Pop top 40: Hot 100 week ending 8/25/79 (2024)

[For several years, first on my old Wordpress blog and then for Rock and Roll Globe, I’d review vintage Billboard charts (mostly but not exclusively the Hot 100) under the name “Pop Top 40” (taken from Spike Lee’s film Mo’ Better Blues). I think it’s high time to start re-sharing them here, during the weeks the original charts were dated, a la SXM ‘80s on 8’s “Big Top 40.” We re-begin with the top 40 from this week 45 years ago: disco, soft ballads, and pub rock, ahoy! I’ve made some minor snips and edits to the original text; more major additions/recalibrations are in bracketed italics, because opinions change over time.]

Really, anything you could say about 1979 in music is right here. [Playlist embedded at bottom of post; songs which aren’t streaming have their videos included herein.]

1 2 MY SHARONA –•– The Knack (Capitol)-10 (1 week at #1) (1) — Heard today, it almost sounds like pop-punk. And rocks harder than 50% of the current crop. But that said: I’ve never much cared for pop-punk, or power pop for that matter. [And I genuinely loathe this.]
2 1 GOOD TIMES –•– Chic (Atlantic)-11 (1) — One week atop the Hot 100, six atop the R&B chart, and one of the greatest singles of the ’70s. Even if you ignore for a moment the fact that this song had a hand in inventing recorded hip-hop, just listen to it: Nile Rodgers’ classic chicken-scratch guitar, that uber-iconic Bernard Edwards bassline, Alfa Anderson and Luci Martin’s creamy vocals, those sweeping strings. It all adds up, the sum so much greater than its estimable parts.To diminish this as just disco music is an insult; this is dance music, soul music, pop music too. Chic are without doubt one of the greatestbands of all time, capable of musical twisting and turning like nobody’s business.
3 3 THE MAIN EVENT / FIGHT –•– Barbra Streisand (Columbia)-11 (3) — Marvelously ridiculous lyrics, and simply marvelous music, and like “No More Tears,” a Paul Jabara/Bruce Roberts composition. Hearing Babs’ first foray onto the disco dancefloor is still a thrill almost 40 years later. Great orchestrations, too. And the full11:44 unedited versionis a marvel.
4 5 AFTER THE LOVE HAS GONE –•– Earth, Wind and Fire (ARC)-8 (4) — Yes, in fact, EWFcould do anything, from hard funkin’ to tender balladry. This sumptuous slice of yacht-soul, written by yacht kings David Foster, Jay Graydon, and Bill Champlin, won a pair of R&B Grammys, for both the song itself and the performance, and made it to #2 on both the pop and R&B charts. In lesser hands this could’ve ended up as anodyne soul, but in the hands of Maurice White, Philip Bailey, and the rest of EWF, it’s a towering, soaring breath-taker of a record. Shouts to Don Myrick for that sax solo, too.
5 4 BAD GIRLS –•– Donna Summer (Casablanca)-14 (1) — No one,no one, could pull off the seamless marriages of rock, pop, and disco (and even a soupcon of soul) that Summer could do. A voice for the ages, but you knew that. This is a song for the ages, too. And that four-on-the-floor just kills. And those horn charts!
6 14 DON’T BRING ME DOWN –•– Electric Light Orchestra (Jet)-4 (6) — I’m not a particular fan of either Jeff Lynne or ELO, but this four minutes of DOR [dance-oriented rock] is superb. I love its sleazy beat.
7 8 THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA –•– The Charlie Daniels Band (Epic)-10 (7) — A crossover that can only be described as “fluky,” Daniels and his band of merry men took this amped-up bluegrass record, equal parts Ralph Stanley and Lynyrd Skynyrd, to #1 country and #3 pop. I mean, it’s hard to diss this: for what it is, and especially for the propulsion behind it, it’s pretty great.
8 13 LEAD ME ON –•– Maxine Nightingale (Windsong)-14 (8) — I seriously didn’t realize that Nightingale is a) British and b) black, until writing this; based on this slab of AC whipped cream, I’d just assumed she was a white girl. Because this is, frankly, as soulless as adult contemporary gets - which helps explain why it spent seven weeks atop the AC chart.
9 10 MAMA CAN’T BUY YOU LOVE –•– Elton John (MCA)-12 (9) — Oh, what could have been. I dearly wish that Elton’s work with Philly soul king Thom Bell had ended up as a full album, but alas, all we got wasThe Thom Bell Sessions EP. But at least we got that! It included this, which became Elton’s first US top 10 in three years. At its peak pop position, “Mama” (surprisingly to me) also topped the AC chart, in a rare instance of a disco #1 there. (Albeit relaxed, easy-grooving disco.) [Love hearing Elton conform to Thom Bell’s late ‘70s strictures.]
10 12 SAD EYES –•– Robert John (EMI-America)-15 (10) — Once you listen to this surprisingly swinging ballad, I dare you to try to get it out of your head. By which I mean, you can’t, because it’s so f*cking hooky, especially that chorus: “Saaaaaaaaaaad eeeeeeeeeyes, turn the other way… .” There’s a sweet, innocent quality to this sad breakup song that makes it kind of endearing — aided by those tinkly xylophone hits. And there’s also a guitar solo! Because late ’70s.

11 6 WHEN YOU’RE IN LOVE WITH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN –•– Dr. Hook (Capitol)-20 (6) — Dr. Hook made some weird-ass music, but not in a Frank Zappa sense, more in a “totally scattered and unfocused” one. Their later years were largely watery disco-rock, including this, the 5th of their six top 10s. They also wrote absolutely horrible lyrics.
12 7 RING MY BELL –•– Anita Ward (Juana)-16 (1) — I hate this record, I’ve always hated this record, I’ll always hate this record. This is such generic, undistinguished disco — so of course it was a massive #1.
13 9 YOU CAN’T CHANGE THAT –•– Raydio (Arista)-18 (9) — Ray Parker, Jr.’s first taste of chart gold was this rather squishy smooth R&B groove. It’s fairly yacht-soul (RPJ has a lot of yacht bonafides, actually), but it’s also fairly bland-ish.
14 16 I’LL NEVER LOVE THIS WAY AGAIN –•– Dionne Warwick (Arista)-10 (14) — OH f*ck YES! Backstory: Warwick hadn’t had a top 10 solo hit since 1969 when Clive Davis signed her to Arista at the end of ’78. Clive, of course, wasn’t gonna let that streak continue, so he put her in the studio with his prized possession, Barry Manilow, behind the boards. And MAGIC HAPPENED. This grand, dramatic ballad by Richard Kerr and Will Jennings made it into the top 5 of both the pop and AC charts, and the Dionne-aissance was up and running. Follow-up “Deja Vu,” co-written by Isaac Hayes (!), is even better, and hit #15 pop/#1 AC. Their parent album, simply titledDionne — there’s only one, folks, in case you needed a reminder — became her first platinum album of her career, and to this day is her best-selling long-player. Through the ’80s Warwick would notch a further six top 40 pop singles, including of course the massive #1 “That’s What Friends Are For” — notably, the first AIDS benefit single, at a time when few celebrities were even giving lip service to the disease — and an impressive 10 top 10 AC records. But it all started here, for which we should thank Clive and Barry forever. It doesn’t hurt that “I’ll Never Love” sounds tailor-made for Warwick to sing: it’s like Krystal Carrington taking a slow walk down a marble staircase. As Erasure might say,Drama!
15 17 SUSPICIONS –•– Eddie Rabbitt (Elektra)-12 (15) — Said it before and will continue to do so: this is one of the all-time great songs about a lover’s paranoia. I’ve also previously called this a “sultry ’79 country-soul nugget,” and while that’s still true, these days I consider this more country-yacht. Rabbitt was a superb singer, a city boy (raised in NYC) singing country, which made him much smoother than your average, and this song was perfectly tailored for him. It’s barely country at all, but it is the essence of smooth. Also: flute solo! One of my favorites, not just on this chart but all-time.
16 11 I WAS MADE FOR LOVIN’ YOU –•– Kiss (Casablanca)-14 (11) — Absolutely shameless. Paul Stanley really should’ve done his solo album as full-on NYC disco, because he had the voice for it. The relentless chug on this is delicious, as is Paul’s falsetto.
17 23 LET’S GO –•– The Cars (Elektra)-9 (17) — The essence of new wave power pop[-rock], the Cars started a run of four consecutive top 10 albums with this song’s parent album,Candy-O. This is one of their best singles, whipsmart and tight.
18 20 GOODBYE STRANGER –•– Supertramp (A&M)-8 (18) — What an utterly boring, unexceptional band. This gang of Brits hit #1 for six weeks in the summer of ’79 withBreakfast in America, from which this was one of a trio of top 15 singles. They didn’t rock hard enough to be AOR, though; they were just a big pop-rock band who were about two steps away from prog. And they clearly thought highly of their own “musicianship,” ergh.
19 22 LONESOME LOSER –•– Little River Band (Capitol)-6 (19) — LRB had 13 top 40 singles in the US.Thirteen. This was in the middle of a stretch of three top 10s in a row, ultimately heading for #6. Leaning more heavily on the rock side of pop-rock, this is also one of their stronger singles, accordingly.
20 24 HOT SUMMER NIGHTS –•– Night (Planet)-10 (20) — If you think this sounds like studio rock, you’re right: these folks were UK studio musicians. This is so generic-sounding, 5 minutes later you forget you heard it. Most notable about Night: their guitarist, Robbie McIntosh, who went on to play with the Pretenders from 1982-87. (This is not to be confused with 1981’s hot-ass Yacht Rock jam “Hot Summer Nights” by Balance, which rules.)

21 21 IS SHE REALLY GOING OUT WITH HIM –•– Joe Jackson (A&M)-12 (21) — At its peak this week, Jackson’s re-issued single from his debut album,Look Sharp! (which itself climbed to #20 on the album chart) got here — I have no clue how. To my ears a slight mix of the toughness of pub rock with the staccato textures of new wave, it feels very Stiff Records to me, even though it’s not.
22 25 HEAVEN MUST HAVE SENT YOU –•– Bonnie Pointer (Motown)-11 (22) — Bonnie left her sisters’ vocal group two years prior, and cut this obscure Holland-Dozier-Holland song from 1966 for her solo debut. Discofied with a 12/8 time signature, it made it to #11 on the pop chart, and is a perfectly pleasant disco-soul record, and little more.
23 37 SAIL ON –•– The Commodores (Motown)-3 (23) — The Commodores’s albumMidnight Magic was their third consecutive to peak at #3 pop, and their fourth consecutive to top the R&B Albums chart. This lead single went top 10 pop, R&B, and AC, but peaked the highest at pop, probably due to its deep-holler country influence. Remember, this band was from Alabama, so country was in their souls — especially leader Lionel Richie’s. (Maybe you’ve heard of him.) And because this band was so flexible, and Richie’s songwriting so superb, this song flawlessly combines swampy guitar hooks, piano classicism, and sweeping almost-disco strings, yet “Sail On” never sounds jarring or jagged. The artistry on display here is stunning.
24 26 MORNING DANCE –•– Spyro Gyra (Infinity)-11 (24) — At its inexplicable peak, one of the biggest jazz crossover hits pre-Kenny G, an instrumental composition spotlighting sax, tenor steel pan, and electric piano. I would love to know if radio MDs at the time got requests for this, as I have an incredibly difficult time imagining this on a top 40 station. AC of the era, sure — and in fact, this hit #1 on said chart. But how in the world was this song (which I cherish, as a lovely little, upbeat smooth jazz jam) a pop hit?! [I now understand this as an essential building block of what would become the genre of Smooth Jazz.]
25 28 I DO LOVE YOU –•– GQ (Arista)-9 (25) —Billy Stewart’s lovely original versionof “I Do Love You” was a hit in 1965, hitting #6 R&B/#26 pop. G.Q. played it remarkably straight on their cover, releasing it as the third single from theirDisco Nights album and doing better than Stewart, making it to #5 R&B/#20 pop. The original is very much in the vein oflowrider oldies, sweet ’60s soul, and G.Q. uphold that.
26 30 BAD CASE OF LOVING YOU (Doctor, Doctor) –•– Robert Palmer (Island)-6 (26) — Palmer was capable of many things, but probably the least of them was a convincing rocker. His supple voice craved smoother material — even the Power Station (and what came after) was slicker than your average. And this song doesn’t deserve someone with his talents.
27 29 HIGHWAY SONG –•– Blackfoot (Atco)-10 (27) — The biggest hit for a second-tier Southern rock band who wished they were the Allmans or Skynyrd. They weren’t.
28 32 BORN TO BE ALIVE –•– Patrick Hernandez (Columbia)-10 (28) — One of my least favorite disco crossover hits. Hernandez was a disco hack.
29 34 DRIVER’S SEAT –•– Sniff ‘n’ the Tears (Atlantic)-6 (29) — Well-polished pub rock.
30 33 CRUEL TO BE KIND –•– Nick Lowe (Columbia)-5 (30) — This pub rocker’s biggest hit (under his own steam) almost has an El Lay feel to it: I can nearly hear CSN doing this, based around acoustics and chorus harmonies as it is. It’s fine, but what his cult hears in him has always eluded me.

Share Oh, Manchester, So Much to Answer For

31 15 MAKIN’ IT –•– David Naughton (RSO)-22 (5) — From the men who brought you “Shake Your Groove Thing” and “I Will Survive” came this greasy slice of disco pizza, voiced by an actor and Dr. Pepper jingle singer. This is the definition of “pleasant-enough throwaway.” {What the f*ck was wrong with 2017 me?! This is marvelous throwaway disco and I love it dearly.]

32 36 DIFFERENT WORLDS –•– Maureen McGovern (Warner Brothers / Curb)-8 (32) — I didn’t remember what this was until I played it, and then I may have gay-gasped — it’s thetheme from Angie! Ofcourse I remember!Angie was a short-lived ABC sitcom (1979-1980, 36 episodes) about a Philly waitress who falls for one of the city’s leading doctors: one of those “wacky” culture-clash comedies. Donna Pescow starred as Angie, with Doris Roberts as her mother. Iloved the show, even though I was barely 9 years old when it premiered. (In other news, I’m gay.) Angie‘s theme made it into the pop top 20, and was McGovern’s only AC #1 (which is bizarre, considering she sang “The Morning After” — but that pop #1 only scaled to #6 AC). It’s lovely and light, with a hi-hat disco swing, and the memories attached toAngie for me mean that I’ll forever love it.
33 35 OH WELL –•– The Rockets (RSO)-8 (33) — The Rockets were a crew of Detroit blues-rock journeymen, whose only hit was this cover of the Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac single “Oh Well” (a big hit in Europe, but never in the US). Nothing about it stands out.
34 47 RISE –•– Herb Alpert (A&M)-5 (34) — Nothing like a soap-opera rape scene to help your song climb the charts… But then again, this is a perfect record, a surprisingly funky locked-in-the-pocket groove over which Alpert could blow his horn. And it was Balearic before we even knew what that meant!
35 18 GOLD –•– John Stewart (RSO)-15 (5) — The essence of uber-corporate generic El Lay rock, wherein the most interesting element is the backing vocals from Stevie Nicks. This ode to “people out there [presumably Los Angeles] turnin’ music into gold” has less personality than a white v-neck undershirt.

36 40 THE BOSS –•– Diana Ross (Motown)-7 (36) — Where Diana hands herself (or more likely, Berry Gordy hands her) over to the capable hands of Ashford & Simpson for an entire album at the height of disco, and gets some superb disco out of it, especially this title cut. The album, listed as “The Boss (all cuts),” spent two weeks atop the Dance/Disco Club Play chart, while this made it to #19 pop/#12 R&B — a far cry from Miss Ross’s usual heights, yet her first top 20 pop single since the ’76 #1 “Love Hangover.” She’d explore this well-fitting straightjacket even further with the next year’s Chic Organisation-helmeddiana, but this was a helluva fine warmup. The strings soar, as does Diana’s voice, and the groove never stops.
37 42 LOVIN’, TOUCHIN’, SQUEEZIN’ –•– Journey (Columbia)-6 (37) — You know it’s early (Steve Perry-era) Journey, because it’s a little sludgy.
38 39 GIRL OF MY DREAMS –•– Bram Tchaikovsky (Polydor)-8 (38) — Yet another pub rocker making it, during said genre’s brief hiccup of US popularity. And like most pub rock, it doesn’t do much for me at all; this sounds oddly inert.
39 51 POP MUZIK –•– M (Sire)-3 (39) — Arguably the first new wave smash in the US, only this one somehow masqueraded as disco when it was still cool to pull that. It’s cute enough, maybe even smart, but I’ve never liked it much, because I find it a touchtoo cute. The Buggles did this much, much better.
40 43 HOLD ON –•– Triumph (RCA)-11 (40) — Sub-Rush Canadian hesher AOR.