Welcome to 1979!

Glaxo Babies : This is Your Life

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Welcome to 1979, the year New Wave triumphed ! Punk Rock is merely a memory in the UK where bands have taken the spirit of punk into new directions. Some have learned to play their instruments better. Some just made them noisier. The best thing about punk, Mark E. Smith writes is "that it didn't rely on perfection; you didn't have to be a well-schooled musician to be a punk. But, as with many scenes, it became very conservative - with everybody dressing the same and avoiding those who didn't. Small wonder that they soon ran out of things to say".

In 1979, we'd get two albums from The Fall, both overshadowed by fellow Mancunians Joy Division. Unknown Pleasures is one of the great debut album of all time. From the Class of '77 we'd get some more great albums: The Clash's London Calling, Wire's 154, The Jam's Setting Sons, Buzzcocks's A Different Kind of Tension, The Damned's Machine Gun Etiquette, PIL's Second Edition and Armed Forces from Elvis Costello + the Attractions (reviewed later this week). Nick Lowe, Graham Parker and Dave Edmunds offered some of their best albums. This thing called New Wave came into its own in 1979 with new albums from Blondie, XTC, The Police, The Knack and Joe Jackson who gave us two albums including his debut, Look Sharp ( also reviewed later this week) . Other newcomers who made an impact with debut albums include The B-52's, Gang of Four, The Undertones, Rickie Lee Jones, The Cure, The Specials and Madness. Art Punk was a thing in 1979, thanks to album by The Pop Group, The Slits and The Raincoats. Michael Jackson George Harrison and Tom Petty both released the best albums of their career ( in my opinion) while Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Led Zeppelin and The Beach Boys all made heads scratch over their 1979 releases. Disco still ruled thanks to Donna Summer, Chic and Sister Sledge. And then there's The Wall, not the kind Donald Trump wants, but an epic construction nonetheless. Finally 1979 witnessed the most influential release of them all:  a nearly 15 minute track from the Sugarhill Gang called "Rapper's Delight". 1979, here we come!