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It was impossible to escape ABBA in 1979... still |
In fact, I used to always say that I didn’t care about any music before 1980. Except Motown. It was nice to have such a neat starting point to the era of music I enjoyed. But then it slowly dawned on me that I really couldn’t go on ignoring 1979. For one thing, I actually was old enough – just – to remember music from that year. And it was a stellar year for pop music. With disco not quite dead, new wave taking a hold and some good old fashioned MOR pop/rock (I have a soft spot for the likes of Toto and Chicago), there were more than enough songs to pique my interest.
So,
as much as it pained me to have an odd year sticking out like a sore thumb, I
embraced 1979 and compiled a list of my favourite tracks from that year. If you
can sense a countdown coming on, you’d be right. Here’s the first half of my top 10 singles from
1979…
At number 10 it’s “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” by ABBA, which, five years on from their worldwide breakthrough, proved they could still come up with the goods. In this case, it was a brand new song for their second Greatest Hits collection. Three decades later, it still sounds fresh – although how much that has to do with Madonna’s “Hung Up”, I’m not sure. Madonna hasn’t been the only artist by any means to reinterpret this song – in fact, Erasure covered “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” in 1986, six years before releasing their ABBA-esque EP, which helped kick-start the whole ABBA revival. It’s a version that’s worth tracking down.
My number 9 song for 1979 is “Baby It’s You” by Promises, which was a massive number 2 hit here in Australia, despite (or possibly because of) the keyboardist/verse-singer’s bizarre braces and tie but no shirt look. I always assumed Promises were European (again, possibly because of his attire), but turns out they were a trio of siblings from Canada. They were, however, also big in Germany. Peculiar clothing aside, my favourite thing about the clip is the performance by Leslie Knauer, who sings the choruses like her life depends upon it. A great, great song.
At
number 8, “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” by Kiss, and if there was any band that
could rival ABBA for fan hysteria in Australia, it was the face-painted rock
gods. It’s very possible that one of my earliest memories of TV is seeing Gene
Simmons waggling his tongue and/or spitting fire out of his mouth – something you'd never get from a rock star these days. As fun as those theatrics were, it was probably
only the fact that KISS decided to go disco on this song that appealed to me,
since I can’t actually recall any of their other songs from the era.
More
disco at number 7 – noticing a trend here? – with “Born To Be Alive” by Patrick Hernandez, who was the very definition of a one hit wonder on the Aussie chart.
One song, peaking at number one and no other top 50 entries. In fact, aside from
a 1987 remix of “Born To Be Alive” reaching number 83, he didn’t have another
chart entry whatsoever. Still, better one hit than no hits.
Here
they are again at number 6. It’s “Does Your Mother Know” by ABBA, which was notable
for featuring Björn rather than Frida and/or Agnetha on lead vocals. The ABBA
double-up in my top 10 is understandable since, of the 10 LPs my parents had in their album
collection, two were by ABBA. Like any child born in the second half of the
’70s, ABBA were inescapable. And that’s not a bad thing – unless we’re talking
about “Fernando”.
Coming up in my next post, my top 5 for 1979 - and there's not an ABBA song in sight. Any ideas what might be included?
MY YEAR-END CHARTS
MY YEAR-END CHARTS
What's wrong with Fernando? *tsk*
ReplyDeleteHa! Let's just say it's not my favourite.
DeleteBefore i saw the "Baby It's You" video I used to think it was all the same singer. I suppose it makes sense that they're family - a certain similarity in the vocals is inevitable.
ReplyDeleteThose days of ABBA vs. Kiss in the school yard. Now that's taking me back. Finn
ReplyDeleteFirst time comment. I really enjoy this blog. However I Was Made For Loving You is one of the worst songs of all time. Yes I know they were taking the piss about disco so to speak & I've read how they wrote this saying how easy it was to make a disco song. The reason I hate is because Kiss sucked as a rock band let alone writing a disco song. In my opinion a disco song Stayin Alive is the 2nd best song of all time behind a rock song Smells Like Teen Spirit.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm not a fan of anything else KISS did, but whatever their motivations, I feel like they came up with the goods in this instance. If my musical memories went back earlier, I'm sure Stayin' Alive would make my charts too.
DeleteThanks guys,,, its a great site to come listen to and reminice over the music lists you have...one of my favourite sites now i think
ReplyDelete