I graduated from High School in 1978 and attended my first semester of college that fall. It was a local community college and unlike my migration from junior high to high school, a good number of my friends and acquantainces attended as well. I had already introduced myself to the world of drugs and started to form a closer relationship. I would have to say that from that time until I got married (which I credit for saving my life), I was fairly involved in the drug culture. I never got into the more addictive drugs like cocaine or heroin but  let me tell you, there wasn't much else out there that I didn't at least try. My favorite then (and now, if it weren't illegal and wouldn't get me fired) was hash. There's really nothing bad about it at all. No hangover, no addiction and the effect is incomparable. Hash to marijuana is what fine wine is to light beer. Anyway, I think this is where my musical tastes took a bit of turn as you can tell by the songs of that period. I'm also going to include a list of albums that I think were note worthy as I was much more interested in what I call "Real Music" rather than pop music at this point

My Top Songs of '78

Lay Down Sally, Eric Clapton
Just The Way You Are, Billy Joel
We Are The Champions / We Will Rock You, Queen
Baker Street, Gerry Rafferty
Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad, Meat Loaf
Dust In The Wind, Kansas
Short People, Randy Newman
Slip Slidin' Away, Paul Simon
Still The Same, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
On Broadway, George Benson
Peg, Steely Dan
Baby Hold On, Eddie Money
Because The Night, Patti Smith
Every Kinda People, Robert Palmer
Serpentine Fire, Earth, Wind and Fire
Running On Empty, Jackson Browne
Sweet Talking Woman, Electric Light Orchestra
Life's Been Good, Joe Walsh
Don't Look Back, Boston
Turn To Stone, Electric Light Orchestra
Hollywood Nights, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
Deacon Blues, Steely Dan

My Top Albums of '78

This Year's Model - Elvis Costello - I didn't get into him until a little later but this was his breakout record
The Stranger - Billy Joel - You already know how I feel about this record from an earlier post
Stranger in Town - Bob Seger - The most honest songwriter ever. I always get the feeling when I listen to his songs that he and I are sitting having a couple of beers and he's telling me a story
Don't Look Back - Boston -  A genuinely unique sound that they ended up running into the ground
The Cars - The Cars - The first of the "New Wave Bands". Their first album probably their best because as time went on, they edged closer and closer to being a Pop band.
Running on Empty - Jackson Browne
Shiny Beast - Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band My friend from junior high, Darrel Wilmore, had introduced me to Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa and I still love that chaotic, freewheeling style.
Van Halen - Van Halen - Eruption, need I say more?
Outlandos, d"Amour - The Police - This is one band that started off a bit rough and grew musical as time went on. More Songs about Buildings and Food - Talking Heads - Another band that I didn't really like until later but I have to give them the props
The Last Waltz - Various Artists - This was the soundtrack for "The Band"'s farewell concert movie. It's a veritable who's who of the best musicians of that time. The movie is a great watch

 

What did you think of this article?

Liked
Disliked
No Opinion