1979 was as good as it gets and music was everything
WITH Hot Press putting out its 1,000th edition last week, one was reminded again that a lot of good things happened a long time ago. It is 40 years since The Blades played their famous residency in The Magnet Bar on Pearse Street, and 40 years since The Radiators released the famous Ghostown album. On December 14 in The Academy, The Blades will be supported by members of the Radiators (now called Trouble Pilgrims), and all will marvel at the fact it’s 40 years since 1979.
And now I’m looking at a list of albums made in 1979 — some of which I actually wrote about in Hot Press when I was a boy — and this is the sort of thing I’m seeing: London Calling by The Clash; Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division; Fear of Music by Talking Heads; Rust Never Sleeps by Neil Young; Setting Sons by The Jam; Bop Till You Drop by Ry Cooder; The Specials by The Specials; Squeezing Out Sparks by Graham Parker.
Indeed, I noted recently that I now have more followers on Twitter than Graham Parker, which is an absolute scandal.
Then there was Armed Forces by Elvis Costello; Off The Wall by Michael Jackson; Metal Box by PiL; Blue Valentine by Tom Waits; Drums and Wires by XTC; The B-52s by The B-52s...
Ah, I can’t go on with these albums, it’s breaking my heart. So here’s a few singles for you: Boogie Wonderland by Earth Wind and Fire; Living on the Front Line by Eddy Grant; Get Over You by The Undertones; We Are Family by Sister Sledge; Stop Your Sobbing by The Pretenders; Heart of Glass by Blondie...
It was a very good year.