18 (And I Like It): My [simulated] All-Time Hot 100 circa 1978

I've been looking back at the music I loved when I was a teenager, trying to imagine what I would have named as my All-Time Hot 100 songs when I was a nascent rock 'n' roll fan. We've seen what I liked when I was 16 (going on 17) in 1976, and how it evolved one year later when I was 17. Now, let's resume the story over Thanksgiving break in my freshman year at college in 1977, and see what 1978 could bring. Eighteen? I liked it.


Explosion.

No other single word could describe my rockin' pop world at the end of 1977 through the early fall of 1978. It was an explosion of discovery, building on what I'd learned over the previous year and sending it all up in a rocket to the stars. Or a rocket to Russia--whichever came first.

There were three main precipitating incidents that contributed to this combustion. Over Thanksgiving break in 1977, I heard The Ramones' "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" for the first time, and its immediate and prevailing effects upon me were positively seismic. In January of 1978, not long after my 18th birthday, I saw my first rock 'n' roll club show, performed with irresistible intensity by a local Syracuse group called The Flashcubes. Shortly thereafter, a rock magazine called Bomp! taught me that the music I loved the most was called power pop, a description that linked The Kinks and The Raspberries to The Ramones and The Flashcubes. I've written about each of these elsewhere--"Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," my first Flashcubes show, and the power pop issue of Bomp!--so we'll press on without repeating those stories here. We need only pause here long enough to reiterate that those three events share equal footing with seeing The Beatles in A Hard Day's Night at the drive-in in 1964 and reading about punk rock in Phonograph Record Magazine in 1977 as the key flashpoints in my life as a rockin' pop fan. (The Monkees TV series was also important, but its effect was spread out over the years rather than tethered to a specific single moment in time.)

That Christmas break '77-'78 also brought my first attempt at rock journalism: "Groovin' (Like The Hip Folks Do)," an emeritus contribution to my high school literary magazine The NorthCaster. That piece's title reminds me of something similar I've used recently. "Groovin' (Like The Hip Folks Do)" was published in the spring of '78, and it ranted dutifully and insistently about the virtues of punk rock, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, The Rubinoos, Blondie, and KISS, expressed indifference toward Talking Heads, disappointment in Richard Hell & the VoidOids, and outright hostility toward The Eagles. At a club show the following summer, I ran into a former classmate who berated me for digging punk rock and dissing Hotel California. You know you've succeeded as a writer when you discover you pissed someone off.

Music wasn't the only thing in my life. No, really. I had a girlfriend at college, and it wasn't her fault that we had so little in common. It certainly wasn't her fault that I wound up in the arms of a different girl. I really wish I had been more mature at 17 and 18. I burned bridges with both girls; there was another girl back home, a girl I cared about, and I scorched the innocent earth between us. Yay, me. As 17 became 18, it became clear that I was no longer getting along with my roommate at school, in much the same way that Hatfields don't get along with McCoys.

So yeah, the music's a happier memory. I saw Elvis Costello & the Attractions at college with one of my ex-girlfriends. I saw The Ramones and The Runaways. I saw The Kinks. In the summer of '78, I saw Herman's Hermits (sans Peter Noone) at a club show (where the above-mentioned guy from my high school expressed his disagreement with my published pro-punk stance), and I saw The Flashcubes every chance I had. I got a part-time job at Sears, and that put money in my pocket, cash for records and beer. I bought both, in abundance. I listened to oldies at The Tip-A-Few on James Street in Eastwood. I gave shelter to an AWOL Marine buddy and a teenaged runaway (at different times). I played my LPs and 45s. I was living loud.

And I wanted another girlfriend. I was determined that, given another chance, I could be a better boyfriend than I had been in my previous attempts.

Back to Brockport for the fall semester of my sophomore year in '78. In October, I bought myself a copy of The Jam's This Is The Modern World album, and went back to my dorm to play it at extremely high volume. The girl in the next room objected, and pounded on our mutual wall to get me to shuddup awready. Grumble.

The girl's name was Brenda. That's still her name. We would meet shortly after that, on October 19th, 1978. The story will resume there next time. For now, turn it up! These were my all-time favorite songs when I was 18.



Alison Elvis Costello
All Around The World The Jam
All Day And All Of The Night The Kinks
Any Way You Want It The Dave Clark Five [NOTE: I also played KISS' version a lot]
Baby Blue Badfinger
Babysitter The Ramones
Beat On The Brat The Ramones
Because The Night Patti Smith Group
Blitzkrieg Bop The Ramones
Calling Dr. Love KISS
Catch Us If You Can The Dave Clark Five
Celluloid Heroes The Kinks
Christi Girl The Flashcubes
Christine Sixteen KISS
Citadel The Rolling Stones
Couldn't I Just Tell You Todd Rundgren
Daily Nightly The Monkees
Detroit Rock City KISS
Do Anything You Wanna Do Eddie & the Hot Rods
Do You Love Me The Dave Clark Five
Do You Wanna Dance The Ramones
Eight Miles High The Byrds
Every Little Thing The Beatles
The First Cut Is The Deepest Cat Stevens
Five O'Clock World The Vogues
Friday On My Mind The Easybeats
Go All The Way The Raspberries
God Save The Queen The Sex Pistols
Good Lovin' The Young Rascals
Got No Mind The Flashcubes
Heart Full Of Soul The Yardbirds
Heart Of The City Nick Lowe
Hey Deanie Shaun Cassidy
I Can't Explain The Who
I Fought The Law The Bobby Fuller Four
I Need To Know Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
I Need You (For Someone) The Jam
I Wanna Be With You The Raspberries
I'm Down The Beatles
In The City The Jam
It Hurts To Be In Love Gene Pitney
It's My Life The Animals
Joanne Michael Nesmith & the First National Band
Juke Box Music The Kinks
Just What I Needed The Cars
The Kids Are Alright The Who
La-La-La Lies The Who
The Last Time The Rolling Stones
Laugh, Laugh The Beau Brunmmels
Less Than Zero Elvis Costello
Let Me! Paul Revere & the Raiders
Let Me Be The Turtles
Lies The Knickerbockers
Listen To Her Heart Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Little White Lies The Romantics
Lola The Kinks
London's Burning The Clash
Love Is Only Sleeping The Monkees
The Modern World The Jam
Move It On Over George Thorogood & the Destroyers
My Girl The Temptations
A Must To Avoid Herman's Hermits
No Feelings The Sex Pistols
No More Looking Back The Kinks
No Reply The Beatles
Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue The Ramones
Oh Boy Buddy Holly
Ouch! The Rutles
Porpoise Song (Theme From Head) The Monkees
Pretty Vacant The Sex Pistols
Pushin' Too Hard The Seeds
Ready Steady Go Generation X
Rich Kids The Rich Kids
Rock And Roll Love Letter The Bay City Rollers
Rockaway Beach The Ramones
School Days The Runaways
Shattered The Rolling Stones
She Is Still A Mystery The Lovin' Spoonful
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker The Ramones
Sloop John B The Beach Boys
So It Goes Nick Lowe
Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White The Standells
Suffragette City David Bowie
Take Me For What It's Worth The Searchers
Tear Me Apart Suzi Quatro
Tell Me What You See The Beatles
Thank You, Girl The Beatles
Then She Kissed Me KISS
Till The End Of The Day The Kinks
Tired Of Waiting For You The Kinks
Wasted The Runaways
Watching The Detectives Elvis Costello
Waterloo Sunset The Kinks
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place The Animals
When You Find Out The Nerves
Where Have All The Good Times Gone The Kinks
Words The Monkees
X-Offender Blondie
You Really Got Me The Kinks
Your Generation Generation X

NOTE: If The Flashcubes had released more than just the "Christi Girl" 45 in this time frame, there woulda been a lot more 'Cubes tracks on this Hot 100. Live Flashcubes fave raves included "Face To Face" (my first favorite Flashcubes song), "On The Run," "Student Rape," "Social Mobility," and many more.



WHEN WE RETURN: Hey 19!



TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes,Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here.