1979: Music Memories

In 1979 I was 16 going on 17, innocent as a rose 😄. I kept a little diary in 1979 and in 1980. It was just for listing what happened each day. I’m very glad that I did, and I’m sorry that I didn’t do that every year. My typical experience is starting one in January and then getting tired of it. But with the help of music, I can remember much of what I experienced for most years of my life, particularly from when I was around 10 or 11.

January

I remember going into Pat Egan’s record store in Cork on Fridays after work hoping to find Elvis Costello’s new album, Armed Forces. When it finally arrived, I was surprised to find Elephants on the cover 😄. My favourite song from the album was Accidents Will Happen. The album came free with a live EP, which featured a slower version of the song.

I remember someone lending me Pretzel Logic by Steely Dan. I was quite interested in all kinds of music. The TV series, Life on Earth, started on RTE around then – with a huge focus on evolution. It wasn’t until I came across creationist books in the next few years that I started looking at the various points of view. I read many books on the subject from both sides throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

The most memorable event of January was the Whiddy Island Disaster in Bantry Bay, County Cork, when the French oil tanker Betelgeuse exploded while unloading crude oil. Fifty people died, including the entire crew and several Irish workers — one of the worst maritime disasters in Irish history.

I’ll list some memorable songs for each month:

• Don’t Cry For Me Argentina​ – The Shadows
• Woman in Love – Three Degrees
• Heart of Glass – Blondie
• Milk and Alcohol – Doctor Feelgood
• Chiquitita – Abba

February

I remember hearing the Bee Gee’s Tragedy for the first time in a little record shop in the Savoy Centre, in Cork. It used to be a cinema, then it became a nice shopping centre with lot’s of cool shops and cafes. But upstairs, they still had concerts. I thought the Bee Gees were singing “Hercules” in the chorus 😄.

Gloria Gaynor, who released I Will Survive in February 1979 was on some TV show later, probably Songs of Praise, discussing her Christian faith.

Shadow Play was a rare single released by Rory Gallagher, a guitarist from Donegal, but he lived in Cork for most of his life. He was generally an album artist. I saw him in concert in the City Hall the following year. I remember borrowing Stevie Wonder’s album Talking Book. What else? A revolution in Iran, seat belts being made compulsory in Ireland, and an armed robbery in the factory next door to Irish Dunlop (where I worked). The robbery occurred in Fords Car factory.

Punk star, Sid Vicious died at the beginning of the month. I felt quite sad about it.

• I Will Survive​ – Gloria Gaynor
• Tragedy – The Bee Gees
• Don’t Stop Me Now – Queen
• Shadow Play – Rory Gallagher
• Lucky Number – Lene Lovitch

March

I have a reference to the Track n’ Themes record shop​ in Cork in my diary, but I can’t find any mention of it on the web. And I can’t remember where it was 😄. I spent much of my youth in Cork record shops. They’re all gone now. You still have new “retro” record shops, and you can pick up old LPs in charity shops. But all the magic is gone for me. But I’m thankful for YouTube and Spotify. How times change. And all the old episodes of Top of the Pops were reshown some years ago. And many are on YouTube.

We went to see Doctor Feelgood in the Arcadia, who were supported by punk poet, John Cooper Clarke among others. It embarrassed me when everyone kept shouting for their recent single, Milk and Alcohol. It gave the impression that no-one knew any of their songs. To be honest, I didn’t know any of them myself, but I didn’t want it disclosed 😄.

Eric Clapton played in Cork too in March 1979. Why didn’t I go? I didn’t really know much about him back then. Nowadays, to see him, you’d need to go to an expensive stadium in Dublin or London or go to a tribute act to see a false Eric Clapton 😄.

• Waiting For An Alibi​ – Thin Lizzy
• Clog Dance​ – Violinski
• The Logical Song – Supertramp
• Sultans Of Swing​ – Dire Straits
• Forever In Blue Jeans​ – Neil Diamond
• Bright Eyes​ – Art Garfunkel
• Cool For Cats​ – Squeeze
• The Runner​ – Three Degrees
• Wow – Kate Bush

April

At Easter, I remember talking to a Pentecostal from the Upper Room Fellowship in Cork. They used to preach outside Murrays shop in Patrick Street, which is one of the few shops from my childhood that still exists. He suggested that I come to their meeting on Sunday night. At that time they used to meet in Drawbridge street, off Patrick Street. They soon moved to Camden Quay and now meet near the City Hall.

I did go along, and I was very impressed. I remember walking up the stairs and hearing an accordion. These were quite common in fellowships back then, before the age of the worship teams 😄.

I put some questions to the Pastor and I was impressed with his answers. One thing that struck me was how they all hung around and chatted after the meeting. I was a Roman Catholic. When the Mass was ended, we’d all dash for the door. And few of my friends and colleagues ever expressed much interest in religion. It seemed downright ridiculous to me that none of us showed any enthusiasm for spiritual things. What I liked about evangelicals is that, unlike the “cults”, the adhered to historic Christianity, but unlike most Catholics that I knew, they loved the Bible and were enthusiastic about their faith.

I was very close to committing my life to Christ, but I wondered would I stick to it if I did. I was a very skeptical guy, and I liked being cool and modelling myself on my punk rock heroes. Yet I wasn’t happy with life, or my outlook. I always admired Jesus and wanted to follow him, but I didn’t feel that I, or most people that I knew, were doing that.

The next day, in work, a chap that I was working with shouted at me, and I got quite annoyed. Then, I didn’t feel that I’d make a very good Christian because I was quite angry. But I had an idealized notion about what a Christian should be. Committing your life to Christ isn’t about being perfect or instantly changing your personality. It’s about being a disciple of Christ – a learner. You depend on him for your salvation, not on your own merits. It’s true that you should aim to be holy, but you’re never going to be perfect in this life. Even in evangelical churches, disputes are not uncommon, and I’m sure that people shout at each other from time to time in church business meetings 😄.

The funny thing is, when that guy shouted at me, he had my interests at heart. I was adjusting a moving conveyer belt and I wasn’t doing it safely. I’m sure that he’d been in the factory long enough to at least have heard about industrial accidents. We became good friends afterwards, at least in the workplace. And I committed my life to Christ in 1980. And now I am perfect. Only joking 😄. I’m not – but I depend on a perfect Saviour for my salvation.

• Goodnight Tonight​ – Wings
• Knock On Wood​ – Amy Stewart
• Love You Inside Out​ – Bee Gees
• One Way Ticket​ – Eruption
• Parisienne Walkways​ – Gary Moore and Phil Lynott

May

In May, RTÉ Radio 2 was launched, Ireland’s second national radio station. Now we had much more pop music. Up to that time, I used to listen to pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg 208.

I remember buying Seventh Sojourn by the Moody Blues. Looking back now, I was still interested in Punk/New Wave, but most of the records that I bought weren’t new wave. And the punk music hasn’t really aged well for the most part. In fact, some of it sounds downright silly to me now. 

• Boys Keep Swingin’ – David Bowie
• Dance Away – Roxy Music
• Jimmy Jimmy – The Undertones
• The Number One Song in Heaven – Sparks
• Sunday Girl – Blondie
• Shine a Little Love – ELO
• Accidents Will Happen – Elvis Costello

June

That was before rap became popular. And Ian Dury spoke in a Cockney accent. He contracted polio as a young child, but that didn’t stop him from becoming a successful artist. He passed away around the year 2000.

I remember hearing Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan in Fountainstown, Cork, a song released back in 1965. It was the first time that I was impressed with Bob Dylan. I had heard a few songs before that, but I didn’t see what all the fuss was about. Then, in the autumn, I heard that he’d become a Christian. It was then that he released Slow Train Coming. But I didn’t buy the album until 1980.

• Up The Junction​ – Squeeze
• Night Owl – Gerry Rafferty
• Halfway Hotel – Voyager
• Silly Games – Janet Kay
• Lady Lynda – Beach Boys
• Old Siam Sir – Wings

July

Maybe my favourite singles of the summer of 1979 were Girl’s Talk by Dave Edmunds and Lady Lynda by The Beach Boys.

I remember being impressed with I Don’t Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats. Back then, school shootings were downright bizarre, so we didn’t consider it insensitive in the way that we would now. It was just strange to have a punk/new wave group singing a slow song. And Abba were getting better and better. I wouldn’t have admitted to liking them. Later, I discovered that many of my new wave heroes, such as Elvis Costello liked them too 😄. I remember buying the Voulez Vous album on tape and CD some years later.

I remember going to a fete in Musgrave Park in Cork, where Ireland’s Eurovision star, Cathal Dunne, sang a few songs and was mobbed by some young teens. Jimmy Crowley’s Stoker’s Lodge played the same day. I remember taping their set. They were a folk group. I wasn’t into folk, but I liked their stuff.

• Girls Talk – Dave Edmunds
• Born to Be Alive – Patrick Hernandez
• Breakfast in America – Supertramp
• Can’t Stand Losing You – The Police
• Angel Eyes/Voulez Vous – Abba
• I Don’t Like Mondays – Boomtown Rats
• Beat the Clock – Sparks
• We Don’t Talk Anymore – Cliff Richard
• The Diary of Horace Wimp – ELO

August

I remember buying Ummagumma and Relics​ by Pink Floyd and borrowing David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust. On RTE radio on Sundays, they played the Bee Gees story, the Stevie Wonder story and the Elton John story. I have fond memories of listening on sunny summer Sundays in places such as Youghal and Kinsale. August 1979 saw the first modern ska hit, Gangsters by the Specials. Madness soon followed with The Prince.

Now, although I was only 17, I became part of a bygone generation. Punks were out, mods were in. Mods in the UK used to have the British flag on their jackets. I saw a mod in Cork who had the Irish flag instead. You couldn’t really go around wearing the British flag in Ireland, but the Irish flag just looked odd 😄.

• Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3)​ – Ian Dury
• Gangsters – The Specials
• Here Comes The Summer​ – The Undertones
• Is She Really Going Out With Him​ – Joe Jackson
• Gone Gone Gone​ – Johnny Mattis
• Get It Right Next Time​ – Gerry Rafferty

September

Golden Discs opened in Cork near where the Merchant’s Quay Shopping Centre is nowadays. Golden Discs still have shops in Cork and around Ireland. The President of Tanzania came to Cork. We didn’t get many presidents in Cork, though John F Kennedy visited in 1963.

• Don’t Bring Me Down​ – ELO
• Cruel To Be Kind – Nick Lowe
• Message in a Bottle – The Police
• Slap and Tickle – Squeeze
• The Prince – Madness
• Dreaming – Blondie
• Video Killed the Radio Star – The Buggles

October

At the beginning of October, I remember seeing the Pope in Limerick and the Stranglers in Cork. I wasn’t really a devout Catholic. I liked aspects of it, but by 1979, I was searching for something else. But I travelled to Limerick because I just wanted to see the big event – and it was a big event in Ireland in 1979 – much more so than the 2018 papal visit.

I was a huge Stranglers fan. They caused controversy by recording their video for Duchess in a church, dressed as vicars.

They had just released the Raven album. I bought a special edition with a 3D cover. When I went to see them, I tried to meet them. I remember asking Pat Egan, the promoter if he would bring me to them. He said “sorry, we need to pack up”, but one of the assistants brought my Black and White album in and got it signed for me. I discovered only recently that they had been in the pub next door to the Arcadia before the concert 😄.

When I committed my life to Christ the next year, I gave all my punk albums away. But again, it’s all nostalgia now for me. At the time, I saw them as a bad influence. I wanted to become a Christian, but I tended to make heroes of all those punk groups and wanted to model myself on all those “tough guys” to some degree. Nowadays, that’s no longer a temptation. I can listen to pop or punk songs with them sucking me into their world.

I remember going to see Horslips at the Savoy. Something went wrong with the violin during King of the Fairies and Charles O’Connor had to play it on the mandolin instead. Around that time, I remembering buying a green single by Horslips in the shape of a shamrock.

• Tusk – Fleetwood Mac
• Gonna Get Along Without You Now​ – Viola Wills
• Gimme Gimme Gimme​ – Abba
• Crazy Little Thing Called Love​ – Queen
• Nuclear Device (The Wizard Of Aus)​ – The Stranglers
• You’ve Got my Number​ – The Undertones
• Outside My Window – Stevie Wonder

November

In November, I tried to give up pop music, but it didn’t work. I did buy a few classical albums and went to a few classical concerts, including the RTE Concert Orchestra in the City Hall. I went to see jazz singer George Melly at the Savoy. I remember thinking the concert was finished at the interval, so I walked out. Then I realized that it wasn’t, and they didn’t want to allow me back in, even though I had a ticket 😄. I did get back in eventually. They asked a guy sitting near me if he remembered me. I also remember seeing the film Quadrophenia in the Capital. It was related to The Who album, but it didn’t feature much music.

• Eton Rifles – The Jam
• A Message to You Rudy – The Specials
• One Step Beyond – Madness
• Confusion/ Last Train to London – ELO
• Que Sera Mi Vida​ – The Gibson Brothers
• Walking On The Moon​ – The Police
• Is It Love You’re After​ – Rose Royce
• Off The Wall​ – Michael Jackson
• Living On An Island​ – Status Quo

December

About a week before, I’d been to the Country Club with friends from work, and I got terribly drunk. I remember buying Shaved Fish the next day – a John Lennon compilation album. London Calling by the Clash was a big hit around then. I think of it as the last punk song. Even before then, many of the punk groups were changing direction. And I didn’t really identify as much with punk/new wave when we went into the 1980s.

The year ended with The Wall by Pink Floyd. It was very different to early Pink Floyd, but I loved it. I bought the album immediately on release. Pink Floyd weren’t a singles band, but they had a number one hit that Christmas with Another Brick in the Wall.

For the new year countdown, I remembering blowing up a balloon in the Arcadia in Cork and thinking how amazing it was to be moving into a new decade. Then, 20 years later, I moved into a new millennium. But that didn’t seem quite as exciting 😄.

• Another Brick In The Wall​ – Pink Floyd
• Wonderful Christmas Time​ – Paul McCartney
• Day Trip To Bangor​ – Fiddler’s Green
• London Calling – The Clash
• With You I’m Born Again​ – Billy Preston and Syreeta Wright 
• Born Again – Boney M
• A Message to You Rudy – The Specials
• One Step Beyond – Madness
• Confusion/ Last Train to London – ELO

Some Irish Hits of 1979

I wasn’t into Irish music in 1979, but nowadays, I’m nostalgic about everything, particularly the earlier part of my life. So here’s some Irish hits that I remember from 1979:

• Happy Man – Cathal Dunne (Ireland’s Eurovision entry)
• Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway – Jim McCann
• Green Fields of France – The Fureys
• Red is the Rose – Makem and Clancey
• I Don’t Like Mondays – Boomtown Rats
• Diamond Smiles – Boomtown Rats
• Rosie – Sean Dunphy
• Parisienne Walkways – Gary Moore and Phil Lynott
• You’re So Good to Me – Red Hurley
• Boogie Woogie Woogie Dancing Shoes – Sandie Jones
• Padraic Pearse – Wolfe Tones
• Up in the World – Colm Wilkinson
• Broken Promises – Sacre Blue
• Do You Want Your Ole Lobby Washed Down – Brendan Shine
• Do You Want Your Ole Lobby Washed Down – Stokers Lodge
• Jimmy Jimmy – The Undertones
• Here Comes the Summer – The Undertones
• You’ve Got My Number – The Undertones
• Viva El Papa –  Caitriona Walsh (Pope tribute)
• Welcome John Paul – Jim Tobin and Firehouse (Pope tribute)
• Guests of the Nation – Horslips
• Shadow Play – Rory Gallagher
• Bunch of Time – Foster and Allen
• You’ve Never Heard Anything Like It – The Freshmen
• He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands – Magic (Pope tribute)
• Shoes Off, Boots On – Sandie Jones

Who Played Cork in 1979?

I remember going to Horslips, Protex, The Outcasts, Rudi, and U2 at the Arcadia and George Melly at the Savoy.

Abba played in Dublin in 1979 as did Queen and AC/DC. I have a vague memory of Queen being expected to play in Cork but being cancelled. I probably wouldn’t have gone anyway.

• January
  • Horslips – Arcadia
  • Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen – Savoy
  • The Only Ones and Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders – Arcadia
• February
  • Peters and Lee – Savoy
• March
  • Mud – City Hall
  • Girlschool – Arcadia
  • Eric Clapton – City Hall
  • Doctor Feelgood and John Cooper Clarke – Arcadia
• April
  • Frankie Vaughan – Savoy
  • Frankie Miller – Arcadia
  • Darts – Savoy
• May
  • Vince Hill – Savoy
• June
  • Shell Shock Rock movie, The Outcasts, Rudi, and DJ John Peel – Arcadia
  • Louis Stewart – Krojacks
  • Ron & Patricia Owens – Alive Again – a Worship experience – City Hall
• July
  • Rosetta Stone – City Hall
  • Don McLean – Pairc Ui Chaimh
• August
  • The Dooleys – City Hall
• October
  • Showaddywaddy – Arcadia
  • Horslips – Opera House
  • U2 – Opera House
  • Rory Gallagher – Opera House
  • Leo Sayer – City Hall
  • Horslips – Savoy
  • Loudon Wainwright III – Connolly Hall
  • Stranglers – Arcadia
• November
  • John Otways – Arcadia
  • The Cimarons – Arcadia
  • Gallagher and Lyle and Jude Tzuke- Savoy
  • George Melly – Savoy
• December
  • Rosetta Stone – City Hall
  • U2 and Protex – Arcadia
  • John Martyn – Connolly Hall
  • The Dooleys – City Hall

Here are clips from 1979 concerts at Cork Opera House. In the old advert, I saw the concerts (recorded for TV) mentioned but they didn’t say who it was who was playing. Maybe I wouldn’t have gone because I often saw Horslips, and I didn’t know much about U2, but I did see them a couple of months later in the Arcadia.

10 Movies of 1979

• Alien
• Apocalypse Now
• Kramer vs. Kramer
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• The Amityville Horror
• Moonraker
• 10
• Being There
• Escape from Alcatraz
• Manhattan

Monty Python’s Life of Brian, a send-up of Jesus movies, was also released in 1979. It sparked all kinds of controversy. Many saw it as blasphemous. Some defended it. Such films at least get people thinking of about the life of Jesus. Here’s an interesting recent article about it: Don’t be offended by The Life of Brian, it’s a great Christian apologetic. I never bothered watching it myself though I did enjoy The Holy Grail, which was released a few years earlier.

Some Albums of 1979

• London Calling – The Clash
• Rust Never Sleeps – Neil Young & Crazy Horse
• Off the Wall – Michael Jackson
• The Wall – Pink Floyd
• Fear of Music – Talking Heads
• Look Sharp! – Joe Jackson
• Armed Forces – Elvis Costello & The Attractions
• Dreaming – Kate Bush
• Spirits Having Flown – Bee Gees
• Minute by Minute – The Doobie Brothers
• Breakfast in America – Supertramp
• Bad Girls – Donna Summer
• Slow Train Coming – Bob Dylan
• Tusk – Fleetwood Mac
• Regatta de Blanc – The Police
• Highway to Hell – AC/DC

10 Key News Events of 1979

• Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran (Feb 1) – Marks the beginning of the Islamic Republic.
• China invades Vietnam (Feb 17) – Brief but intense border war.
• Egypt–Israel peace treaty signed (Mar 26) – First peace agreement between Israel and an Arab nation.
• Three Mile Island nuclear accident (Mar 28) – Partial meltdown in Pennsylvania sparks nuclear safety debate.
• Margaret Thatcher elected UK Prime Minister (May 4) – First woman to hold the office.
• American Airlines Flight 191 crash (May 25) – Deadliest U.S. air disaster, 271 killed in Chicago.
• Sony Walkman released (Jul 1) – Revolutionizes portable music listening.
• Nicaraguan Revolution (Jul 19) – Sandinistas overthrow Somoza regime.
• Lord Mountbatten assassinated (Aug 27) – IRA bombing kills British royal.
• Afghan President Amin overthrown (Dec 27) – Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, beginning a decade-long war.

Some TV Shows That I Would Have Watched in 1979

Some People Who Passed Away in 1979

• Sid Vicious – Punk rock star
• Nelson Rockerfeller – Former U.S. Vice President and Governor of New York
• Charles Mingus ​- Jazz musician
• Josef Mengele – Infamous Nazi doctor, “Angel of Death”
• Airey Neave​ – British politician assassinated by the IRA
• Louis Mountbatten – British statesman and naval officer, assassinated by the IRA
• Christy Ring – Famous Cork hurler
• Jack Cruise – Irish comedian
• Jimmy McCulloch – Wings guitarist
• Minnie Riperton – Soul singer known for “Lovin’ You”
• John Wayne – Actor

Hymns from 1979

I didn’t know any of these in 1979, but I became familiar with them in the early 1980s. Sometimes it’s hard to discern when these were first sung, but, if I remember correctly, I used the dates shown in Mission Praise for these. It could be that 1979 was when they first appeared in a hymn book.