This song wasn’t as big a hit for me until my high-school and college years. By that time, I started having a greater appreciation for Pink Floyd and this song, because of its length, got played many times on my radio dial. There are a lot of great songs that came off The Wall (and yes we’ll be getting to them in later countdowns), but this one was released in 1979. At #12, we got Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 by Pink Floyd.

This is the part of this countdown when things start to get a little tight. It was hard to place these next twelve songs. The one that came in at the bottom is the first of 3 entries by this man, Tom Petty. Full Moon Fever is one of his greatest albums ever, and his time with the Traveling Wilburys proved to be immensely inspiring. Like it or not, this song was a huge hit back then and it’s still a big song today, one I have played many times with my buddy Justin Brogdon. Coming in at #12 is …..more →

I still wonder to this day how they came up with this song. There are so many parts, sections, breakdowns, I just wondered what was the writing process. In the end, this song became arguably the B-52s’ most mainstream hit, and it’s another song that still gets played at many occasions. Just a fun song by a band that was always about fun and wackiness. At #13, we have Love Shack by The B-52s.

I loved The Police when I grew up. I’m more a Synchronicity fan and yes that album will be appearing in a later countdown, but I didn’t realize one of theie most popular tunes ever was released was in 1979. Sting still plays it at his shows, and I’ve covered it many a time with other bands. It deserves to be here simply because of its longevity and the fact that it has managed to age well. At #13 is Message in a Bottle by The Police.

My wife wanted to hit me when I put this song at this spot in this countdown. I didn’t know how much of a Donna Summer fan she was until we started going through her list of songs. This was the era of Bad Girls for sure, and it’s a huge song for 1979 that helped symbolized the crazy era that was disco. Being bad at #14 is Bad Girls by Donna Summer.

Yes, I admit it, I was a Paula Abdul fan when I was a teenager. Still you have to give props to the woman who was Janet Jackson’s choreographer during the early stage of her career, and brought tap-dancing to the MTV youth who weren’t into Sammy Davis or Gregory Hines. She had a lot of hits back in the day, but my personal favorite was this one. I still love the bridge too on this tune. Hitting the countdown at #14 is Cold Hearted by Paul Abdul.