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1979 Top 100 Pop Music Hits: Disco Peaks, Rock Pushes Back, New Wave Arrives, and Pop Gets Weird

 

1979 pop music hits captured one of the most fascinating handoff years in music history. Disco was still huge, rock was pushing back with guitars and attitude, new wave was starting to sneak into the mainstream, and pop radio had room for everything from Y.M.C.A. to Highway to Hell. It was not a quiet year. It was a dance floor with a guitar amp in the corner and a suspiciously cool synthesizer warming up nearby.

This was the year of I Will Survive, Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough, We Are Family, Good Times, Heart of Glass, My Sharona, The Devil Went Down to Georgia, Escape (The Piña Colada Song), and Video Killed the Radio Star. Disco had its last giant mainstream wave, but punk, power pop, arena rock, and new wave were all signaling that the 1980s were pulling into the driveway.

The songs below mix disco classics, rock staples, soft-rock ballads, country crossover, early new wave, funk, soul, soundtrack moments, and a few wonderfully strange 1979 pop-culture artifacts. This was the year when Kermit the Frog, AC/DC, Donna Summer, The Police, Kenny Rogers, and Talking Heads could all show up in the same chart. That is not a playlist; that is a dinner party with seating-chart problems.

Top 10 Songs of 1979

  1. Y.M.C.A. – Village People
  2. I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
  3. Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough – Michael Jackson
  4. We Are Family – Sister Sledge
  5. Old Time Rock and Roll – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
  6. Hot Stuff/Bad Girls – Donna Summer
  7. Good Times – Chic
  8. Escape (The Piña Colada Song) – Rupert Holmes
  9. Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now – McFadden & Whitehead
  10. September – Earth, Wind & Fire

1979 Music Hits by Style

Disco, Dance, Funk, and Club Classics

Disco was still a dominant force in 1979, and many of the year’s biggest songs were built for the dance floor. Village People’s Y.M.C.A., Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive, Sister Sledge’s We Are Family, Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff/Bad Girls, and Chic’s Good Times gave the year some of disco’s most durable pop-culture anthems.

Funk and dance-pop also helped shape the year. Earth, Wind & Fire, McFadden & Whitehead, Cheryl Lynn, Anita Ward, Peaches & Herb, G.Q., Sylvester, Dan Hartman, and Machine all kept the groove alive. Disco may have been approaching its cultural backlash, but in 1979, the beat was still very much clocked in.

  • Y.M.C.A. – Village People
  • I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
  • Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough – Michael Jackson
  • We Are Family – Sister Sledge
  • Hot Stuff/Bad Girls – Donna Summer
  • Good Times – Chic
  • Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now – McFadden & Whitehead
  • September – Earth, Wind & Fire
  • Born to Be Alive – Patrick Hernandez
  • Knock on Wood – Amii Stewart
  • Boogie Wonderland – Earth, Wind & Fire with The Emotions
  • In the Navy – Village People
  • Ring My Bell – Anita Ward
  • Got to Be Real – Cheryl Lynn
  • Shake Your Groove Thing – Peaches & Herb
  • Disco Nights (Rock-Freak) – G.Q.
  • H.A.P.P.Y. Radio – Edwin Starr
  • At Midnight – T-Connection
  • Livin’ It Up (Friday Night) – Bell & James
  • Contact – Edwin Starr
  • There but for the Grace of God Go I – Machine
  • Heaven Must Have Sent You – Bonnie Pointer
  • Instant Replay – Dan Hartman
  • You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) – Sylvester

Rock, Arena Rock, and Guitar-Driven Hits

Rock in 1979 was loud, varied, and pushing hard against disco’s glitter-ball dominance. Bob Seger’s Old Time Rock and Roll, The Knack’s My Sharona, Journey’s Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’, Supertramp’s Take the Long Way Home, Dire Straits’ Sultans of Swing, and Eagles’ Heartache Tonight kept guitar-driven radio strong.

Hard rock also had serious muscle. AC/DC’s Highway to Hell, Cheap Trick’s I Want You to Want Me, Triumph’s Lay It on the Line, Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now, Bad Company’s Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy, Foreigner’s Dirty White Boy, Van Halen’s Dance the Night Away, and Rainbow’s Since You Been Gone helped keep 1979 from becoming a full disco takeover. The guitars fought back, and they brought extra amps.

  • Old Time Rock and Roll – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
  • My Sharona – The Knack
  • Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’ – Journey
  • Take the Long Way Home – Supertramp
  • Sultans of Swing – Dire Straits
  • Heartache Tonight – Eagles
  • Hold the Line – Toto
  • Crazy Love – The Allman Brothers Band
  • Highway to Hell – AC/DC
  • Don’t Bring Me Down – Electric Light Orchestra
  • You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth – Meat Loaf
  • Good Girls Don’t – The Knack
  • Good Times Roll – The Cars
  • Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights) – Pat Travers Band
  • I Want You to Want Me – Cheap Trick
  • Lay It on the Line – Triumph
  • Don’t Stop Me Now – Queen
  • Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy – Bad Company
  • I Need a Lover – John Cougar
  • Dirty White Boy – Foreigner
  • Dance the Night Away – Van Halen
  • Beautiful Girls – Van Halen
  • Since You Been Gone – Rainbow

New Wave, Punk, Power Pop, and Early Alternative

New wave and power pop were becoming impossible to ignore in 1979. Blondie’s Heart of Glass blended disco and new wave into a major crossover hit, while One Way or Another gave the band a sharper rock edge. The Police, Talking Heads, The Cars, The Buggles, Nick Lowe, Joe Jackson, Dave Edmunds, Patti Smith Group, and Kate Bush all helped point pop music toward the coming decade.

This was the sound of the late ’70s giving way to the early ’80s. Songs like Video Killed the Radio Star, Pop Muzik, Roxanne, Message in a Bottle, Life During Wartime, and Is She Really Going Out with Him? felt clever, nervous, stylish, and just weird enough to make radio more interesting.

  • Heart of Glass – Blondie
  • One Way or Another – Blondie
  • Video Killed the Radio Star – The Buggles
  • Pop Muzik – M
  • Roxanne – The Police
  • Take Me to the River – Talking Heads
  • Good Times Roll – The Cars
  • Message in a Bottle – The Police
  • Life During Wartime – Talking Heads
  • Cruel to Be Kind – Nick Lowe
  • Let’s Go – The Cars
  • Is She Really Going Out with Him? – Joe Jackson
  • Girls Talk – Dave Edmunds
  • I Do the Rock – Tim Curry
  • The Man with the Child in His Eyes – Kate Bush
  • Frederick – Patti Smith Group

R&B, Soul, Funk, and Smooth Grooves

R&B and soul had a strong year in 1979, especially through smooth ballads, disco-funk, and jazz-influenced grooves. Earth, Wind & Fire’s After the Love Has Gone, George Benson’s Love Ballad, Herb Alpert’s Rise, and The Crusaders’ Street Life gave the year a sophisticated soul and jazz-pop feel.

Funk and danceable R&B were also everywhere. Chic, Sister Sledge, McFadden & Whitehead, Cheryl Lynn, Peaches & Herb, G.Q., Edwin Starr, T-Connection, Sylvester, and Machine all brought rhythmic energy to the year. 1979 was not short on basslines; it had enough to start a small union.

  • After the Love Has Gone – Earth, Wind & Fire
  • Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) – The Jacksons
  • Love Ballad – George Benson
  • Rise – Herb Alpert
  • Got to Be Real – Cheryl Lynn
  • Street Life – The Crusaders featuring Randy Crawford
  • At Midnight – T-Connection
  • Contact – Edwin Starr
  • Heaven Must Have Sent You – Bonnie Pointer
  • Voulez-Vous – ABBA
  • Instant Replay – Dan Hartman
  • You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) – Sylvester
  • Morning Dance – Spyro Gyra

Soft Rock, Adult Contemporary, and Pop Ballads

The softer side of 1979 was filled with smooth pop, adult contemporary, and sentimental ballads. Rupert Holmes’ Escape (The Piña Colada Song) became one of the year’s most recognizable story-songs, while Earth, Wind & Fire’s After the Love Has Gone, Kenny Rogers’ You Decorated My Life and She Believes in Me, Styx’s Babe, Billy Joel’s Honesty, and Supertramp’s The Logical Song kept radio reflective and melodic.

This was the section of the year made for long drives, late-night radio, and slow dances under suspiciously dramatic lighting. 1979 ballads could be romantic, melancholy, or oddly funny, depending on who was holding the microphone.

  • Escape (The Piña Colada Song) – Rupert Holmes
  • After the Love Has Gone – Earth, Wind & Fire
  • Ooh Baby Baby – Linda Ronstadt
  • Love Ballad – George Benson
  • Take the Long Way Home – Supertramp
  • We’ve Got Tonight – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
  • Babe – Styx
  • You Decorated My Life – Kenny Rogers
  • She Believes in Me – Kenny Rogers
  • My Life – Billy Joel
  • Honesty – Billy Joel
  • The Logical Song – Supertramp
  • What a Fool Believes – The Doobie Brothers
  • Minute by Minute – The Doobie Brothers
  • Goodbye Stranger – Supertramp
  • Just the Same Way – Journey

Country, Country-Rock, and Story Songs

Country crossover had a meaningful place in 1979, with Kenny Rogers and The Charlie Daniels Band leading the way. You and The Gambler and You Decorated My Life helped keep Rogers at the center of country-pop radio, while The Devil Went Down to Georgia became a fiery country-rock story song with fiddle drama worthy of its own action scene.

Jimmy Buffett, Poco, Linda Ronstadt, and The Allman Brothers Band also brought country-rock and rootsy flavors into the year. These songs gave 1979 a little front-porch texture between the disco lights and power chords.

  • The Devil Went Down to Georgia – The Charlie Daniels Band
  • Ooh Baby Baby – Linda Ronstadt
  • Fins – Jimmy Buffett
  • You Decorated My Life – Kenny Rogers
  • She Believes in Me – Kenny Rogers
  • Crazy Love – The Allman Brothers Band
  • The Gambler – Kenny Rogers
  • Crazy Love – Poco

Movie, TV, and Pop Culture Songs

1979 had several songs closely tied to movies, television, or pop culture moments. The Rainbow Connection from The Muppet Movie became one of the year’s sweetest and most enduring songs, proving that a frog with a banjo could hold his own against disco divas and rock bands. That is not easy. Frogs do not even have pockets for payola.

David Naughton’s Makin’ It came from the TV and disco culture of the moment, while Giorgio Moroder’s Chase came from Midnight Express and helped keep electronic soundtrack music in the conversation. The Blues Brothers also turned classic soul covers into pop-culture events.

  • The Rainbow Connection – Kermit the Frog
  • Makin’ It – David Naughton
  • Chase – Giorgio Moroder
  • Rubber Biscuit – The Blues Brothers
  • Soul Man – The Blues Brothers
  • Long Live Rock – The Who
  • 5:15 – The Who

Classic Rock Veterans and Legacy Artists

1979 still had plenty of major veteran artists making noise. Bob Seger, Eagles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Neil Young, Queen, Billy Joel, The Doobie Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Kenny Rogers, AC/DC, and Bad Company helped connect the late ’70s to earlier rock and pop traditions.

Some of these artists were still at commercial peaks, while others were shifting into new phases. The year had a clear sense of one musical era ending and another forming. The old guard had not left the building, but New Wave had definitely found the side door.

  • Old Time Rock and Roll – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
  • We’ve Got Tonight – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
  • Heartache Tonight – Eagles
  • Highway to Hell – AC/DC
  • Don’t Bring Me Down – Electric Light Orchestra
  • My Life – Billy Joel
  • Honesty – Billy Joel
  • Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) – Neil Young & Crazy Horse
  • Don’t Stop Me Now – Queen
  • Shattered – The Rolling Stones
  • Long Live Rock – The Who
  • 5:15 – The Who
  • Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy – Bad Company

Novelty, Party, and “Only in 1979” Songs

Some 1979 songs became pop-culture landmarks because they were catchy, odd, theatrical, or all three. Y.M.C.A. became a participatory anthem with hand motions powerful enough to survive generations of weddings, sports arenas, and office parties. Escape (The Piña Colada Song) became the rare breezy pop hit about romantic boredom, classified ads, and very questionable communication skills.

The Rainbow Connection, Pop Muzik, Video Killed the Radio Star, Makin’ It, and I Do the Rock also gave the year its stranger personality. 1979 could be deeply soulful one minute and completely ridiculous the next. That is not a flaw; that is range.

  • Y.M.C.A. – Village People
  • Escape (The Piña Colada Song) – Rupert Holmes
  • The Rainbow Connection – Kermit the Frog
  • Video Killed the Radio Star – The Buggles
  • Pop Muzik – M
  • Rubber Biscuit – The Blues Brothers
  • I Go to Rio – Pablo Cruise
  • Makin’ It – David Naughton
  • I Do the Rock – Tim Curry

1979 Top 100 Pop Music Hits

  1. Y.M.C.A. – Village People
  2. I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
  3. Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough – Michael Jackson
  4. We Are Family – Sister Sledge
  5. Old Time Rock and Roll – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
  6. Hot Stuff/Bad Girls – Donna Summer
  7. Good Times – Chic
  8. Escape (The Piña Colada Song) – Rupert Holmes
  9. Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now – McFadden & Whitehead
  10. September – Earth, Wind & Fire
  11. Born to Be Alive – Patrick Hernandez
  12. My Sharona – The Knack
  13. The Devil Went Down to Georgia – The Charlie Daniels Band
  14. Heart of Glass – Blondie
  15. After the Love Has Gone – Earth, Wind & Fire
  16. Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) – The Jacksons
  17. The Rainbow Connection – Kermit the Frog
  18. Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’ – Journey
  19. Knock on Wood – Amii Stewart
  20. One Way or Another – Blondie
  21. Ooh Baby Baby – Linda Ronstadt
  22. Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? – Rod Stewart
  23. Boogie Wonderland – Earth, Wind & Fire with The Emotions
  24. Love Ballad – George Benson
  25. Rise – Herb Alpert
  26. In the Navy – Village People
  27. Ring My Bell – Anita Ward
  28. Got to Be Real – Cheryl Lynn
  29. Shake Your Groove Thing – Peaches & Herb
  30. Take the Long Way Home – Supertramp
  31. We’ve Got Tonight – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
  32. Babe – Styx
  33. Fins – Jimmy Buffett
  34. You Decorated My Life – Kenny Rogers
  35. Sultans of Swing – Dire Straits
  36. Disco Nights (Rock-Freak) – G.Q.
  37. Heartache Tonight – Eagles
  38. She Believes in Me – Kenny Rogers
  39. Video Killed the Radio Star – The Buggles
  40. Pop Muzik – M
  41. Hold the Line – Toto
  42. H.A.P.P.Y. Radio – Edwin Starr
  43. Crazy Love – The Allman Brothers Band
  44. Highway to Hell – AC/DC
  45. Street Life – The Crusaders featuring Randy Crawford
  46. Don’t Bring Me Down – Electric Light Orchestra
  47. My Life – Billy Joel
  48. You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth – Meat Loaf
  49. Roxanne – The Police
  50. Good Girls Don’t – The Knack
  51. Honesty – Billy Joel
  52. Take Me to the River – Talking Heads
  53. At Midnight – T-Connection
  54. Good Times Roll – The Cars
  55. I Go to Rio – Pablo Cruise
  56. Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights) – Pat Travers Band
  57. Livin’ It Up (Friday Night) – Bell & James
  58. Contact – Edwin Starr
  59. Rubber Biscuit – The Blues Brothers
  60. Message in a Bottle – The Police
  61. There but for the Grace of God Go I – Machine
  62. Heaven Must Have Sent You – Bonnie Pointer
  63. Life During Wartime – Talking Heads
  64. Soul Man – The Blues Brothers
  65. Voulez-Vous – ABBA
  66. I Want You to Want Me – Cheap Trick
  67. The Logical Song – Supertramp
  68. Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) – Neil Young & Crazy Horse
  69. Lay It on the Line – Triumph
  70. Cruel to Be Kind – Nick Lowe
  71. Don’t Stop Me Now – Queen
  72. The Gambler – Kenny Rogers
  73. Hey St. Peter – Flash and the Pan
  74. What a Fool Believes – The Doobie Brothers
  75. Makin’ It – David Naughton
  76. Crazy Love – Poco
  77. Chase – Giorgio Moroder
  78. Instant Replay – Dan Hartman
  79. Minute by Minute – The Doobie Brothers
  80. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) – Sylvester
  81. Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy – Bad Company
  82. I Need a Lover – John Cougar
  83. Dirty White Boy – Foreigner
  84. Goodbye Stranger – Supertramp
  85. Dance the Night Away – Van Halen
  86. Morning Dance – Spyro Gyra
  87. Beautiful Girls – Van Halen
  88. Long Live Rock – The Who
  89. Let’s Go – The Cars
  90. Is She Really Going Out with Him? – Joe Jackson
  91. Just the Same Way – Journey
  92. 5:15 – The Who
  93. Girls Talk – Dave Edmunds
  94. Shattered – The Rolling Stones
  95. New York Groove – Ace Frehley
  96. I Do the Rock – Tim Curry
  97. The Man with the Child in His Eyes – Kate Bush
  98. Since You Been Gone – Rainbow
  99. Just Another Night – Ian Hunter
  100. Frederick – Patti Smith Group