Ah, 1979. According to my calculations, that was the last year of the ’70s, which was the greatest decade for guitar-based rock music ever. I’d like to thank Fender, Gibson, Marshall, and everyone else who created the instruments of my enjoyment back then.
A Million Vacations: Max Webster (“Paradise Skies”, “A Million Vacations”, “Let Go the Line”)
The B-52s: The B-52s (“Planet Claire”, “Rock Lobster”, “Lava”)
Black Rose–A Rock Legend: Thin Lizzy (“Waiting for an Alibi”, “Got to Give It Up”, “Sarah”)
Candy-O: The Cars (“It’s All I Can Do”, “Got a Lot on My Head”, “Dangerous Type”)
Damn the Torpedoes: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (“Refugee”, “Even the Losers”, “Don’t Do Me Like That”)
Deguello: ZZ Top (“I Thank You”, “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide”, “Cheap Sunglasses”)
Desolation Angels: Bad Company (“Evil Wind”, “Rhythm Machine”, “Gone, Gone, Gone”)
Flirtin’ with Disaster: Molly Hatchet (“Flirtin’ With Disaster”, “Good Rockin'”, “Whiskey Man”)
Gamma 1: Gamma (“I’m Alive”, “Razor King”, “Wish I Was”)
Gimme Some Neck: Ron Wood (“Seven Days”, “F.U.C. Her”, “Buried Alive”)
Grey Ghost: Henry Paul Band (“Crossfire”, “So Long”, “Grey Ghost”)
Highway to Hell: AC/DC (“Girls Got Rhythm”, “Touch Too Much”, “Shot Down in Flames”)
In the Skies: Peter Green (“A Fool No More”, “Proud Pinto”, “Slabo Day”)
In Through the Out Door: Led Zeppelin (“In the Evening”, “Hot Dog”, “All My Love”)
Live! Go For What You Know: Pat Travers Band (“Stevie”, “Heat in the Street”, “Boom Boom [Out Go the Lights]”)
Live Rust: Neil Young & Crazy Horse (“The Needle and the Damage Done”, “Cortez the Killer”, “Like a Hurricane”)
London Calling: The Clash (“Train in Vain”, “Lost in the Supermarket”, “Clampdown”)
The Long Run: The Eagles (“I Can’t Tell You Why”, “King of Hollywood”, “In the City”)
Look Sharp!: Joe Jackson (“Got the Time”, “Is She Really Going Out WIth Him?”, “Sunday Papers”)
Mirrors: Blue Oyster Cult (“I Am the Storm”, “The Vigil”, “In Thee”)
Muddy “Mississippi” Waters–Live: Muddy Waters (“She’s Nineteen Years Old”, “Mannish Boy”, “Nine Below Zero”)
Oneness–Silver Dreams, Golden Reality: Carlos Santana (“Song for Devadip”, “Arise Awake”, “Oneness”)
Reggatta de Blanc: The Police (“Message in a Bottle”, “Bring on the Night”, “Walking on the Moon”)
Rust Never Sleeps: Neil Young & Crazy Horse (“Powderfinger”, “Pocahontas”, “My My, Hey Hey [Out of the Blue]”)
Strangers in the Night: UFO (“Doctor Doctor”, “Lights Out”, “Rock Bottom”)
Strikes: Blackfoot (“I Got a Line on You”, “Wishing Well”, “Train, Train”)
Top Priority: Rory Gallagher (“Follow Me”, “Wayward Child”, “Bad Penny”)
You’re Never Alone with a Shizophrenic: Ian Hunter (“Just Another Night”, “Cleveland Rocks”, “Bastard”)
Van Halen II: Van Halen (“Dance the Night Away”, “D.O.A.”, “Beautiful Girls”)
The Wall: Pink Floyd (“In the Flesh?”, “Another Brick in the Wall Part 1”, “Comfortably Numb”)