to use the tools at my disposal. I'd like to tell you that my plan worked often, but I can't name one time that it did. Anyhoo, still dig the song.
   
   

   

   Sheet music from the MFD archives



5. "I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick (1978, Parachute)
   From the album Cheap Trick at Budokan, this single peaked at #7 in 13 weeks in the Top 40. When I was dreaming up today's theme, this was the first song I thought of. If you've heard the uneven studio cut, you know this live version blows it away - no comparison. Can't stand still, can't help but sing along, can't help but be in a good mood. And even though I've been married 29 years, I still want her to want me. 

MFD Not-So-Random Five #3

In which I select five songs from 1976-1985 based on an arbitrary theme. (Not to be confused with this blog's Random Five feature, a different exercise in arbitrariness). Today's theme: Songs that begin with the chorus instead of a verse.

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1. "If You Want My Love" by Cheap Trick (1982, Epic)
   I have to believe that, deep down, every band wants to be The Beatles. Bands like Cheap Trick never hid that fact and this may be their most Beatlesque tune apart from their "Magical Mystery Tour" cover. (Heck, the middle eight cribs "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" almost verbatim). The melody doesn't do vocalist Robin Zander any favors, showing his limited range, but that chorus is so filled with hooks, I'll still be humming this one a week from now.


2. "Good Times" by Chic (1979, Atlantic)
   One of the top songs of 1979, it's immediately recognizable and features Nile Rodgers' guitar scratching over what may be the most famous/duplicated bass lick of all-time from Bernard Edwards. I've heard it hundreds of times (if not thousands) and it's still as fresh to these old ears as it was when I was a thirteen year-old knucklehead.


3. "We Built This City" by Starship (1985, Grunt/RCA)
   It's been increasingly hip to mock this song as one of the worst songs ever, but I can think of much worse. And that's all revisionist history BS anyway. Hell, yeah, we liked this rock anthem in 1985 - it was #1 for two weeks ferchrissakes. It was nominated for Grammy's Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group (losing to the homophobic "Money for Nothing"). I don't love it, but I can still tolerate it in the right playlist/mix (or in GTA V). I still hear it on the radio occasionally, so someone still likes it (or thinks we still like it, or a combination of the two).


4. "Brick House" by Commodores (1977, Motown)
   I'm not sure if it would still work today, but this was a sure-fire dance floor filler during my favorite decade. Even over 40 years later, it's got me moving. Are the lyrics complimentary or misogynistic or both? It didn't matter to me back in '77 when I was eleven. Back then, I thought the lyrics were "she's my tomato" instead of "she's mighty, mighty" so what do I know about lyrics, anyway? But man-oh-man that opening bass line is the stuff.


5. "Dancing Queen" by ABBA (1976, Atlantic)
   I've already written about this one in this post. Here's what I wrote then:

   I can say with absolute certainty this song was my favorite tune for several months in 1977 (probably the four months it was in the Top 40, if not longer). To this day, I still get up and dance at the sound of the initial piano glissando. When I saw Mamma Mia! on Broadway, the cast came out and sung this song as an encore and I was up grinning and dancing with a few hundred of my new closest friends. I'm told there are people that don't care for this disco classic, but I wouldn't want to know them.

   Last year. I ranked this single the #2 song of the year for 1977.