Best #1 single of the year retrospective: 1979

Cafe Society
1

Our survey brings us now to the final year of the '70s; 1979. Disco hasn’t died just yet, but it’s certainly on the wane at this point, and though punk has no chance in hell of breaking through to the top of the charts, we begin here to see some rumblings from its more radio-friendly cousin, New Wave. We see the beginning of Michael Jackson’s comeback as the soon-to-be King of Pop, and altogether a fairly interesting mix of several types of rock and other genres among the 24 songs that topped the chart this year (including “Le Freak”, which gets a second run at #1 after an interruption at the beginning of the year.)

So down that five-cent beer, toss your old disco records out on the diamond, tune in to Ted Koppel’s latest updates from Tehran, and pick your fave.

Previous polls: 1955-56 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 2012 2013

2

Most years “Pop Muzik” would have gotten my vote, but “My Sharona” is too iconic.

3

This was a toughie for me, but I settled with Anita Ward’s “Ring My Bell.”

4

The choices just keep getting more and more pathetic. It’s a “Tragedy.”

5

Gotta give it up for Blondie.

6

Lots of good or decent songs in 1979, seems the decade ended on a good footing. It was tough but I decided to vote on “Heart of Glass” by Blondie. I could have went with “Pop Musik” by M. I’ll list some of my faves and a quick review of each song later in the day.

7

Went with Blondie, but could have done “My Sharona”, “Pop Muzik” or “Don’t Stop 'Til You Get Enough”. Much better choices than the last few years.

8

Blondie also got my vote, but a lot of other great songs there, for a change. (Did I just say that out loud?)

9

I, for one, am surprised by how many “almost voted for its” Pop Muzik is getting. I never heard the song until I was doing the research for this poll, and it sounds more like some kind of postmodern parody of the '70s than it does something people would actually have enjoyed at the time.

10

This was tough, as it came down to either “Heart of Glass” or “My Sharona”. In the end, “My Sharona” won out by the merest hint of a whisper.

Other possibilities that JUST missed it were “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” and “Pop Muzik”. And last year’s “Le Freak”, of course.

11

I cannot listen to the vast majority of these songs. Cannot, and will not.

Ring my bell? Have you looked at thelyrics? Same line over and over and over again.

12

Hell, I DID vote for Pop Musik. That’s one amazingly creative bit of new wave tomfoolery there. Catchy, weird and danceable all in one package.

13

“My Sharona” deserves respect as the subject of Weird Al’s first parody song.

My vote, however, went to “Heart of Glass.”

14

If you paid attention to the lyrics, you were doing it wrong. :slight_smile:

Ring my Bell was a close second. So was Pop Musik and My Sharona and Bad Girls and Hot Stuff and What A Fool Believes and Do Ya Think I’m Sexy and…

Actually, that was a pretty great year compared to the few previous ones.

15

For me personally, this one was a toss-up between “My Sharona” and “Heart of Glass”. I went with My Sharona mainly because of that epic guitar riff and the edginess of the lyrics - it’s hard to believe that “I always get it up from the touch of a younger kind” is allowed on the air uncensored today, let alone in '79.

As an interesting aside, Sharona is a real person - Sharona Alperin, who was 17 when she cultivated a relationship with 25-year-old songwriter Berton Averre, and who today owns the domain mysharona.com to promote her real estate business.

16

Styx, ahead of Peaches and Herb. Not a brilliant year.

17

I am the opposite. This is the part that put My Sharona over the top for me.:slight_smile:

18

“My Sharona”: the song that delivered the mortal blow to disco.

The backlash against The Knack (“Nuke The Knack!”) started even before “My Sharona” dropped off the charts. I never joined in. For it’s role in helping kill disco, I thought that the group deserved a lifetime pass regardless of what it did afterward (which, as it turned out, was very little).

Anyway, I have always thought 1979 was a crappy year for music.

19

Alright, who wants to own up to having voted for the Pina Colada Song?

My own voting history on these polls will show that I love some extremely cheesy songs, but this is just plain beyond the pale.

20

Can we just stop with the “this was a crappy year/No vote”-type comments?

This theme was getting old in 1963, it’s tired now, and with another 30-odd polls to go before Smapti gets caught up, it will have moved beyond parody.

Yes, we get it. You* didn’t like disco. Or soul. Or soft rock. Or pre-Beatles top-40. Or rockabilly. Your status as one of the Cool Kids is assured, and we all bow down to your superior hard rockin’, new wavin’, alternative listenin’, punky taste.

*The royal “you”.