One Song for One Year : 1980
1980 - Some Mistakes Take a While to Fix
On March 4th 1980 a chap called Robert Mugabe was elected to power in Zimbabwe, a decision we still live with (although only in part) to this day. Later, the US severed relations with Iran, and begun imposing economic sanctions on the nation. The Iranian embassy siege takes place in London, and the SAS are propelled to worldwide notoriety. Pro-democracy demonstrations take place in South Korea, with clashes between demonstrators and government military forces leading to the loss of 2,000 lives.
Some mistakes…
Musically, Call Me by Blondie pipped the mammoth Pink Floyds Another Brick in the Wall to the top selling record of the year. Michael Jackson had released his 5th album (Off the Wall), and began to dominate the charts with 3 of the top 100 coming from that album.
Here’s the songs I nearly picked;
» Billy Joel - It’s Still Rock and Roll to me
» Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love
» Michael Jackson - She’s Out of My Life
And the award for crappest cover of the year goes to Mickey Gilley. Shame on you.
For a number of reasons my song for 1980 is Cars, by Gary Numan. It’s waaay ahead of it’s time, and in my opinion was a brave release given the other bands of the time. Numan himself actually stated it was a genuine attempt at chart success, “This was the first time I had written a song with the intention of ‘maybe it could be a hit single’; I was writing this before “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” happened“. Many people still revere the song as a classic, of real edge and stand out difference. I am one of these people.
Enjoy, dl
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