Blue Moon Rock Evolution – 1978
There was lots of stuff going on in 1978 that the 10-year-old me was not aware of at the time, but although I wasn’t specifically watching the news this year, world events started to seep into the consciousness: -
- The oil tanker, Amoco Cadiz, ran aground on the coast of Brittany causing a huge oil spill that was headline news.
- Just down the road from me in Oldham, Louise Brown became the world's first test tube baby.
- It was the year of three popes due to the death of two of them, with Polish Pope John Paul II becoming the first non-Italian pope since 1523.
- President Jimmy Carter hosted the Camp David peace summit in Maryland, finally achieving a peace agreement between Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egypt's President Anwar Sadat.
- In domestic football, Ipswich won the cup and Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest won the second part of an unlikely treble: promotion from the second division in 1977 was followed by the league title in 1978 (plus a bonus League Cup), and we all know what followed the next year.
- City had a good run in the UEFA Cup, beating Twente Enschede, Standard Liège and AC Milan, eventually losing in the quarter-finals to Borussia Mönchengladbach the following spring.
However, this was a landmark year for me. Long before I had any interest in music, there were two huge events that set the tone for the next few years:-
Star Wars
We all know that
Star Wars is synonymous with 1977, but those queues around English blocks didn’t start until December 27th 1977, seven months after the film opened in the US. Like many others, I only got to see it in 1978 as part of a friend’s birthday get together in March. To say that I was bowled over was an understatement. I had enjoyed going to the cinema before, but
Star Wars was entertainment on another level and cinema afterwards was always a major event to look forward to, especially with all of those fabulous George Lucas and Steven Spielberg films of the era.
The 1978 World Cup
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The World Cup in Argentina was my first World Cup. I can remember believing the hype about Ally’s Army being capable of bringing the World Cup back home and despite being English, bought a Scotland replica top ready for the big event. I remember being gutted when Scotland were whipped by Peru in their opening match and then stumbled to a draw against Iran.
But other heroes were rising – names such as Paulo Rossi, Hans Krankl, Zico, and Mario Kempes all became indelibly imprinted in my mind (and useful for many years of Subbuteo team sheets). None more so than the brilliant Dutch team who, despite being without the talismanic Johann Cruyff, produced superb players such as Ruud Krol, Rob Rensenbrink, Johann Neeskens and scorer of long-range goals extraordinaire, Arie Haan.
Sadly, the Netherlands fell at the last hurdle to an inspired Argentina, playing in front of their own fans in a ticker-tape strewn River Plate Stadium for a memorable final that went to extra time.
This first experience sparked the fires of a lifelong love of the World Cup.
TV & Film
Before we get onto the music, it’s worth mentioning five classic TV shows that premiered in 1978:
- Dallas
- Grange Hill
- Battlestar Galactica
- Diff’rent Strokes (“whachu talkin’’bout, Willis?”)
- Mork & Mindy (“shazbat, Na-Nu Na-Nu”).
When invited to take a seat at his audition, then then-unknown Robin Williams sat on his head and as a result was cast on the spot.
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One small detail that I always loved about
Diff’rent Strokes was the oft-mentioned but never seen on screen schoolyard bully, The Gooch. This was a brilliant example of the “less-is-more” villain. This name served as one of the inspirations for the villain in my debut novel,
Monkey Arkwright. It’s sad to think that two of the show’s stars died relatively young: Dano Plato aged in 34 in 1999 and Gary Coleman aged 42 in 2010.
The major films of the year all went on to become classics in their genre:
Grease,
Halloween,
Superman,
The Deer Hunter and
Midnight Express.
Music
Apologies to fans of disco or punk; my focus is on other areas, and I’ll leave the good people of this thread to fill in the blanks.
"Prove It All Night" – Bruce Springsteen
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With
Darkness of the Edge of Town, Springsteen moved away from
Born to Run’s wall-of-sound production. A legal dispute with his former manager left him unable to record for a year and the Springsteen that emerged had written songs that were perhaps more aligned with his state of mind at the time. Gone were the dreamers hoping to escape town for something better, instead replaced by down-on-their-luck characters who haunted the songs on Darkness.
Now some folks are born into a good life
And other folks get it anyway, anyhow
Well now I lost my money and I lost my wife
Them things don't seem to matter much to me now
It’s worth noting that E-Street band guitarist Steve Van Zandt hated the final mix, saying the final record contained some of Springsteen's "best and most important songs", but suffered from "terrible production”.
I think he’s right on both counts; the original CD of
Darkness on the Edge of Town that I bought in the early 90s sounded incredibly flat compared to the versions of some of the songs I’d grown to love on the
Live 75/85 box set. This is something that the 2010 Darkness boxset goes a long way to addressing.
Speaking of boxsets, the multitude of songs included on 1998’s
Tracks and the 2010 remaster of Darkness show how incredibly productive these studio sessions were.
As for containing some of Springsteen's "best and most important songs", you can’t argue with that either. “Badlands”, “Racing in the Street”, “The Promised Land”, “Prove it All Night” and the title track all hit the mark and have gone on to be concert staples over nearly 50 years of shows.
Darkness on the Edge of Town is Springsteen’s best album, and it’s in my top 5 all-time records.
"Because the Night" – Patti Smith
How do you get two Springsteen songs from the same album recording sessions onto one playlist? Answer, include “Because the Night”.
The song was recorded on the first day of the Darkness sessions, though the lyrics only consisted of the song title and some mumbling. After struggling with the song for almost four months, Springsteen agreed to hand the song over to Patti Smith, who was recording the album
Easter in the same studio, the Record Plant in New York, with Springsteen’s engineer, Jimmy Iovine, producing.
Iovine brought Smith the last recording by Springsteen, from September 27, 1977. Smith added her own lyrics, recorded it, and scored her biggest hit single.
"Baker Street" – Gerry Rafferty
Gerry Rafferty was having contractual problems, and like Springsteen, was unable to release any material because of legal disputes surrounding the breakup of his old band, Stealers Wheel, in 1975. "Baker Street" was included on Rafferty's second solo album,
City to City, but his first album after the resolution of legal problems.
"Baker Street" features a prominent eight-bar saxophone riff by the session musician Raphael Ravenscroft, played as a break between verses. Billboard described it as "the most recognizable sax riff in pop music history".
It is said to have been responsible for a resurgence in the sales of saxophones and their use in mainstream pop music and television advertising. The song was cited by guitarist Slash in 1987 as an influence on his guitar solo in "Sweet Child O' Mine".
"Werewolves of London" - Warren Zevon
This song, featured on Warren Zevon’s third album,
Excitable Boy, had both an interesting genesis and recording session. The idea came from Phil Everly, who having watched the 1935 film,
Werewolf of London, suggested to Zevon that he adapt the title for a song and dance craze. Zevon wrote the song in 15 minutes, along with his band members LeRoy P.Marinelli and Waddy Wachtel.
Having seen the lyrics, it was Jackson Browne who first performed the song in concert and famed producer, T Bone Burnett actually performed it on the first leg of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder review tour.
When it came to the recording, it took seven different band configurations, 59 takes, yet it was the 2nd take that was selected for the final mix!
In addition to Zevon, there are three other musicians on the track: Mick Fleetwood and John McVie of Fleetwood Mac, and co-writer Waddy Wachtel. Wachtel has an incredible list of credits to his name (check out his Wikipedia page), and also played the acoustic guitar player on stage when the ship capsizes in
The Poseidon Adventure.
"Pump it Up" - Elvis Costello
From Elvis Costello’s second album,
This Year’s Model, “Pump It Up” was intended as a commentary on the Stiffs Live Tour, which Costello had participated in. Musically, Costello admits that the song "obviously took more than a little bit from 'Subterranean Homesick Blues'."
"Das Model" - Kraftwerk
From the album
Mensch-Maschine (known in international versions as
The Man-Machine), this single hit number one in the UK. Even 10-year-olds like me who weren’t into music at this stage remember this song.
"The Trees" – Rush
Continuing a great run of Rush albums was
Hemispheres. I’m 99.99% sure that
@OB1 will come in with his favourite from this album, but I like the shorter form song here represented by “The Trees”. A song written by drummer/lyricist Neil Peart after he saw a cartoon picture of trees carrying on like fools, the lyrics tell a short story of a conflict between the maple and oak trees in a forest – the maples want more sunlight, but the oaks are too tall.
Ultimately, “the trees are all kept equal by hatchet, axe and saw.”
To finish the playlist, three significant acts who released their debuts in 1978.
"Runnin' With The Devil" - Van Halen
From Van Halen’s debut album, one of their best-known songs. An interesting bass line and some terrific solos from Eddie.
"Run by Night" - Midnight Oil
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I couldn’t let 1978 pass by without marking the debut album of one of my favourite bands. I know that Midnight Oil are loved almost as much as Rush on these forums . “Run By Night” is the best track from Midnight Oil’s eponymous album. There would be much better to come, of course, but this is a sprightly little number.
"The Man with the Child in His Eyes" - Kate Bush
Also releasing a debut album this year was Kate Bush.
The Kick Inside contained a couple of singles that, once again, even a 10-year-old with no interest in music couldn’t fail to hear at the time.
