MUSIC MUST CHANGE – Twenty great albums of 1978

[email protected] February 24, 2020

On their August 1978 ‘WHO ARE YOU‘ LP, the first new Who album in almost three years, they close side one with an atmospheric, jazz-infused piece entitled ‘Music Must Change.’

Like the title-cut, the song is loaded with ambiguity. Is Pete Townshend saying rock music per se must change – or it’s time The Who realigned their sound in order to retain a sense of purpose?

He may well of course just be talking about his veneration as part of that old war-horse known as The Who.

Now into their fourteenth year of existence, listening to ‘Who Are You‘ (the seventh studio album in that time), the conclusion can be drawn that if The Who had not changed beyond all recognition, then they were certainly changing.

For a start bass player John Entwistle contributes three of the nine songs – his highest proportion on a Who album – and as listenable as they are, the crux of the matter is found in the Townshend compositions, which for the most part are pertinent observations on where he saw himself and The Who as the 70s wind to an end.

With his customary roar (and impressive subtlety on the poignant ‘Love is Coming Down‘), Roger Daltrey delivers what Townshend has to say, the dexterous bass, power-chords and chattering synthesisers all present and correct in making this recognisable as a ‘Who’ album, even if the lack of sustained power from behind the drums is disconcerting – Keith Moon returning to the studio after a couple of years spent living the California high life.

While not the greatest album in their illustrious canon, it is not either the best of 1978. But as Townshend, on behalf of elder statesmen such as Jagger and Dylan, was still asking questions, is it the most important? In some ways yes, but others no.

With the new wave movement nearly two years down its road, The Who and The Kinks were the two established 60s groups to avoid brickbats from a new generation of emerging punk bands and music writers.

Saving most of their ‘out of touch‘ ire for Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen, Rod Stewart and Elton John, the new-wavers found kindred emotions in the early work of Pete Townshend and Ray Davies. Even the Rolling Stones were not immune from punk pot-shots – but in 1978 after a torrid eighteen months, the Stones hit-back with ‘SOME GIRLS‘ their most attitude-fuelled release since ‘Exile On Main Street.’

With scribes poised with ‘seven thin years‘ epithets – and following a run of profligate albums, not to mention Keith Richards escaping a jail sentence for drug trafficking by a whisker (Richards having spent most of the decade beholden to one narcotic or another) – they returned with an LP that showed why the Stones still reigned as the most iconic rock band of all.

In turn ‘Some Girls‘ was antagonistic, fiery and funny – the sassy hit single ‘Miss You‘ showing beyond doubt the Rolling Stones remained a force to be reckoned with.

The previous year The Clash, a London punk band of extraordinary lyrical accomplishment had proclaimed ‘No Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones in 1977‘ – their magnificent self-titled debut taking the honours in a wonderful array of first outings that also appeared on the scene.

Twelve months later, the follow-up ‘GIVE ‘EM ENOUGH ROPE‘ could not match ‘The Clash‘ for consistency, but contained enough high spots to keep them ahead of the field.

Out of the same new wave explosion, Elvis Costello continued to look upward from the bottom of society, his scorched view of the world making ‘THIS YEAR’S MODEL‘ an enthralling listen.

Fellow new wavers The Jam shed more of their ‘Who’ traits as singer-writer-guitarist Paul Weller came up with his most original material yet, early promise developing into accomplishment on ‘ALL MOD CONS‘ – the outstanding single ‘Down in the Tube Station at Midnight‘ further evidence of his burgeoning talent.

Across the pond there was an excellent debut set from Boston-outfit The Cars, their hook-filled power pop updating mid-60s Beatles/Kinks motifs that made ‘Just What I Needed‘ and ‘My Best Friend’s Girl‘ almost effortless hit singles.

With ‘YOU’RE GONNA GET IT‘, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers continued to put their own stamp on energetic, Stones/Byrds derived material with pleasing results – and although their fourth album ‘ROAD TO RUIN‘ showed no sign of The Ramones deviating from their path of frantic, punk absorbed aggression, it was not as if they would turn into Supertramp or record a concept album any time soon.

They were not the only New York-based act making headway in 1978 – with ‘52nd STREET‘ Billy Joel recorded his most assured album to date, Talking Heads followed their memorable debut with the equally quirky, Brian Eno-produced ‘MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD‘. Meanwhile Patti Smith, despite maintaining her hard rock overtones and trenchant lyrical stance for much of ‘EASTER‘ joined forces with Bruce Springsteen for ‘Because the Night‘ – a track palatable enough for radio to earn her a top ten hit.

Out on the West Coast, The Doobie Brothers, now with keyboardist/composer Michael McDonald at the helm, scored big with ‘MINUTE BY MINUTE‘ – the title-song and ‘What A Fool Believes‘, two delicious slices of jazz-pop. In the absence of an Eagles album guitarist Joe Walsh cut the enjoyable ‘BUT SERIOUSLY FOLKS‘, the big summer hit ‘Life’s Been Good‘ containing some trademark playing while he made humorous, if cautionary remarks on the notion of rock stardom.

His fellow-Eagles Don Felder and Glenn Frey could be found on ‘STRANGER IN TOWN‘, an album which brought Bob Seger significant chart success and critical plaudits to match those of ‘Night Moves‘ from two years before.

With its engaging rockers (‘Hollywood Nights‘, ‘Feel Like A Number‘) and poignant slower tracks (‘Still the Same‘, ‘We’ve Got Tonight‘), Seger had hit upon a winning formula, richly deserving the widespread success that until the mid-70s had eluded him.

If ‘Hollywood Nights‘ was a short form tinsel-town story, then ‘BLUE VALENTINE‘ (Tom Waits) and ‘EXCITABLE BOY‘ (Warren Zevon), painted a broader, less romanticised picture of Los Angeles.

For his most likeable work yet, Tom employs less wordiness than usual in creating images of the twilight zone of LA and although the monotone mumble in which he delivers such is still evident, the worst of his gravel-voiced excesses have been softened if not smoothed.

Comparatively speaking there was little difficulty in hearing what Zevon had to say – a tremendous blessing in light of his strident lyricism. From the same LA soft-rock stable as the Eagles and Jackson Browne (co-producer of ‘Excitable Boy‘), Zevon wrote in a tougher style than both, the exemplary first side making it the most consistently brilliant recorded during the year.

Three mediocre songs on side two make the masterful ‘Warren Zevon‘ (1976) the superior work, even though ‘Excitable Boy‘ closes with the stunning ‘Lawyers, Guns and Money‘ – a song confirming Zevon as an authentic genius, writing lines reminiscent of novelist Raymond Chandler and putting them to Stones-styled guitar riffs.

Personal bias brought inclination to include ‘Misfits‘ by The Kinks and Bob Dylan’s ‘Street Legal‘, both of which contain some fine music, but in truth not quite enough to make them indispensable. Ray Davies hits the spot with the ‘Misfits‘ title-track and ‘A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy‘ and although ‘Street Legal‘ has a number of intriguing songs, they are interspersed with moments of head-scratching bewilderment.

Indeed, the album most representative of Dylan at his most innovative came from a new on the scene English band, the debut album of ‘DIRE STRAITS‘ a showcase for writer-guitarist Mark Knopfler. With a hint of Eric Clapton and Peter Green in his playing, combined with phrasing and imagery rooted in Dylan, Dire Straits sound like a late-60s throwback, yet immediate at the same time. Bolstered by a fluid rhythm section and success of ‘Sultans of Swing‘ when released as a single, this auspicious first outing paved the way for Knopfler to create much more of the same.

Despite an appearance in the bankruptcy court, 1978 showed Marvin Gaye was nowhere near out of song writing stock, his muse fired by divorce.

‘HERE, MY DEAR‘ was a double-album that chronicled his present troubles – heartfelt and moving, broadly speaking its themes are alimony, self-reflection and reconciliation. Despite thin spots on each of the four sides and lacking the finesse of his finest work, it was compelling, nevertheless.

If Mark Knopfler and his Dire Straits cohorts were future Dylan collaborators, his best known, The Band, bowed out with a triple album account of their final concert and some closing studio tracks.

Culled from ‘THE LAST WALTZ‘ performance at The Winterland in San Francisco two years before and coinciding with release of the Martin Scorsese film of the event, The Band are joined on stage by a host of stellar guests – their turns with Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and Dylan (among others) going down as seminal occasions in the history of rock music.

On their own they deliver monumental readings of ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down‘, ‘Stagefright‘ and ‘It Makes No Difference‘, while the new material written purposely by Robbie Robertson fitted the ‘end of the road‘ theme and showed them no less deft than ever – yet only added to the sadness in them saying goodbye.

If ‘The Last Waltz‘ depicted an era coming to an end, the stars who populated the Winterland stage for ‘I Shall Be Released‘ and a wave goodbye with The Band, would soon be renounced by punk.

In this regard the best album of 1978 also had an air of finality – but not for a career, more an entire decade.

‘DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN‘ by Bruce Springsteen is not the last true landmark of 70s rock (that would come in December 1979 with ‘London Calling‘ by The Clash) but serves as an epitaph of all that had gone before.

Three years on from ‘Born to Run‘ (legal issues had delayed release of the follow-up), ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town‘ eschews the lush production of its predecessor and adopts a more taut sound, his supporting E Street Band asserting themselves as a hard-edged rock ensemble.

With Springsteen imposing himself as a guitarist for the first time, playing in a Townshend/Dave Davies vein, the songs reflect a loss of innocence, their outlook realistic, but never without hope or compassion.

In ‘The Promised Land‘ the protagonist wants to be free of ‘the dreams that break your heart‘ but could be the same person in ‘Badlands‘ who feels ‘it ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive.’ Through these stories and those of ‘Candy’s Room‘, ‘The Factory‘ and ‘Prove It All Night‘, the characters are aware of the limitations life has imposed, but not defined by them.

The epic piano ballad ‘Racing in the Streets‘ has a cast if not at odds with post-Vietnam, post-Watergate America then unsure of where they belong – conflicted also by continuation of young man pleasures and the responsibilities of maturity.

In the time since he had last recorded Springsteen was different, rock music as a whole radically altered, the change Townshend was calling for apparently coming to pass.

The ‘Music Must Change‘ track on ‘Who Are You‘ was notable for being a Who song without drums. On the LP cover Moon is seated on chair marked ‘Not to be taken away‘ but alas he was soon to be taken – the drummer found dead three weeks after the album was released from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs issued to combat his alcoholism.

From this point on there was no doubt The Who would be changing.

TWENTY GREAT ALBUMS of 1978

1. DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN – Bruce Springsteen;
2. THIS YEARS MODEL – Elvis Costello and The Attractions;
3. THE LAST WALTZ – The Band/Various Artists;
4. EXCITABLE BOY – Warren Zevon;
5. SOME GIRLS – Rolling Stones;
6. GIVE ‘EM ENOUGH ROPE – The Clash;
7. WHO ARE YOU – The Who;
8. HERE, MY DEAR – Marvin Gaye;
9. ALL MOD CONS – The Jam;
10. EASTER – Patti Smith;
11. STRANGER IN TOWN – Bob Seger;
12. BUT SERIOUSLY FOLKS – Joe Walsh;
13. THE CARS – The Cars;
14. YOU’RE GONNA GET IT – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers;
15. DIRE STRAITS – Dire Straits;
16. MINUTE BY MINUTE – The Doobie Brothers;
17. ROAD TO RUIN – The Ramones;
18. BLUE VALENTINE – Tom Waits;
19. MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD – Talking Heads;
20. 52nd STREET – Billy Joel;

Hello – hope you enjoyed another exclusive production from SAMTIMONIOUS.com

In order to create the best experience for when you drop by to read a page or two, those with the power to ordain such things (me, actually), have decided to remove all external advertising from the site – in other words articles will no longer be subject to intrusive pop-up ads. BUT – and ain’t there always one – should you wish to make a donation toward the on-costs of the most entertaining and original blog-site around, please press on the – ‘DONATE’ – button below. It will be greatly appreciated.

Stay safe everyone and thanks for dropping by – best wishes Neil

SAMTIMONIOUS.com – films, football and fabulous music at The Dominion of Opinion

NEIL SAMBROOK is the author ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.