My Summertime Song Memories ... 1979

Each week, I am releasing a list of my 15 favorite songs from the first 15 summers I lived in my beloved hometown of Toms River, N.J. between 1974-88. That takes me from the summer I was 7 until the summer I was 21. Each song from each summer has a special meaning and I will try to convey them as best as I possibly can. So I will rank each summer's hit song memory from Nos. 15 through No. 1. Each song was a hit that peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 between Memorial Day Weekend and Labor Day Weekend. An interesting final note: 

This week, it's the Sounds of the Summer of '79:

15. Ring My Bell—Anita Ward (#1, June)

One of the all-time great left-field hits, it's one of those songs borne from the Disco era and got so catchy that it got to be irritating after a while and maybe the reason why this former school teacher from Tennessee, Anita Ward, was a one-hit wonder. But those "Booooooh" sounds made on this record really accentuated a Disco classic and kept me entertained throughout the entire Summer of '79. OK, they were a little annoying, but they made the record what it was.

14. Heart Of The Night—Poco (#20, July)

I loved this pop-country-adult contemporary smash the moment I heard it. And when I think of this song, I think of the city of New Orleans and those who endured after Katrina. Lead singer Rusty Young painted a beautiful picture of the city on "Heart Of The Night," perhaps during a far better time. He sings, "And the river she rises, just like she used to do. She's so full of surprises she reminds me of you." Great words by songwriter Paul Cotton and an even greater saxophone solo by Phil Kenzie. Even if you never have been to the Crescent City, you fall in love with the beauty of it pre-Katrina.

13. Dance The Night Away—Van Halen (#15, July)

Pre-"1984," there were very few Van Halen songs you could play on pop radio. This song stands the test of time as a pop and rock classic. "Dance The Night Away" is just a good time where the band rocks out, but doesn't go over the top with guitar solos or drum solos from the Van Halen boys. Sensational backing vocals by Michael Anthony and Eddie Van Halen behind lead vocalist David Lee Roth. Simple rock and roll turned up, but not all the way to a Spinal Tap 11. It's soothing for the ears in a rocked-out way.

12. Good Times—Chic (#1, August)

Who knew rap music would become an over-the-counter venture thanks to the Sugarhill Gang taking the musical backdrop of this record and putting a rap behind it to give the world "Rapper's Delight?" But in this original Disco form, its basic booming bass from the late Bernard Edwards and a great example of the "chucking" guitar style that Nile Rodgers developed on numerous records over the years made "Good Times" what it was. The pair wrote it and produced it and put Great Depression-like references in the record ("Happy days are here again," "and "Let's the cut the run, little jive and jitterbug") to parallel the economic tough times we were going through during President Carter's time in charge of this country.

11. Morning Dance—Spyro Gyra (#24, August)

This is the absolutely most perfect song to have Sunday brunch to. Picture it: A sun-splashed summertime late morning in the northern part of the country, the yellow sun blending in around some puffy white clouds and an absolutely amazing blue sky, you at a table with a friend or your love enjoying eggs and bacon and enjoying a mimosa … or a Bloody Mary, it depends … while this record with a stirring Caribbean feel comes over the speakers. Those marimbas and steel drums played by Spyro Gyra member Dave Samuels makes "Morning Dance" what it is. Great sax work by group leader Jay Beckenstein on this instrumental just adds to the easy, morning feel that we've experienced on that wonderous occasion when the brunch wasn't the most important thing about the day.

10. One Way Or Another—Blondie (#24, July)

Today, I think of this as a song for commercials, but in 1979, Debbie Harry was the bomb and so was Blondie, coming off a No. 1 hit in "Heart Of Glass." Always loved the rocked-out guitar open and even more so, her powerful, but sexy-sounding vocals, especially when she sings, "I'll getcha-getcha-getcha-getcha." To me, "One Way Or Another" will forever be a summer song.

9. When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman—Dr. Hook (#6, August)

The familiar vocals of Dennis Locorriere set this song off and the message of what it's like to be enthralled in the everyday doings of a beautiful woman is espoused in such a soft, mellow manner that you could probably put this record under the category of "Yacht rock." You won't hear a guitar solo on this one or any solo of any kind. It's a simple pop song done in under three minutes with a sensational backing vocal track. Some simple records make for great summertime memories like "When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman."

8. Getting Closer—Wings (#20, July)

Never has the word "salamander" been so endearing on any record in the history of recorded music. But that's in the very first line of the song as it hits the radio fast and Sir Paul McCartney yells out, "Say you don't love him, my salamander." Was his late wife Linda a dark-skinned lizard-like amphibian when we didn't see her in public? Gosh, I hope not. Still, a great rocker for the band, who were really on their last legs as a group with the ill-fated "Back To The Egg" album (let's just say the reviews weren't good). Wings came off the Top 5 hit "Goodnight Tonight," so in reality, anything that got away from Disco at the time was good. 

7. Gold—John Stewart (#5, July)

The man who was a part of the Kingston Trio during the 1960s and who wrote the Monkees' last No. 1 hit, "Daydream Believer," was back as a solo performer, armed with Stevie Nicks on backing vocals with the song "Gold," which Stewart wrote and produced. It sounded like what life in Southern California was all about away from suburbia ("When the lights go down in the California town, people are in for the evening."). The music seems very dark and brooding for '70s pop, but maybe it's that tone that really set it apart from a lot of other songs on the radio at the time. It wasn't Disco, yet it wasn't slow enough to be adult contemporary then. And Stewart's vocals were emphatic, making it a true summertime classic.

6. I Was Made For Lovin' You—KISS (#11, August)

Many people jumped all over KISS for going Disco at this time, but 1) a lot of famous artists were going Disco at the time, so hey, why not the loudest band on the planet back then and 2) it was refreshing to see KISS go in a different direction, even if the backlash was as great as it was at the time. There's far from anything wrong with this number and it always sounded like in the bridge that the band were setting off flares to get themselves noticed on the remote island they were stranded on. But while it may be considered a Disco song, it still rocks out with the best of KISS' catalog. Some may loathe "I Was Made For Lovin' You." I love it as a great late Summer of '79 memory.

5. I Can't Stand It No More—Peter Frampton (#14, July)

Speaking of brooding bass lines like in John Stewart's "Gold," this one is the gold standard for rockers that don't completely rock out, but get the point across when it comes to rock songs. Yes, Peter Frampton gives you that guitar solo that you are more than pleased with, but it's a record that, in my opinion, was never over the top as a rocker. Frampton's lead vocals pound the backdrop he and his band lay down and a great bridge part vocally highlights the tune ("Every woman made a fool out of me. My mama told me, when she set me free. She said, 'Son,  you just have got to find … find a girl who can treat you, like I do.") Not a very easy task … practically impossible. (He wrote the song after the breakup with his then-girlfriend at the time.) But Frampton makes do with what his life is and he trudges along. Great musicianship on what would turn out to be his last Top 40 hit.

4. I Want You To Want Me—Cheap Trick (#7, July)

The moment Bun E. Carlos sets off with that memorable drum opening after Robin Zander exclaims "I want you to want … ME!" you know the band Cheap Trick had finally arrived, even if it came during a concert in front of 12,000 screaming fans in Japan at Budokan. Get a listen to the original studio version of "I Want You To Want Me," and though it's a good little rocker, it doesn't quite have the same effect as it did in front of that crowd of screaming Japanese fans. Rick Nielsen goes off on guitar and Zander's vocals pound the musical atmosphere as it was meant to be on the studio version. That song leaves you exhausted by the end and makes you wonder how the band even continued after that performance.

3. Hot Stuff—Donna Summer (#1, June)

The first time I heard "Hot Stuff," my mouth dropped. Even at 12 years old, I recognized this was a departure of the Disco records the Queen of Disco was famous for. The dance quality of this record remained from all those other great songs the late Donna Summer did, but to hear those hard-hitting pounds of the drums to open the record -- those are still legendary. And Summer's voice comes clearly through the radio with little difficulty, as if she was meant to sing this dance rocker. Then to hear Jeff "Skunk" Baxter of the Doobie Brothers lay down that time-stopping guitar solo -- one of the best guitar solos EVER! "Hot Stuff" changed the paths of Disco music in 1979 as many a Disco record that sounded alike had flooded the radio airwaves by then, and changed the career path of Summer, who would go into the 1980s refreshed and set on a new path musically. Still as great-sounding as it was 40 years earlier.

2. Makin' It—David Naughton (#5, July)

Kitschy, but irresistible. The best words I could describe about the song that started out as a the theme song to the ill-fated TV series of 1978 by the same name that David Naughton was a cast member in, and turned out to be a sizzling, summertime theme song for those who lived through that Summer of '79. "Makin' It" is just a happy, enjoyable dance tune that got caught in the throes of Disco's last legs, but was acceptable no matter where you heard that song that summer. A new audience found the song thanks to the Bill Murray movie "Meatballs" that summer and it got a bigger appreciation on the music chart. Though the guy we know as the Dr. Pepper guy because he sang all their jingles had one hit, he made this summertime memory a Top 5 pop classic.

1. My Sharona—The Knack (#1, August)

There is noooooooooooooo song close to this one for No. 1 in the Summer of '79. This song WAS the Summer of '79 for a lot of reasons: That opening drum beat by the late Bruce Gary set this song off on the right path. That perfect marriage between classic rocker and pop staple. Lead singer Doug Feiger's vocals sound like he's an infatuated 14-year-old all over again trying to get this girl's attention. The amazing work of lead guitarist Burton Averre. The musicianship of all the members during that musical refrain right before the end on the longer version of this record. It's all in this song that started out as a fascination to me when I heard it on the radio on WJRZ-FM in early July 1979, but turned into this monster hit and one of the all-time greatest songs ever recorded, spending six weeks at No. 1 and becoming the biggest hit of the year. Though Feiger has been gone for nearly 10 years, "My Sharona" will forever be his legacy, the record he wrote because he was infatuated by his girlfriend's 17-year-old bestie who hung around the studio. I never met the real-life Sharona in person, but she was about to become a huge part of my life going forward.