I'm very sorry you lost your Dad at such an early age mate. My Wife lost her Mum very young and I lost my Dad around the same time but in very different circumstances. He ran off with another woman and we never heard or saw him again. You were blessed to have a strong support network and I found music to be something that helped as well. Did you become an accountant?Yes, and I am thankful for that experience. I also needed to go to pursue my chosen career. Actually my late father’s idea that I should qualify as an accountant. He had to leave school at about 14 or 15 and take on his father’s small business after he died, so his education was very poor and had been disrupted to some degree by the war. He and his younger brother made a success of the business but he did not want me following in his footsteps…
1979 was probably the best of the time that I spent at Uni. My Dad died early on in the summer holidays, a couple of days after we had come back from a holiday in Malta, which wasn’t the best holiday we’d had. We got an apartment rather than a hotel and it didn’t have air con, and it was very hot. As soon as we got back, I needed to get down to our chalet in Abersoch to start my holiday job. My car was playing up and my Dad managed to fix it so I could leave very early the next morning. The last time I saw him was when I gave him a big hug of thanks.
It’s a strange thing, losing my father was truly awful but the rest of the year was pretty great. My friends were really supportive, one in particular who had then not been a close friend for long was brilliant and would eventually be my best man (and I his). There’s actually a musical relevance there, as will be come clearer next time it’s my turn to write about a year.
I must confess I liked Gen X even back then.
Seen Billy a few times. Once performing with the Who; think he played Cousin Kevin.
I'm very sorry you lost your Dad at such an early age mate. My Wife lost her Mum very young and I lost my Dad around the same time but in very different circumstances. He ran off with another woman and we never heard or saw him again. You were blessed to have a strong support network and I found music to be something that helped as well. Did you become an accountant?
Nothing wrong with synths full stop. It’s how they are used that’s important. There are some amazing synth riffs which will go down in music history and I also like them when they are used as a pad, a background to build everything else on.Guitar synths Rob, acceptable or the work of the devil?
Nothing wrong with synths full stop. It’s how they are used that’s important. There are some amazing synth riffs which will go down in music history and I also like them when they are used as a pad, a background to build everything else on.
Cheap and nasty sounding Casios or synths that sound like they are playing themselves (Pet Shop Boys, Erasure etc,), no thanks.
Putting aside all the Wacko stuff, Quincy's production on "Off The Wall" and especially the follow-up is simply peerless.I don't subscribe to the theory that if you sell shedloads of records your automatically good but this one sold 20 million.
Before he became a man child and before we knew what we know now he performed what I regard as great pop records.
Could be put on here for Quincy Jones's production alone.
From Off The Wall
Michael Jackson - Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
Agree. Has to be recognisedPutting aside all the Wacko stuff, Quincy's production on "Off The Wall" and especially the follow-up is simply peerless.
You've just selected 4 songs I was pondering, so thanks for that! I also considered Pat Benatar, but I think I'll save her 'til later (fnarr! fnarr!).Right so six into four just will not go.
I have decided to leave out Van Halen and the Pat Benatar releases. The latter being mostly cover versions (albeit very good).
Two of my four selections involved key personnel changes that evoked very strong albums as a result.
Ronnie James Dio seemed to be integral to the sound of Rainbow.Often usurping the prog stronghold of myth and legend it was a great shock when he was no more. Enter the exact opposite in Graham Bonnet. Girls swooned over this new heartthrob and the radio friendly Since you’ve been gone emerged.
Over in Germany, Scorpions were now without the talismanic lead guitarist Michael Schenker. As a result the music shifted and the album Lovedrive succeeded. One of many favourites is Loving you Sunday morning.
Transatlantic Foreigner continued their rich vein of form with Head Games. Included in this release was the brilliant opening track Dirty White Boy.
And finally we come to Supertramp’s Breakfast in America. The obvious would be The Logical Song or the title track. For my selection it was very close between the closing track Child of Vision or Take the Long way Home. Ive chosen the latter today :-)
Lovedrive has a great riff and Holiday is one of my favourite ballads, even though I haven't listened to it for years.You’ve managed to pick three of my favourite songs from their respective albums; not that I don’t like the Scorps track but there are others I prefer on Lovedrive.
I can fix that! From the live album, Strangers in the Night:No, there’s no limit on song length, it’s just that Rob doesn’t like songs over 10 minutes long, or live albums or…
1979
1979 was a pivotal year in my music history. Up until this point my music had been gathered from four different sources. My Dad's Sunday afternoon listen club, the radio, Top Of The Pops and mates. A very closed circuit, especially as the radio, TOTP and my mates were basically the same thing. But in 1979 this changed as I was allowed to go on my own to concerts. And not just the bands you would see and hear splashed all over the BBC but ones in London clubs, with a stage, a bar (I was slightly too young for this to mean anything but I remember the thrill of an underage Mild to this day) and bands that you had never heard of. Of course this was all allowed if I had a responsible adult, or so my dad thought, with me i.e my older cousin. He lived in that there London, smoked, dressed weirdly and loved music. I was allowed to train it up if he met me at Victoria Station with strict instructions to deposit me back at said station for the return journey. Our club of choice was called The Nashville Rooms. I think it was open in the mid 70's and closed in 1980.
It was here, in the January of 79, that I saw my first proper band in a dingy club. Madness. It was a Sunday night...and it was mental. This was before the release of their first single, Prince Buster, and I'd never heard of them. Obviously, trying to be all cool and sophisticated, my Cousin said he had. What followed was an hour of sweaty fighting with the big kids. Or it seemed that way as when I got up for school the next day I ached all over.
Madness - One Step Beyond
A month later I was back up to the Nashville to be chaperoned, to drink half a mild and to watch The Human League. Being Boiled had already come out the year before, not that I had heard it, probably because it didn't chart until a few years later, but my Cousin was sure that we would have a good time. This was pre Human League girls, Martyn Ware was in the band, later of Heaven 17, and Phil Oakey already had his haircut. They were very, very different from Madness, something my body thanked me for the next day at school. I interviewed Mr Ware a few years ago, an absolute gentleman. He said that Oakey wasn't the first choice warbler but they had to go with him as Glenn Gregory, who would later be the Heaven 17 singer, had moved to London with a new job.
The Human League - Empire State Human
We now move away from the Nashville Rooms as although I saw probably another 5 or 6 concerts in 1979 I also went to quite a few in bigger arenas. The next band I saw was The Cure at Bournemouth Town Hall. A much bigger venue that I was used to and as such less sweaty. It was probably in March but definitely a Saturday night. My Cousin, plus family, had come down to stay and he had got tickets. I was a little underwhelmed by them if I'm honest. Very hard to Pidgeon hole. Lots of swaying. Robert Smith had normal hair. I, of course had never heard of them before, and I can't tell you if they played this next song, but it's 1979, and it's now a firm favourite.
The Cure - Boys Don't Cry
The next concert was a month or so later at the Brighton Centre. The band I'd heard of as they were famous. They had been on the radio and everything. Squeeze were touring their new album, Cool For Cats, and the next song is from the album. Probably my favourite of theirs.
Squeeze - Up The Junction
We now hit two singles that left a profound mark on my music taste that endures to this day. I saw one band supporting the other in October at the Southampton Gaumont but seeing as both of these songs came out in May it seems right to mention them now. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, or OMD, still tour now. Catch them if you can because they are fantastic. In 1979 they were just a support band, but they played this song and it captivated me. Simple, but with a mad man leaping about playing bass whilst what looked like my music teacher played simple yet effective keyboards. Oh the layers. The synth. I was hooked.
OMD - Electricity
Which leads me neatly onto the band that OMD were supporting at the Gaumont. Famously the album they meant to record was going to be in the punk style until the lead singer noticed a minimoog in the studio. After messing around with it and his guitar he was astonished by what he heard. Weirdly he has now gone back to a more guitar driven sound. When I first heard this next offering I was blown away. It was astonishing and still sounds beautiful and haunting today. The rock version he plays live these days is a decent headbanger as well.
Tubeway Army - Are Friends Electric
We now move onto June and away from the live stuff. This next song was played in one of my Dad's Sunday record sessions. Although we both weren't too keen on the album it came from, this song stood out. Mainly because it was completely at odds with the rest of the album. Discovery, released in June, was ELO's first number One album, following on from the success of the monster that was Out Of The Blue. The keyboard player, Richard Tandy, called it...Disco...very. A bit harsh.
ELO - Don't Bring Me Down
Another of my Dad's favourites comes next. A song I still love today. A song that is played and sung beautifully with a bit of soul added in. It's just very smooth. I've banged on about this artist frequently over the years. And yes it has a sax in it. Just not that one. Released in July.
Gerry Rafferty - Get It Right Next Time
Next up is a band that I wasn't really into in 1979 and still am a bit on the fence with . A band that straddled many genres, had quite a few big hits but none topped this song to my ears. Although the album this came from was released in September 1979 this song didn't come out until 1980 as a single. I just love the driving drums. And obviously the keyboards!
Blondie - Atomic
And to complete my year in music I've hit December. This is another band I've seen live but not until 1981 with Blancmange supporting them. Once again it's very synth. I also think the lead singer has a very listenable voice. A very different sound to what was usually on the radio.
Japan - Quiet Life
Now if someone could do the honours with Spotify I'd be eternally grateful. Back to my holiday I go...
I can fix that! From the live album, Strangers in the Night:
Rock Bottom - UFO
Mad Axeman Michael Schenker claims there was a better version of his guitar solo that wasn't used, but it sounds pretty good to me!
you make an interesting point. I don't think the albums from this year do stand up either to the late 60's or the early 70's but (both last year and this year) standalone songs and singles, maybe they do (just). There is certainly variety and also some great songwriting and .....synths!Absolutely brilliant write up that mate, love how it's so personal and I can't imagine how exciting it must've been going to those gigs! It must've felt like every week you'd be seeing the next big thing that will appear on TOTP a few weeks later!
The songs you've nominated are top notch. I love Get It Right Next Time, it's such an underrated track that and Up The Junction is one of those songs that sums up so many lives in around 3 minutes, the storytelling in that song is incredible and something not many bands can do.
In fact, I might go as far as saying that 79 is - maybe - the strongest year of the 70s? The variety and quality is something - rock, heavy rock, disco, rap, punk and the start of that synth/new romantics starting all in there!
I've a few of nominations:
2/2 from Music For Airports - Brian Eno. This album is a landmark in ambient and minimalist music and has inspired many other musicians decades later in the electronic era.
Good Times - Chic. Disco frankly doesn't get any better than Chic, they are it's greatest band and this is a timeless classic.
Boogie Wonderland - Earth, Wind & Fire. A masterpiece from one of the best soul bands of the 70s!
Cars - Gary Numan. I cannot imagine how this must've sounded when it was released.
You look at the songs released in this year and it really does rival some of the 'great years' of any we've had so far in my opinion. I don't think there's anything that rivals the great albums of the late 60s/early 70s but the singles in particular are astonishingly good.
The mighty Rockpile, Nick Lowe, Dave Edmonds, Billy Brenmer and Terry Williams!Surprise, surprise, I am a Triumph fan and I think I have almost all their albums. Their original UK release was IIRC a combination of songs from their first two Canadian releases. Pretty sure my vinyl copy of Just A Game was an import.
Although Rush did not release anything in the year, they did record their next album in the UK I think and whilst here played a couple of sold out shows at the New Bingley Cow Shed, both of which I attended. They had also done a UK tour earlier in the year where I saw both Manchester Apollo gigs and also my first Hammersmith Odeon (now Apollo) gig, my father booked me a hotel so that I could go down and stay over for it. The tour gigs were supported by another Canadian band Max Webster, who were a slightly quirky hard prog rock band led by guitarist vocalist Kim Mitchell. A great pairing.
If my addition is correct, I attended 41 gigs in 1979. They covered quite a range of music, from AC/DC to Frank Zappa, including Rush, Zep, Van Halen, Boston, Journey, Sammy Hagar, BOC, The Tubes, Roxy Music, Horslips, Bad Co, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Whitesnake, Gillan, Uriah Heap, UFO, Queen, The Who, Steve Hillage, Trevor Rabin, Maiden, Leppard, Earth Wind & Fire, Jude Tzuke (at our hall party) and Cheap Trick (in the main hall at Uni).
I also saw Dave Edmunds’ Rockpile at the FTH, with I believe Nick Lowe on bass.
All tracks that I have in my collection.Absolutely brilliant write up that mate, love how it's so personal and I can't imagine how exciting it must've been going to those gigs! It must've felt like every week you'd be seeing the next big thing that will appear on TOTP a few weeks later!
The songs you've nominated are top notch. I love Get It Right Next Time, it's such an underrated track that and Up The Junction is one of those songs that sums up so many lives in around 3 minutes, the storytelling in that song is incredible and something not many bands can do.
In fact, I might go as far as saying that 79 is - maybe - the strongest year of the 70s? The variety and quality is something - rock, heavy rock, disco, rap, punk and the start of that synth/new romantics starting all in there!
I've a few of nominations:
2/2 from Music For Airports - Brian Eno. This album is a landmark in ambient and minimalist music and has inspired many other musicians decades later in the electronic era.
Good Times - Chic. Disco frankly doesn't get any better than Chic, they are it's greatest band and this is a timeless classic.
Boogie Wonderland - Earth, Wind & Fire. A masterpiece from one of the best soul bands of the 70s!
Cars - Gary Numan. I cannot imagine how this must've sounded when it was released.
You look at the songs released in this year and it really does rival some of the 'great years' of any we've had so far in my opinion. I don't think there's anything that rivals the great albums of the late 60s/early 70s but the singles in particular are astonishingly good.
I don't subscribe to the theory that if you sell shedloads of records your automatically good but this one sold 20 million.
Before he became a man child and before we knew what we know now he performed what I regard as great pop records.
Could be put on here for Quincy Jones's production alone.
From Off The Wall
Michael Jackson - Don't Stop Til You Get Enough