Look, we’ve all been there—nostalgically scrolling through Spotify at 2 AM, wondering whatever happened to that catchy song you heard exactly once at your cousin’s roller skating birthday party in 1979. You know, the one with that incredible hook that’s been lodged in your brain for four decades, slowly driving you mad like a musical splinter you can’t extract.
Welcome to 1979: the year when disco was simultaneously thriving and dying (much like my houseplants), punk was getting angry in the corner, and new wave was that cool kid at the party nobody quite understood yet. It was musical chaos—beautiful, glorious chaos—where anyone with a synthesizer and a dream could briefly rule the airwaves before vanishing into the ether like my motivation on Monday mornings.
Let’s revisit 9 songs that briefly lit up 1979 like a disco ball on steroids before plummeting back to earth with all the grace of a piano dropped from a fifth-story window.
9. Pop Muzik – M
If music genres were cocktails, “Pop Muzik” would be that experimental concoction your friend with the mixology certificate makes you try—surprisingly delicious, impossible to replicate, and leaving you with a headache that defies medical explanation. Robin Scott (performing as “M”—because why waste time with multiple letters when one will do?) created what is essentially a TED Talk about pop music history set to an irresistible beat.
The spoken-word lyrics “New York, London, Paris, Munich” served as a geography lesson disguised as a chorus, while Scott deadpanned his way through this new wave masterpiece. After hitting #1, Scott apparently decided fame was overrated and retreated back to obscurity (a move I deeply respect after attending literally any networking event).
8. Anita Ward – Ring My Bell
Originally written for a teenage artist (because nothing says “appropriate for minors” like thinly-veiled sexual innuendo), “Ring My Bell” found its rightful home with Anita Ward, whose vocals could make a grocery list sound seductive. The song features the Sinar electronic drum, which sounds like what robots might dance to at their wedding receptions.
Ward’s career was tragically derailed by a car accident shortly after her hit—proving that the universe has terrible timing and a questionable sense of humor. The song remains a disco staple, though, perpetually confusing new generations who wonder why people were so excited about doorbells in the ’70s.
7. Knock on Wood – Amii Stewart
If Eddie Floyd’s 1966 original was a polite knock on the door, Amii Stewart’s version was someone taking a bedazzled battering ram to your eardrums—in the absolute best way possible. Stewart’s remake is what happens when someone says, “What if we took this perfectly good soul song and injected it with disco steroids and sequins?”
The accompanying music video featured Stewart wearing outfits that made Lady Gaga look conservative and performing choreography that would send most of us straight to physical therapy. While American radio moved on faster than your ex with a rebound relationship, Stewart found lasting success in Europe, particularly Italy.
6. Cruel to Be Kind – Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe borrowed from Shakespeare for his lyrics and Philly soul for his melody, creating a song that’s essentially a musical mullet—intellectual business up front, soulful party in the back. The result is a deceptively cheerful tune about relationship dysfunction that has people happily singing along to their own emotional trauma.
While “Cruel to Be Kind” was Lowe’s only American hit as a performer, music nerds (hello, my people) know him as the producer behind Elvis Costello’s early work. Lowe is essentially the musical equivalent of that character actor whose name you don’t know but who improves every movie they’re in.
5. Making It – David Naughton
In a plot twist straight out of a sitcom writer’s fever dream, the guy from the Dr. Pepper commercials recorded a disco song for his failed TV show, and somehow it became a legitimate hit. This is like if the Progressive Insurance lady suddenly dropped a trap album that went platinum—completely absurd yet strangely perfect.
Bold statement: Some one-hit wonders come from unexpected sources. David Naughton’s “Making It” proves this fact. The theme song for a TV show became a hit. It reached number 5 on Billboard’s Hot 100. The song also appeared in the film Meatballs. Naughton, primarily an actor, enjoyed surprise success. This song’s infectious rhythm ensured lasting popularity.
4. Just When I Needed You Most – Randy VanWarmer
Nothing inspires great art like getting dumped, and VanWarmer channeled his heartbreak into this soft-rock tearjerker after his girlfriend left him for another man. The song is the musical equivalent of that friend who shows up at your door with ice cream and tissues when you’re sad—comforting, slightly sappy, but exactly what you need in the moment.
The track featured John Sebastian on autoharp, an instrument that sounds like what happens when a harp and a guitar have a baby and then that baby decides to be difficult. VanWarmer later found success writing country songs, proving that if you’re going to be perpetually heartbroken, you might as well get paid for it.
3. Sniff ‘n’ the Tears – Driver’s Seat
With possibly the worst band name this side of Hoobastank, Sniff ‘n’ the Tears nevertheless created a sophisticated rock gem that sounds like what would happen if the car from Knight Rider formed a band. The song’s driving rhythm (pun absolutely intended and I refuse to apologize for it) and distinctive guitar work make it instantly recognizable to anyone who’s ever been in a department store or watched a car commercial in the last 40 years.
Paul Roberts wrote the song years before the band formed, apparently keeping it in his back pocket like that emergency $20 we all hide and then immediately forget about. While the band is still technically active today, I assume their introduction at parties goes something like: “Yes, THAT song. No, we don’t mind playing it again.”
2. Bonnie Pointer – Heaven Must Have Sent You
After leaving The Pointer Sisters (a career move with approximately the same wisdom as leaving The Beatles or turning down Google stock options in 1999), Bonnie Pointer struck disco gold with her remake of this Motown classic. The original Elgins version was a sweet soul tune; Pointer’s remake is what happens when that sweet soul tune drinks four Red Bulls and heads to Studio 54.
The track gave Pointer her only solo hit, proving that sometimes the universe gives you exactly one moment to shine—like that perfect hair day that happens when you have absolutely nowhere important to go. She continued performing until her death in 2020, likely introducing herself as “Yes, from The Pointer Sisters. And yes, that disco song too.”
1. Dancin’ Shoes – Nigel Olsson
Elton John’s drummer stepping into the spotlight is like finding out your accountant has a secret life as a semi-successful romance novelist—unexpected but strangely fitting. Olsson’s warm vocals on this feel-good track about dancing away your problems create the musical equivalent of a weighted blanket for your ears.
The song’s message—essentially “put on some shoes and dance until you forget your troubles”—is either the most profoundly simple or simply profound life advice ever recorded. It’s certainly cheaper than therapy, though significantly less effective for serious issues (results may vary, side effects include blisters and the occasional pulled muscle).
