Best 1979 P&J Single (POLL Closes 11 May)

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The first P&J Singles Poll.

Poll Results

Option	Votes
Chic: "Good Times" (Atlantic)	10
Michael Jackson: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (Epic)	8
Blondie: "Dreaming" (Chrysalis)	6
Funkadelic: "(Not Just) Knee Deep" (Warner Bros.)	4
Donna Summer: "Hot Stuff" (Casablanca)	4
Ian Dury & the Blockheads: "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick"/"Reasons to Be Cheerful, Pt. 3" (Stif	3
Sugarhill Gang: "Rapper's Delight" (Sugarhill)	3
Sister Sledge: "We Are Family"/"He's the Greatest Dancer" (Cotillion)	3
M: "Pop Musik" (Sire)	3
Gang of Four: "At Home He's a Tourist"/"It's Her Factory" (EMI import)	2
The Knack: "My Sharona" (Captiol)	2
Talking Heads: "Life During Wartime" (Sire)	2
The Records: "Starry Eyes" (Virgin)	2
The Pretenders: "Stop Your Sobbing"/"The Wait" (Real import)	1
Fleetwood Mac: "Tusk" (Warner Bros.)	1
The Specials: "Gangsters" (2 Tone import)	1
Nick Lowe: "Cruel to Be Kind" (Columbia)	1
The Flying Lizards: "Money" (Virgin)	1
The Brains: "Money Changes Everything" (Gray Matter)	1
McFadden & Whitehead: "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" (Philadelphia International)	0
Robin Lane & the Chartbusters: "Why Do You Tell Lies"/"When Things Go Wrong" (Deli Platters EP)	0
Donna Summer: "Bad Girls" (Casablanca)	0
Peaches & Herb: "Reunited" (Polydor)	0
Dave Edmunds: "Girls Talk" (Swan Song)	0
Lester Bangs: "Let It Blurt" (Spy)	0
The Pretenders: "Kid" (Kid import)	0

― JN$OT, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:07 (eighteen years ago)

No nepotism going on in there with the Bangsmeister, eh?

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:08 (eighteen years ago)

donna summer v donna summer aargh!

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:11 (eighteen years ago)

Sister Sledge win it for me.

― braveclub, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:12 (eighteen years ago)

chic good times, by a country 1.5 miles

― 600, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:13 (eighteen years ago)

From Xgau's essay:

But though record albums dominated rock in the '70s, they've never been the whole story, as both new wave and disco have demonstrated. Somewhat belatedly, the P&JCP has expanded to reflect this: In addition to 10 albums, contributors were asked for unweighted lists of up to 10 singles and three local bands. From disco adepts like Mike Freedberg ("it's impossible to poll disco, or even black slow music, fairly from LPs alone") to r&b oldtimers like Robert Pruter ("my record buying friends have always bought singles and always preferred them to albums"), black music fans were enthusiastic, and so were new wavers, many of whom commented that it was hard to keep their lists to 10. "Rock" people, on the other hand, complained (Noel Coppage of Stereo Review: "I'm too old and elitist for this shit"; Blair Jackson of Bay Area Music: "Aah forget it. I hate most singles"). Since I spend most of my working (and waking) hours listening to albums, I had no trouble containing my list, but the following 10 singles definitely weren't the only ones to make a dent on my life this year:

The Brains: "Money Changes Everything" (Gray Matter); Michael Jackson: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (Epic); the Clash: "1-2 Crush on You" (CBS import); James Brown: "It's Too Funky in Here" (Polydor 12-inch); Sister Sledge: "We Are Family" (Cotillion 12-inch); McFadden & Whitehead: "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" (Philadelphia International 12-inch); Kleenex: "Ain't You" (Rough Trade import); the B-52's: "Rock Lobster"/"52 Girls" (B-52's); the Records: "Starry Eyes" (Virgin); Machine: "There But for the Grace of God Go I" (RCA Victor).

― JN$OT, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:17 (eighteen years ago)

Available here: http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pj79.php

― JN$OT, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:18 (eighteen years ago)

Blondie, "Dreaming"

― Joe, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:19 (eighteen years ago)

Damn, what an insanely great list. If I was trying to be objective I'd probably go with "Hot Stuff," or "Bad Girls," or "Rappers Delight," or "Good Times," or "My Sharona," or "Tusk," or "Money," or "Money Changes Everything," or "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough," or the two-sided Ian Dury single, or something else entirely.

But I voted for "Pop Muzik," for sentimental reasons I will doubtlessly live to regret.

― xhuxk, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:30 (eighteen years ago)

"Hot Stuff" for me. Probably followed by "Rapper's Delight."

― JN$OT, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:31 (eighteen years ago)

haha.

― JN$OT, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:32 (eighteen years ago)

totally ool individual lists, too:

ADAM BLOCK: Ian Dury & the Blockheads: "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick"/"Reasons to Be Cheerful Pt. 3" (Stiff/Epic 12-inch); Roxy Music: "Dance Away" (Atlantic 12-inch); Records: "Starry Eyes" (Virgin); Nick Lowe: "Cruel to Be Kind" (Columbia); Jacksons: "Blame It on the Boogie" (Epic 12-inch); M: "Pop Muzik" (Sire); Pearl Harbor & the Explosions: "Release It"/"Drivin'" (415); Sister Sledge: "We Are Family" (Atlantic 12-inch); Ray Charles: "Some Enchanted Evening" (Atlantic); James White & the Blacks: "Contort Yourself" (ZE 12-inch).

TOM CARSON: M: "Pop Muzik" (Sire); Lene Lovich: "Lucky Number" (Stiff/Epic); Ian Dury & the Blockheads: "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" (Stiff/Epic); Dave Edmunds: "Girls Talk" (Swan Song); Marianne Faithfull: "Broken English" (Island); Sister Sledge: "We Are Family" (Cotillion); Sid Vicious: "My Way" (Virgin 12-inch import); Talking Heads: "Life During Wartime" (Sire); The Kinks: "Superman" (Arista 12-inch); Anita Ward: "Ring My Bell" (T.K.).

GREIL MARCUS: Essential Logic (Virgin import EP); Brains: "Money Changes Everything" (Gray Matter); Donna Summer: "Hot Stuff" (Casablanca); Pretenders: "Stop Your Sobbing" (Real import); Blue Oyster Cult: "In Thee" (Columbia); Marianne Faithfull: "Broken English"/"Why'd Ya Do It" (Antilles 12-inch); Moon Martin: "Rolene" (Capitol); Foreigner: "Dirty White Boy" (Atlantic); Public Image Ltd.: "Memories" (Virgin import); Delta 5: "Now That You've Gone" (Rough Trade import).

JON PARELES: Brains: "Money Changes Everything" (Gray Matter); Ian Dury & the Blockheads: "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" (Stiff/Epic); Fleetwood Mac: "Tusk" (Warner Bros.); Donna Summer: "Hot Stuff" (Casablanca); Elvis Costello: "My Funny Valentine" (Columbia promo); Gang of Four: "At Home He's a Tourist" (EMI import); Pop Group: "We Are All Prostitutes" (Rough Trade import); Robin Lane & the Chartbusters: "When Things Go Wrong" (Deli Platters); Machine: "There But for the Grace of God Go I" (RCA Victor 12-inch).

BRIAN CHIN (all 12-inch disco discs): Fern Kinney: "Groove Me" (T.K.); Jackie Moore: "This Time Baby" (Columbia); Love De-Luxe: "Here Comes That Sound Again" (Warner Bros.); Don Armando's Second Avenue Rhumba Band: "I"m an Indian Too"/"Deputy of Love" (ZE); Bionic Boogie: "Hot Butterfly" (Polydor); Machine: "There But for the Grace of God Go I" (RCA Victor); Claudja Barry: "Boogie Woogie Dancin' Shoes" (Chrysalis); Carrie Lucas: "Dance with You" (Solar); Black Ivory: "Mainline" (Buddah).

― xhuxk, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:44 (eighteen years ago)

cool, i meant.

I should confess Marcus listing BOC and Foreigner (and Moon Martin!) was a major influence on my career. Though I went out and bought that Essential Logic EP, too. And the Pop Group single Pareles voted for. And a bunch of Chin's disco discs.

― xhuxk, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:49 (eighteen years ago)

Don't know "Money Changes Everything" or "Starry Eyes" or Robin Lane and the Chartbusters. Don't think I want to know "Let it Blurt."

In the absence of "She Is Beyond Good And Evil" and "Transmission" and "Walking On The Moon" and "Heart Of Glass" and too many others I would have to plump, with difficulty, for Mr Dury and his double A-side what was actually two separate singles in cognisant Britain.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:49 (eighteen years ago)

"Let it Blurt"/"Live" is great. Bob Quine on guitar!

― JN$OT, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:55 (eighteen years ago)

"Video Killed The Radio Star" is missing. But I guess it counts as a 1980 single in the US.

― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 12:02 (eighteen years ago)

I am seriously tempted to vote for "Stop your Sobbing", "Girls Talk" or "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" but I suspect I'll be end up going for "Good Times".

― Billy Dods, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 12:05 (eighteen years ago)

Great year for singles. Great year for albums. Surprisingly little overlap.

― M.V., Tuesday, 8 May 2007 12:23 (eighteen years ago)

1979 was the only -9 year to be a good vintage IMO. 1959, 1969, 1989 and 1999 were all pretty weak.

― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 12:25 (eighteen years ago)

(That being said, this poll misses most of the best stuff from 1979)

― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 12:25 (eighteen years ago)

Voted for The Records although that song is from 1978.

― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 12:26 (eighteen years ago)

Good Times

― m coleman, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 12:35 (eighteen years ago)

"Good Times" b/w "Rapper's Delight" on the Greatest 12" Double-Sided Single That Doesn't Actually Exist. "Hot Stuff" is a serious contendor (at the time, I would've voted for "Life During Wartime").

― sw00ds, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 12:48 (eighteen years ago)

No "Surrender"?

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 12:49 (eighteen years ago)

'78, I think.

― sw00ds, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 12:51 (eighteen years ago)

Peaches & Herb: "Reunited"

Neat choice. I get the feeling there aren't a lot of things like this in subsequent P&J polls, though I could be wrong.

― sw00ds, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 12:57 (eighteen years ago)

Unless they voted for "Last Christmas" by Wham!

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 12:58 (eighteen years ago)

At the time for this then 11 year old, there's absolutely no question that it was Pop Musik, closely followed by My Sharona and Bad Girls. I still remember being completely enthralled by the radio that year.

― dlp9001, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 13:01 (eighteen years ago)

Head says Dury or Chic. Heart says "Dreaming". Heart gets it.

― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 13:03 (eighteen years ago)

Had to go with "My Sharona" ... though "Hot Stuff" and "Good Times" come very, very close. Wow, what a great year for pop.

― Jiminy Krokus, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 13:22 (eighteen years ago)

I think I voted for "Knee Deep" but it might have been any one of 10 records, yeah excellent year for radio music, I was in junior high school

― Dimension 5ive, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 13:24 (eighteen years ago)

Peaches & Herb: "Reunited"

Neat choice. I get the feeling there aren't a lot of things like this in subsequent P&J polls, though I could be wrong.

Didn't "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey do really well last year?

― billstevejim, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 14:28 (eighteen years ago)

Runnin' down my thigh, Sharona!

― I eat cannibals, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 14:37 (eighteen years ago)

Knee Deep vs Rappers Delight vs Don't Stop Til You Get Enough....perplexing.

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 16:06 (eighteen years ago)

Jesus, dlp9001 could be me - another 11-year old who began to listen to the radio practically 24/7 in '79! "Tusk", "Rapper's Delight", "Pop Muzik" and "Money" in particular sounded like no other pop hits I can remember. The Knack, Donna Summer, M, The Records or anything remotely Chic-related could stake a claim. But I'll go with "Reunited" for the cop-outable reason that there's really nothing else like it on the list, therefore no potentially-splittable votes. (I wouldn't have been able to do that if the also-great "Shake Your Groove Thing" had also made the list.)

― Myonga Vön Bontee, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 16:52 (eighteen years ago)

When we did this on the Poptimists LJ community we ended up with this:

1. Don't Stop Til You Get Enough (44 votes)
2. Rapper's Delight (40)
3. We Are Family/Greatest Dancer (37)
4. Good Times (34)
5. Pop Musik (31)
6. Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick/Reasons To Be Cheerful (30)
7. My Sharona (28)
8. Dreaming (26)
9. Hot Stuff (25)
10=. Gangsters (21)
10=. Life During Wartime (21)
10=. Damaged Goods/It's Her Factory (21)

(Different methodology tho - LJ polls allow multiple boxes ticked so I asked people to tick their favourite 9 out of 26 i.e. roughly 1/3 of the options)

― Groke, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 17:08 (eighteen years ago)

I'm glad a lot of people are fond of "Rapper's Delight." I've read so many silly dismissals of it over the years, for being supposedly fraudulent or whatever, but to my ears it holds up as well as just about any other early rap track--even the super-extended mix that seems to go on forever. It's also cool that a rap song just sneaks its way on to a poll for the final year of the seventies. It's like a teaser for the next decade or something.

― sw00ds, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 19:54 (eighteen years ago)

"Rapper's Delight." One of my favorite songs of all time. Also some of the most endearingly wack rhymes ever.

― Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 19:57 (eighteen years ago)

yay, i voted for rapper's delight too! though don't stop til you get enough is a really close second, and so is life during wartime.

― Emily Bjurnhjam, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 20:58 (eighteen years ago)

"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" gets it from me, but I'd have just as happily voted for Dury, M, both Summers, Sister Sledge (No. 2 choice), Blondie, Specials, Chic (No. 3), P&H, Go4, M&W.

― Matos W.K., Tuesday, 8 May 2007 21:51 (eighteen years ago)

and there's stuff beyond those that I like a lot too. what a great list/year.

― Matos W.K., Tuesday, 8 May 2007 21:52 (eighteen years ago)

"Good Times" by a hair, with Dury and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" juuuust behind.

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 22:30 (eighteen years ago)

Geir, "Video" came out stateside in October '79, it says here. (Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the '80s Vol. 1)

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 22:57 (eighteen years ago)

so hard! i voted for "hot stuff," though i could've also voted for "good times" or "pop music."

― Eisbaer, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 23:16 (eighteen years ago)

Ian Dury gets my vote, with "Hot Stuff", "Tusk", "Girls Talk" and "Reunited" not far behind. What an amazing year and what a great batch of individual singles lists in P&J... I wish they'd printed all of 'em.

― Patrick, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 03:57 (eighteen years ago)

Last day to vote.

― JN$OT, Thursday, 10 May 2007 16:55 (eighteen years ago)

i voted for m.

― Tim Ellison, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:00 (eighteen years ago)

I've always been intrigued by the fact that 1979 was the year P&J started polling singles. I've read Xgau's explanation above. But still - was there something about 1979 (or what it portended) that demanded the change?

― Kevin John Bozelka, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:32 (eighteen years ago)

Cool, 8 of my favorite singles ever in the top 13.

― JN$OT, Friday, 11 May 2007 06:34 (eighteen years ago)

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