posted
These were actual songs that made the Top 40 in 1979, but didn't rise very high. It goes without saying that they didn't make the year-end lists.
But without these songs and others like them, I wouldn't have discovered the length and breadth of rock 'n' roll in those days. My local station played Top 40 hits, but not all of the Top 40. If not for Casey Kasem's show, I might never have discovered the world beyond Donna Summer and The Bee Gees.
How many do YOU remember?
SUCH A WOMAN, Tycoon
DON'T EVER WANNA LOSE YA, New England
GIRL OF MY DREAMS, Bram Tchaikovsky
SATURDAYNIGHT, Herman Brood & His Wild Romance
I GOT MY MIND MADE UP (YOU CAN GET IT GIRL), Instant Funk
HOLD ON, Ian Gomm
TRAIN TRAIN, Blackfoot*
GET USED TO IT, Roger Voudouris**
COME TO ME, France Joli***
VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR, The Buggles****
DON'T YOU WRITE HER OFF, McGuinn, Clark & Hillman *****
* Blackfoot is hardly obscure, but "Train Train" was derailed at # 38. Criminal!
** Vouduris claimed that he would be bigger than Elvis and the Beatles combined. This was his only hit.
*** Joli was the first French Canadian to reach the Top 40. She was 17 at the time.
**** Made history by becoming the first video aired on MTV, nearly two years later.
***** Three former members of The Byrds.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
The only one I know is Video Killed the Radio Star, through the MTV connection and also through the Yes connection (the Buggles were actually absorbed into Yes in 1980).
Then again, I was 3 in 1979.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: Then again, I was 3 in 1979.
Wha..?! I never would have guessed you were a Bi-Centennial baby EDE. And I never would have believed I was 10 years your senior.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I'm older than both of you. I was 15 going on 16 when these songs were out. In two months, I will enter that coveted and dreaded realm known as the Forties. Ugh! This will either be the beginning of the rest of my life, or the end of something.
But it does mean that my musical memories are longer than some, and I get to regale (bore?) you with more lists, such as:
SONGS THAT NEVER MADE THE TOP 40, BUT SHOULD HAVE (1979-80)
CHILDREN OF THE SUN, Billy Thorpe
THIS BEAT GOES ON/SWITCHIN' TO GLIDE, The Kings
FOR YOU, Manfred Mann's Earth Band
I GOT YOU, Split Enz
BORROWED TIME, Styx
GIRL WITH THE HUNGRY EYES, Jefferson Starship
SINCE YOU BEEN GONE, Rainbow
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I also know Come To Me and Video Killed The Radio Star (who doesn't?). I don't remember them from when they were first released, though.
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
The Buggles were ace! VKTRS was one of the first singles I ever bought and on the B-side was a song called Kid Dynamo, which of course I had to make up a character to fit that name - can't remember what hewas like now though....
From: home sweet home... unless i'm posting from work | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: Then again, I was 3 in 1979.
Wha..?! I never would have guessed you were a Bi-Centennial baby EDE. And I never would have believed I was 10 years your senior.
Would you believe mrs. matlock was born on the 4th of July, 1976? I really have no excuse to ever forget her birthday or age, in the classic sitcom style.
From: Douglasville, GA | Registered: Jul 2003
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Too bad the rest of the world didn't. "Since You Been Gone" reached only # 57.
Unavoidable trivia moment: That song was written by Russ Ballard, who was perhaps best known as the voice and songwriter of Argent's only hit, "Hold Your Head Up," in 1972. One of Ballard's other successes as a songwriter was Ace Frehley's "New York Groove," 1978.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: [b] CHILDREN OF THE SUN, Billy Thorpe
THIS BEAT GOES ON/SWITCHIN' TO GLIDE, The Kings
FOR YOU, Manfred Mann's Earth Band
I GOT YOU, Split Enz
SINCE YOU BEEN GONE, Rainbow
These were all extremely popular on the radio where I grew up. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought they were huge hits nationally.
Indeed. I remember listening to AT40, waiting for some these to debut, but they never did. I still hear most of them on classic rock stations, occasionally. I think "Children Of the Sun," in particular, has lived on longer than many of the songs that actually reached the Top 40 that year.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Outdoor Miner: Santana had a big hit with Ballard's "Winning". And, IIRC, he also wrote "Liar", which was covered by Three Dog Night.
Did "God Gave Rock And Roll To You" not chart for Argent, then?
Nope. At least it didn't reach the Top 40.
Ballard was quite a ubiquitous songwriter for many years. I had forgotten about "Liar," and I didn't know "Winning" was his.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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