1979 in music: Encyclopedia - 1979 in music

1979 in music

See also: 1978 in music, other events of 1979, 1980 in music, 1970s in music and the list of 'years in music'

1979 in music - Events

Disco reigned supreme in 1979, with several #1 hits from The Bee Gees and Donna Summer that year. Several artists who were not regarded as dance/disco acts, scored major successes by releasing disco singles, including New Wave band Blondie with their first US number one single "Heart Of Glass" and Rod Stewart with "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy".

However, the backlash against disco among rock loyalists was also peaking. An anti-disco event in Chicago, Illinois ultimately forced the cancellation of a major league baseball game. When The Knack's song "My Sharona" hit Billboard's #1 for six weeks, many rock critics gushed that the band was "the next Beatles" and celebrated the beginning of the end for disco music. While 1979 may have marked the climax of disco, it was also the beginning of the end for The Knack, who quickly faded into obscurity.

One event of 1979 which would have later significance was the success of the single "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang, which marked the commercial emergence of hip hop.

Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers' Bustin' Loose was released; this is the first go go record.

• January 1 - Bill Graham closes San Francisco's Winterland Theater following a New Year's Eve performance by the Blues Brothers and the Grateful Dead
• January 1 - During a New Year's Eve concert in Cleveland, Ohio, Bruce Springsteen is injured when a fire-cracker is thrown onstage from the audience
• January 4 - The Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, best known for its connections to the early days of the Beatles, reopens.
• January 13 - Singer Donny Hathaway dies after falling 15 stories from his hotel room in New York City. According to Hathaway's record company, Atlantic, the singer had been having some psychological problems.
• January 15 - MCA Records purchases ABC Records for a reported $20 million.
• February 3 - Dead Man's Curve, a made-for-TV-movie about surf-rock singers Jan & Dean, airs on US television
• February 7 - The Clash kick off their first concert on their first American tour at the Berkeley Community Theatre outside San Francisco, California. Bo Diddley opens the show and the Clash open their set with the song "I'm so bored with the U.S.A.".
• February 10 - Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" hits #1 on the Billboard magazine charts, and stays there for 4 weeks.
• February 11 - 43 million viewers watch "Elvis!" on ABC, a made for TV movie starring Kurt Russell as Elvis.
• February 15 Minnie Riperton appears on the Grammys as a presenter with Stephen Bishop
• February 23 - Dire Straits begins their first U.S. tour in Boston.
• February 24 - Friedrich Cerha's completion of Alban Berg's opera Lulu is premiered at the Paris Opera
• March 21 - The Pretenders sign a contract with Sire Records
• March 5 - MCA Records dissolves ABC Records.
• March 10 - James Brown performs at the Grand Ole Opry
• March 27 - Eric Clapton marries Patti Boyd, ex-wife of Clapton's friend George Harrison
• 30 March The Eurovision song contest, the biggest music festival in the world, takes place for the first time in a country outside Europe - Israel. The amazing show is broadcast live from Jerusalem to Europe and few countries in Asia. The big winner of this night is Israel again, for the second time after its first victory in 1978. The winning song is "Halelujah" sang by Gali Atari and the backing group Milk and honey . A few months after the winning the song had been translated into more then 82 languages, and broke a new record by entering the Guinness Book of Records as the most translated song in the world.
• April 6 - Rod Stewart marries Alana Hamilton.
• April 7 - 110,000 people attend the California Music Festival at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. Performers include Aerosmith, The Boomtown Rats, Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent and Van Halen.
• April 12 - Mickey Thomas replaces Marty Balin as the lead singer of Jefferson Starship
• April 13 - During a concert by Van Halen in Spokane, Washington, David Lee Roth collapses from exhaustion.
• May 1 - Elton John becomes the first pop music artist to perform in Israel.
• May 2 - The Who perform their first concert following the death of drummer Keith Moon. The band performed with new drummer Kenny Jones.
• May 5 - "Reunited" by Peaches and Herb hits #1 on the Billboard charts, and stays there for 4 weeks.
• June 1 - Alternative Tentacles record label established by Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra
• [July 12] [Minnie Riperton] singer/songwriter best known for her 1975 #1 hit single Lovin' You dies of breast cancer in Los Angeles, she was 31.
• July 12 - "Disco Demolition Night", an anti-disco promotional event for a Chicago rock station involving exploding disco records with a bomb, causes a near-riot between games during a baseball major league doubleheader, forcing the cancellation of the second game.
• July 14 - Donna Summer's "Bad Girls" hits #1 on the Billboard charts, and stays there for five weeks
• August 4-11British rock band Led Zeppelin played what were to be their last British concerts at Knebworth in Hertfordshire. Total attendance's for the two concerts approached 400,000
• August 25 - "My Sharona" by The Knack hits #1 on the Billboard charts. This is the first time in over a year that a song hits #1 that is not either a disco song or a ballad. It remains at #1 for eight weeks.
• September 2 - U2 enters the studio for the first time to record a locally released single.
• October 20 - Queen Elizabeth II opens Sydney Opera House.
• December 3 - In Cincinnati, Ohio, a stampede for seats at Riverfront Coliseum during a Who concert kills 11 fans (band members were not made aware of the deaths until after the show).
• The Welsh Philharmonia becomes the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera.
• Diamond Head's career begins
• INXS career begins
• Michael Schenker leaves U.F.O. after the Obsession tour and his solo career began
• The Feelies' musical career begins
• Marianne Faithfull returns to music after a hiatus
• Solid Gold premieres on television.
• Bad Brains forms
• Fishbone forms
• Was (Not Was) forms
• Mr & Mrs No Smoking Sign forms in Sydney (later to become Severed Heads)

1979 in music - Albums released

• MINNIE - Minnie Riperton
• Voulez-Vous - ABBA
• Highway to Hell - AC/DC
• Night In The Ruts - Aerosmith
• Another Taste - A Taste of Honey
• The B-52's - The B-52's
• Desolation Angels - Bad Company
• I Wanna Be Loved By You - Claudja Barry
• In the Heat of the Night - Pat Benatar
• Lodger - David Bowie
• One of a Kind - Bill Bruford
• Make Your Move - Captain & Tennille
• The Cars - The Cars
• The Audience with Betty Carter - Betty Carter
• Dream Police - Cheap Trick
• Risqué - Chic
• London Calling - The Clash (2-record set)
• Armed Forces - Elvis Costello and the Attractions
• Three Imaginary Boys - The Cure
• Dédié à toi (Monday Tuesday) - Dalida
• Love or Let Me Be Lonely - Paul Davis
• Moonlight Madness - Teri DeSario
• Dire Straits - Dire Straits
• Do It Yourself - Ian Dury and the Blockheads
• The Long Run - The Eagles
• Dragnet - The Fall
• Tusk - Fleetwood Mac
• Entertainment! - Gang of Four
• Hot Number - Foxy
• Here, My Dear - Marvin Gaye
• My Father's Eyes - Amy Grant
• X-Static - Hall & Oates
• Look Sharp! - Joe Jackson
• Off the Wall - Michael Jackson
• Setting Sons - The Jam
• 52nd Street - Billy Joel
• Unknown Pleasures- Joy Division
• Unleashed in the East - Judas Priest
• Music Box - Evelyn King
• Low Budget - The Kinks
• Get the Knack - The Knack
• In Through the Out Door - Led Zeppelin
• One Step Beyond... - Madness
• Back to the Egg - Paul McCartney & Wings
• Into the Music - Van Morrison
• Overkill - Motörhead
• Bomber - Motörhead
• On Parole - Motörhead
• Laminar Flow - Roy Orbison
• Damn the Torpedoes - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
• Rock On - Ray Parker&Raydio
• The Wall - Pink Floyd
• Outlandos D'Amour - The Police
• Regatta de Blanc - The Police
• Metal Box- Public Image Ltd
• Night Owl - Gerry Rafferty
• Down to Earth - Rainbow
• Reddy - Helen Reddy
• Exhibition - John Serry
• Big Fun - Shalamar
• Nine Lives - REO Speedwagon
• We Are Family - Sister Sledge
• The Specials - The Specials
• Cool for Cats - Squeeze
• Inflammable Material - Stiff Little Fingers
• The Raven - The Stranglers
• Wet - Barbra Streisand
• Bad Girls - Donna Summer
• On the Radio - Donna Summer
• Breakfast in America - Supertramp
• Fear of Music - Talking Heads
• The Undertones - The Undertones
• Van Halen II - Van Halen
• Songs of Love - Anita Ward
• 154 - Wire
• Live Rust - Neil Young and Crazy Horse
• Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young and Crazy Horse
• Joe's Garage Act 1 - Frank Zappa
• Sheik Yerbouti - Frank Zappa

1979 in music - Chronological Table of US and UK Number One Hit Singles

"Too Much Heaven" - Bee Gees (2)
"Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" - Rod Stewart (4)
"I Will Survive" - Gloria Gaynor (3)
"Tragedy" - Bee Gees (2)
"What A Fool Believes" - Doobie Brothers (1)
"Knock On Wood" - Amii Stewart (1)
"Heart Of Glass" - Blondie (1)
"Reunited" - Peaches & Herb (4)
"Hot Stuff" - Donna Summer (3)
"Love You Inside Out" - Bee Gees (1)
"Ring My Bell" - Anita Ward (2)
"Bad Girls" - Donna Summer (5)
"Good Times" - Chic (1)
"My Sharona" - The Knack (6) best selling single of the year
"Sad Eyes" - Robert John (1)
"Halelujah" - Gali Atari feat. Milk and honey (2)
"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" - Michael Jackson (1)
"Rise" - Herb Alpert (2)
"Pop Muzik" - M (1)
"Heartache Tonight" - The Eagles (1)
"Still" - Commodores (1)
"(No More Tears) Enough Is Enough" - Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer (2)
"Babe" - Styx (2)
"Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" - Rupert Holmes (2 weeks in 1979 + 1 week in 1980)
Also see: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1979

"Y.M.C.A." - Village People (3) best selling single of the year
"Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" - Ian Dury & The Blockheads (1)
"Heart Of Glass" - Blondie (4)
"Tragedy" - Bee Gees (2)
"I Will Survive" - Gloria Gaynor (4)
"Bright Eyes" - Art Garfunkel (6)
"Sunday Girl" - Blondie (3)
"Ring My Bell" - Anita Ward (2)
Are Friends Electric?- Tubeway Army (4)
"I Don't Like Mondays" - Boomtown Rats (4)
"We Don't Talk Anymore" - Cliff Richard (4)
Cars - Gary Numan (1)
"Message In A Bottle" - The Police (3)
"Video Killed The Radio Star" - The Buggles (1)
"One Day At A Time" - Lena Martell (3)
"When Your In Love With A Beautiful Woman" - Dr. Hook (3)
"Walking On The Moon" - The Police (1)
"Another Brick In The Wall, Part II" - Pink Floyd (3 weeks in 1979 + 2 weeks in 1980)

1979 in music - Other significant singles

• "A Message To You Rudi/Nite Klub" - The Specials
• "Accidents Will Happen" - Elvis Costello and the Attractions
• "After the Love Has Gone" - Earth, Wind & Fire
• "Ambition" - Vic Goddard and the Subway Sect
• "Angel Eyes" - Roxy Music
• "Bad Case Of Loving You(Doctor Doctor)" - Robert Palmer
• "Bang Bang" - B.A. Robertson
• "Bat Out of Hell" - Meat Loaf
• "Boogie Wonderland" - Earth Wind and Fire with the Emotions
• "Born To Be Alive" - Patrick Hernandez
• "Boys Don't Cry" - The Cure
• "Boys Keep Swinging" - David Bowie
• "Breakfast At Sweethearts" - Cold Chisel
• "Breakfast In America" - Supertramp
• "Bright Side Of The Road" - Van Morrison
• "California Über Alles" - The Dead Kennedys
• "Can You Feel The Force" - The Real Thing
• "Can't Stand Losing You" - The Police
• "Chelsea Girl" - Simple Minds
• "Chiquitita" - ABBA
• "Comme disait Mistinguett" - Dalida
• "Computer Games" - Mi-Sex
• "Cool For Cats" - Squeeze
• "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" - Queen
• "Cruel To Be Kind" - Nick Lowe
• "Dance Away" - Roxy Music
• "Death Disco" - Public Image Limited
• "Do Anything You Wanna Do" - Thin Lizzy
• "Does Your Mother Know?" - ABBA
• "Don't Bring Me Down - Electric Light Orchestra
• "Don't Do Me Like That" - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
• "Don't Stop 'till You Get Enough Micheal Jackson
• "Don't Throw Stones" The Sports
• "Driver's Seat" - Sniff and the Tears
• "Duchess" - The Stranglers
• "Electricity" - OMD
• "Eton Rifles" - The Jam
• "Every Day Hurts" - Sad Cafe
• "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" - The Buzzcocks
• "Freedom's Prisoner" - Steve Harley
• "Gangsters" - The Specials AKA
• "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" - ABBA
• "Girls Talk" - Dave Edmunds
• "Go West" - Village People
• "Good Times Roll" - The Cars
• "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" - Viola Wills
• Goodbye Girl - Squeeze
• "Goodbye Stranger" - Supertramp
• "H.A.P.P.Y. Radio" - Edwin Starr
• "He must have been eighteen" - Dalida
• "Helwa Ya Baladi" - Dalida
• "Here Comes The Summer" - The Undertones
• "Highway to Hell" - AC/DC
• "Hold The Line" - Toto
• "I Want You To Want Me (live)" - Cheap Trick
• "Il faut danser reggae" - Dalida
• "In The Navy" - Village People
• "Into The Valley" - The Skids
• "Is It Love You're After?" - Rose Royce
• "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" - Joe Jackson
• "Jimmy Jimmy" - The Undertones
• "Just The Way You Are" - Barry White
• "Just What I Needed" - The Cars
• "Kid" - The Pretenders
• "Lady Writer" - Dire Straits
• "Lay Your Love On Me" - Racey
• "Lead Me On" - Maxine Nightingale
• "Let me dance tonight" - Dalida
• "Let's Go" - The Cars
• "Logical Song - Supertramp
• "London Calling" - The Clash
• "Love Drive" - The Scorpions
• "Lucky Number" - Lene Lovich
• "Making Plans For Nigel" - XTC
• "Memory Lane" [Minnie Riperton] w.[Riperton Rudolph St.Lewis Dozier]
• "Milk And Alcohol" - Dr. Feelgood
• "Monday, Tuesday... Laissez-moi danser" - Dalida
• "Morning Dance" - Spyro Gyra
• "Oliver's Army" - Elvis Costello and the Attractions
• "On My Radio" - The Selector
• "One Step Beyond" - Madness
• "One Way Ticket - Eruption
• "On The Inside - Lynne Hamilton
• "Parisenne Walkways" - Gary Moore
• "Queen Of Hearts" - Dave Edmunds
• "Rappers Delight" - Sugarhill Gang
• "Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3)" - Ian Dury and the Blockheads
• "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" - Steely Dan
• "Roll Over Beethoven(EP)" - Chuck Berry
• "Roxanne" - The Police
• "Sarah" - Thin Lizzy
• "Shape I'm In" - Jo Jo Zep + The Falcons
• "Shooting Star" - Dollar
• "Slap And Tickle" - Squeeze
• "Smash It Up" - The Damned
• "Some Girls" - Racey
• "Something Else/Friggin' In The Riggin'" - The Sex Pistols
• "Spiral Scratch(EP)" - The Buzzcocks
• "Stop Your Sobbing" - Pretenders
• "Strange Town" - The Jam
• "Sultans Of Swing" - Dire Straits
• "Take Me To The River" - Talking Heads
• "Take On The World" - Judas Priest
• "Tears Of A Clown/Ranking Full Stop" - The Beat
• "The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan" - Marianne Faithfull
• "The Cost Of Living(EP)" - The Clash
• "The Diary Of Horace Wimp" - Electric Light Orchestra
• "The Gambler" - Kenny Rogers
• "The Logical Song" - Supertramp
• "The Long Run" - The Eagles
• "The Sound Of The Suburbs" - The Members
• "The Worker" - Fischer Z
• "Time For Action" - Secret Affair
• "Transmission" - Joy Division
• "Union City Blue" - Blondie
• "Up There Cazaly" - Three Man Band
• "Up The Junction" - Squeeze
• "Vedrai Vedrai" - Dalida
• "Voulez-Vous" - ABBA
• "We Are Family" - Sister Sledge
• "Waiting For An Alibi" - Thin Lizzy
• "Whatever You Want" - Status Quo
• "Who Where You With In The Moonlight" - Dollar
• "Wonderful Christmastime" - Paul McCartney
• "You Decorated My Life" - Kenny Rogers
• "You Needed Me" - Anne Murray

1979 in music - Published popular music

• "Don't Cry Out Loud" w. Carole Bayer Sager m. Peter Allen
• "The Facts of Life" w.m. Alan Thicke, Gloria Loring, and Al Burton, from the TV series of the same name
• "I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love" w.m. Carole Bayer Sager & Peter Allen
• "Knots Landing theme" m. Jerrold Immel
• "New York State Of Mind" w.m. Billy Joel
• "The Rainbow Connection" w.m. Kenny Ascher & Paul Williams, from the film The Muppet Movie
• Sultans of Swing w.m. Mark Knopfler

1979 in music - Classical music

• Arno Babadjanian - Third String Quartet
• George Crumb - Apparition for soprano and amplified piano
• George Crumb - Celestial Mechanics (Makrokosmos IV) for amplified piano (four hands)
• George Crumb - Star-Child (1977, revised 1979) for soprano, antiphonal children's voices, male speaking choir, bell ringers, and large orchestra
• Mario Davidovsky - Pennplay for sixteen players
• Hugh Flynn - Birds
• Jacques Hétu - Bassoon Concerto
• Miloslav Kabelac - Metamorphoses II, for piano and orchestra, op. 58

1979 in music - Opera

• Dominick Argento - Miss Havisham's Wedding Night

1979 in music - Musical theater

• Ain't Misbehavin'(Music: Fats Waller Lyrics: Various Book: Murray Horwitz & Richard Maltby Jr.). London production opened at Her Majesty's Theatre on March 22.
• Evita (Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics and Book: Tim Rice). Broadway production opened at the Broadway Theatre on September 25 and ran for 1567 performances
• My Old Friends (Music, Lyrics and Book: Mel Mandel and Norman Sachs). Off-Broadway production opened at the Orpheum Theatre on January 12 and transferred to the 22 Steps Theatre on Broadway on April 12 for a total run of 154 performances.
• Oklahoma! (Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics and Book: Oscar Hammerstein II) - Broadway revival opened at the Palace Theatre on December 13 and ran for 310 performances
• Peter Pan (Music: Mark Charlap Lyrics and Book: Carolyn Leigh with additional songs Music: Jule Styne and Lyrics: Betty Comden & Adolph Green)). Broadway revival opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on September 6 and ran for 551 performances.
• Saravà (Music: Mitch Leigh Lyrics and Book: N. Richard Nash). Broadway production opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on February 23 and ran for 140 performances
• Sugar Babies     Broadway revue opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on October 8 and ran for 1208 performances.
• Sweeney Todd (Music and Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: Hugh Wheeler) - Broadway production opened at the Uris Theatre on March 1 and ran for 557 performances
• They're Playing Our Song(Music: Marvin Hamlisch Lyrics: Carole Bayer Sager Book: Neil Simon). Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on February 11 and ran for 1082 performances
• The Venetian Twins (Music: Terence Clarke Lyrics and Book: Nick Enright). Opened at the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre on October 26.
• Whoopee(Music: Walter Donaldson Lyrics: Gus Kahn Book: William Anthony McGuire). Broadway revival opened at the ANTA Theatre on February 14 and ran for 212 performances.

1979 in music - Musical films

• All That Jazz
• Hair
• The Muppet Movie

1979 in music - Births

• January 5 - Kathleen Edwards, singer
• January 10 - Kris Kross
• January 16 - Aaliyah Houghton
• January 20 - Rob Bourdon, Linkin Park
• February 11 - Brandy Norwood
• February 21 - Jennifer Love Hewitt
• March 11 - Benji Madden, Good Charlotte
• March 30 - Norah Jones
• April 10 - Sophie Ellis-Bextor, British singer
• April 29 - Jo O'Meara, S Club 7
• July 25 - Amy Adams, singer
• July 26 - Tamyra Gray, singer
• August 20 - Jamie Cullum
• August 27 - Jon Siebels, Eve 6
• September 3 - Jason McCaslin, Sum 41
• September 6 - Foxy Brown, rapper
• September 8 - Pink
• October 3 - Shannyn Sossamon, actress and musician
• October 12 - Jordan Pundik, New Found Glory
• October 15 - Jaci Velasquez
• October 17 - Nick Cannon
• October 24 - Ben Gillies, Silverchair
• November 5 - Nick Giggler, Mest
• November 10 - Chris Joannou, Silverchair

1979 in music - Deaths

• January 5 - Charles Mingus
• January 13 - Donny Hathaway, singer
• January 14 - Marjorie Lawrence, soprano
• February 2 - Sid Vicious, punk rocker, 21
• March 22 - Walter Legge, record producer
• April 10 - Nino Rota, composer
• April 29 - Julia A. Perry, composer and conductor
• June 5 - Jack Haley, Wizard of Oz star
• July - Pedro Flores, composer
• July 3 - Louis Durey, composer
• July 6 - Van McCoy, singer, 35
• July 12 - Minnie Riperton, singer, 31
• July 16 - Alfred Deller, countertenor
• August 19 - Dorsey Burnette
• September 6 - Guy Bolton, English librettist
• September 27 - Gracie Fields, actress and singer
• October 1 - Roy Harris, composer
• October 13 - Rebecca Clarke, viola player and composer
• October 22 - Nadia Boulanger
• November 11 - Dimitri Tiomkin, film composer and conductor
• November 30 - Joyce Grenfell, actress and singer-songwriter
• December 30 - Richard Rodgers, composer and songwriter
• date unknown - Nansi Richards, harpist

1979 in music - Awards

1979 in music - Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1979

1979 in music - Country Music Association Awards

1979 in music - Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1979

Category: 1979 in music

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "1979 in music", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki