Boat Drinks - Jimmy Buffett

Boat Drinks - Jimmy Buffett

2:37

Volcano, 1979

Written by Jimmy Buffett

One of Buffett's funnier songs, this one depicts a man going stir crazy, yearning for warmer climates, as his band orders tropical cocktails and watches hockey.  "Lately, newspaper mentioned cheap air fare / I gotta to fly to Saint Somewhere / I'm close to bodily harm."  It was inspired by real events — Buffett was stuck in Boston in the winter, and stole a taxi he found idling in the street rather than stay cooped up one minute longer.  Beneath the breezy melody is an all-too-real portrait of a man whose surroundings and yearning for something better drive him to desperation, making the song both one of Buffett's catchiest singalongs and one of his sharpest comic character sketches.

Je l'aime à mourir - Francis Cabrel

Je l'aime à mourir - Francis Cabrel

2:45

Les Chemins de traverse, 1979

Written by Francis Cabrel

I had never heard of this musician, although he's been huge in Europe for nearly fifty years.  I read that one-time Dylan guitarist Freddy "Fuzzy" Koella referred to Cabrel as a Dylan-like French musician, a claim that clicked when I heard this warm, soulful folk tune.  It was covered in both French and Spanish by Shakira and became a hit, also.  It's a love song, with surreal but sweet lyrics reminiscent of "Love Minus Zero," except with a Gallic flavor: "Elle a gommé les chiffres des horloges du quartier / Elle a fait de ma vie des cocottes en papier, des éclats de rire / Elle a bâti des ponts entre nous et le ciel."  It's a language of love that transcaneds the literal.

Lola - The Raincoats

Lola - The Raincoats

4:04

The Raincoats, 1979

Written by Ray Davies, 1970

It's Cover Time! 

This is a faithful, yet ragged and off-kilter take with quiet, reedy vocals that packs a lot of charm.  The Raincoats bring their fierce folk-punk sensibility to the song, with female harmonies, offbeat drumming fills, and lyrics that become gender-flipped twice over by virtue of being sung by a woman.  The result is a familiar song that suddenly feels stranger, funnier, and a touch more subversive.

Jug Band Music - Lucinda Williams

Jug Band Music - Lucinda Williams

2:27

Ramblin' On My Mind, 1979

Written by Will Shade, c. 1927-1930?

I thought that this song, from Williams' debut album, might be a cover of the sublime Lovin' Spoonful song of the same name, but it's not.  It is, however, a cover.  I could not find any solid information about the original, but it seems clear that it was performed by the Memphis Jug Band, a band that performed from the late 1920s to the 1950s.  Like the Spoonful song, it's a celebration of the music itself, a tribute to the communal, homemade joy of jug-band sound.  "Well, I went to my man, put my hand on his knee / Said, 'If you can't play the jug, you can't play with me.'"  Williams' voice here is younger, rounder, and less weathered than the drawl we'd come to know later; her strummed 12-string and the easy shuffle of the arrangement make it feel like a front-porch party recorded in one take, an affectionate nod to a vanished era that suits her perfectly.

The Toughest Street In Town - Thin Lizzy

The Toughest Street In Town - Thin Lizzy

4:00

Black Rose: A Rock Legend, 1979

Written by Scott Gorham, Phil Lynott, and Gary Moore

One of the most punk-adjacent cuts in Thin Lizzy's catalog, this song bursts open with slashing guitars that could've come straight from the Sex Pistols (Phil Lynott's mates, and kindred spirits in attitude if not in polish).  The guitars are hard edged, Brian Downey's drumming snaps like a snare in an alley, while Lynott spits his lines with the rhythmic swagger of a boxer turned street poet. "Like a rat in a pack it attacks / From the back / Through a crack in a track / And you take a smack."  The song paints a grimy cityscape, a Lou Reed vignette refitted with power chords and defiant Irish soul. The chorus crashes in over a dependable "Louie Louie" chord, a gang chant that feels both desperate and triumphant. Then Moore detonates a furious solo, full of sharp bends and molten tone, showing he was such a natural (albeit brief) fit for Lizzy's mix of toughness and melody. 

Belfast Telegraph - Shock Treatment

Belfast Telegraph - Shock Treatment

2:24

single, 1979

Written by Shock Treatment, probably?

Ulster political punk, a sharp burst apparently directed at the lurid and salacious nature of the titular newspaper's reporting.  Reminiscent of Stiff Little Fingers, with powerful main vocals, forceful chanting background vocals, and a musicality that far exceeds other proto-punk bands of the era, for example the primitive Ramones.  A little-known and short-lived band, ahead of its time.

Ubangi Stomp - John Prine

Ubangi Stomp - John Prine

2:43

Pink Cadillac, 1979

Written by Charles Underwood, 1956

This is a full-on throwback rockabilly number, which I never imagined John Prine would have done.  The music is a typical, primitive rock beat, with the lyrics decidedly unfashionable.  They tell a story of rocker who comes upon an African tribe who rock like any cool cat.  There is some conflating of cultural stereotypes: "Well, I looked up the chief and he invited me in / Said a heap big jam session 'bout to begin / He handed me a tom-tom I picked up the beat."  It was a different, less educated, time.

Making Plans For Nigel - XTC

Making Plans For Nigel - XTC

4:13

Drums And Wires, 1979

Written by Colin Moulding

With syncopated, echoing synths, a tom beat and a keyboard-made cracking sound in place of a cymbal, this song has a repetitive, industrial feel.  The lyrics are told from the point of view of overbearing parents who map out their son Nigel's entire life.  "He has his future in a British steel / We're only making plans for Nigel / Nigel's whole future is as good as sealed."  I can see why it made an impression on the British people of the day (and caused some steelworkers to try an unsuccessful protest), but to me its unvarying beat detracts from the song's wit.

Everybody's Happy Nowadays - Buzzcocks

Everybody's Happy Nowadays - Buzzcocks

3:11

single, 1979

Written by Pete Shelley

This song takes you by surprise.  It comes at you like a punk anthem, with typically bleak, nihilistic lyrics: "Life's an illusion / Love is a dream."  But, ahead of its time, the song goes loud/quiet/loud, as a falsetto chorus stretches the song out before it bounces back into a punk beat, and then back again.  The bridge strips things down to rhythm and repetition, singer Pete Shelley tweaking each line just enough to destabilize meaning. By the end, he flips perspective entirely, from cynicism to something like clarity: "Now I know just what it is."

Murder City Nights - Radio Birdman

Murder City Nights - Radio Birdman
2:24 

Radios Appear, 1979

Written by Deniz Tek

I'd never heard of this influential Australian punk band.  In this song the narrator is driving around the mean streets of an unidentified city (although he mentions a Woodward).  He's looking for some action.  He's bored with "the seventies stasis," which probably echoes how the band felt about the state of music at that point.  It's got a Springsteen feel, lyrically if not musically.  "Hanging on the edge of my self control / Looking in the mirror for the highway patrol."

Night Boat To Cairo - Madness

Night Boat To Cairo - Madness

3:31

One Step Beyond..., 1979

Written by Graham McPherson and Mike Barson

It begins with a low foghorn-like sound and then a vaguely sub-continental, exotic-ish tune.  "It's just gone noon, half past monsoon / On the banks of the river Nile."  The lyrics describe a wordless scene, a grizzled old oarsman paddling across the Nile.  It's a view that's informed by a British, colonialist culture shaped by numberless films about intrepid chaps off to bring civilization to Johnny Wog.  The music matches the imagery, giving it a suspenseful, adventure-story feel despite the frenetic pace.

Nine Pound Hammer - The Tony Rice Unit

Nine Pound Hammer - The Tony Rice Unit

2:55

Manzanita, 1979

traditional

Where Johnny Cash and Merle Travis play this song straight and slow, as a working song (takes that have failed to grab me), Tony Rice transforms it into a uptempo, fast-paced masterclass in dazzling flatpicking guitar, with clean, rapid, melodic runs, and a polished blend of bluegrass and jazz phrasing.  The mandolin, bass, and fiddle hum along with a light, fluid touch, blending bluegrass with jazz phrasing.  Rice's smooth, laid-back vocals ler the musicianship take center stage.

Fantastic Voyage - David Bowie

Fantastic Voyage - David Bowie

2:55

Lodger, 1979

Written by David Bowie and Brian Eno

Listen for the silent E!

An almost serene, crooning ballad, art-rock style, from the master.  The lyrics are oblique.  It seems to be about a nuclear war, but it could apply to a love turned bad?  The narrator fears we'll never get old, presumably because we've been blown to bits.  "Remember it's true, dignity is valuable / But our lives are valuable too... I'm still getting educated but I've got to write it down."  Are we recording it so we don't have to relive history's past mistakes?  It may be too late.  What a beguiling, disarming song.  Its softness belies its true nature.  An overlooked gem.