THE CLASS OF '79 (Part 1)

Get a group of musos down the pub.....make sure they have a few beverages, along with some bags of cheese & onion crisps (oh, alright fussyboots, I'll change yours to salt & vinegar) and then get a discussion going on what was the best ever year for music. I can guarantee that the arguments will go on till the landlord chucks everyone out...

I'll suggest that there was none better than 1979. And over the course of the next 12 months, I'm going to use Sundays here at TVV to outline just why I believe that to be the case....

Part of is wrapped up in the fact that 1979 was the year that I was first able to see bands play live on stage. I was 15 and a bit years of age, and the licensing laws were such that I couldn't get into any pubs in Glasgow to see any live music (not that I really wanted to for the most part, as the majority of acts were hard-rocking). But there were a great many post-punk/new wave bands appearing regularly at the Glasgow Apollo, which was, if you didn't include the student unions, just about the only venue of note in the city back in those days.

It was also the year that I think I grew up the most - I got my first ever job (albeit temporary over the summer holidays) and for the first time had meaningful amounts of money to spend on music. The job also brought me into contact with my first real-life punk, and through borrowing some of his records, my knowledge and appreciation expanded considerably.

Looking back subjectively to 1979, I think there can be no argument that that much of the music from that year has lasted better than most. I'd also like to propose that many bands with a career pre and/or post 79 hit a creative peak in that particular year.

And let's not forget that 1979 was also a great year for some classic disco singles, and given that these were the only places you could really hope to get yourself a girlfriend, then an appreciation of the genre was every bit as essential as it was to be able to feel that The Jam were the single-most important band ever to have walked the planet.

So where to start??

I really can't think of anywhere better than a single that was released 30 years ago this very week. It's something I've written about before at TVV, (click here) but I make no apologies for this repeat.

mp3 : Blondie - Heart Of Glass (12" version)

It was the song that allowed new wave fans to admit they liked disco. It was the song that helped make video promos such a powerful tool in the following decade.

Of course, it was a song already well known to those of us who had purchased the LP Parallel Lines a few months back, but such was its brilliance, that even the constant playing on the radio over the early part of 1979 could never make you bored with it. And there was no way that any 15 and a bit hetro bloke could ever get sick of looking at the video on Top of The Pops.

Incidentally, the use of the word 'ass' was enough to require the label to change the lyric to allow radio play....

Heart Of Glass went to #1 in eight different countries, and Top 10 in many others. For some reason though, the Italians hated it......

And here's yer b-side:-

mp3 : Blondie - Rifle Range

Happy Listening.