1979 was a weird, loud, and transformative mess. If you look at the number 1 songs of 1979, you aren't just looking at a list of radio hits; you're looking at a cultural civil war played out over four-minute 45rpm records. One week you had the Bee Gees dominating with their polished, high-pitched falsettos, and a few months later, the world was screaming along to a stuttering rock riff about a teenage girl named Sharona.
It was the year disco died—or at least the year people tried to kill it.
Honestly, the variety is staggering. You had the smooth Yacht Rock of the Doobie Brothers rubbing shoulders with the proto-punk energy of Blondie and the heavy-hitting funk of Chic. If you feel like modern music is chaotic, 1979 says, "Hold my beer." It was a transition point where the glitz of the seventies hit a brick wall, and the synth-heavy, neon-soaked eighties began to bleed through the cracks.
The Disco Giants and the Summer of 'Bad Girls'
For the first half of the year, disco wasn't just popular; it was the air everyone breathed. Donna Summer was the undisputed queen. Her album Bad Girls was a monster, spawning back-to-back chart-toppers.
"Hot Stuff" hit number one in June, and it wasn't just a dance track. It featured a blistering guitar solo by Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (formerly of Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers), proving that even the "Queen of Disco" knew she had to court the rock crowd to stay on top. It worked. She won the very first Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for that song. Think about that. A disco icon winning a rock Grammy.
But then came "Bad Girls" itself, which spent five weeks at the summit. Summer's dominance was so absolute that she became the first female artist to have two songs in the top three simultaneously.
The Bee Gees' Final Stand
The Bee Gees started 1979 exactly where they left off after Saturday Night Fever: at the top. "Too Much Heaven" kicked off the year, followed by "Tragedy" and "Love You Inside Out." This gave them an insane run of six consecutive number one hits in a single year, tying a record set by the Beatles.
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But you could feel the fatigue setting in. By the time "Love You Inside Out" hit number one in June, the "Disco Sucks" movement was already bubbling in the basement.
The Night the Music Burned
You can't talk about the number 1 songs of 1979 without talking about July 12, 1979. Disco Demolition Night.
A Chicago DJ named Steve Dahl, who had been fired when his station flipped to a disco format, organized a promotion at Comiskey Park. The deal was simple: bring a disco record to the baseball game, get in for 98 cents, and watch a crate of those records get blown up between games of a doubleheader.
It turned into a riot.
Thousands of fans rushed the field. The second game was forfeited. While it seemed like a goofy stunt, it marked a hard pivot in American taste. The industry noticed. Suddenly, "disco" was a dirty word, and labels started rebranding their dance acts as "New Wave" or "Post-Punk."
When Rock Clawed Its Way Back
As the disco backlash intensified, a power-pop band from Los Angeles called The Knack came out of nowhere. "My Sharona" wasn't just a hit; it was a phenomenon. It held the number one spot for six weeks straight starting in late August.
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It was the "anti-disco."
The song was raw, driven by a simple, driving drum beat and a persistent guitar hook. Doug Fieger wrote it about a girl he was obsessed with (the real Sharona Alperin), and that hormonal, garage-band energy was exactly what kids were craving after years of over-produced studio strings. According to Billboard's year-end tally, "My Sharona" was the biggest song of the year.
Blondie and the New Wave Bridge
Blondie’s "Heart of Glass" is perhaps the most interesting number one of the year. Released in April, it was a disco song performed by a New York punk band.
Debbie Harry and her bandmates caught a lot of flak for "selling out," but the song was a masterpiece of crossover appeal. It used a Roland CR-78 drum machine—a rare sound at the time—and managed to be both sophisticated and gritty. It proved that you could keep the beat of disco while keeping the attitude of rock.
The Birth of Something New: Chic and the Hip-Hop Connection
While disco was being burned in baseball stadiums, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic were busy creating the DNA for the next forty years of music. "Good Times" hit number one in August 1979.
It has arguably the most famous bassline in history.
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Within weeks of its release, a group called the Sugarhill Gang famously "borrowed" that bassline for "Rapper's Delight." While "Good Times" was the end of an era for Chic—it was their last number one—it was the literal birth of commercial hip-hop. Nile Rodgers initially wasn't happy about the uncredited use of his music, but he eventually settled and became a massive supporter of the genre.
The Strange Mix of the 1979 Leaderboard
If you look at the full list of that year's chart-toppers, the lack of cohesion is beautiful.
- "Le Freak" by Chic: Carried over from late '78, it was the ultimate club anthem.
- "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" by Rod Stewart: A rock star dipping his toes into dance and getting a massive hit out of it.
- "What a Fool Believes" by The Doobie Brothers: The pinnacle of "Yacht Rock" sophistication.
- "Reunited" by Peaches & Herb: A massive ballad that stayed at number one for four weeks.
- "Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward: A simple, catchy disco earworm that became a cult classic.
- "Pop Muzik" by M: A weird, quirky synth-pop track that signaled the 1980s were officially here.
- "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)": The powerhouse duet between Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer.
- "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)": Rupert Holmes ended the year (and the decade) with this story-song about a guy trying to cheat on his wife, only to find out the woman he's meeting is his wife.
It’s a wild list. You’ve got Michael Jackson starting his solo ascent with "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," which hit number one in October. This was Michael post-Jacksons, working with Quincy Jones, finding the sound that would eventually lead to Thriller.
Actionable Insights for Music Lovers
The number 1 songs of 1979 offer more than just nostalgia. If you're a musician, producer, or just a hardcore fan, there are real lessons in this specific year of the charts:
- Study the "Crossover": Look at how Donna Summer or Blondie blended genres. They didn't stay in their lane, and that’s why they survived the shifts in taste.
- The Power of the Hook: "My Sharona" and "Good Times" rely on one singular, unmistakable riff. If you're writing music, find your "Sharona" riff.
- Context is Everything: Understanding why a song like "Pop Muzik" hit number one requires knowing how tired people were of the "standard" 1970s sound. Innovation often wins when the audience is bored.
- Listen to the Production: 1979 was a peak for analog recording. Listen to the drum sounds on Parallel Lines or the bass clarity on Risqué. It’s a masterclass in how to make instruments sound "expensive" without digital shortcuts.
Basically, 1979 was the year the 1970s finally ran out of gas, but the fumes were incredible. It was a year of endings and beginnings, where every number one song felt like it was fighting for the soul of the next decade.
To truly understand the music of today, you have to go back to this specific 12-month window. It’s where the walls between rock, disco, and hip-hop first started to crumble.
Grab a pair of decent headphones. Put on a "1979 Number Ones" playlist. Listen to the transition from the Bee Gees to The Knack. You can literally hear the world changing in real-time.