friday random ten, 1979 edition

1. Michael Jackson, “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.” Anybody remember this guy?

2. The B-52’s, “Dance This Mess Around.” The video is terrific, the B-52’s before their first album had come out.

3. Earth, Wind & Fire, “Boogie Wonderland.” More popular than Funkadelic.

4. Marianne Faithfull, “Working Class Hero.” She was far from working-class, but she’s always done right by this song.

5. Gang of Four, “Anthrax.” Love’ll get you like a case of anthrax, and that’s something I don’t want to catch.

6. McFadden & Whitehead, “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now.” This enormous hit waited 29 years for Barack Obama to win the nomination for president.

7. The Specials, “A Message to You Rudy.” Better think of your future.

8. Pearl Harbour and the Explosions, “Drivin’.” For some reason, in the late-70s/early-80s, this band opened for just about every punk and New Wave band we saw. The list of bands I saw fewer times than I saw these guys would include some pretty good acts.

9. Nick Lowe, “Cruel to Be Kind.” This one goes out to Charlie.

10. The Village People, “Go West.” Fans of the Gunners will enjoy this video: