Best Album on My Favourite Albums of......1979!!

tusk

Voted Mutiny as its the best of all the many pfunk spin offs and indeed as good as any of the mid period funkadelic (even clinton says so)

Either Unknown Pleasures or Metal Box. I don't mind Pink Floyd's absence this time around.

Voted for Jacko with a slightly heavy heart.

1979 was a much better year for singles than for albums imho.

I actually barely know any of these. Will explore!

Unknown Pleasures or Off The Wall, instinctively, with Rust Never Sleeps and This Heat close behind.

A weirdly high number of 'The' bands?

tusk vs. 154

tusk

London Calling, easy

yeah kind of a boring vote but London Calling still rules. 40 years old!! jesus

Lots of great albums, but London Calling is the easiest vote so far

If Tusk beats London Calling... I don't know, that's some kind of bizzaro universe that I don't want any part of.

3ib

If Tusk beats London Calling... I don't know, that's some kind of bizzaro universe that I don't want any part of.

― BrianB, Wednesday, 3 April 2019 14:58 (four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

welcome to ilm. voting tusk

ridiculously tough, voted This Heat

also would've gone for Jardin Au Fou by Roedelius or Solid State Survivor by YMO

Own: Bowie, Gang Of Four, Japan, Joy Division, Magazine, Pere Ubu, PiL, Stiff Little Fingers, Swell Maps, Talking Heads, The Damned, The Fall, The Jam, The Pop Group, The Raincoats, The Ruts, The Slits, The Specials, The Undertones, Wire

F*ck me sideways, so many of these hold a special place in my heart. Many of them I came to love much later - I hated The Fall and The Pop Group the first time I heard them! Wire, PiL, The Ruts, The Specials, The Slits - these are epochal LPs.

But it was Gang Of Four's "Entertainment" that absolutely took my head off the first time I heard it, and I still adore every second of it. So that one.

At least 20 hold a special place in my heart:

Chrome - Half Machine Lip Moves (Creed’s guitarzzz)
David Bowie - Lodger (HEY HO, HE WISHED ME WELL)
Fleetwood Mack - Tusk (TUSK!)
Gang of Four - Entertainment! (SOMETIMES I'M THINKING THAT I LOVE YOU BUT I KNOW IT'S ONLY LUST)
Holger Czukay - Movies (LET'S GET HOT ON THE DANCING SPOT)
Japan - Quiet Life (HERE WE ARE STRANDED)
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR A GUIDE/TO COME AND TAKE ME BY THE HAND)
Michael Jackson - Off The Wall (DON'T STOP 'TIL YOU GET ENOUGH)
Michael Rother - Katzenmusik (Rother’s guitarzzz)
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Live Rust (Crazy Horse guitarzzz)
Philip Glass - Enstein On The Beach (1, 2, 3, 4/1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6/1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
Public Image Ltd. - Metal Box (GETTING RID OF THE ALBATROSS)
Swell Maps - A Trip to Marineville (SAY, THAT'S A SWELL MAP)
Talking Heads - Fear of Music (AIR CAN HURT YOU TOO)
The Human League - Reproduction (OK, READY. LET'S DO IT)
The Slits - Cut (ENJOY IT/DESTROY IT)
This Heat - This Heat (H2O CAN FREEZE YOU TO THE MARROW)
Throbbing Gristle - 20 Jazz Funk Greats (I'M HOT ON THE HEELS OF LOVE)
Tubeway Army - Replicas (SO NOW I'M ALONE/NOW I CAN THINK FOR MYSELF)
Wire – 154 (MY GOD THEY’RE SO GIFTED)

damn...I hadn't even seen Replicas!! dunno if it's better than London Calling but man, I do love that album

Too many good things to chose from here. Not sure if I've ever heard "London Calling" all the way through though, not my bag.

"Flying Doesn't Help" by Anthony Moore is one of my favourites from this year.

never heard of it

Seek and ye shall find. Distinct lack of Popol Vuh in these last few polls, I think?

Other favorites from this year (many of which would put up a good fight):
The Adverts - Cast Of Thousands
Alternative TV - Vibing Up The Senile Man
Bram Tchaikovsky - Strange Man, Changed Man
Buzzcocks A Different Kind Of Tension
Hugh Cornwell & Robert Williams - Nosferatu
Devo - Duty Now For The Future
The Dickies - The Incredible Shrinking Dickies / Dawn Of The Dickies
Essential Logic - Beat Rhythm News
Nick Lowe - Labour Of Lust
The Mekons - The Quality Of Mercy Is Not Strnen
Monty Python - Monty Python's Life Of Brian
Bill Nelon's Red Noise - Sound-On-Sound
Penetration - Coming Up For Air
Roedelius - Selbstportrait
Sex Pistols - The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle
Simple Minds - Life In A Day / Real To Real Cacophony
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Join Hands
Skids - Scared To Dance / Days In Europa
The Soft Boys - A Can Of Bees
The Stranglers - Live (X Cert) / The Raven
Tom Robinson Band - TRB Two
Tom Verlaine - Tom Verlaine
The Who - The Kids Are Alright
XTC - Drums And Wires
Yachts - Yachts

Unknown Pleasures; sorry Blood Ulmer

Gang of Four

Voting in this poll would have been very time-dependent:

In 1979, I would have voted Highway To Hell
In 1980, London Calling
In 1981, Quiet Life
In 1982, Setting Sons [N American version with Strange Town + Butterfly Collector]
In 1983, Entertainment
In 1985, Rust Never Sleeps
In 1995, Movies
In 1998, Tales of Captain Black
In 2009, Force Majeure
In 2019, Tusk

Forgot "Drums and Wires"!

Another kind of weak year for albums. I would have voted for Bob Dylan “Slow Train Coming” or Van Morrison “Into the Music” were they listed.

"Three Imaginary Boys" was my favourite album when I was 13

The Specials are gonna not do well, I can sense.

Still, they won't be a zero...

Motorhead were busy this year!

Highway to Hell. With like an eight way tie for punk/post favorites, I shall not beat around the bush, and simply vote.

Another kind of weak year for albums. I would have voted for Bob Dylan “Slow Train Coming” or Van Morrison “Into the Music” were they listed.

― o. nate, Wednesday, 3 April 2019 16:08 (thirty-one minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

nah, no way is this a weak year. 77 and 78 weren't either.

I’d take 77 over 78 or 79. I admit I haven’t delved as deeply as I should. All 3 years were great for singles.

The absence of B-52's is problematic

77 > 79 > 78.

lots of good albums here, but this one is easy for me - Fear of Music

Gut vote is Entertainment!: oblique strokes of word and music, latter more compelling but it all fits at a slant: stick figure lightning strike Godard pop appeal (AKA what Gerald said upthread). Also gritty and sweaty enough on occasion (also check the Peel Sessions EP of some of these tracks). Almost a tie with Tales of Captain Black, and Neil & CH, Funkadelic, Clash, TRB etc. in Top Ten.

Talking Heads in there too, amen.

The absence of B-52's is problematic ridiculous

some say it should be here ... WELL, IT ISN'T

voted for Entertainment! over Neil (which I heard the most in 1979) and AC/DC (which I've played the most on road trips)

The Specials

also love:

AC/DC - Highway to Hell ,
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures ,
Talking Heads - Fear of Music ,
The Clash - London Calling ,
The Cure - Thee Imaginary Boys
The Pop Group - Y ,

Lots of great albums (own 14 and love another 5 of them), but it has to be London Calling. The B-52's would have given it the best run for its money.

jeez I own 36, this era is def where my heart lies

still prob gonna vote london calling but it's amazing to think that these all came out in the same year:

David Bowie - Lodger
Fleetwood Mack - Tusk
Germs - GI
Holger Czukay - Movies
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures ,
Michael Jackson - Off The Wall
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Live Rust ,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps ,
Talking Heads - Fear of Music ,
The Clash - London Calling ,
The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette
The Pop Group - Y ,
The Specials - The Specials,

left in live rust by mistake, but whatever, still a great record

"Modern Dance" was on the previous poll.

"New Picnic Time" is on this one.

No "Dub Housing"?

Explanation required.

Should've been in the last poll.

Hard to pick between Unknown Pleasures, Metal Box, Force Majeure, Overkill...

1979 is my second favorite year, after 1980. Could go for 154, Dragnet, Fear of Music, Lodger.... My list would also include:

Chic - Risqué
Ann Steel (Roberto Cacciapaglia) - The Ann Steel Album
Sparks - No. 1 in Heaven

xps

maybe i just dont have that album

1979, ok

good stuff this year. rock in opposition hits and hits hard, great diasporic post-punk and disco, an unexpected resurgence of the kosmische scene, city pop really starting to get good, and that's on top of all the usual awesomeness

a. vuolo & e. grande - desert
aksak maboul - un peu de l'ame des bandits
alcides neves - tempo de fratura
armande altai - atavisme
avalanche - perseverence kills our game
bill evans - we will meet again
bruford - one of a kind
camaron de la isla - la leyenda del tiempo
can - s/t
candido - dancin' & prancin'
cheikh tidiane fall, bobby few, & jo maka - diom futa
chet baker - no problem
chic - risque
chou pahrot - live
devo - duty now for the future
emmanuel booz - dans quel etat j'erre
essential logic - beat rhythm news
flamen dialis - symptome-dei
freddie mcgregor - bobby bobylon
henry cow - western culture
hiroshi sato - orient
honeyelk - en quete d'un monde meilleur
joe mcphee - zurich
kevin coyne & dagmar krause - babble
kha-ym - 10" gmt
lizzy mercier descloux - press color
lo borges - a via lactea
mbaraka mwinshehe & orchestra super volcano - the last recording of soloist national
mccoy tyner - horizon
metabolist - hansten klork
michele fromenteau - l'art de la vielle a roue vol 1
muck grohbian - muckefuck
national health - of queues and cures
niteflyte - s/t
orchestra njervudarov - con le orecchie di eros
osamu kitajima - dragon king
peter hammill - ph7
red noise - sound-on-sound
renaldo & the loaf - songs for swinging larvae
robert fripp - exposure
robert rental & the normal - live at west runton pavilion 6-3-79
ann steel - the ann steel album
the roches - s/t
shingetsu - s/t
sparks - no 1 in heaven
sun ra - on jupiter
sun ra - sleeping beauty
sund4r popo - come dance with the champ
sylvester - stars
terry allen - lubbock (on everything)
tatsuro yamashita - moonglow
thomas leer & robert rental - the bridge
tom verlaine - s/t
the toms - s/t
uk - danger money
univers zero - heresie
vagif mustafa zadeh - jazz compositions
veronique chalot - a l'entree du temps clair
witch queen - s/t
you - electric day
zeze gonzaga & quinteto de radames gnattali - valzinho: um doce veneno
zolar x - timeless

i want to particularly recommend camaron de la isla, essential logic, coyne/krause, the toms

out of what's here my gut says "cut" is the one to go with, so i'm going with that, the rest of y'all can fight it out between fleetwood mac and the clash.

oh and you're totally missing out for not having "dub housing", it's my fave of theirs

sund4r popo - come dance with the champ

oh come fucking on there's more than one person in the world with that first name

Rust Never Sleeps or Einstein on the Beach. At the time, the former. Now, the latter. I still haven't decided if I like Tusk...

London Calling vs. Fear of Music, impossible choice.

Squeeze, Cool For Cats, is one I'd add to the runners-up.

Dragnet just over Cut. This is def the best year

Arrrrrrgh!

David Bowie - Lodger
Japan - Quiet Life
Magazine - Secondhand Daylight
The Human League - Reproduction
Tubeway Army - Replicas

^ One of these.

the toms - s/t

my choice from what has been mentioned itt

from poll options it’s einstein on the beach

As someone said upthread, Risqué should definitely be on that list. Wonderful album.

The 1979 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll

Albums

1. Graham Parker: Squeezing Out Sparks (Arista) 767 (63)
2. Neil Young: Rust Never Sleeps (Reprise) 652 (50)
3. The Clash: The Clash (Epic) 638 (50)
4. Talking Heads: Fear of Music (Sire) 620 (51)
5. Elvis Costello: Armed Forces (Columbia) 619 (55)
6. Van Morrison: Into the Music (Warner Bros.) 474 (41)
7. The B-52s: The B-52s (Warner Bros.) 371 (37)
8. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Damn the Torpedoes (Backstreet/MCA) 340 (31)
9. Pere Ubu: Dub Housing (Chrysalis) 334 (28)
10. Donna Summer: Bad Girls (Casablanca) 330 (30)
11. The Roches: The Roches (Warner Bros.) 292 (30)
12. Dave Edmunds: Repeat When Necessary (Swan Song) 222 (21)
13. Nick Lowe: Labour of Lust (Columbia) 201 (24)
14. Tom Verlaine: Tom Verlaine (Elektra) 192 (22)
15. Iggy Pop: New Values (Arista) 190 (20)
16. Marianne Faithfull: Broken English (Island) 185 (20)
17. Blondie: Eat to the Beat (Chrysalis) 184 (20)
18. Michael Jackson: Off the Wall (Epic) 179 (16)
19. Rickie Lee Jones: Rickie Lee Jones (Warner Bros.) 176 (20)
20. Buzzcocks: Singles Going Steady (I.R.S.) 172 (18)
21. Fleetwood Mac: Tusk (Warner Bros.) 160 (17)
22. Neil Young with Crazy Horse: Live Rust (Reprise) 158 (15)
23. Ry Cooder: Bop 'Til You Drop (Warner Bros.) 155 (18)
24. David Johansen: In Style (Blue Sky) 136 (15)
25. Lene Lovich: Stateless (Stiff/Epic) 125 (13)
26. Linton Kwesi Johnson: Forces of Victory (Mango) 122 (13)
27. Chic: Risque (Atlantic) 112 (11)
28. Joe Jackson: Look Sharp! (A&M) 111 (11)
29. Art Ensemble of Chicago: Nice Guys (ECM) 108 (10)
30. Roxy Music: Manifesto (Atlantic) 107 (11)
31. David Bowie: Lodger (RCA Victor) 104 (12)
32. The Slits: Cut (Antilles) 99 (10)
33. Philip Glass/Robert Wilson: Einstein on the Beach (Tomato) 98 (9)
34. Bob Marley & the Wailers: Survival (Island) 94 (9)
35. The Police: Regatta de Blanc (A&M) 92 (10)
36. The Shoes: Present Tense (Elektra) 90 (12)
37. The Jam: All Mod Cons (Polydor) 89 (9)
38. Bob Dylan: Slow Train Coming (Columbia) 88 (11)
39. Stevie Wonder: Stevie Wonder's Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants (Tamla) 88 (9)
40. The Kinks: Low Budget (Arista) 85 (9)

Stirmonster is going to be displeased with me as I forgot to include the Nurse With Wound album from this year.

Missing Nurse With Wound, but especially Robert Ashley's 'Automatic Writing'.

fwiw I personally think the 1st NWW is the weakest of that early run

much prefer the Ashley

don't even know that.

it's very, uh, austere. whispers and scrapes for 40 minutes, plus the distant sound of music playing in another apartment. I love it.

Adding P&J reminds me that this is probably my fav vintage year for music, or maybe tied with 1969. Has any record's critical standing dissipated as fully a Squeezing out the Sparks? Most of the next 20 have seen their reputation rise, and many of them rise a lot.

Which reminds me of another favourite missing from this poll, Sparks, "No. 1 in Heaven".

Also, I notice you don't like ABBA.

That's not true but they are a singles band to me.

I never got into Sparks bar a couple of songs

(xp) A bit like me and the Clash.

My parents do have all the Abba LPs up in the loft.

how come that there is no joy div in the pazz & jop top 40? did critics sleep on them in the beginning?

It’s also curious that P&J has the s/t Clash album instead of London Calling. But it looks like that matches up with US release dates.

yeah that's the US release which is kind of a different album entirely, still weird that LC isn't in there

Doubt Joy Division had been released in the US, just as the Clash's debut wasn't issued right away. I wonder if P&J rules required releases that readers could actually buy. Gotta assume the Village would have been one of the first places with indie import bins. Wonder how many people outside of NYC would have read these lists in 1979?

some kind of bizzaro universe that I don't want any part of

New board description, certainly?

The absence of B-52's is problematic

My album of 1979, certainly!

I've never heard it more than once truthfully but Rock Lobster would certainly be my #1 single of that year.

The album that is. Obviously I've heard Rock Lobster thousands of times. It even was a reissued hit in the UK late 80s

The 1979 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll
Albums

1. Graham Parker: Squeezing Out Sparks (Arista) 767 (63)

literally never heard of this guy

I have but I've still never met anyone who claims to be a fan of him. Not sure I've ever heard any of his music.

He would've been on Stiff Records in the UK.

I've never seen even Mark Grout mention him or Stewart O formerly of this parish ever mention him and they would be the likeliest two

dude was considered the savior of rock in the late 70's if you read Rolling Stone back then

I was born in '73, in Scotland.

Missing Nurse With Wound, but especially Robert Ashley's 'Automatic Writing'.

― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, April 4, 2019 6:58 AM (nine hours ago)

Chance Meeting on a Dissecting Table of a Sewing Machine and an Umbrella and Automatic Writing both feel like all-time great albums to me

Pazz & Jop voters were and are cross-country, but even so why isn't Gang of Four in P&J '79? It couldn't have been that hard to find; I got mine in Tuscaloosa. Something about release dates?
Parker was punk in attitude, white r&b-based musically, with some Highway 61 Revisted in there: either way, a mid-60s-to-mid 70s honking at rotting traffic jams, a more illin' and more fun Elvis C., fi in some ways--- ehich incl. a limited range, vocally and otherwise, but xgau got it right about these peaks (and some uneven ones in between; I stopped listening later and so did most people apparently):

Howlin' Wind [Mercury, 1976]
Parker builds his white r&b of such familiar materials that it takes awhile for the songs to sort themselves out, but their fury is unmistakable--in the time-honored English manner, bass and drums play the house-rocking rhythms of Chicago and Detroit for righteous anger rather than good-time escape. Then songs come clear, marred at times by the white bluesman's chronic romanticism of the blood--"Gypsy Blood," to be precise--but so passionate that every personal animus takes dead aim at the great world...A

Graham Parker and the Rumour: Squeezing Out Sparks [Arista, 1979]
An amazing record. Parker's mood, which has narrowed into existential rage with a circumstantial root, makes for perfect, untamable rock and roll. Guitar, drums, vocals, lyrics, and hooks (and more hooks) mesh into ten songs so compelling that you're grateful to the relative lightweights for giving you a chance to relax. And if Graham is pissed off merely because he's not a big star yet, he translates his frustrations into credible, emotionally healthy anger--the kind you feel when they can't fit the real news into print. A
The Real Macaw, from the early 80s, is the last one I heard; some good stuff on there. Still at it, the last I read!

the blue Rolling Stone guide had a similarly ridiculous 5-star review of that Parker LP

I never got into Sparks bar a couple of songs

― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy)

fair enough but how do you feel about giorgio fucking moroder

Entertainment! was in the P&J top 10 in 1980. I don't think I heard it until sometime in the mid '80s

I've never heard Graham Parker and the Rumour, always wondered they sounded like but never bothered to check them out

The B-52's, Bowie, Gang of Four, Fleetwood Mack, Germs, Holger Czukay, Joy Division, Japan, Pere Ubu, PiL, Swell Maps, Tangerine Dream, Talking heads, The Clash, The Cure, The Fall, The Jam, The Pop Group, The Specials, The Undertones, This Heat, Throbbing Gristle, Wire………. there were so many great albums from this year

I have to believe we going to feel that way about 2018, 2019 in the coming decades

*Fleetwood Mac

Nope, Oor Neechy's right to have it in this year's poll: https://www.discogs.com/Gang-Of-Four-Entertainment/master/6309
CD versions of 'Entertainment!' all include bonus tracks from the Gang Of Four EP and other material. Also available the compilation Entertainment! & Yellow EP. Did not know that, only have the old LP.

listening to Squeezing Out Sparks now, it's nice, surprised it's been so forgotten

it's in the Springsteen, Garland Jeffries, Nick Lowe, Replacements bar-band continuum that The Village Voice seemed to really love

Totally dig that first wave of Rough Trade(-affiliated) albums.

The reflexive answer for me is Dragnet or Fear of Music as they've probably been most firmly embedded in my brain for the longest time but I could probably happily choose from at least a dozen others.

I always thought Fear of Music was the equal of Remain In Light

those two for me were everything in 1979-1980

can understand if Tusk, London Calling, Entertainment!, Metal Box, Unknown Pleasures, Off the Wall, 154 or one of the others here is the favorite though

gah that list almost makes me regret voting for This Heat but not quite

Yeah, I think I'll vote for This Heat. Really fantastic band.

I should listen to Einstein on the Beach one of these days.

it's so good!

my favorite Glass by far mostly because of the voices & narration

Listened to a couple of songs from that Graham parker album. Not bad, but not some forgotten gem imo. Vocal style reminds me of elvis costello for sure

I love the This Heat album, it was proto-post rock, foreshadowing Tortoise, The Sea and Cake, Bark Psychosis, Ben Frost, and others

listening to Squeezing Out Sparks now, it's nice, surprised it's been so forgotten

it's in the Springsteen, Garland Jeffries, Nick Lowe, Replacements bar-band continuum that The Village Voice seemed to really love

Yes, I think Graham Parker was like gold dust to rock critics in their late 20s upwards - esp. in the US.

I've never seen even Mark Grout mention him or Stewart O formerly of this parish ever mention him and they would be the likeliest two

― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Thursday, 4 April 2019 23:24 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I saw him plus Rumour at the first Reading Festival, he was very good. Next up was Thin Lizzy.

Oh, he did a sort-of encore (never seen that happen since for a non-headliner at RFest), where the power had been cut except for the microphones, and he got the audience to chant "Turn The Power On!" while he improvised some lyrics, then when the power was restored, they broke into "Hold back the night" seamlessly. Some years later, I found that the first bit was a 'pastiche' of "Out Demons Out".

Anyway, he put it quite well recently when he said that the main difference between himself and Elvis C was that Elvis could actually sing.

Some years later, I found one of his first two albums at a car boot, and was pleased. Then I played it, and was "hmmm... nah, sorry. It's OK, but".

There you go.

(at the first Reading Festival I went to, not the first ever, obv)

NME 1979 Albums of the Year

1. Fear Of Music - Talking Heads
2. Metal Box - Public Image Ltd.
3. Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division
4. Setting Sons - The Jam
5. Entertainment - Gang Of Four
6. Armed Forces - Elvis Costello
7. Do It Yourself - Ian Dury
8. London Calling - The Clash
9. Squeezing Out The Sparks - Graham Parker
10. The Specials - The Specials
11. Forces Of Victory - Lintin Kwesi Johnson
12. The B52's - The B52's
13. Bop Till You Drop - Ry Cooder
14. The Raincoats - The Raincoats
15. Tom Verlaine - Tom Verlaine
16. I Am - Earth, Wind & Fire
17. The Undertones - The Undertones
18. 154 - Wire
19. Repeat When Necessary - Dave Edmunds
20. Drums & Wires - Xtc
21. New Panic Time - Pere Ubu
22. Cut - The Slits
23. Risque - Chic
24. Regatta De Blank - Police
25. Humanity - The Royle Rasses
26. Same Song - Israel Vibration
27. Katzenmusic - Michael Rother
28. Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young
29. Brudder Des Schattens, Sohne Des.. - Popol Vuh
30. Dragnet - The Fall
31. Even Serpents Shine - The Only Ones
32. Eskimo - The Residents
33. Slow Train Coming - Bob Dylan
34. Blue Valentine - Tom Waits
35. This Heat - This Heat
36. A Train To Marineville - Swell Maps
37. I’m The Man - Joe Jackson
38. Soldier Talk - The Red Crayola
39. Reproduction - The Human League
40. Lodger - David Bowie

1979 NME Singles

1. Eton Rifles - The Jam
2. Gangsters - The Specials
3. London Calling -The Clash
4. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
5. Strange Town - The Jam
6. Message In A Bottle - The Police
7. Oliver's Army - Elvis Costello
8. Spacer - Sheila B Devotion
9. Shake Your Body - The Jacksons
10. Memories - Public Image Ltd.
11. Death Disco - Public Image Ltd.
12. My Feet Keep Dancing - Chic
13. Rock Lobster - The B52's
14. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson
15. Making Plans For Nigel - Xtc
16. Queen Of Hearts - Dave Edmunds
17. The Pictures On The Wall - Echo & The Bunnymen
18. Life During Wartime - Talking Heads
19. She's Beyond Good & Evil - The Pop Group
20. Boogie Wonderland - Earth Wing And Fire
21. Rowche Rumble - The Fall
22. Living On The Front Line - Eddie Grant
23. The Prince - Madness
24. Boys Don't Cry - The Cure
25. Touch - Lori & The Chameleons
26. Transmission - Joy Division
27. Get Over You - The Undertones
28. Memphis Tennessee - Silicone Teens
29. On My Radio - Selector
30. Pop Music - M
31. Girls Talk - Dave Edmunds
32. Heart Of Glass - Blondie
33. We Are Family - Sister Sledge
34. Stop Your Sobbing - Pretenders
35. Where’s Bill Grundy Now - Tv Personalities
36. Saturday Night Beneath The Plastic Palms - Leighton Buzzards
37. Time Goes By So Slow - Distractions
38. Protection - Graham Parker
39. A Message To You Rudi - The Specials
40. Electricity - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

Anyway, he put it quite well recently when he said that the main difference between himself and Elvis C was that Elvis could actually sing.

Other way surely?

... other way round, that is.

29. Brudder Des Schattens, Sohne Des.. - Popol Vuh

This was '78, NME guys.

btw tom to answer an earlier question by you i simply haven't heard any of the later 70s popol vuh

Any albums missing from my lists should be assumed ive not heard them or the odd case where i forgot about them.
In the case of Rush, Kiss , Later Pink Floyd or Yes, I simply dont like them

nme's list is actually very good! way more interesting, and much better albums, imo than the fairly boring us critical consensus of the era. honestly, reading a list like that just makes me pity the american critics more for being stuck with such a tepid and blinkered view of music

Was that because so much of 'punk' was UK centric and not available in the US or were they just too old and 60s hangovers looking for music like they had as a youth?

Here's the acclaimed music list for 79

http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/year/1979a.htm

Rolling Stone 1979 Critics

Album

• Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young

Single Of The Year

• Tusk - Fleetwood Mac

Melody Maker End Of Year Critic Lists - 1979

Albums

1. Fear Of Music - Talking Heads
2. Bop Till You Drop - Ry Cooder
3. Entertainment - Gang Of Four
4. Forces Of Victory - Linton Kwesi Johnson
5. Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young
6. The Undertones - The Undertones
7. Off The Wall - Michael Jackson
8. I Am - Earth, Wind & Fire
9. Metal Box - PIL
10. London Calling - The Clash
11. The Original Sin - Cowboys International
12. Squeezing Out Sparks - Graham Parker
13. We Are Family - Sister Sledge
14. Armed Forces - Elvis Costello
15. Tom Verlaine - Tom Verlaine
16. 154 - Wire
17. Drums And Wires - XTC
18. Exposure - Robert Fripp
19. Rock On - Raydio
20. Bad Girls - Donna Summer

Single Of The Year

• Public Image Limited - Death Disco

Most critics were on board with punk, though boundaries have shifted since. Elvis Costello's vitrol got him called punk. There was a year or more lag for a lot of those NME records getting issued in the States, Metal Box becoming Second Edition. Mid-eighties, when I started buying these records, Slits, Wire, The Fall were all still hard to find. Urgh A Music War is a pretty good example of the New Wave acts that were promoted and distributed more thoroughly in the US.

https://www.discogs.com/Various-URGH-A-Music-War/release/1104550

btw found a person on ilx who is a graham parker fan. He's a former ilxor from way back in the early days.

tough one. went with Throbbing Gristle.

do you know what Throbbing Gristle is Yorkshire slang for?

I wouldn't call myself a Graham Parker *fan* exactly but Squeezing Out Sparks is a decent pub rock LP

Was that because so much of 'punk' was UK centric and not available in the US or were they just too old and 60s hangovers looking for music like they had as a youth?

― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy)

i don't know what the hell was wrong with american critics in the '70s, i was three, and i'm a little grumpy about it because complaining about their utterly tepid and anodyne tastes makes me sound like fucking lj or something, i try to be a live and let live person, but jesus fucking christ their list looks like the shit the grammy voters come up with.

"60's hangover" gets closest to the vibe imo, it is very distinct and I mostly blame Dave Marsh

yes. also agree about the lag in US availability of a lot of the UK albums

this IS The B-52's, but in absence of that Joy Division.

this was the very first year i did the acclaimed series, which i ended up doing over five summers and then singles in the fall. what happened when i did the 1979 one is that the B-52's won. i did not know the B-52's at that time and knew that if it won a poll on ILM that it must be a special album. flash forward to 2018 and here i am doing the B-52's artist poll for ILM which Karl Malone ended up having to finish for me. i will never forget my reaction on the winning of the poll and being introduced to a band that i now love with all my heart. all thanks to ILM and why i love this place.

Acclaimed Music Top 25 from 1979 poll

15 The B-52's - The B-52's 12
1 The Clash - London Calling 11
2 Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures 10
3 Michael Jackson - Off the Wall 10
14 Chic - Risqué 8
9 Talking Heads - Fear of Music 8
4 Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps 7
22 Wire 154 6

There was a CD compilation of Graham Parker and the Rumour from about 20 years ago called You Can't Be Too Strong that collected everything you'd ever need to hear by them. It's well written and executed pub rock but I always found his voice was like nails on chalkboard. At the time, I couldn't understand what critics saw in him, especially because they were ignoring that Van Morrison was still in peak form.

No love on this board for Doll by Doll, who released two superb albums in 79, Remember and Gypsy Blood. They were a vicious live act too.

There was something in the air then. Every week there was a new album that left your jaw on the floor. Even acts like the Slits and Joy Division, who could come across so unfocussed and sloppy live, would startle you with releases as good as Cut and Unknown Pleasures. I voted for Entertainment, GO4 were pretty special that year.

"There was something in the air then. Every week there was a new album that left your jaw on the floor. Even acts like the Slits and Joy Division, who could come across so unfocussed and sloppy live, would startle you with releases as good as Cut and Unknown Pleasures. I voted for Entertainment, GO4 were pretty special that year."

love this post

aw shucks

I think my first exposure to Gang of Four was "I Love a Man In a Uniform" in 1982, I looked but couldn't find Entertainment! for the longest time after that

GO4 feels predictable after reading thread but was immed at top for me. london calling is jan 80 in my mind tho i wouldnt hear it til later when i begged a classmate to tape it for me

I still reckon Tusk will win, its ILM

even with the typo

20 Jazz Funk Greats. It's one of the most urgent and beautiful records I've ever heard.

Is there a tribute act based in the NW England, called Fleetwood Manc?

Tubeway Army is on the list but 1979 was also the year that Gary Numan went solo. The Pleasure Principle isn't the best album of the year but it's better than a couple on that list.

Went solo in name only. Tubeway Army was as much of a solo project as anything he did under his own name.

Except Tubeway army carried on without him, under a slightly modified name

Er, no they didn't.

"slightly modified"?

https://www.discogs.com/artist/45761-Dramatis

Numan's backing band circa '81 formed Dramatis after Numan announced his "retirement", but none of its members were on Tubeway Army or Replicas. Paul Gardiner (who was) continued to work with Numan on 'Stormtrooper in Drag' etc. and Jess Lidyard (the drummer on those records) featured on Dance. None of the members of Dramatis had any legal claim to the name Tubeway Army.

In fact, Denis Haines was only ever on Telekon. Payne, Bell and Sharpley would be back with Numan on Warriors etc.

If I had voted anywhere in '79, think it would have gone something like this, based on the ones I heard then---didn't yet know XTC, Slits, Tom Verlaine's s/t, or Metal Box ever (though did get Second Edition eventually) and remember best---10 points each:
1. Entertainment!- Gang of Four
2. Rust Never Sleeps- Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3. Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division
4. Into the Music- Van Morrison
5. Entertainment - Gang Of Four
6. The B-52- The B-52s
7. Do It Yourself - Ian Dury
8. London Calling - The Clash
9. Squeezing Out Sparks - Graham Parker
10. The Raincoats- The Raincoats

Also didn't hear Bad Girls and Risque 'til later, though would have been a source of my Singles list.

don't think I heard The Raincoats' first album until a reissue in the early '90s, or The Slits' first album until even later

Re Tubeway whatever..

I'm sure I saw it at the time, but can't remember it and can't find it now.

Put it into the unconfirmed pile, then.

Wait, I didn't hear Dury right then, did I? Can't swear---make it Blondie, Eat To The Beat, I know I played the hell out of that for most of the year. Regarding glaring omissions, late entries etc,, the Voice used to make allowances for "year of impact" (on the voter, not nec. the charts), so that may be why Entertainment! didn't show up on the 1979 P&J (says here release date was Sept. 25).

there were so many great albums from 1978-1981

I remember in 1980 or 81 visiting my sister and her older boyfriend in Austin and being driven out into the middle of nowhere - seemed like it took hours - into some vast desert landscape to visit a friend of theirs. Drums and Wires was blasting from the stereo. I was such an odd disconnect and I fell in love with it instantly

*It was

also remember the Rickie Lee Jones album being a favorite at the time, and I got to meet her!

I never got into XTC either but you probably realised that by now

i could probably do a poll like this for a few years of the '80s but the record selection would be way stupider

there were so many great albums from 1978-1981

Agreed, an embarrassing amount of great music!

Michael B is taking over for the 80s series of polls
xp

oh good he's got good taste

its ilm though, he wont please everyone. However it's cool to be able to check out albums you have never heard that people mention so all's good.

agree, you posted a lot of reggae I didn't know and want to follow up on

I did? I hardly know any and everyone pointed that out to me. I need to hear more for sure.

I do regret forgetting about augustus pablo - king tubby meets rockers uptown because Ive had that cd twenty years and i dunno how i forgot it in my list of (76 i think?)

the 1980s are ILMers most beloved decade so no way was I taking that on. Dont fancy the ire of 80s pop, hair metal, synthpop fans etc :D

xp was thinking of the Keith Hudson specifically

Sure there will be plenty of people to vote for This Heat or Wire so I went with Dragnet. Remarkably little that strikes me in your list. The Raincoats sure.

Some favorites
Black Uhuru - Showcase
Bob Marley - Survival
Linton Kwesi Johnson - Forces of Victory
Barrington Levy - Englishman
Johnny Osbourne - Truths and Rights
lot of reggae actually (Words of Wisdom, Wild Suspense)
XTC - Drums and Wire
The Only Ones - Even Serpents Shine
Camarón de la Isla - La leyenda del tiempo
The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette
Van Morrison - Into the Music (iirc)
YMO - Solid State Survivor

here were so many great albums from 1978-1981

I remember in 1980 or 81 visiting my sister and her older boyfriend in Austin and being driven out into the middle of nowhere - seemed like it took hours - into some vast desert landscape to visit a friend of theirs. Drums and Wires was blasting from the stereo. I was such an odd disconnect and I fell in love with it instantly

― Dan S, Saturday, April 6, 2019 7:01 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

*It was

― Dan S Now that you mention it, I can totally imagine the disconnected combination and balancing act! Well "totally" as I can without your actual experience. ILX always needs this kind of testimony (I j mainly just remember several of my Top Ten in certain rooms, or sometimes out on the street, blasting through windows and sometimes walls [cheapo offcampus housing]---especially The B-52s),

also remember the Rickie Lee Jones album being a favorite at the time, and I got to meet her!

― Dan S Cool, please tell us about that! She made several good albums now and then; the last I heard was her trip hop excursion, Ghosty Head. Also some good club shows have floated by on YouTube, like the one from Sweden where she's wearing a top hat, another nice day at the office.

I met her briefly through a friend when she was living in SF in 1982. I was awestruck and could barely manage a "hello." She seemed like a kind person

I have never heard anything by her

20 Jazz Funk Greats. It's one of the most urgent and beautiful records I've ever heard.

― kraudive, Saturday, April 6, 2019 4:57 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

its great innit. Would be quite happy if it won

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

should i poll the winners in a run-off?

This is the hardest one yet. Went for Metal Box

should i poll the winners in a run-off?

― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Tuesday, April 9, 2019 7:32 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

do the second place ones too, why not

2nd place? I thought the bee ok precedent set was the winners

nah there's a whole bunch of threads like this one: The bridesmaids poll: Acclaimed Music number 2 & 3 runoff from the 1980's polls

ok i'll do whatever finished 2nd. if its ties I'll inc all of them

I'm surprised no one here seems to know of Graham Parker. I actually saw him live opening for someone circa 1986 - "Wake Up (Next to You)" was a US hit around that time. I was unfamiliar with most of his work but enjoyed it.

This is maybe the first year I remember actually hearing these records when they were new, though many of my faves which skew toward pure pop aren't here. Am I the only one who like's Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door? How about Steve Forbert's Jackrabbit Slim? And yeah, the B-52's and Van Morrison should have been here.

There's been a UFO album on a bunch of these lists. Am i missing out by being completely unfamiliar with this band?

Anyway, Tusk for the win.

Do you like 70s hard rock with a guitar hero?

New dn.

Do you?

Never used a GH so don't know... (can play a real guitar though!)

Probably would, i'm guessing

hah i wasnt referencing the video game. Maybe I should have said Guitar God?

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Yeah, I disagree with the order of these results completely. Particularly the entire Top 10.

there were too many great albums to fit them all into the top 10

"Do you like 70s hard rock with a guitar hero?"

ZZ Top 'Deguello' probably should show up on this thread somewhere.

Tubeway Army - Replicas 0

Yeah, fuck off.

I wish Live at the Witch Trials, Y, A Trip to Marineville had each gotten some votes

i like the pop group better than gang of four myself, i guess that's a minority opinion?

I don't rate either of them!

keep wondering how our current era compares with this in history

not feeling as much greatness, but realize that is a failure of imagination

I guess a lot of ignored, misunderstood or disparaged music from today will be recognized like this in the future

Sure there will be plenty of people to vote for This Heat or Wire

lol

Thought Lodger would have done better.

I voted for Chrome thinking that somebody had to. Nice to see a couple others repped for it.

ok i'll set up a run off of top 2 in each year poll

thanks to all who voted.

Please take part in the 80s series of polls that Michael B has volunteered to do next.

The 1969-79 Series of Polls - The Run-off of the Top twos!

Shout out to the other Movies voter.

Now, bring on Howard Jones, The Thompson Twins and the rest of the all-time greats of the 1980s!

if he forgets nkotb or bros they will hang him from the rafters

"slightly modified"?

https://www.discogs.com/artist/45761-Dramatis

― Emperor Tonetta Ketchup (sleeve), Saturday, 6 April 2019 19:28 (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Numan's backing band circa '81 formed Dramatis after Numan announced his "retirement", but none of its members were on Tubeway Army or Replicas. Paul Gardiner (who was) continued to work with Numan on 'Stormtrooper in Drag' etc. and Jess Lidyard (the drummer on those records) featured on Dance. None of the members of Dramatis had any legal claim to the name Tubeway Army.

― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Saturday, 6 April 2019 19:32 (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

When the "Dramatis" album was reissued by Charly records, it was renamed "The Dramatis Project" and the artist name became "Tubeway Army Featuring Gary Numan"

(Gary sang/wrote one track)

Yes, that's correct, but you're talking about a re-release of an album which was then 19 years old and neither Numan nor Dramatis had anything to do with it. It was completely misleading, and Dramatis were actually pissed off about it.

Also, Numan only sang on 'Love Needs No Disguise', he didn't have anything to do with the writing of it.

154 got 1 vote and London Calling 16? Dear God I'm glad I've not been paying attention

If you had then it would have got 2

It is truly disgraceful.

Michael B has taken over for the 1980s
Best Album on My Favourite Albums of......1980!!

I didn't vote in this one, no B-52's or Drums and Wires, probably my two most played of that year. And then I couldn't decide between Slits and Gang of Four. I thought Lodger would be much higher.

Why does Tusk get so much love? It's a mess.

Oh God these results are terrible😖😖

London Calling 16 is like the '16 election of ILM

LOLLLLLL

i like the pop group better than gang of four myself, i guess that's a minority opinion?

100% blindingly obvious & correct opinion

I tell you what, this is an outrage, and we need to re-distribute some of the vote-wealth of the top percentage to the equally deserving albums who only got one or two or even zero votes

119 votes!