The Year In Music: 1980

The year in music 1980 was one of immense change. Most notably, disco was finally losing its stranglehold on the charts after a three-year run. Punk was morphing into post-punk (in the form of Johnny Lydon's post Sex Pistols outfit PiL) and new wave and beginning to make its presence known in the press and on the charts. The promotional video, while nothing knew, was taking its first steps toward becoming an integral part of the promotional process.

JANUARY


Paul McCartney is arrested in Tokyo with a half pound of marijuana. He spends ten days in jail before being released and deported from the country.

Concert promoters are forced to re-think festival seating for large venue conerts after the December 1979 tragedy that saw eleven concert-goers die in a stampede for seats at a Cincinnati concert by The Who.


The Pretenders, a British band led by American Chrissie Hynde, release their self-titled debut effort in the US. On the success of first single "Brass In Pocket" (#14) and glowing critical acclaim, the album breaks the Top 10.

The debut album by Christopher Cross jettisons out of nowhere to dominate radio airwaves and the singles charts for much of the year. While the album would reach a peak position of #6, singles "Ride Like The Wind" and "Sailing" would hit #2 and #1, respectively.

Hitting upon a winning pop formula that comes at the expense of their high-energy R&B sound, J. Geils Band releases Love Stinks and score their first Top 20 album since 1973's Bloodshot. The album, which peaks at #15, is best-known for its title cut, which was a huge radio hit, although only reaching #38 on the Pop Singles chart.


Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers release the single "Refugee". It climbs to #15 on the charts, becoming their first Top 20 hit single. The album on which it appears, Damn The Torpedoes, climbs to #2 and is certified double platinum.

Trivia question #1: What was the title of the non-lp B-side to "Refugee"?
(answer at end of post)

FEBRUARY

AC/DC singer Bon Scott is found dead in London. The band, in the UK to record the follow-up to Highway To Hell, consider calling it quits.

Blondie release "Call Me", the lead-off single from the soundtrack to the Richard Gere film "American Gigolo". The song would spend six weeks at #1, becoming the best-selling single of 1980.

Trivia question #2: Who wrote "Call Me"?


MARCH

Billy Joel releases his seventh studio album, Glass Houses. Tiring of the soft-rock tag the press has bestowed upon him, Joel heads in a more obvious rock direction. The resulting album garners rock and Top 40 radio airplay and rockets to #1, as does the single "It's Still Rock & Roll To Me". Subsequent singles "You May Be Right" (#7) and "Don't Ask Me Why" both go Top 20. To date, the album has sold over 7 million copies in the US.

Journey release their sixth studio album - and third with lead vocalist Steve Perry, Departure. While the album's highest charting single, "Any Way You Want It" would only reach #23 (and subsequent singles "Good Morning Girl" and "Walks Like A Lady" would fail to make the Top 40), it would become the first Journey longplayer to break into the Top 10.


Saturday Night Live's Gilda Radner marries Hall & Oates guitarist G.E. Smith on March 25.


Linda Ronstadt, sensing the turning of the tide, also updates her sound considerably, releasing the new wave-inspired Mad Love. The album is most notable for including not one, but three Elvis Costello songs; "Party Girl", "Girls Talk", and "Talking In The Dark". None of them are released as singles, however, as Elektra favors "Hurt So Bad" (#8) and the Billy Steinberg-penned "How Do I Make You" (#10). The album peaks at #3 in the US and goes platinum.


Van Halen release their third album, Women And Children First. Like the album before it, Van Halen II, it peaks at #6 and is quickly certified platinum. Not bad for an album recorded in less than three weeks. That same month, they begin a nine-month world tour, ultilizing a completely new stage show. According to singer David Lee Roth, "no lasers or gimmicks, but 250 more lights than Queen used." [Listen to a demo of "Everybody Wants Some".]

This month, ZZ Top are the first rock band to perform at Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum since the Who's tragic appearance last December.

The Beach Boys release their 21st album, and first of the '80s, Keepin' The Summer Alive. With only partial involvment from Brian Wilson and Dennis Wilson bailing on the sessions very early on, Bruce Johnston is left to produce the album, which is a mix of unreleased archive material, new compositions, and a Chuck Berry cover ("School Days"). The album failed to crack the US Top 40.

APRIL

Adam + The Ants release their debut album, Kings Of The Wild Frontier, creating pandemonium in the UK, where the album hit #1 and spends over a year on the charts. Singles "Dog Eat Dog", "Antmusic" and the title track all go Top 5 in the UK. Meanwhile, the album peaks at #44 in the US. [Hear a live version of "Physical".]


Who guitarist Pete Townshend releases his first proper solo album, Empty Glass. which is propelled into the Top 5 on the US Albums chart by the success of the single "Let My Love Open The Door", which was a Top 10 hit in its own right. The album is produced by Chris Thomas (who'd produced the Sex Pistols' Never Mind The Bullocks, among others) and features musical backing by Mark Brzezicki and Tony Butler (better known as the rhythm section from Big Country), as well as current and future Who drummers Kenny Jones and Simon Phillips.

Asylum Records founder David Geffen announces the formation of a new record label, geared towards the Eighties, that will fall under the Warner Bros. Records umbrella. The then-unnamed label is later called, simply enough, Geffen Records.


Paul McCartney releases the single "Coming Up", from the McCartney II album. Radio stations bypass the A-side, choosing instead to play the live version of the song (recorded in Glasgow, Scotland) which appears as one of two tracks on the B-side. Regardless of which version received the most airplay, the single spends three weeks at #1.

Trivia question #3: What was the title of the other song that appears on the B-side of this single?

MAY

Epic Records unveils their new line of Nu-Disk EP's with titles by new bands the Continentals, New Musik, and Propaganda as well as a half-live/half-studio EP from Cheap Trick entitled Found All The Parts.


KISS release their new album, Unmasked, and continue to play up the prospect of being shown sans make-up. By now, of course, the band's domination of the rock scene is on a slight downward grade as their audience matures and moves onto other acts. Thus, it is with general disinterest that this album is received by the public at-large, managing a peak position of #34. The album's first single, "Shandi" stalls at #56. It would be the last album prior to drummer Peter Criss's departure from the band and, while credited on the album, he did not play on it.

Trivia question #4: Who did play drums on Unmasked?

JUNE


After being rejected by every US record label, Loverboy's self-titled debut album is released by Columbia Records in Canada. It goes on to sell 700,000 copies up yonder, leading the US branch of Columbia to re-think their initial rejection of the album. It gets a US release in November and eventually breaks into the Top 20, going on to sell over 2 million copies in the US and spawn two hit singles, "Turn Me Loose" and "The Kid is Hot Tonite".


Sniff 'N' The Tears encounter resistence from the US wing of Atlantic Records, which forces the band to change the artwork to their new album, The Game's Up, removing a provocative shot (taken by the band's own Paul Roberts) of a semi-nude woman presumably being accosted in her apartment.

The Rolling Stones release Emotional Rescue, which goes to #1 in both the US and UK. The album is highlighted by two singles, the title cut (#3) and "She's So Cold" (#26). The album had been recorded in '79 immediately following the dropping of drug charges against Keith Richards in Toronto. While dozens of new songs were reportedly recorded during this period, only ten would see release on this album. Others would later appear on Tattoo You in 1981.

Jackson Browne releases his sixth album, Hold Out, which goes to #1 on the strength of singles "Boulevard" (#19) and "That Girl Could Sing" (#22). It is his first and only #1 album.

JULY

Less than six months after the death of singer Bon Scott, AC/DC return with a new singer, Brian Johnson, and a new album, Back In Black. Anyone concerned that Scott's death would derail the band's forward momentum need not worry as the album peaks at #4 on the US charts (selling over 20 million copies to date in the US alone) while the single "You Shook Me All Night Long" breaks the Top 40. [Check out this live version of "Back In Black".]

AUGUST

Queen release "Another One Bites The Dust" as a single and score their first US #1 hit. Not surprisingly, the song reaches #2 on the US R&B charts as well.


The Cars release their third album, Panorama. With a much darker tone than their previous efforts, the album quickly debuts in the Top 10, reaching a peak position of #5 - then falls quickly. It's lone Top 20 single is "Touch And Go", which reached #37 on the singles chart. The album's poor critical reception leaves the band a little testy. Says Elliot Easton, "If anything sits a little funny about success, it's the feeling that we're doing something creative and expressive, but the people we'd like to see it get through to dismiss it as plastic crap. Yet middle America acclaims us." Greg Hawkes continues: "I hardly saw a bad review of the first album, but the second one was a totally different story. And now, with Panorama, we've had reviews saying stuff like 'What happened to these guys?'. It's as if we made one good record and then blew it." [Check out this live performance of "Shoo Be Doo/Gimme Some Slack".]

After recruiting Buggles members Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes to replace Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman, Yes release Drama, an album that sees their sound undergo a bit of an overhaul, incorporating harder rock and new wave influences that are no doubt due to the input of the two new members. Unlike past efforts, the album fails to hit the Top 10 in the US, but does peak at #2 in the UK. Horn and Downes would leave the band immediately following the completion of the band's world tour, with Jorn going on to become a much in-demend producer and Geoff Downes to form prog supergroup Asia.


Pat Benatar follows up the platinum success of her debut effort with the even-more-successful Crimes Of Passion, which climbs to a peak position of #2 and spawns her signature hit single, "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", which became her first Top 10 smash. "Treat Me Right" would later crack the Top 20.

SEPTEMBER

On September 25, Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham is found dead in his bed after a reported night of heavy drinking.

OCTOBER

The Police release their third album, Zenyatta Mondatta, and complete their transformation from up-and-coming UK rock act to worldwide hitmakers. The album rises to a peak position of #5 in the US on the strength of singles "De Do Do Do De Da Da Da" and "Don't Stand So Close To Me", which both peak at #10 on the Pop Singles chart.

NOVEMBER

Recorded during the hugely successful tour for The Long Run, Eagles release Eagles Live. By then, of course, the group has called it a day. The album is mixed - seperately, of course - by Don Henley and Glenn Frey, who reportedly can't stand being in the same studio together.


After a run of seven consecutive Top 10 albums, Barry Manilow's Barry peaks at a lowly #15, setting in motion a gradual career decline on the US charts. It also features his last Top 10 single, "I Made It Through The Rain".

DECEMBER

On December 8, Fleetwood Mac releases Fleetwood Mac Live, which was recorded during their monumental 18-month Tusk world tour. [Listen to this live cut of "Don't Stop".]


Tragically, that same day, John Lennon is murdered in New York City.

TRIVIA ANSWERS:

1. "It's Rainin' Again"
2. Giorgio Moroder and Debby Harry
3. "Lunchbox/Odd Sox"
4. Anton Fig, best known as the drummer in Paul Schaffer's Late Night band.

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