Lots of great stuff on the pop chart in 1983. Lots of great stuff on the left of the dial, too. Here are 30 of that year’s finest.
Throwback Thursday: 1979
Nineteen seventy-nine was a very good year in music. In compiling today’s Throwback Thursday playlist focusing on 1979 I had so many very good songs from which to choose. 208 songs, to be exact. That’s how many 1979 cuts bring me much joy. There are another 181 1979 tracks I also like. Somehow I was able to whittle it down to the 30 cuts below. Some years it’s a struggle to come up with 30!
Disco was at its commercial peak in 1979. So many of the disco songs that charted then remain popular today – “I Will Survive,” “We Are Family,” “Y.M.C.A.,” “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” “Hot Stuff,” “Good Times,” “Heart of Glass,” “Ring My Bell,” “Knock on Wood,” “Got To Be Real.” While the genre seemed omnipresent, there was more to 1979 music than clams on the half shell and roller skates roller skates. Hear what was going on below.
Follow Tunes du Jour on Facebook.
Follow Tunes du Jour on Twitter.
Follow me on Instagram.
Your (Almost) Daily Birthday (11-12-20)
Inspired by the November 12 birthdays of Neil Young, Bay City Rollers’ Les McKeown, Blue Oyster Cult’s Buck Dharma, Booker T. Jones, Hot Chocolate’s Errol Brown, Brian Hyland, and Tevin Campbell.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (10-19-20)
Inspired by the October 19 birthdays of Fugees’ Pras, Divine, Peter Tosh, Jennifer Holiday, World Party’s Karl Wallinger, Jeannie C. Riley, George McCrae, The Doobie Brothers’ Patrick Simmons, Gloria Jones, and Patrick Cowley.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (10-14-20)
Inspired by the October 14 birthdays of Cliff Richard, Usher, The Moody Blues’ Justin Hayward, The Chicks’ Natalie Maines, All Saints’ Shaznay Lewis, Boney M’s Marcia Barrett, Thomas Dolby, Nazareth’s Dan McCafferty, Robert Parker, Bill Justis and Karyn White.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (10-2-20)
Inspired by the October 2 birthdays of The Police’s Sting, Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard, Genesis/Mike + the Mechanics’ Mike Rutherford, The Human League’s Philip Oakey, Mousse T., Badly Drawn Boy, Foxy/OXO’s Ish Ledesma, The Diamonds’ Dave Somerville, Don McLean, Richard Hell, Redbone’s Lolly Vegas, Aqua’s Lene Nystrom, and Bud Abbott.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (7-16-20)
Inspired by the July 16 birthdays of The Police’s Stewart Copeland, BROCKHAMPTON’s Kevin Abstract, William Bell, Desmond Dekker, The Searchers’ Tony Jackson, and Live’s Ed Kowalczyk; the July 15 birthdays of Linda Ronstadt, Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, The Buggles/The Art of Noise’s Trevor Horn, Years & Years’ Olly Alexander, Gregory Isaacs, The Heartbreakers’ Johnny Thunders, Alicia Bridges, and Pamela Myers; and the July 14 birthdays of Belly/Throwing Muses’ Tanya Donelly, Woody Guthrie, Jamey Johnson, and Cliff & Claude Trenier.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (6-29-20)
Inspired by Black Music Month, LGBTQ Pride Month, and the June 29 birthdays of Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie, Men At Work’s Colin Hay, DJ Shadow, Little Eva, Pussycat Dolls’ Nicole Scherzinger, Emily Skinner, and Broadway composer Frank Loesser.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (5-26-20)
Inspired by the May 26 birthdays of Stevie Nicks, Ms. Lauryn Hill, The Band’s Levon Helm, Peggy Lee, Lenny Kravitz, Swinging Blue Jeans’ Ray Ennis, Alphaville’s Marian Gold, Nashville Teens’ Art Sharp and Black; and the May 25 birthdays of The Jam’s Paul Weller, Disclosure’s Guy Lawrence, Tom T. Hall, The Tokens’ Mitch Margo, and Jessi Colter.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (5-18-20)
Inspired by the May 18 birthdays of Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh, Rick Wakeman, Butch Tavares, Robert Morse, Big Joe Turner, Rob Base, Ezio Pinza, George Strait, Martika, Enigma’s Michael Cretu, Albert Hammond, Perry Como, Oak Ridge Boys’ Joe Bonsall, the Rubettes’ Paul DaVinci, Jack Johnson, and Broadway composer Meredith Willson.