1978…It was a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…where Disco, Punk, New Wave and Hard Rock collided…wait. That sounds more like 1977, right? Yes, as some have said, there’s a “before and after” effect that is definitely ‘77, but 1978 was where things began to really expand and intensify. Elvis Presley had just left the building months before. The King was gone but not forgotten, and now there was a new Elvis on the scene. Everyone was riding new waves. One backyard party band introduced a new, soon-to-be imitated guitar style, while another band asked the important question “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” while the “Greatest Rock ‘N’ Roll Band In The World” continued to be…the greatest. I myself couldn’t help but boogie all night long, thanks to all the cocaine! Wait, what?!?

What is this shit? Another long-ass playlist based on a particular year? Yes, on the heels of my long-ass 1966 playlist I decided to explore another year that I’ve always had a special reverence for. This one will make you laugh, make you cry, or maybe puke, or smash something, or maybe just shake yer booty. The correct answer is all of the above. I tend to repeat myself with my playlists and this one borrows a lot from my “Rocky Mix” and was partially inspired by my extended fantasy soundtrack for “Over The Edge”. I also took various selections from my KBD-flavored mixtape “Rock ‘N’ Roll Kamikaze” from 30 years ago. Sure, it’s a nostalgic trip back in time but it’s a lot of fun. Why 1978? Well, it’s not as easy to explain as 1966, the year I was born, but let me try. As crazy as I am about the mid-‘60s, that’s a world I never really knew. I know 1978 very well. I was 11 years-old for the first ten months (I know math). I wasn’t much different than any other kid of that age, except I was obsessed with music more than most of the kids I knew. I think 1978 is where my taste and knowledge of music and pop culture began to evolve at a rapid pace, continuing into the ‘80s and beyond like the blast of an atom bomb.

I have so many fond memories of 1978. From witnessing the Dallas Cowboys win the Super Bowl (the first time I ever watched the game), to finally seeing “Star Wars” a year after it came out. How about sneaking in to the R-rated “Animal House”? It was a very important film in my life as it helped form my sense of humor. It’s where I fell in love with “Louie Louie”, and it was the first time I ever had the cinematic experience of seeing naked female breasts on a movie screen. “You know you make me wanna SHOUT!!” (RIP Mary Louise Weller) Don’t judge me but seeing “Grease” was no better. The damage Olivia Newton-John in those black satin pants did to me is irreversible. Now I am willing to admit that I liked a lot of cheesy stuff growing up, I was a kid after all, but I’m not ashamed and don’t believe in guilty pleasures. I am however proud to say that in 1978, I did NOT go to the movies to see “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band”. I waited till that crap was on TV and I only watched it to see Aerosmith.

“Just because I watch Dinah Shore
Doesn’t mean I need a facelift”
— “Television Addict” by The Victims

As a kid I enjoyed sports, swimming and riding BMX bikes, but in the Texas summer, I spent more time inside than out. Like most of my generation, I was raised by a television set. I watched tons of old movies and classic ‘60s TV. I also never missed an episode of “Happy Days”, “Laverne & Shirley”, “Mork & Mindy”, “Three’s Company”, and of course “The Dukes of Hazzard”. And I was allowed to party with SNL from the beginning, witnessing the debut of The Blues Brothers and Steve Martin doing “King Tut”, both on the same April 22, 1978 episode. It was also the episode with the message from outer space: “Send more Chuck Berry.” I recorded the audio on cassette and listened to it countless times. I also saw many of the legendary musical performances like Devo, Elvis Costello, Patti Smith and more.

However, I never strayed too far from my record player or a radio, dreaming about being a rockstar someday. After all, 1978 was the year NBC proved that rockstars were superheroes who could save the world with “KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park”…. It was also the year Ron Howard’s “Cotton Candy” premiered on NBC, showing us all how to fulfill your Rock ‘N’ Roll dreams (and that relationships in bands never work). Shot in Dallas, the real group of musicians that played villain band Rapid Fire, practiced across the street from my dad’s house in north Irving, and I heard them rehearsing often. Little did I know that years later I would go see one of the members, Mark Ridlen, play in local band Lithium X-Mas, or that I would actually live in the house that was used for where the main character lived and started his band.

Below: me & Mark Ridlen at a screening of “Cotton Candy”, 2019.

I knew a few kids into the same music I dug but most were squares into Disco and the worst of ‘70s Pop that you could think of (and honestly, I didn’t hate all Disco or Pop music). In my 5th grade class (‘77-‘78) we would have a “free day” on Fridays where we did very little schoolwork and just got to hang out and play more or less. And the greatest thing for me was that we had a record player that we could listen to records on, including what we brought from home. We just had to be fair and take turns. We heard a lot of the “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease” soundtracks, lots of ABBA, and other…crap. We always got to listen to KISS, but not without strong opposition from the squares. Our teacher tolerated it but laid down a “only one KISS record” rule. So imagine the reaction when I brought AC/DC’s High Voltage one day. I don’t think we made it through all of side one before enough complaints forced me to take it off. Bunch of losers.

Of course I didn’t need to musically relate to my peers as I had very cool parents. I’ve spoken endlessly about my stepdad Rocky and the music he introduced me to. My parents had tons of parties and all of their friends were lovers of music. Some of their friends would get a kick out of how much I was into music. We would go over to their friend’s houses and they would let me look through their records. I was introduced to a wide variety of music through my parent’s friends, from Bob Marley to Judas Priest. I’ve also spoken before about Rocky’s brother Paul, aka Hoppy. Hoppy came to live with us at the beginning of 1978. After breaking his back, we were stuck with him for a year or more. Hoppy had very diverse tastes in music, convincing me that some Country music was actually cool, and introducing me to Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen. Hoppy actually thought Bruce was boring and gave me his copy of Darkness On The Edge of Town. I tried to like it but ended up selling it (today I own and enjoy all of Bruce’s early albums). Of course Hoppy’s greatest contribution to me and Rocky, even before he came to live with us, was turning us onto AC/DC on Christmas Day 1976.

AC/DC were still building a following in ‘78. We felt a kind of ownership of the band. They were like this secret that only we knew about. With Powerage and the following live album If You Want Blood, they were starting to get some airplay on our local Album Oriented Rock (AOR) radio stations, but it wasn’t until Highway To Hell that they were in heavy rotation. When the Aussies made their U.S. television debut on “The Midnight Special” on November 24, 1978, we were glued to the TV. It was the first time we had ever seen footage of them. It was the first time I ever watched Angus Young run back forth across a stage. It was mesmerizing. Words really can’t describe the thrill of it. It was like my moon landing. They would become one of my holy trinity of bands.

I was almost instantly taken by the Ramones but it also took many years for my love of them to really grow. Like the image of them on the cover of Road To Ruin, they were like a cartoon. Their music was like the bubblegum music that inspired them, and it took me a while to fully understand the power and beauty of what they were doing. There would come a day when I realized they were as vital to my existence as oxygen and water. Although their second album Leave Home was the first I owned, Road To Ruin was the first Ramones album I actually heard, checking it out from the library. The hardest thing is not putting the entire album on this playlist.

“This is the big time, girlie. This is Rock ‘N’ Roll.”
— Sal, Ramones (fictional) manager

As I mentioned before, the film “Over The Edge” was a bit of inspiration for this playlist, and so was “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School” (does anyone else crack up by the way Joey says “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School?” when Riff tells him the title of her song?). Although both films were released in ‘79, they were made in ‘78 and that’s the frame of mind they put me in. A well-known piece of trivia is that Cheap Trick were actually considered for “School” before the Ramones. The music of Cheap Trick (and the Ramones) would be prominently featured in “Over The Edge”. I’m pretty sure “Surrender” was my introduction to Cheap Trick, but they were merely a blip on the radar till At Budokon, which was released in Japan in October of ‘78, and slowly got some airplay in the U.S. However, 1979 was definitely Cheap Trick’s year after the album’s February U.S. release, and by the spring they were the hottest band in America. As much as I would love to include “I Want You To Want Me” on the playlist, hearing that on the radio everyday and the excitement it generated was very much a ‘79 thing, although it did technically get started in ‘78 (ain’t it a shame…). Also, the Ramones backing the Paley Brothers’ cover of Ritchie Valens’ “Come On Let’s Go” appears on the ‘79 “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School” soundtrack, but it was first released as a single in ‘78.

Then there was this other band I occasionally listened to…The Rolling Stones (aka my favorite band since I was 7). There’s simply not another band that is more synonymous with 1978 for me. My theme of ‘78 and the convergence of Disco, Punk and the mainstream of Rock ‘N’ Roll cannot be represented more than by the masterpiece known as Some Girls. So many things to point out, like how they reinvented their sound where Mick takes charge with a freshly clean Keith and a fully integrated Ronnie, while their impeccable Blues/R&B/Soul touch meshes with their hilarious faux-Country, where they try to out-Punk the punks with “Respectable” and give us their version of New Wave with “Shattered”. Who would have imagined the Stones would do a Disco song that is beloved by anti-Disco fans? I just had to use the “Special Disco Version” of “Miss You” on the playlist. It’s so much fun.

The Sex Pistols appearance at the Longhorn Ballroom in January was nothing more than a picnic compared to the near riot that happened at Will Rogers Auditorium in Ft. Worth on July 18, 1978 (and sure I’m exaggerating but play along…). Billed as “The London Green Shoed Cowboys”, word began to spread that it was actually the Stones and fans went nuts trying to acquire tickets on the day of the show. The local news showed where some unruly fans had smashed some windows at the venue. The concert was recorded and filmed but it sat in a vault for years until it was released as “Some Girls: Live In Texas ‘78”. It is the best Stones concert film, IMO. And who could forget them hosting SNL on October 7. They were the first band I recall hosting and they performed a three-song set instead of the usual two separate songs, and they appeared in a couple of sketches too. So, The Rolling Stones, AC/DC and the Ramones would become my holy trinity of bands, and Some Girls, Powerage, and Road To Ruin would become my holy trinity of 1978 albums.

Like so many my age, I was obsessed with KISS as a pre-teen. They were at their peak entering 1978 on the heels of Alive II. They released their first “greatest hits” collection called Double Platinum in April which included one new track. “Strutter ‘78” was an updated “disco” version of their early classic (there was some kind of emphasis on the drums and hi-hat that made it more…danceable?) It would be the only new music from KISS that year, but they would still have a huge presence with the release of each member’s solo albums. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley had expressed doubts that lead guitarist Ace Frehley, with his hard-partying and reckless behavior, would be able to produce much with his solo project, and actually offered to help him. He ignored them and played nearly every instrument on it except the drums. His album was not only the best of the four, I’d argue it’s better than any KISS album, period. With his cover of “New York Groove”, he was the only one that had an actual hit.

Rocky and Hoppy constantly teased me about KISS. “They suck.” When “KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park” premiered, I had to watch it in my parent’s bedroom because there was no way they were gonna watch “that crap”. Now you might think Rocky made fun of me and my sister when we painted our faces as KISS members one Halloween, but I recall Rocky being Gene Simmons that same year as well. Ha!

Some may find this hard to believe but as hugely popular as KISS was, they did not get much airplay on Dallas radio. “Beth” was a huge Top 40 hit. Every once in a while you might hear “Rock and Roll All Nite”, but the so-called Rock stations wouldn’t touch KISS. They were beneath them. They were like The Monkees of hard rock to some. They would play Devo doing “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” for shits & giggles, but KISS were a total joke to them. “New York Groove” did get some attention, but again that was mostly from Top 40. It wasn’t until KISS took off the makeup and costumes and went hair metal before Dallas radio ever took them seriously. Ha! “take KISS seriously…”

Gene Simmons can be blamed or given credit for “discovering” Van Halen, and you know he would prefer the latter. I’ve always had the theory that through Gene’s involvement (he produced a demo which led to them getting signed), at some point he had to tell Ace Frehley “Hey, you gotta check out this guitar player. He plays like no one you’ve ever heard before.” Or something like that. The spotlight guitar solo that Ace plays on the version of “Shock Me” on Alive II is so similar in its structure to Eddie Van Halen’s signature solo piece “Eruption”, I just don’t know how anyone could disagree. I also remember there was short-lived rumor that Van Halen were actually KISS without the makeup. It’s funny looking back now as ‘78 was a turning point for KISS and at the same time we were witnessing the ascension of the new kings of hard rock.

Now, we can also blame or give credit to Van Halen for inspiring a whole generation of shredders and wankers, and the template that countless “hair” bands would imitate, but the only thing I know is that in 1978, there wasn’t any band that sounded like VH, and they sounded like they were from another planet (Planet Pasadena). The impact they had is harder to quantify than it looks. They had an influence comparable to The Beatles and the Ramones, the most profound and influential guitar player since Jimi Hendrix, and they would create a guaranteed good time live experience that was bigger than KISS (with less theatrics) or any other big ‘70s band. On their ‘78 tour supporting Black Sabbath, they frequently blew the headliners off the stage and it is often cited as a factor in the split between Sabbath and singer Ozzy Osbourne. Of course Ozzy was also inspired by VH and found his own virtuoso guitarist. Funny fact, Van Halen were also considered for “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School”, but it was determined they would be too unruly and impossible to control.

Another cool thing about having Hoppy around was that he had a subscription to Rolling Stone which was invaluable to my education of what was happening in the world of Rock. I followed the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols on a weekly basis. I knew a lot about Punk before I ever really listened to it. Rocky never even tried to understand Punk. He had been into Alice Cooper and the MC5 so the shock value wasn’t anything new to him. But I will always remember the day when we were listening to the radio and the DJ said “Here’s some new music from a band outta Boston. It’s called “Good Times Roll” and this is The Cars…” No, it wasn’t exactly Punk but it was different and new, which is an important thing to remember. Despite all the attention Punk got, it was the more New Wave side of things that was able to break through to the mainstream. Rocky went out and bought the Cars record soon afterwards.

“They say you better listen to the voice of reason
But they don’t give you any choice ’cause they think that it’s treason
So you had better do as you are told
You better listen to the radio”
— “Radio, Radio” by Elvis Costello

I didn’t really listen to a lot of Punk until a few years later in my teens, but my public library had plenty of records for me to listen to, and that’s where I got to hear the Ramones, Patti Smith, Dead Boys and The Dictators among countless others for the first time (the library was also where I studied the Johnny Winter-era Muddy Waters LPs). I was lucky to live in Dallas where I got to tune into George Gimarc’s “Rock ‘N’ Roll Alternative” show on KZEW. It was like a formal education on New Wave and Punk. I never heard the Sex Pistols or the Ramones on regular radio. Groups like The Cars, Blondie, The B-52’s, Elvis Costello, and eventually even Devo and The Clash became a part of the mainstream radio landscape, but the edgier stuff got no airplay (in the ‘90s the Alternative Rock station would play Ramones and Pistols as their version of “classic rock”). I always thought it was funny how the AOR DJs would rarely use the words “Punk” or “New Wave”. Instead they called it “new music”. And it wasn’t just the media, but the old wave were paying attention too. Along with the Stones, The Who, Marc Bolan, Pink Floyd, Queen and Led Zeppelin were all observing what was happening. Red string is optional but you can connect the dots from Zeppelin to Dave Edmunds to Stiff Records to The Damned, and members of Zeppelin were known to show up at Damned gigs. Thin Lizzy and Motörhead also famously rubbed shoulders with the punks.

It wasn’t as bad as the “Kill a Punk for Rock ‘N’ Roll” mentality that emerged in the early ‘80s and seemed to come from the Metal crowd, whom would change their attitude a few years later with the advent of Thrash, but it did seem like Punk was like some kind of socialist/communist plot to some media companies and there was a concentrated campaign against it. How else could the Ramones (who never intended to be “Punk”) write one great Pop song after another and never have a hit? It was a goddamn conspiracy! Even with local Dallas band the Nervebreakers opening for the Ramones, Sex Pistols and The Clash, and the infamous photo of Barry Kooda eating a fish in Rolling Stone, I don’t recall hearing them on local radio except maybe on Gimarc’s show. “My Girlfriend Is A Rock” is quite possibly the greatest Rock song ever produced by a Dallas area band (although I prefer the 1980 version).

And then there’s The Werewolves…openers for the New York Dolls’ ‘73 4-night Dallas stand, “discovered” by former Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, signed to RCA and released not one but two really good albums, both in ‘78. They seemed destined to be stars with a Stonesy swagger and mix of Blues and Country-Rock vibes, and yet I don’t remember ever hearing them on the radio. They didn’t look like Boston or Journey. They had a modern, short haircut, kinda Power Pop look about them and so I guess local radio thought they were one of “those bands” and just didn’t give them a chance. I do however give KZEW credit for premiering Texas legend Bugs Henderson’s At Last album, playing it in its entirety. I listened to that record incessantly and was completely starstruck when I got to meet him a few years later.

While this playlist is based around the music I did hear in 1978, it is also a party platter of music from ‘78 that I discovered later in my life and have come to love dearly. The KBD (Killed By Death) level of obscure Punk bands didn’t appear on my radar till my 30s. I thought about the rules and guidelines I employed with my 1966 playlist, but then I just tossed them out. For certain groups I couldn’t help but include multiple selections. While I included many favorites and some obscure tunes, I went with plenty of well known hits because it is after all a celebration of the times, and like my ‘66 playlist, it’s just incredible how much great music came out in just one year.

Some of the song titles associated with 1978 are galactic: “Surrender”, “Fat Bottomed Girls”, “My Best Friend’s Girl”, “I Wanna Be Sedated”, “Heart of Glass”, “Because The Night”, “Rock Lobster”, “Teenage Kicks”, “Miss You”, “The Gambler”, “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love”, “Who Are You”, “Pump It Up”, “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory”… And if I haven’t totally worn you out by now, just think about this: The Cars, The Cramps, The B-52’s, X, Germs, Joy Division, Dire Straits, Gang Of Four, Public Image Ltd., The Boys Next Door (aka The Birthday Party), The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, Van Halen, and so many more, all released their first records in 1978. I sensed a lot of potential from those kids calling themselves The Rolling Stones.

I initially wanted to stick with the “released in 1978” rule, but I twisted things a little. The Dictators’ “16 Forever”, and tracks from The Real Kids, The Breakaways, and Led Zeppelin were recorded in ‘78 but not released till years later. I never heard of Rose Tattoo till their first album got released in the U.S. two years after the original ‘78 Australian version. Here’s a few other tricks and treats:

Plastic Bertrand “Ca Plane Pour Moi” b/w “Pogo Pogo” – released in France and the U.S. in December of ‘77, which is practically 1978, but didn’t get a U.K. release till after the beginning of the year. It was a top 10 hit in the U.K.

Wreckless Eric “Whole Wide World” – single released in ‘77 but didn’t chart, then included on his ‘78 debut album and today is considered one of the greatest British Pop songs.

Radio Birdman “What Gives?” and “Aloha Steve and Danno” – Radios Appear was released in Australia in 1977. In ‘78 it was re-released internationally with three songs switched out for five new songs.

Iggy Pop & James Williamson “I Got Nothing” – recorded as a demo in ‘75, released on the album Kill City in ‘77, then a “Kill City” b/w “I Got Nothing” 45 was released in ‘78.

The Saints “This Perfect Day” – was first released as a ‘77 single but a different version appears on ‘78’s Eternally Yours.

Judas Priest “Hell Bent For Leather” – the fifth Priest album Killing Machine was released internationally in November of ‘78, but not in the U.S. till the following February, and retitled Hell Bent For Leather.

The Damned “Love Song” – prior to ‘79’s Machine Gun Etiquette, this demo version was released as a single in late ‘78 on a label called Dodgy Demo Co.

Black Flag “Nervous Breakdown” – recorded in January of ‘78, the plan was to release it on Bomp Records, but after it sat on the shelf the band formed SST Records and released it Jan ‘79, just after changing their name from Panic to BF. However, according to George Gimarc’s book “Punk Diary”, it was released on December 18, 1978…I trust George.

And of course the Sex Pistols broke up in January of ‘78, and no new recordings were released that year (Sid’s “My Way” doesn’t count). Yet the shadow they cast on ‘78 and Punk in general was monumental. I certainly have never forgotten the local media’s coverage of their appearance at the Longhorn Ballroom. If I had a time machine I’d be more excited about seeing the Nervebreakers than the Pistols.

If the Pistols don’t make sense being on this playlist, then get a load of Neil Young & Crazy Horse and “Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)” from the 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps. I thought it would make a cool closer as a mash-up of the old wave and the new. The story goes that in May of ‘78, Young joined Devo onstage in San Francisco. The next day they got together in a studio where Devo backed Young on the first recording of the song. Mark Mothersbaugh actually gave Neil the line “rust never sleeps”. The session was filmed and a performance of the song appears in Young’s 1982 film “Human Highway” where Neil is wearing a Sex Pistols t-shirt. Young would bring the song to Crazy Horse and the version that ended up on the album was recorded live at The Cow Palace on October 22. So technically it’s a ‘78 song. The lyric “this is the story of the Johnny Rotten (Rotten Johnny)” was not a diss on the Pistols frontman. Young admired Rotten’s ability to piss people off, and the song’s raw distorted guitar was Neil’s embrace of Punk’s abrasive sound. In other words, I think it’s Punk AF.

Now you’re probably wondering why I added Heart’s “Barracuda” or Queen’s “It’s Late” and “Sheer Heart Attack”, all from ‘77. No? Imma gonna splain it anyway. “Barracuda” rules and was still very much a part of my ‘78 soundtrack. Both Queen songs were released in April ‘78 as the final single from News Of The World. “Sheer Heart Attack” was a leftover from their 1974 album of the same name. Roger Taylor had written and sung the original version and revived it as a response to the Punk phenomenon, with Freddie Mercury replacing the lead vocal. A series of coincidences with the Sex Pistols and Queen are worth mentioning. Both groups were recording at Wessex Studios in 1977. Sid Vicious, not yet having replaced Glen Matlock but a Pistol hanger-on, walks into Queen’s session talking smack to Freddie who has him kicked out after calling Sid “Ferocious” instead of “Vicious”. Then the weirdest thing is Queen were originally supposed to appear on Billy Grundy’s show and backed out, so their UK label EMI sent their newest signings, the Pistols, whose appearance on the show was the infamous “Filth and Fury” moment in their career, and were immediately dropped by EMI. The final bizarre coincidence, Queen’s News Of The World and the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind The Bollocks were both released on October 28, 1977.

”Don’t Fear The Reaper”? Um…that came out in like, 1976, dude. Yes, but it was also featured in 1978’s “Halloween” and nothing says ‘78 to me like two teenage girls cruising around in a Monte Carlo, smoking a joint and rockin’ some BOC (while being stalked by an evil psycho).

Nothing reminds me of listening to the radio in ‘78 like hearing the segue from Foreigner’s “Double Vision” to Heart’s “Straight On” (the DJ mode on my Apple Music is awesome!). You really could hear Van Halen followed by Patti Smith, or the Talking Heads followed by The Who followed by E.C. followed by David G. or Pink Floyd at any time on any given day. And yes, we would stop everything to sing along and play air guitar to “Renegade” by Styx. Yeah I know, bands like Styx, Foreigner, Boston, Journey, etc. are fun punching bags, but at one time or another I enjoyed each of those bands. Life is a series of reflections. “Why did I ever like THAT?” 11 year-old me once thought “Old Time Rock & Roll” was the greatest song ever till I watched older people dance to it, and that was before Tom Cruise got a hold of it. Yet there’s something cinematic about Bob Seger’s “Hollywood Nights” that I can’t resist. Maybe it’s hearing it in “Grand Theft Auto” a million times. And props to Bob Seger for taking Patti Smith on tour with him in ‘77 (in which she fell off a stage and nearly killed herself).

Just so we’re clear, I will not tolerate any dissing of Ann & Nancy Wilson. Wanna step outside and talk shit about Foghat? I will defend REO Speedwagon’s “Roll With The Changes” to death. Gary Richrath was a badass! I WILL KISS A PUNK FOR ROCK ‘N’ ROLL! Be thankful that ‘77 was Fleetwood Mac’s big year.

“Laid off work and I can’t be free
I need some rock ‘n’ roll therapy
Put on a 45 and let the needle ride
Jukebox jumps and I’ll be satisfied
When I was stone blue
Rock ‘n’ Roll sure helped me through”
— “Stone Blue” by Foghat

So, in many ways this playlist is like my personal fantasy radio station. It really was an exciting time hearing the mix of what the kids today call “Classic Rock” with the revolutionary new sounds of the day. As the ‘80s approached and I entered my own teenage wasteland, I continued to absorb all music, but with a strong attraction to Heavy Metal and Punk. I was the weird kid whose parents were cool, so music (Punk in particular) was never the call-to-arms of rebellion against mom & dad for me like it may have been for others. Yet I certainly saw music as an anti-authority, anti-establishment force. Anytime music or pop culture freaked out the squares, it was a victory. One of my favorite quotes, and I not sure if this is verbatim, but Tom Petty was asked if he minded being lumped in with other New Wave bands, and he said “I’d rather be the New Wave than the Old Wave.” It was all just Rock ‘N’ Roll to me. I will always be fascinated with the sounds of 1978 that I heard as a kid and all the stuff from that year that keeps thrilling me today. “‘78 Style” is a song Jon Spencer wrote about the Pussy Galore tour van, but I like to use the phrase to describe my musical schizophrenia.

Oh my, where will I go next? A year in the 1980s? Maybe…I’ve mentioned many times about a “mid-‘80s project I’m working on”. It actually covers 1984-1987, but I’ve still got a lot of work to do on that. So, tune in next week and see what I’ve cooked up.

Once again there is a Spotify version but not everything is available there. I had to include a few ‘79 re-recordings like the first singles by The B-52’s and the Germs.