Best #1 Album of 1979

Get The Knack ... what a great power pop record.

 

Donna - Bad Girls

 

In Through the Out Door

 

I have all but the Donna Summer album, I have to say the Knack's Get the Knack is my favorite from this list.

 

Nothing in there for me , there were dozens better albums for me in 1979, Armed Forces. Talking Heads - Fear Of Music, Ultravox -Systems Of Romance, B-52's , Rickie Lee Jones, Bob Marley - Survival, Third World - The Stories Been Told, UB 40 - Signin' Off, The Police, Herman Brood...etc. etc.
Well none of those on the list made it to the Top in Europe and vice versa I bet..lol

What about Dire Straits second album? Typewriter and Rush - Dust In The Wind was on the radio 24 hours per day in the summer of 79 on the east coast; if I remember that right..
I did like Bad Girls secretely, You couldn't say that in public back in those days..lol

 

really already close to the end of a decline of the end of great pop records,I like
a few of these ,but none are classics

 

From the list, Supertramp - Breakfast in America was the only one in my original vinyl collection. It was replaced with the MoFi some time during the late 90's. It would probably receive my vote.

Since then, have acquired the Zeppelin box set. In Through the Out Door is better than was thought at the time. It's rather telling with John Paul Jones's writing credits. He was more of an integral part of that band than many were led to believe.

Eagles - The Long Run. They were actually my favorite band in the late 70's as a youth. Like everybody, was eagerly anticipating the follow-up to Hotel California. It was received as a somewhat of a disappointment, but was reliable for successful singles. Decades of hindsight has led me to believe that it's better than some of their previous output, but obviously not their commercial or artistic peak. Friction, drugs and other factors led to their demise.

Not to open that can of worms, but listening to it now demonstrates that Don Felder was really coming into his own. "Heavy Metal (Taking a Ride)" was supposed to be included, in some form, IIRC, but was rejected or incomplete. Pity, since a novelty tune like "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks" diminishes the album. (Yeah, yeah, yeah, they were trying to capitalize on the "Animal House"craze.)

Billy Joel on Glass Houses didn't seem authentic at the time and seems even less so now. If he was going to pursue a New Wave direction, why wasn't there anything else like it after?

It bothered me that The Knack held #1 for as long as it did. FM hits like "Children of the Sun" or "Hit Me With Your Rythm Stick" far exceed this bogus act. Nile Rodgers of Chic has expressed regret about how white kids went nuts over this release. He has a point, to an extent, but history has put things in order. Nile Rodgers, along with his Chic cohorts, would be redeemed with some excellent session and production work. Doug Fieger and Co. were exposed as shams on their 2nd album.

 

Came close to going with Supertramp, but Bad Girls is just too good to deny.

 

The Knack narrowly edges out Led Zep here for me....slim pickens, though.

 

Supertramp for me. It's the only disc that's good all the way through.

 

The Clash - "London Calling"

with Joy Division's "Unknown Pleasures" close behind.

 

I went w/ Supertramp.

 

I had to go with Zep on this one

Supertramp was a close second, but I have to hand it to Jimmy, John, John and Robert just because it was such a groundbreaking Lp on so many levels! Bonzo's best drumming ever, so sad he didn't live long after it to show more of 'his groove thang' he would've been dreaming up

 

Breakfast for me!

 

Silly me, those weren't N°1 albums as far as I know. They were the best two albums of 79 though (in my opinion).
I can't vote for those on the list as I don't like or have never heard them.

 

WOW! What a difference a decade makes. I doubt I've listened to any of these albums since '79. I voted for 52nd Street though I think it was album that marked the end of my Billy Joel appreciation. I wasn't listening to much Pop (save for my GF's fascination with Barry Manilow) but I did enjoy the Police's Outlandos D'Amour...ROXANNE! You don't have to put on the red light.....

 

Apparently there were no good albums to reach #1 in the US in 1979 (although if In Through the Out Door had been an EP or Bad Girls a single album, they might have made qualified).

The UK charts saw Blondie's Parallel Lines and Eat to the Beat, Gary Numan's Replicas and Pleasure Principle, and Fleetwood Mac's Tusk all hit number one, though, so there are some better choices across the pond.

 

Same here.

 

I went with Donna. There are a few tremendous albums on this list, but Bad Girls is the one that still excites me the most.

 

It still beats the hell out of Presence, but I agree that Zep, Rod, The Bee-Gees and The Eagles were not at the top of their games anymore by this point.

 

Police would be my favorite too.

 

In Through the Out Door

 

For a year that had so many great bands/albums (B52's, Devo, Tubeway Army, The Cure, Wire, Siouxsie, Buzzcocks, Talking Heads, etc.), this list of numbers ones are a lot more like number twos, if you catch my drift.

The best stuff is always under the radar.