Trying to find nuggets amongst the dross was, to say the least, migraine-inducing.
In the end, I went for “Hot Stuff.” It is what it is, a disco song, but for all of that, Donna belts that mother out, and the production on it kicks booty.
I gave sober consideration, at least two seconds, to “Heart of Glass,” but Blondie has done far, far better work.
Well at least this one was easy — “My Sharona” it is. Iconic, and still very listenable to me. It ought to be pointed out, though, that the version played on the radio when the song was contemporary faded out just as the incredible guitar solo started.
As much as I believe Oldies stations should play the version of the song that was actually on the radio at the time, this is one of the few exceptions to that rule. The song really must be heard in its entirety. All hail Berton Averre, who truly captured a moment.
Second place goes to “Sad Eyes.” A wonderful slice of Top 40 pop with great massed harmonies on the chorus.
I don’t dislike “Heart of Glass,” but also don’t see that it’s all that big of a deal either, and I’m surprised at its strong showing. I’m thinking it’s a generational thing. I liked a lot of new wave, but also understood where most of it was coming from, and I like its points of origin even better.
The rest range from OK to forgettable to awful, and in some cases forgotten altogether. These were pretty much the waning days of me listing to much Top 40 radio.
I end up in the same place. Sharona was a great song with a great, standout solo by Berton Averre.
I love GG’s I Will Survive, but Sharona was more important to this guitar-playing lad.
Art Rock - you are clearly the Bizarro Me - you picked Babe?! I think I have physically hurt people lunging for the volume knob when that thing comes on. ETA: hearing it in my head right now (curse you!!) I hear the opening Fender Rhodes keyboard sound - aaahhhhggg! Sounds like a bad rip-off of the theme to Doogie Howser, MD.
In 1979, suddenly the drum synthesizer was heard everywhere in the land. It was a simple pad, struck with a drumstick, which created an envelope around the beat that went PWEEee! PWOOoo! PWAAaa! I remember thinking, all during that year, that the fad was going to grow old really quickly, and that in years to come, a drum synthesizer heard in any song would instantly peg it to the specific year 1979. Seems my prediction came true.
A rather limited effect, but Anita Ward’s “Ring My Bell” makes good use of it. Back when it was on the radio, the only meaning I thought of for ringing Anita’s bell was the sexually suggestive one. It was only upon recent relistening that I realized the innocent overt meaning was: Visit me at home and when you get there, ring the doorbell. :smack:
Even as a young innocent of 11/12, I reckoned that Anita Ward was singing about some undiscovered country that had hee-haw to do with door bells. :dubious:
According to Fred Bronson’s The Billboard Book of Number One Hits:
There was an age when pop music didn’t use synth drums, you say?
I voted for “Heart of Glass” yesterday, and knew that it would lead the pack or at least be the runner up.
Some other songs I like:
“Too Much Heaven”, a ballad by the Bee Gees, one of a few they released during their disco stage.
“Rise” by Herb Alpert is a good jazz song, surprised no one voted for it. I should have done it in hindsight.
"Hot Stuff’ is Donna Summer’s best number 1 single, love the intro and the synths and guitar riff after the chorus. Other Donna Summer songs I like, “Love to Love You Baby”, “Dim All the Lights” and “Sunset” were not number 1s.
“My Sharona” could fit anywhere in the 60s, 70s, and the 80s. I have heard they were compared to the Beatles in 1979, but they give me a Kinks vibe.
“Pop Muzik” by M is strange and catchy, good though not great. An early new wave song, and like “My Sharona” it pointed to the 80’s sound. I read a thread right here by an individual who stated that they never heard this song in 1979. I guess The Knack song is more memorable.
“Knock on Wood” is a great cover of the original Eddie Floyd song from 1966. The background music and her voice are perfect and I think it is up there for me with the original as my favorites.
Others I like are the Michael Jackson song and the Rod Stewart tune, while the others I’m indifferent to. None I hate.
It’s an interesting phenomenon the way some things in fashion (music, clothes, movies, TV, whatever) get branded later on as totally appalling - the Pina Colada song fits in here.
It’s not that bad a song (hey, it went to No 1), sure, it’s a bit cheesy, but a lot of Pop songs are, the melody is OK, the singer is not the worst. It has had **a lot **of airplay over the years. If you played it to someone who had never heard it before, and more importantly, had not heard of its legendary awful-ness, they’d probably rate it as a nice, breezy, inoffensive pop song.
Those who leap up and down proclaiming how terrible it is are merely following a fun, fashion trend.
I Will Survive gets my vote here.
No Funkytown?
4 weeks at #1 in '79BTW, Does that look like P!NK on the album cover?
“Funkytown” was released in 1980.
I voted for I Will Survive too but I also like a little Pina Colada. I think it’s a great song and invokes more nostalgia in me. I wish there were more votes for Pop Music and What a Fool Believes and I’m glad to see Sharona doing well.
Yes, my opinion exactly.
I was to young to pay attention to it when it came out and as a matter of fact, I don’t think that it was a big hit over here. I never heard it on the radio growing up, that’s for sure. I must have encountered it first in a movie when I was already a teenager or even older.
Kind of a silly little song and the lyrics are questionable but on the whole, I find the music’s laid-back, carefree and “sunny” vibe quite pleasant.
New York London Paris Munich
Voted Blondie - sounds as fresh today as when released. The Knack deserves an honorable mention.
Actually not a bad year - even the disco was half decent disco.
Tough year because there are some gems in this year of pablum.
It was a great transition year from the 70s to what would become the post-punk/new wave music of the next couple of years.
There was the death throes of disco, The Eagles break-up, the NWOBHM, the emergence of early electronica, and the debut of PopClips (MTV’s predecessor)
The stand-outs here are pretty obvious but I was stuck between Blondie and The Knack, again I went with the song that I have performed many times -“Sharona” for the guitar hook and solo that is instantly recognizable.
That said, I predict Blondie will have a more prominent showing in the next poll or two.
Yay, New Wave makes an appearance. Blondie for me.
Although I could have gone with Heb Alpert, that’s one catchy tune.
Thanks! I hadn’t heard that. Knack got my vote. I’m surprised but happy to see so much accord.
Knock On Wood is an admirable cover of the great original (which I was recently playing in a soul band, big fun with a full horn section.) Not only is it a good cover, it nails the spirit of the time, but in that it sounds dated and I wouldn’t listen to it today, as I do the original.
Macheal Jackson’s tune was a good one, as was the Doobies.
Not a big fan of Heart of Glass, but I do remember having a blast dancing to it at the time. I was never a fan of disco music, but I sure did enjoy the dancing. Well, that’s where the ladies were.
It’s a perfectly cromulent choice, given the field, for fans of guitar-based pop-rock. I’ll grant that even in hindsight, some people just cannot have disco die soon enough and they’ll grab on to this one even more enthusiastically.
As of the date/time of this post, that’s four people. 
This is as many as Hot Stuff or Good Times or No More Tears.
OTOH it’s beating Do Ya Think I’m Sexy and Babe and Reunited and Still(*) and I can’t fault that.
(*aaand, for two consecutive years the Commodores cross over to number one in the Pop chart in full wuss mode)