1979

In the early seventies, The Doobie Brothers were just a northern California bar band, making ends meet with food stamps, often playing gigs for drinks "and whatever we would find under the tables at closing time." Then, in 1972, "Listen to the Music" introduced their style to a coast-to-coast crowd. Such hits as "Long Train Runnin'," "China Grove," "Black Water," "Take Me in Your Arms" and "Takin' It to the Streets" turned them into one of the hottest bands of the seventies. After a couple of slow years, the Doobies bounced back in 1979 with their best-selling album ever, Minute by Minute. It featured the much-imitated sound of keyboard player Mike McDonald, as well as their biggest hit of the decade, "What a Fool Believes."

 

Keyboards also played a key role in the ultimate success of Supertramp. Almost a decade after their founding in London as a heavy metal band, the group hit the big time by moving to the U.S. and issuing their sixth album, Breakfast In America. It inclued three major hits: "Take the Long Way Home," "Goodbye Stranger," and their first million-selling single, "The Logical Song" (quickly parodied by the Barron Knights as "The Topical Song"). In July, the members of Supertramp displayed their logic by walking into Butnum's Music and buying, at one time, five Wurlitzer pianos ­ all the same model. The reason? The piano heard on their gold single happened to be a Wurlitzer, purchased at that same store just one year before.

 

Other Music Highlights of 1979:

• A UNICEF special featuring the Bee Gees, Rod Stewart, Donna Summer, John Denver, Olivia Newton-John, and ABBA is taped at the United Nations General Assembly and shown on NBC-TV. It helped raise money to combat hunger and provide food for the world's children.
• Evita, a musical based on the life of the wife of Argentine dictator Juan Peron, opens on Broadway.
• Paul McCartney signs a $20 million recording contract with Columbia Records.
• EMI buys United Artists Records, and MCA buys ABC Records.
• A landmark documentary about rock's biggest names debuts on ABC-TV. The Heros of Rock'n'Roll, starring Jeff Bridges, shows film clips of rock's major performers from the fifties, sixties, and seventies.
• Marty Balin leaves the Jefferson Starship and is replaced by Mickey Thomas.
• Ry Cooder records the first digitally recorded album, Bop Till You Drop.
• The Who begins touring with drummer Kenny Jones replacing Keith Moon, who died in 1978.
• At Eric Clapton's wedding to Patti Boyd (the former Mrs. George Harrison), Paul McCartney, Harrison, Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger and Clapton hold an impromptu jam.
• Chuck Berry enters Lompoc Prison in California to begin a four-month sentence for income tax evasion. He winds up serving only two months.
• At a Who concert in Cincinnati, Ohio, 11 fans are trampled to death as the crowd rushes in for their nonassigned seats.

 

The Top 40 Singles of 1979:

1. "My Sharona" - The Knack (First chart appearance: 7/21/79; Highest position: #1)
2. "Le Freak" - Chic (11/18/78; #1)
3. "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" - Rod Stewart (12/23/78; #1)
4. "Bad Girls" - Donna Summer (6/9/79; #1)
5. "YMCA" - Village People (11/11/78; #2)
6. "Reunited" - Peaches & Herb (3/31/79; #1)
7. "Ring My Bell" - Anita Ward (5/26/79; #1)
8. "I Will Survive" - Gloria Gaynor (1/20/79; #1)
9. "Too Much Heaven" - Bee Gees (11/18/78; #1)
10. "Hot Stuff" - Donna Summer (4/28/79; #1)
11. "Sad Eyes" - Robert John (6/30/79; #1)
12. "What A Fool Believes" - The Doobie Brothers (2/10/79; #1)
13. "Heart Of Glass" - Blondie (3/17/79; #1)
14. "Fire" - Pointer Sisters (12/16/78; #2)
15. "Good Times" - Chic (7/7/79; #1)
16. "Tragedy" - Bee Gees (2/10/79; #1)
17. "A Little More Love" - Olivia Newton-John (12/9/78; #3)
18. "Knock On Wood" - Amii Stewart (2/24/79; #1)
19. "Babe" - Styx (10/20/79; #1)
20. "Shake Your Body" - The Jacksons (3/31/79; #7)
21. "When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman" - Dr. Hook (6/2/79; #6)
22. "Pop Muzik" - M (8/25/79; #1)
23. "Makin' It" - David Naughton (5/12/79; #5)
24. "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" - Michael Jackson (9/1/79; #1)
25. "Rise" - Herb Alpert (8/25/79; #1)
26. "My Life" - Billy Joel (11/11/78; #3)
27. "I Want You To Want Me" - Cheap Trick (5/26/79; #7)
28. "I'll Never Love Like This Again" - Dionne Warwick (7/28/79; #5)
29. "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" - Barbra Streisand & Neil Diamond (11/4/78; #1)
30. "We Are Family" - Sister Sledge (5/12/79; #2)
31. "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" - Barbra Streisand/Donna Summer (10/27/79; #1)
32. "Sail On" - Commodores (8/18/79; #4)
33. "Logical Song" - Supertramp (4/28/79; #6)
34. "Stumblin' In" - Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman (2/24/79; #4)
35. "Chuck E's In Love" - Rickie Lee Jones (5/12/79; #4)
36. "Lead Me On" - Maxine Nightengale (7/7/79; #5)
37. "The Main Event" - Barbra Streisand (7/7/79; #3)
38. "Don't Cry Out Loud" - Melissa Manchester (1/6/79; #10)
39. "Music Box Dancer" - Frank Mills (3/3/79; #3)
40. "Just When I Needed You Most" - Randy Van Warmer (4/21/79; #4)

Top Albums of 1979:

Bad Girls - Donna Summer  Blondes Have More Fun - Rod Stewart  Breakfast In America - Supertramp  A Briefcase Full Of Blues - The Blues Brothers  The Cars  Dire Straits  Get The Knack - The Knack  In Through The Out Door - Led Zeppelin  The Long Run - Eagles  Minute By Minute - The Doobie Brothers  Parallel Lines - Blondie  Spirits Having Flown - Bee Gees  Tusk - Fleetwood Mac

 

20 Popular Movies of 1979:

Kramer vs. Kramer  Star Trek: The Motion Picture  The Jerk  Rocky II  Alien  All That Jazz  The Amityville Horror  Being There  Breaking Away  The China Syndrome  Manhattan  The Muppet Movie  Norma Rae  Starting Over  "10"  The Wanderers  The Warriors  Hair  Rock'n'Roll High School  The Rose

 

The Top 20 Television Shows of 1979:

60 Minutes  Three's Company  That's Incredible!  M*A*S*H  Alice  Dallas  Flo  The Jeffersons  The Dukes of Hazzard  One Day at a Time  WKRP in Cincinnati  Goodtime Girls  Archie Bunker's Place  Taxi  Eight Is Enough  Little House on the Prairie  House Calls  Real People  CHiPs  Happy Days

 

News Highlights of 1979:

• The Shah is forced to leave Iran after 37 years on the Peacock Throne. The Ayatollah Khomeini, a Muslim fundamentalist, returns after 15 years of exile to establish a socialist Islamic republic.
• Egypt's President Sadat and Israel's Prime Minister Begin sign a peace agreement at the White House.
• The Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania begins emitting radiation when problems with the cooling system expose part of the core.
• Actor Lee Marvin is sued for "palimony" by a former female companion.
• In Vienna, President Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT II agreement limiting strategic weapons. The U.S. Congress would ultimately fail to ratify the treaty, but both side abide by its terms anyway.
• General Samoza resigns as president of Nicaragua, and the Sandinistas succeed to power.
• Chrysler Corporation asks the federal government for a loan of $1 billion after reporting the largest quarterly loss in its history.
• Pope John Paul II travels to the United States, the first time a pope has set foot on American soil.
• The United States Embassy in Tehran is seized, and 54 American citizens are taken hostage; two are soon released, but the rest are held captive for 444 days.
• Former Governor Ronald Reagan, Senator Edward Kennedy, and President Carter are the leading names for their parties' presidential nominations.
• Mother Teresa, the empress of charity, accepts the Nobel Peace Prize.
• In December, Soviet forces invade Afghanistan.

 

Sports Winners of 1979:

• Baseball: The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 3.
• Football: The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Los Angeles Rams 31-19 on January 20, 1980, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California in Super Bowl XIV.
• Basketball: The Seattle Supersonics beat the Washington Bullets 4 games to 1.
• Hockey: The Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Rangers 4 games to 1.