⇦ 1978

1980 ⇨

The Best Music of 1979

Here is a selection of the best albums and songs from 1979. Hall of Famers are highlighted in orange.

For a list of the top artists who made their debut recording in 1979, check out this list.

Albums (?)		Wikipedia
ABBA	Voulez-Vous	☆
AC/DC	Highway to Hell	☆
Amy Grant	My Father's Eyes	☆
April Wine	Harder … Faster	☆
Bette Midler	The Rose: The Original Soundtrack Recording	☆
Black Flag	Nervous Breakdown	☆
Blondie	Plastic Letters	☆
Cheap Trick	Dream Police	☆
Chic	Risqué	☆
Christopher Cross	Christopher Cross	☆
Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers	Bustin' Loose	☆
D.A.F.	Ein Produkt der Deutsch- Amerikanischen Freundschaft	☆
Dan Fogelberg	Phoenix	☆
David Bowie	Lodger	☆
Diana Ross	The Boss	☆
Dire Straits	Communiqué	☆
Donna Summer	Bad Girls	☆
Earth, Wind & Fire	I Am	☆
Electric Light Orchestra	Discovery	☆
Elvis Costello & The Attractions	Armed Forces	☆
Fela Kuti & Africa 70	Unknown Soldier	☆
Fleetwood Mac	Tusk	☆
Foreigner	Head Games	☆
Frank Zappa	Joe's Garage	☆
Funkadelic	Uncle Jam Wants You	☆
Gang of Four	Entertainment!	☆
Gary Numan	The Pleasure Principle	☆
George Harrison	George Harrison	☆
Graham Parker and The Rumour	Squeezing Out Sparks	☆
Herb Alpert	Rise	☆
Jethro Tull	Stormwatch	☆
Jimmy Buffett	Volcano	☆
Joe Jackson	Look Sharp!	☆
Joe Jackson	I'm the Man	☆
John Carpenter	Halloween: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack	☆
Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers	Back in Your Life	☆
Joy Division	Unknown Pleasures	☆
Kenny Loggins	Keep the Fire	☆
Kenny Rogers	Kenny	☆
KISS	Dynasty	☆
Kool & the Gang	Ladies' Night	☆
Led Zeppelin	In Through The Out Door	☆
Madness	One Step Beyond...	☆
Marianne Faithfull	Broken English	☆
Michael Jackson	Off the Wall	☆
Millie Jackson	Live & Uncensored	☆
Motörhead	Overkill	☆
Motörhead	Bomber	☆
Neil Young & Crazy Horse	Rust Never Sleeps	☆
Nick Lowe	Labour of Lust	☆
Original Broadway Cast	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	☆
Original Broadway Cast	Evita	☆
Pat Benatar	In the Heat of the Night	☆
Pat Metheny Group	American Garage	☆
Pere Ubu	New Picnic Time	☆
Pink Floyd	The Wall	☆
Public Image Ltd.	Metal Box	☆
Randy Newman	Born Again	☆
Rickie Lee Jones	Rickie Lee Jones	☆
Robert Palmer	Secrets	☆
Robin Williams	Reality... What a Concept	☆
Roxy Music	Manifesto	☆
Siouxsie & the Banshees	Join Hands	☆
Sister Sledge	We Are Family	☆
Smokey Robinson	Where There's Smoke...	☆
Sparks	No. 1 in Heaven	☆
Squeeze	Cool for Cats	☆
Styx	Cornerstone	☆
Supertramp	Breakfast in America	☆
Talking Heads	Fear Of Music	☆
Teddy Pendergrass	Teddy	☆
The Alan Parsons Project	Eve	☆
The B-52's	The B-52's	☆
The Cars	Candy-O	☆
The Clash	London Calling	☆
The Cure	Three Imaginary Boys	☆
The Damned	Machine Gun Etiquette	☆
The Eagles	The Long Run	☆
The Fall	Live at the Witch Trials	☆
The Germs	(GI)	☆
The Knack	Get The Knack	☆
The Police	Reggatta de Blanc	☆
The Raincoats	The Raincoats	☆
The Slits	Cut	☆
The Specials	Specials	☆
Thin Lizzy	Black Rose: A Rock Legend	☆
Throbbing Gristle	20 Jazz Funk Greats	☆
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers	Damn the Torpedoes	☆
Toto	Hydra	☆
Tubeway Army	Replicas	☆
UFO	Strangers in the Night	☆
Van Halen	Van Halen II	☆
Wire	154	☆
XTC	Drums and Wires	☆
Yellow Magic Orchestra	Solid State Survivor	☆
ZZ Top	Degüello	☆

---

Songs (?)		Wikipedia
ABBA	Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)	☆
AC/DC	Highway To Hell	☆
Anita Ward	Ring My Bell	☆
Ashford & Simpson	Found a Cure	☆
Atlanta Rhythm Section	Spooky	☆
Bad Company	Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy	☆
Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer	No More Tears (Enough is Enough)	☆
Bauhaus	Bela Lugosi's Dead	☆
Bette Midler	The Rose	☆
Blackfoot	Highway Song	☆
Blondie	Dreaming	☆
Bob Dylan	Gotta Serve Somebody	☆
Bruce Cockburn	Wondering Where The Lions Are	☆
Captain & Tennille	Do That to Me One More Time	☆
Cheap Trick	Dream Police	☆
Cheap Trick	Ain't That a Shame	☆
Cheap Trick	Voices	☆
Chic	Good Times	☆
Christopher Cross	Sailing	☆
Christopher Cross	Ride Like the Wind	☆
Chuck Mangione	Give It All You Got	☆
Cliff Richard	We Don't Talk Anymore	☆
Dan Fogelberg	Longer	☆
Dave Edmunds	Girls Talk	☆
Dead Kennedys	California Uber Alles	☆
Dionne Warwick	Déjà Vu	☆
Donna Summer	Hot Stuff	☆
Donna Summer	Bad Girls	☆
Donna Summer	On the Radio	☆
Donna Summer	Dim All the Lights	☆
Eagles	I Can't Tell You Why	☆
Earth, Wind & Fire	After the Love Has Gone	☆
Earth, Wind & Fire feat. The Emotions	Boogie Wonderland	☆
Electric Light Orchestra	Don't Bring Me Down	☆
Electric Light Orchestra	Shina a Little Love	☆
Elmo & Patsy	Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer	☆
Elton John	Mama Can't Buy You Love	☆
Elvis Costello & The Attractions	(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding	☆
Elvis Costello & The Attractions	Oliver's Army	☆
Eric Idle	Always Look on the Bright Side of Life	☆
Fleetwood Mac	Tusk	☆
Fleetwood Mac	Sara	☆
Foreigner	Head Games	☆
Foreigner	Dirty White Boy	☆
Frank Mills	Music Box Dancer	☆
Frank Zappa	Joe's Garage	☆
Frank Zappa	Watermelon in Easter Hay	☆
Funkadelic	(Not Just) Knee Deep	☆
Gang Of Four	At Home He's a Tourist	☆
Gang of Four	Natural's Not in It	☆
Gary Numan	Cars	☆
Herb Alpert	Rise	☆
Ian Hunter	Cleveland Rocks	☆
Jefferson Starship	Jane	☆
Jimmy Buffett	Volcano	☆
Jimmy Buffett	Fins	☆
John Mellencamp	I Need a Lover	☆
John Stewart feat. Stevie Nicks	Gold	☆
Journey	Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'	☆
Journey	Just the Same Way	☆
Joy Division	Shadowplay	☆
Joy Division	Disorder	☆
Joy Division	She's Lost Control	☆
Joy Division	New Dawn Fades	☆
Joy Division	Transmission	☆
Kenny Loggins	This Is It	☆
Kenny Loggins	Who’s Right, Who’s Wrong	☆
Kenny Rogers	Coward of the Country	☆
Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson)	Rainbow Connection	☆
KISS	I Was Made for Lovin' You	☆
Kool and the Gang	Ladies' Night	☆
Led Zeppelin	All My Love	☆
Led Zeppelin	Fool In the Rain	☆
Lipps Inc.	Funkytown	☆
Little River Band	Lonesome Loser	☆
Little River Band	Cool Change	☆
M	Pop Muzik	☆
Madness	One Step Beyond	☆
Marianne Faithfull	Broken English	☆
Marianne Faithfull	The Ballad of Lucy Jordan	☆
McFadden & Whitehead	Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now	☆
Michael Jackson	Don't Stop Til You Get Enough	☆
Michael Jackson	Rock With You	☆
Motörhead	Overkill	☆
Neil Young	Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)	☆
Neil Young	My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)	☆
Nick Lowe	Cruel To Be Kind	☆
Pat Benatar	Heartbreaker	☆
Pat Travers Band	Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights)	☆
Patti Smith	Dancing Barefoot	☆
Paul McCartney	Wonderful Christmastime	☆
Pink Floyd	Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2	☆
Pink Floyd	Comfortably Numb	☆
Pink Floyd	Hey You	☆
Pink Floyd	Run Like Hell	☆
Pink Floyd	Young Lust	☆
Prince	I Wanna Be Your Lover	☆
Queen	Love of My Life	☆
Rainbow	Since You've Been Gone	☆
Ramones	Rock 'n' Roll High School	☆
REO Speedwagon	Only the Strong Survive	☆
Rickie Lee Jones	Chuck E.'s in Love	☆
Robert Palmer	Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)	☆
Rory Gallagher	Bad Penny	☆
Roxy Music	Dance Away	☆
Rupert Holmes	Escape (The Pina Colada Song)	☆
Sister Sledge	We Are Family	☆
Sister Sledge	He's the Greatest Dancer	☆
Smokey Robinson	Cruisin'	☆
Sparks	Tryouts for the Human Race	☆
Sparks	The Number One Song in Heaven	☆
Squeeze	Up the Junction	☆
Stan Rogers	First Christmas	☆
Stiff Little Fingers	Alternative Ulster	☆
Styx	Babe	☆
Suicide	Dream Baby Dream	☆
Supertramp	Goodbye Stranger	☆
Supertramp	Breakfast in America	☆
Supertramp	The Logical Song	☆
Supertramp	Take the Long Way Home	☆
Talking Heads	Life During Wartime	☆
Talking Heads	Heaven	☆
Tarney/Spencer Band	No Time To Lose	☆
Teena Marie	Deja Vu (I've Been Here Before)	☆
The B-52's	Planet Claire	☆
The B-52's	52 Girls	☆
The Bee Gees	Tragedy	☆
The Boomtown Rats	I Don't Like Mondays	☆
The Buggles	Video Killed The Radio Star	☆
The Cars	Let's Go	☆
The Cars	Candy-O	☆
The Charlie Daniels Band	The Devil Went Down To Georgia	☆
The Clash	London Calling	☆
The Clash	Train In Vain (Stand By Me)	☆
The Clash	I Fought The Law	☆
The Clash	The Guns of Brixton	☆
The Clash	Lost in the Supermarket	☆
The Clash	Rudie Can't Fail	☆
The Clash	Clampdown	☆
The Cure	Boys Don't Cry	☆
The Damned	Smash it Up	☆
The Damned	Love Song	☆
The Eagles	The Long Run	☆
The Eagles	Heartache Tonight	☆
The Flying Lizards	Money	☆
The Jam	The Eton Riffles	☆
The Knack	My Sharona	☆
The Manhattan Transfer	The Boy from New York City	☆
The Misfits	Where Eagles Dare	☆
The Police	Message In A Bottle	☆
The Police	Walking on the Moon	☆
The Pretenders	Brass In Pocket (I'm Special)	☆
The Slits	Typical Girls	☆
The Specials	A Message to You Rudy	☆
The Spinners	Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me Girl	☆
The Sugarhill Gang	Rapper's Delight	☆
The Village People	In the Navy	☆
Throbbing Gristle	Hot on the Heels of Love	☆
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers	Refugee	☆
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers	Don't Do Me Like That	☆
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers	Even The Losers	☆
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers	Here Comes My Girl	☆
Tubeway Army	Are 'Friends' Electric?	☆
Van Halen	Dance the Night Away	☆
Willie Nelson	My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys	☆
Wings	Goodnight Tonight	☆
XTC	Making Plans For Nigel	☆
ZZ Top	Cheap Sunglasses	☆

⇦ 1978

1980 ⇨