Redartz: Hello again everyone, and welcome to another vicarious voyage to the past aboard the Retro Metro! Our itinerary today takes us to the turn of a decade, back to Dec. 7, 1979. As is too often the case, troubling news abounds in the headlines: 11 concertgoers killed at a Who concert in Cincinnati. The Soviet Union has invaded Afghanistan. And of course the US is still roiling over the hostages being held in the US Embassy in Iran. Despite all this, the world is on the verge of the 80's, with the eternal hope that a better world awaits therein.
As we look for a bit of diversion from world events, we first turn to music. And thus we find the most popular song on the radio this week is:
Tops on the US Billboard Chart: Styx, "Babe"
Styx finally hits the top with this song, almost five years after first charting with "Lady". I've liked much of their work, but this song admittedly leaves me yawning a bit.
Rounding out the top five:
2. Barbara Streisand/Donna Summer, "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)
3. Commodores, "Still"
4. KC and the Sunshine Band, "Please Don't Go"
5. Rupert Holmes, "Escape ( the Pina Colada Song)"
To be honest, the only song among the top five I much care for is the odd Rupert Holmes song. More interesting are some tunes further down the chart. Among the ones of note: Blondie, "Dreaming"; a very cool song with some totally dynamite vocals by Debbie Harry. Michael Jackson, "Rock With You"; Michael is making the most of his comeback album "Off the Wall". M, "Pop Musik"; an unusual song for the American pop chart, I like that. Supertramp, "Take the Long Way Home"- their album "Breakfast in America" is very solid, and I love this particular cut. The harmonica just chills me.
Blondie: "Dreaming"
Tops in the UK: The Police, "Walking on the Moon"- another example of why the British chart is the place to look for the best new music.
Turning to the tube and it's offerings tonight: Fridays have often been a good night for viewing. What about this Friday?
US Television Schedule:
ABC: Fantasy Island, The ABC Friday Night Movie
My girlfriend at college is hooked on Fantasy Island, and I rather enjoy it too. Ricardo Montalban is a suave Mr. Roarke, played with some wit and irony. And you can't dislike Herve ("The Plane, the Plane") Villachaise . At least now we know what happened to him after he lost his position on the island with Scaramanga in "The Man with the Golden Gun".
CBS: The Incredible Hulk, The Dukes of Hazzard, Dallas
As you might guess, watching the Hulk is regular routine at my apartment. Bill Bixby has long been a favorite actor of mine, and Lou Ferrigno does a decent Greenskin. On the other hand, "Dukes" holds no interest for this viewer, and neither does Dallas (although many, many viewers disagree with my opinions here).NBC: Shirley, The Rockford Files, Eischeid
Apparently Shirley Jones stars in Shirley (makes sense), but I've never seen it. Rockford keeps hanging on, and Eischeid? I've no idea. Perhaps my study time has cut into tv watching to the extent that numerous shows are completely off my radar. Perhaps some of you fellow riders have some thoughts on these programs...
BBC1: Up a Gum Tree, My Wife Next Door, Penmarric, Kojak, Points of View, George Burns and Gracie Allen
BBC2: Better Badminton, In the Country, Talking Pictures, "I am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang", The National Poetry Competition 1979
Wow, BBC is showing Burns and Allen? Going for the golden age of television! Can't go wrong with the classics. And speaking of (future) classics, what fine reading is out on the stands this week? It's about time to take a trip to the comic store and add a few more to the ol' collection. Some possible choices:
Man, I picked up a bunch of these. Daredevil versus the Hulk by Frank Miller? Got to have that one. X-Men by Claremont and Byrne? Even though Dazzler doesn't exactly dazzle me ( couldn't resist that, sorry). the book is just too good to pass up. Iron Man is another fine title these days, love that Romita Jr./Layton artwork. Then you have the Panther taking on the Klan, another must buy. And the first issue of King Conan; another new title to try. About the only book here I'm skipping is the Star Trek movie magazine (which again puts me in a minority; have seen the long-awaited film at least). All things considered, it looks like the 70's are going out strong, comic-wise. What will the new decade bring?
Of course, we can now answer that last question with the benefit of hindsight. The 80's had plenty to offer, many of those will likely be awaiting us in upcoming trips on the "Retro Metro". As for today, we bid goodbye to 79 and the seventies, and return to our present. Until we next venture back to the Bronze age, take care. and share those memories!
12 comments:
Oh, yeah, 1979. I'll start with comics, because that's where my best memories of that year are from. Earlier that year was when I became a 'serious' comics reader, meaning that I started following a number of superhero books from month-to-month with an almost fanatical devotion: mainly X-men, Iron Man and Daredevil, and many others on a mostly monthly basis (although thanks to spotty distribution, I missed that issue of X-men pictured - that was very frustrating at the time, right at the start of the Hellfire Club arc).
The issues of Marvel Premiere with the Black Panther, which concluded (weakly, to be honest) McGregor's Klan story, eventually got me interested enough to track down the issues of Jungle Action that started it - and I've been a fan of McGregor's Panther stories ever since.
As to music, I'm now almost embarrassed at how much I used to like Styx (although, like you, not so much "Babe" as their other stuff). My older brother had the Breakfast in America LP, which he listened to quite a bit, and then I inherited after he went off to college - still my favorite Supertramp album.
And I'm also a bit embarrassed by my TV watching habits: for a while, I liked all of the shows in that CBS line-up: Hulk, the Dukes and Dallas. However, I wasn't yet watching Dallas at that point; and I can say that I eventually tired of both of the latter two and have never, ever been interested in watching them again. I watched a lot of Fantasy Island when it was moved to Saturday night after the Love Boat; meanwhile, I never even knew about Shirley or Eischied - I had to Google the latter just to see what it was (a detective show starring Joe Don Baker).
The top five U.S. singles are all pretty dire.
But some great comics that month, I have fond memories for the Daredevil, FF, Iron Man, X-men and Marvel Two-In-One issues!
Wonderful Christmastime was filling the airwaves.., YAY..!!
Yes, it remains a favorite holiday earworm of mine. Love it or hate it, it's actually Macca's top earner, bringing him an estimated half-mil each year, consistently. Soooo, he's laughing all the way to the bank every year on this little ditty.
Other than that, enjoying the dickens out of the latest Doctor Who, listening to 'Babe' and other great and memorable tunes. Great Blondie albums and of course, 'Breakfast in America'.
My highschool buddy was just starting to introduce me to Ska, along with some of the popular new bands like the Police, Devo and Madness.
It was a pretty feeble day on the BBC, although I see that BBC2 had a chat show hosted by Arthur Scargill, leader of the National Union of Mineworkers. Somehow, I couldn't see the BBC allowing union leaders to host chat shows these days.
As for music, "Walking on the Moon," is alright but the only thing in the UK Top 5 that floats my boat is Pink Floyd's, "Another Brick in the Wall," which somehow captured the more dystopian side of life in 1979 Britain, which was a genuinely impressive feat for a group of men who'd been yacht-owning millionaires for over a decade.
Interesting to see the Tourists at Number Six before they changed their name and became the slightly more memorable Eurythmics.
Tracks that I approve of on that week's British chart are:
8. "Complex" - Gary Numan.
10. "One Step Beyond" - Madness.
13. "Eton Rifles" - The Jam.
15. "Diamond Smiles" - The Boomtown Rats.
16. "Union City" - Blondie.
28. "Working For the Yankee Dollar" - The Skids. The song with the most incomprehensible lyrics in the history of music. I remember an entire advertising campaign being created, a few years ago, around the fact that no one can make out what any of its words are.
30. "Living on an Island" - Status Quo. The track that shocked the nation by not sounding exactly the same as all their other five hundred hits.
32. "A Message to You, Rudy" - The Specials. A tiny record label in Coventry starts to take a firm grip on the singles chart.
33. "Brass in Pocket" - The Pretenders.
48. "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" - Marianne Faithfull. Marianne proves that she can do more than just be the girlfriend of Rolling Stones members.
67. "The Tears of a Clown" - The Beat.
69. "Tusk" - Fleetwood Mac. The only 1970s Fleetwood Mac track I ever liked.
The definite chart lowlight that week was the presence of, "The Sparrow," by The Ramblers, a nightmare reminder of why children should never be allowed anywhere near a recording studio.
I always liked Styx (and had the Cornerstone album which contained the song Babe) but I preferred them when they rocked out more than their "easy listening" stuff. The Police were great; their first two albums were almost punk-ish in places. On the other hand, I couldn't stand Supertramp.
I've read quite a few of the comics on display, though at the time the only ones on my radar would've been Batman, DD, and DC Presents. I didn't get into Star Trek until into the 80s (and the first movie was ... not great), so I wouldn't have paid any attention to the adaptation.
I'm surprised to see King Conan there; for some reason I thought it didn't start until into the 80s.
It's my birthday tomorrow, so this ride on the metro has a special significance to me! I really liked Fantasy Island, but especially when there was that sort of mystical connection of Roarke and the devil that came later. (I remember there were some rumors that the island of "Lost" was really Fantasy Island, which I thought would have been so cool, but no dice). I never got hooked on the Hulk, as he didn't have any of the villains from the book. And while I never was really into cars, I loved the Dukes of Hazzard. Consequently, I have since made it an abiding part of my personal philosophy that I will watch any show with a character named "Cooter."
I looked up and didn't see my 2nd post.., about Star Trek-TMP premiering, but it looks like Mike mentioned it.
I liked it over all the successive Trek franchise films for a few reasons. One, it feels to me like it's the only film that actually 'takes you somewhere' in such a lavish and grand style, despite it's wonky feel getting there. Second, it didn't seem smug and scene-chewing like the old series and the later Harve Bennett movies. Thirdly, it was the sought-after-by-fans-clamoring movie we all waited for after the long '70s of stops and starts, so it was a very satisfying result, sans it's ponderous, dramatic shortcomings.
Wow dude! Thanks for cuing up some of my home-town favorites! Michael J grew up a few miles down the street from me in Gary, Indiana. Styx is from Chicago and they came up their name two miles down the street from me, in Western Springs, at a talent show.
O/wise I know nothing about the comics posted as I started college by then. Well, like I said, 30-40 years later I can catch up, lol! But I do recall The Hulk and who could forget "The plane! the plane!"
Edo- to be honest, I had to google both "Shirley" and "Eischeid". Your memories are probably better than mine...
david_b- great call on "Wonderful Christmastime". That song was all over the airwaves. I'd forgotten, as the holiday tunes generally don't show up on the Billboard weekly chart. Wonder how high it charted...
Also, you hit one right down the alley with your mention of ska. About that time groups like Madness and the Specials were a fantastically fresh discovery for some of us here in the states.
Steve DC- you all were ahead of us musically, even in regards to Pink Floyd. They did top the US charts with "Another Brick in the Wall", but not until 1980.
Mike W.- yes, King Conan debuted late in 79. It didn't have the appeal, at least for me, that the regular title had. I dropped the book after about four issues...
Selenarch- happy birthday a day early! Hope you have a great one, and make some future memories. And I remember hearing those "Lost" rumors too. That would have been fun. Mr. Roarke would probably have enjoyed a visit with John Locke...
Charlie- you're welcome; always glad to serve up a few memory prompters. And speaking of "The plane, the plane": there was a parody at the time, perhaps in Mad Magazine. I recall Mr. Roarke smacking Tattoo in the satire, and his response was "Da pain, da pain". Hilarious; wish I could remember where that was from.
Oh, by the way! Happy Pearl Harbor Day! 1979 was the year I started college and every year we celebrated Pearl Harbor Day... something to do with "getting bombed."
(No offence to those who gravely commemorate this day. College kids can be irreverent at times.)
Ah, Redartz, you missed out the one show on BBC TV that night which I definitely watched - "Monkey" which was a Japanese adventure series dubbed into English and set in ancient times. I watched it regularly but I can't recall that much about it - Monkey and his group of friends were on a quest or something. The theme tune, "Monkey Magic" is on YouTube.
Steve, I too noticed the chat show hosted by Arthur Scargill. How bizarre!
Forgot to leave my praise for 'Off the Wall'..., to me it's far more the gem than 'Thriller'. I count this as a huge, huge achievement for Quincy Jones as Producer, innocently yet effectively ushering in the 'Age of Michael' into what would become the '80s.
Better than 'Thriller', each track is effective in it's subtly and under-appreciated production, getting more groove-per-instrument than the at-times over-produced 'Thriller'. Like it's more famous successor, some tracks do suffer from over-exposure on the FM dial (and AM back then..), but it's always a welcome change-up from my typical listening selections.
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