Awesome Albums from ’78, Vol. 1

***** CONTENT WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS A REFERENCE TO SUICIDE *****

These albums are all turning forty-five this year. This list is in chronological order by release date and covers albums released between January and June 1978.

• Excitable Boy – Warren Zevon

CHART POSITION: #8 in the US, #9 in Australia, #12 in New Zealand

SINGLES: “Johnny Strikes Up the Band”, “Excitable Boy”, “Werewolves of London”, “Nighttime in the Switching Yard”, “Lawyers, Guns and Money”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: All of the above

FUN FACT: “Werewolves of London”, Zevon’s only US top 40 hit, featured Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood and John McVie on drums and bass, respectively. The song began as a joke after Phil Everly (of the Everly Brothers) watched the 1935 horror film Werewolf of London and “suggested to Zevon that he adapt the title for a song and dance craze.” The single received a resurgence in popularity in 1986 when it was used in a scene from The Color of Money.

• City to City – Gerry Rafferty

CHART POSITION: #1 in the US, top ten in seven more countries

SINGLES: “City to City”, “Baker Street”, “Right Down the Line”, “Home and Dry”, “The Ark”, “Whatever’s Written in Your Heart”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Baker Street”, “Right Down the Line”, “City to City”, “Mattie’s Rag”, “Home and Dry”

FUN FACT #1: City to City was Rafferty’s second solo album, and the first since the messy breakup of his band, Stealers Wheel; Rafferty was contractually prevented from releasing a record until the legal disputes were settled. It was worth the wait.

FUN FACT #2: “Baker Street”, the album’s first single, made it to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 (it was kept out of the top spot by Andy Gibb’s “Shadow Dancing”). The track, known for its distinctive saxophone riff and named for the famed Baker Street in London (home of Sherlock Holmes, Madame Tussauds’ first wax museum, and The Beatles’ Apple Boutique), won the annual Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

• Infinity – Journey

CHART POSITION: #21 in the US, #22 in Canada, #37 in Sweden

SINGLES: “Wheel in the Sky”, “Anytime”, “Lights”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Lights”, “Feeling That Way”, “Anytime”, “Wheel in the Sky”, “Winds of March”

FUN FACT: Infinity was Journey’s fourth album but their first with lead vocalist Steve Perry. It was also their first with famed record producer Roy Thomas Baker and engineer Geoff Workman, known for their work with bands like Queen and The Cars. “Lights”, written for the band’s native San Francisco, was only a modest hit, reaching #68 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it became one of Journey’s signature songs. “Lights” is typically played when the San Francisco 49ers win a home game at Levi’s Stadium.

• White Music – XTC

CHART POSITION: Top 40 in the UK

SINGLES: “Statue of Liberty”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Radios in Motion”, “This Is Pop?”, “Statue of Liberty”, “Into the Atom Age”, “Spinning Top”

FUN FACT: White Music, which refers to white noise, was not the album’s original title. The band wanted to call it Black Music, as in black comedy, but Virgin Records convinced them to change it. XTC performed “Statue of Liberty” on The Old Grey Whistle Test and was subsequently banned from the BBC for the lyric “In my fantasy I sail beneath your skirt”.

• Street Player – Rufus and Chaka Khan

CHART POSITION: #14 in the US

SINGLES: “Stay”, “Blue Love”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Street Player”, “Stay”, “Blue Love”, “Stranger to Love”, “Change Your Ways”

FUN FACT: “Street Player” was co-written by Danny Seraphine, drummer for Chicago, who performed a version of the song on their 1979 album Chicago 13.

• Stained Class – Judas Priest

CHART POSITION: #173 in the US, #27 in the UK, #49 in Japan

SINGLES: “Better by You, Better than Me”, “Exciter”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Exciter”, “Better by You, Better Than Me”, “Saints in Hell”

FUN FACT: The album’s leadoff single, “Better by You, Better than Me”, was written in 1969 by Gary Wright for his band, Spooky Tooth. The Judas Priest version was the subject of a lawsuit after two Sparks, Nevada teens entered into a suicide pact after listening to the song. The suit, which claimed that subliminal messages urged the boys to take their own lives, was ultimately dismissed. Singer Rob Halford pointed out in a 1991 documentary that if the band had decided to include subliminal messaging on their recordings, they would have encouraged their fans to buy more Judas Priest records, not end their lives.

• Van Halen – Van Halen

CHART POSITION: #19 in the US, top fifty in six other countries

SINGLES: “You Really Got Me”, “Runnin’ with the Devil”, “Jamie’s Cryin'”, “On Fire”, “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Runnin’ with the Devil”, “Eruption”, “You Really Got Me”, “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love”, “Jamie’s Cryin'”, “Atomic Punk”

FUN FACT: One of the greatest debut albums in rock history, Van Halen was the band’s first of many collaborations with famed producer Ted Templeman. One of the album’s highlights, the instrumental “Eruption”, unveiled a legend in the making; it’s generally considered the best guitar solo ever. The cover photographs were part of a series taken at the Whiskey a Go Go, a Sunset Strip club where Van Halen frequently played. Eddie Van Halen’s picture, in the upper left corner, features his Frankenstrat guitar (more on that here, if you’re interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstrat) before it was painted red.

• The Kick Inside – Kate Bush

CHART POSITION: #3 in the UK, top ten in eight more countries (did not chart in the US)

SINGLES: “Wuthering Heights”, “Moving”, “Them Heavy People”, “The Man with the Child in His Eyes”, “Strange Phenomena”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “The Saxophone Song”, “Strange Phenomena”, “The Man with the Child in His Eyes”, “Wuthering Heights”, “James and the Cold Gun”, “Oh to Be in Love”, “Them Heavy People”

FUN FACT #1: Bush, just eighteen at the time The Kick Inside was recorded, had been writing songs since the age of eleven. At thirteen, Bush recorded some demos with the help of a family friend who just happened to know Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour. Gilmour financed better demos and played them for execs from several labels; impressed, EMI Records signed Bush to a contract. Two of the demos from those sessions – “The Man with the Child in His Eyes” and “The Saxophone Song” – appeared on the final cut of The Kick Inside, with Gilmour credited as co-producer.

FUN FACT #2: At Bush’s insistence, “Wuthering Heights”, one of her most iconic tracks, was the album’s leadoff single. Inspired primarily by a 1967 BBC adaptation of the Emily Brontë classic that starred an absurdly handsome Ian McShane (see picture below), “Wuthering Heights” went to #1 on the UK singles chart, dethroning ABBA’s “Take a Chance on Me”.

We’ll cover Lionheart, Bush’s second album, in volume two of this post.

• Plastic Letters – Blondie

CHART POSITION: #72 in the US, #10 in the UK

SINGLES: “Kidnapper”, “Denis”, “(I’m Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Fan Mail”, “Denis”, “Youth Nabbed as Sniper”, “(I’m Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear”, “No Imagination”

FUN FACT: “Denis”, a gender-swapped cover of the 1963 doo-wop song “Denise” by Randy & the Rainbows, was a top twenty hit in several European countries but failed to chart in the US. The single made it all the way to #2 in the UK; it was kept out of the top spot by Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights”.

We’ll discuss Blondie’s killer third album, Parallel Lines, in volume two of this post.

• …And Then There Were Three… – Genesis

CHART POSITION: #14 in the US, #3 in the UK, top 25 in twelve more countries

SINGLES: “Follow You Follow Me”, “Many Too Many”, “Deep in the Motherlode”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Deep in the Motherlode”, “Many Too Many”, “Scenes from a Night’s Dream”, “The Lady Lies”, “Follow You Follow Me”

FUN FACT #1: As with their previous three albums, Genesis hired Hipgnosis to create the cover art for …And Then There Were Three… Designer Storm Thorgerson said the photo, shot using time-lapse, was “trying to tell a story by the traces left by the light trails”, which represented the “comings and goings” in the album’s lyrics.

FUN FACT #2: …And Then There Were Three… was the band’s first album since the departure of guitarist Steve Hackett (the titular three were remaining members Phil Collins, Tony Banks, and Mike Rutherford). It also marked the beginning of the band’s move away from prog rock to a poppier, more commercial sound. The leadoff single, “Follow You Follow Me”, was Genesis’ biggest hit to date, reaching #7 in the UK and #23 in the US.

• Easter – Patti Smith Group

CHART POSITION: #20 in the US, #16 in the UK

SINGLES: “Because the Night”, “Privilege (Set Me Free)”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Till Victory”, “Space Monkey”, “Because the Night”, “Privilege (Set Me Free)”, “25th Floor”

FUN FACT: The original version of “Because the Night”, Smith’s biggest hit by a landslide, was written by Bruce Springsteen for his fourth album, Darkness on the Edge of Town (more on that one later). Springsteen’s engineer, the legendary Jimmy Iovine, was producing Easter at the time and suggested giving the song to Smith. Smith changed up the lyrics, and the song is credited to both Springsteen and Smith. In 1993, 10,000 Maniacs performed a blistering rendition of “Because the Night” on MTV’s Unplugged. The song re-entered the charts in the US, Canada, the UK, and Iceland, where it was the 15th best-selling single of the year.

• Another Music in a Different Kitchen – Buzzcocks

CHART POSITION: N/A

SINGLES: “What Do I Get?”, “I Don’t Mind”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Fast Cars”, “Love Battery”, “I Don’t Mind”, “Autonomy”, “Orgasm Addict”

FUN FACT: The cover of Another Music was designed by Malcolm Garrett, who is best known for his work with Duran Duran (Garrett did the cover art for that band’s first four albums as well as several of their singles, see below for examples). The Buzzcocks’ controversial first single, “Orgasm Addict”, didn’t make the album’s final cut but it was included on CD reissues.

We’ll talk about the Buzzcocks’ second album, Love Bites, in volume two of this post.

• You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can’t Tuna Fish – REO Speedwagon

CHART POSITION: #29 in the US, #70 in Canada, #98 in Australia

SINGLES: “Roll with the Changes”, “Time for Me to Fly”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Roll with the Changes”, “Time for Me to Fly”, “Runnin’ Blind”, “Sing to Me”, “Lucky for You”

FUN FACT: Two years away from achieving superstardom with 1980’s Hi Infidelity, REO Speedwagon had their commercial breakthrough with this, their seventh album. You Can Tune a Piano‘s biggest hit, “Time for Me to Fly”, only made it to #56 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it became one of the band’s most iconic singles. Its use in a 2020 episode of Netflix’s Ozark resulted in “Time for Me to Fly” reaching #34 on the US Digital Song Sales chart.

• This Year’s Model – Elvis Costello and the Attractions

CHART POSITION: #30 in the US, #4 in the UK, top thirty in six more countries

SINGLES: “(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea”, “Pump It Up”, “This Year’s Girl”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: Pick a track, any track (this album is stacked)

FUN FACT: This Year’s Model was Costello’s first album with the backing band The Attractions (keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas, and drummer Pete Thomas). The album, produced by the iconic Nick Lowe, was voted the best of 1978 by both Melody Maker and The Village Voice.

• London Town – Wings

CHART POSITION: Top ten in twelve countries, including the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia

SINGLES: “With a Little Luck”, “I’ve Had Enough”, “London Town”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “London Town”, “Backwards Traveller”, “I’ve Had Enough”, “With a Little Luck”

FUN FACT: The road to London Town‘s release was a rocky one; after the smash success of Wings’ previous record, Wings at the Speed of Sound, and a subsequent tour, Wings lost two of their members, leaving a trio of Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, and Denny Laine. Plans for another tour were scrapped when Linda learned she was pregnant with their third child, James. A commercial hit, but a critical disappointment, London Town marked the beginning of the end for Wings. During the sessions for London Town, Wings recorded a standalone single, “Mull of Kintyre”, which became the biggest-selling single in British history (it was displaced by Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” in 1984).

• For You – Prince

CHART POSITION: #163 in the US

SINGLES: “Soft and Wet”, “Just as Long as We’re Together”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “In Love”, “Soft and Wet”, “Just as Long as We’re Together”, “I’m Yours”

FUN FACT: Every song on For You was composed, produced, and performed¹ entirely by Prince, who was just nineteen years old at the time. While only a minor hit, the album signaled the arrival of a major talent. After Prince’s death in 2016, several of his albums, For You included, re-entered the Billboard 200.

¹Among the instruments Prince played on For You were electric, acoustic, and bass guitar, piano, clavinet, Minimoog, drums, wind chimes, finger cymbals, handclaps, finger snaps, bongos, and congas.

• Magazine – Heart

CHART POSITION: #17 in the US, #13 in Canada, #66 in Australia

SINGLES: “Heartless”, “Without You”, “Magazine”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Heartless”, “Devil Delight”, “Without You”, “Here Song”

FUN FACT: Originally released in 1977 over the objections of the band, Magazine was recorded during a dispute with Heart’s label, Mushroom Records. After the resounding success of their 1975 debut, Dreamboat Annie, the band felt they were in a position to renegotiate their contract, but Mushroom had other ideas. A legal battle ensued, and the court ruled that Heart still owed Mushroom an album, so they polished up the Magazine recordings. In the interim, the band had signed with Epic Records and released their third album, 1977’s Little Queen. The unauthorized version of Magazine carried the following bullshit disclaimer:

“Mushroom Records regrets that a contractual dispute has made it necessary to complete this record without the cooperation or endorsement of the group Heart, who have expressly disclaimed artistic involvement in completing this record. We did not feel that a contractual dispute should prevent the public from hearing and enjoying these incredible tunes and recordings.”

We’ll talk about Heart’s other 1978 release, Dog & Butterfly, in volume two of this post.

• Heaven Tonight – Cheap Trick

CHART POSITION: #48 in the US, #11 in Japan

SINGLES: “Surrender”, “California Man”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Surrender”, “California Man”, “Takin’ Me Back”, “Stiff Competition”

FUN FACT: “Surrender” was Cheap Trick’s first single to reach the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #62. Fans of That ’70’s Show might recognize the song’s ending refrain (“we’re all alright, we’re all alright”) from the series’ opening credits. Cheap Trick performed the show’s theme song, which is primarily a cover of Big Star’s “In the Street”, with the snippet from “Surrender” tacked on at the end.

For more on Big Star’s #1 Record (which includes the original version of “In the Street”) and other awesome albums from 1972, click here: https://wordpress.com/post/peanut-butter-and-julie.com/10042.

• Adventure – Television

CHART POSITION: N/A

SINGLES: N/A

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Glory”, “Days”, “Carried Away”, “Ain’t That Nothin'”, “Adventure”

FUN FACT: Adventure is a softer, more straightforward record than Television’s masterful debut, 1977’s Marquee Moon. But as Robert Christgau of The Village Voice put it, “I agree that it’s not as urgent, or as satisfying, but that’s only to say that Marquee Moon was a great album while Adventure is a very good one.”

For more on Marquee Moon and other awesome albums from ’77, click here: https://wordpress.com/post/peanut-butter-and-julie.com/8385.

And here: https://wordpress.com/post/peanut-butter-and-julie.com/10809.

• Boys in the Trees – Carly Simon

CHART POSITION: #10 in the US, #4 in Canada, #27 in Australia

SINGLES: “You Belong to Me”, “Devoted to You”, “Tranquillo (Melt My Heart)”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “You Belong to Me”, “Boys in the Trees”, “Devoted to You”, “Tranquillo (Melt My Heart)”, “You’re the One”

FUN FACT: Boys in the Trees is also the title of Simon’s 2015 memoir. The album cover, featuring a strategically airbrushed photo of a topless Simon, earned designers Johnny Lee and Tony Lane a Grammy for Best Album Package.

• You’re Gonna Get It! – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

CHART POSITION: #23 in the US, #24 in the UK, #60 in Australia

SINGLES: “I Need to Know”, “Listen to Her Heart”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “When the Time Comes”, “You’re Gonna Get It”, “Magnolia”, “Too Much Ain’t Enough”, “I Need to Know”, “Listen to Her Heart”

FUN FACT: Stevie Nicks, one of Petty’s closest friends, has been singing “I Need to Know” live since 1981. The two performed the song together at Petty’s 30th anniversary concert in 2006; a clip was included in the concert film Runnin’ Down a Dream.

• Stranger in Town – Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band

CHART POSITION: #4 in the US, #31 in the UK

SINGLES: “Still the Same”, “Hollywood Nights”, “We’ve Got Tonight”, “Old Time Rock and Roll”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Hollywood Nights”, “Still the Same”, “Old Time Rock and Roll”, “Till It Shines”, “Feel Like a Number”

FUN FACT: Stranger in Town was a monster album, going platinum (a million copies sold) in less than a month and yielding four top thirty hits, including the #4 “Still the Same”. The album’s best-known track is “Old Time Rock and Roll”, which made it to #28 in its initial release. It re-entered the charts in 1983, peaking at #48, after Tom Cruise and his tighty-whities lip synced to it in an iconic scene from Risky Business.

• Black and White – The Stranglers

CHART POSITION: N/A

SINGLES: “Nice ‘N’ Sleazy”, “Walk on By”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Tank”, “Nice ‘N’ Sleazy”, “Walk on By”

FUN FACT: Yes, “Walk on By” is THAT “Walk on By”, composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and originally sung by Dionne Warwick.

• But Seriously, Folks… – Joe Walsh

CHART POSITION: #8 in the US, #31 in Australia

SINGLES: “Life’s Been Good”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Indian Summer”, “At the Station”, “Tomorrow”, “Life’s Been Good”

FUN FACT #1: “Tomorrow” features backing vocals by Walsh’s Eagles bandmates Glenn Frey, Don Henley, and Timothy B. Schmit.

FUN FACT #2: The album version of “Life’s Been Good” is more than eight minutes long. The song was edited down to a radio-friendly 4:35, and went on to become Walsh’s biggest hit, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Eminem sampled the absurdly catchy “Life Been Good” for “So Far…”, a track from his 2013 album The Marshall Mathers LP 2.

• The Man-Machine – Kraftwerk

CHART POSITION: #130 in the US, #12 in the band’s native Germany

SINGLES: “The Model”, “The Robots”, “Neon Lights”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “The Robots”, “Metropolis”, “The Model”

FUN FACT: The cover art for The Man-Machine was inspired by the work of Russian avant-garde artist El Lissitzky (see photos below for a few examples of his work).

• Natural High – Commodores

CHART POSITION: #3 in the US, #5 in the Netherlands and New Zealand

SINGLES: “Three Times a Lady”, “Flying High”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Fire Girl”, “X-Rated Movie”, “Flying High”, “Three Times a Lady”, “I Like What You Do”

FUN FACT: For Natural High, The Commodores received a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group; they lost to Earth, Wind & Fire’s All ‘n All.

• Darkness on the Edge of Town – Bruce Springsteen

CHART POSITION: #5 in the US, #7 in Canada, #9 in Australia, #14 in the UK

SINGLES: “Prove It All Night”, “Badlands”, “The Promised Land”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Badlands”, “Adam Raised a Cain”, “The Promised Land”, “Prove It All Night”, “Darkness on the Edge of Town”

FUN FACT #1: Following the success of his breakthrough third album, Born to Run, Springsteen entered into a prolonged legal battle with his manager and producer Mike Appel that contractually prevented him from recording another album. Springsteen and the E. Street Band spent their time on the road, where new material was written and performed live in anticipation of their return to the studio. On May 28, 1977, the dispute was settled (Springsteen bought out his contract and Appel received a lump sum and royalties); four days later, Springsteen was in the studio, recording what would become Darkness on the Edge of Town.

FUN FACT #2: Darkness on the Edge of Town placed on several year-end “Best of” lists: New Musical Express ranked it #1, and Record Mirror and Rolling Stone both ranked it #2 (behind The Jam’s All Mod Cons and Some Girls by the Rolling Stones², respectively). The album sits at #91 on Rolling Stone‘s most recent “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list.

²I’ll cover both All Mod Cons and Some Girls in volume two of this post.

• Peter Gabriel (AKA Scratch) – Peter Gabriel

CHART POSITION: #45 in the US, #10 in the UK, #2 in France

SINGLES: “D.I.Y”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “On the Air”, “D.I.Y.”, “White Shadow”, “Exposure”, “Flotsam and Jetsam”

FUN FACT: For his second self-titled album, known as Scratch for its Hipgnosis-designed cover art, Gabriel teamed with producer Robert Fripp, who had played guitar and banjo on Gabriel’s debut. Fripp’s presence is most strongly felt in “Exposure”, which he co-wrote with Gabriel; the track features Fripp’s Frippertronics technique, a tape looping method he created with Brian Eno.

• The Cars – The Cars

CHART POSITION: #18 in the US (where it was the fourth best-selling album of 1979), #29 in the UK, #35 in Australia, #5 in New Zealand

SINGLES: “Just What I Needed”, “My Best Friend’s Girl”, “Good Times Roll”

MY FAVORITE TRACKS: “Good Times Roll”, “Just What I Needed”, “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight”, “Bye Bye Love”, “Moving in Stereo”, “All Mixed Up”

FUN FACT #1: My favorite album of 1978 (it’s not even close), The Cars is one banger after another, just an embarrassment of power pop riches. Though the album yielded only three actual singles, almost every track received radio airplay, and non-singles such as “Bye Bye Love” and “Moving in Stereo” are fan favorites. The latter song reached iconic status in 1982, when it featured prominently in a memorable, extremely NSFW scene in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (though the song wasn’t included on the soundtrack album).

FUN FACT #2: Later Cars album covers were designed by drummer David Robinson, but the band’s label, Elektra Records, insisted on the artwork for their debut. Designer Ron Coro was nominated for the Best Recording Package Grammy, but the band famously hated the cover, which featured a photograph of Russian model Nataliya Medvedeva taken by Elliot Gilbert.