Counting down my Top 79 of '79: Singles #26 - 11

A breakdown of my top singles from 1979

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	Title	Artist	Pop	AC	R&B	Disco
26	"Is She Really Going Out with Him"	Joe Jackson	21
25	"I Do Love You"	GQ	20		5
24	"Blow Away"	George Harrison	16	2
23	"Born to Be Alive"	Patrick Hernandez	16			1
22	"Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'"	Journey	16
21	"Shine a Little Love"	Electric Light Orchestra	8	40
20	"A Little More Love"	Olivia Newton-John	3	4
19	"Bicycle Race/Fat Bottomed Girls"	Queen	24

	Title	Artist	Pop	AC	R&B	Disco
18	"My Life"	Billy Joel	3	2
17	"Arrow Through Me"	Wings	29	29
16	"Heartache Tonight"	Eagles	1	38
15	"Boogie Wonderland"	Earth, Wind & Fire	6		2	14
14	"Cruel to be Kind"	Nick Lowe	12	36
13	"What You Won't Do for Love"	Bobby Caldwell	9	10	6
12	"After the Love has Gone"	Earth, Wind & Fire	2	3	2
11	"Morning Dance"	Spyro Gyra	24	1	60

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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.

MFD Random Five #15

In which I click the shuffle icon on the increasingly frustrating iTunes app (no, Apple, I don't want to stream, I want to listen to my files) and listen to the first five songs that pop up from the years 1976-85.

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1. "Blow Away" by George Harrison (1979, Dark Horse)
   I praised this single earlier this year and graded it a solid B. Click here for that post. Great way to start a random five.


2. "Mary Anne" by Marshall Crenshaw (1982, Warner Bros.)
   And we're 2-for-2! Crenshaw music is always welcome in this house. This Buddy Holly-esque track is from his fantastic debut album. Crenshaw doesn't like the term "power pop" so I'll call this a pop song from a power trio.


3. "How Much Longer" by Alternative TV (1977, Deptford Fun City Records)
   A cut from the 1-2-3-4: Punk & New Wave 1976 - 1979 set. Typical punk rock: three chords and lyrics about anarchy. Not too shocking these days and easily forgotten. According to Wikipedia, these guys are still around. Go figure. Note: this song also shuffled around in Random Five #7.


4. "Without You" by David Bowie (1983, EMI)
   Most "true Bowie fans" dismiss the Let's Dance album and certainly wouldn't like this song from it, but I dig the bass line from Bernard Edwards of Chic and the noodling of Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was released as the follow-up single to "Modern Love" but only managed to get to #73 on the Hot 100. Bonus points for the Keith Haring single sleeve:
   
   


5. "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" by Air Supply (1983, Arista)
   I'm not much for the songs of Jim Steinman. I'll just leave it at that.

George Harrison - Blow Away (1979)

Blow Away
b/w Soft-Hearted Hana

Released: February, 1979 (Dark Horse) Written by: George Harrison Produced by: George Harrison and Russ Titleman Album: George Harrison

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Note: when I label a song a "Lost AT40 Single," I'm only speaking for myself. Your mileage may vary.

So I'm listening to a rerun of an American Top 40 broadcast from May 5, 1979 and after backselling the Bee Gees' "Love You Inside Out," Casey Kasem introduced this song thus:

Well, in a recent interview in Rolling Stone, former Beatle George Harrison said he thought Beatle parodies, like the Rutles, were a great idea. He said the Beatles needed to be deflated. Maybe that's what he had in mind when he wrote his latest hit, titled "Blow Away." This week, up a notch to number 16. George Harrison.

Fortunately, the song is better than that intro. Harrison's guitar is immediately identifiable and there's a so-so verse, but when it gets to the chorus, things get real good fast:

All I got to do is to love you
All I got to be is, be happy
All it's got to take is some warmth to make it
Blow away, blow away, blow away.

Positive lyrics and hook-filled chorus? Count me in! Just the kind of message a kid dealing with adolescent angst at a new school needs (speaking about myself, of course). I've often written that I'm not much of a lyrics guy, but I couldn't miss these. Harrison simply speading the gospel of love. Preach on, George.

Unfortunately, #16 was as high as this single rose in its 8 short weeks in the Top 40. Its chart arc was as follows, beginning on 3/31/79: 32, 26, 24, 22, 17, 16, 16, 37. Shame. The question remains: why don't I ever hear this on the oldies stations?

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