Listomania! - 1978

I remember my Dad pounding on my bedroom door. I awoke with a startle and heard him saying that Debbie had gone into labour and I needed to hustle over to her Dad's house to get a ride to the hospital. I jumped into some clothes that were lying on the floor, not knowing until later that I had put on 1 red sock and 1 blue sock. A lot of the day is fuzzy, but I recall Debbie's labour being quite long and then, all of a sudden, it was go time. I was given some doctor's greens to put on and it was then I discovered the odd-sock situation because the greens were too small and barely made it below my knees. Gordon (after Gordie Howe) Russell (after my Dad) finally made his appearance in the world on Friday Feb.24,1978, a month premature at 6 lbs. 9 oz and a little jaundiced, but otherwise quite healthy. My life had changed irrevocably and I was a very young, but very proud and determined Papa. Much of Gord's baby years are a blur to me now, probably because I was working so much overtime (my Dad had got me a job at his workplace, Wolverine Tube) and running on very little sleep. I do remember him being a generally happy little guy who didn't like to sleep much. He still doesn't sleep enough, but I don't have to rock him in the rocking chair anymore at least. He has turned into a caring, passionate and intelligent man and he is one of my best friends and I am still so very proud of him. Now, I am also a very proud Grandpa of his and Abra's son Kieran, so the cycle of life continues along. Musically, 1978 was an amazing year. I have left off so much great stuff, including Van Halen's first record, The Cars' great debut and many more. Here, then, is the list:

Top 10 Of 1978

10. Hong Kong Garden - Siouxsie & The Banshees

Siouxsie Sioux was a scene-maker in London in the early days of punk, showing up at all the early punk shows, especially the Sex Pistols gigs. This was the first record she and the Banshees released, as a stand-alone single and it is still a great listen today. From the first plinks of the xylophone, the mood is set. Siouxsie delivers a great vocal in what would become her signature style and the band is just so tight. John McKay plays a wicked, atonal guitar throughout, aggressively pushing the song along. Steve Severin plays a simple but effective high bass part too, lending the bottom end a poppy quality, but make no mistake, this is early punk rock in all its glory. This is one of the first records ever produced by Steve Lillywhite, who went on to great fame with the early U2 records. Siouxsie has said the song was an ode to her favourite Chinese takeout in London, to the stoicism the people that worked there showed in the face of blatant racism by Skinheads who frequented the place. "Chicken Chow Mein and Chop Suey, Hong Kong Garden takeaway." Ho-Lee Chow!

9. Don't Look Back - Boston

This is on the list just for the guitar sound alone. The vocals are nice, everything is quite nicely-produced, but Tom Scholz and his unmistakable guitar are what this song is all about. He apparently invented some equipment to make his guitar sound like that, putting to good use his degree from MIT. I remember waiting for this album to come out and making jokes about how long it took. Well, it was only 2 years since the debut record, but back then it seemed like ages. Hell, the 3rd album took them 8 years to release after this one - now that is a long wait! By then, I had moved on from them, so it mattered not to me. Damn, that is a gorgeous piece of guitar though! "I finally see the dawn arrivin'. I see beyond the road I'm drivin', far away and left behind." No road-rage here!

8. Nice 'n' Sleazy - The Stranglers

The drums lay down the beat....and then here it comes. That bass! Magnificent! J.J. Burnel lays down that monster riff and off we go! Hugh Cornwell growls out his menacing lyrics and the synth solo is crazy and all over the place, but it is that incessant bass line that pushes the song to such great heights. The Stranglers played a famous gig at London's Battersea Park that year and for that added touch in their show, they hired strippers to dance along with this song, and a few others, in their birthday suits, causing a huge uproar and resulting in them being labelled as politically incorrect Neanderthals, which they probably loved. This song reminds me of the summer of 1982, when Steve and I would take walks with his boom-box blasting this out at top volume on our way to play Donkey Kong at a local arcade. "Nice 'n' sleazy does it, does it every time." Too right baby!

7. Hanging On The Telephone - Blondie

The first song on the fantastic Parallel Lines, this is Blondie at their melodic punkiest, all speed and agility and New York City. I always think of this when I hear a dial tone as the lead-in of the song features one. The band comes crashing in, riding on the wave of Clem Burke's killer drumming. Heart Of Glass is still a great song today, but this little 2:22 ditty still gets my blood pumping. Debbie Harry was so gorgeous, and she could sing a bit too! Her little growl on the "Oh, I can't control myself" part is worth the price of the record alone. This was the start of a great run for the band and their commercial breakthrough, as evidenced by my little sister Shannon joining their fan club. "I'm in the phone booth, it's the one across the hall. If you don't answer, I'll just ring it off the wall." No Dagwood needed here!

6. Because The Night - The Patti Smith Group

Patti and her band were recording the album Easter in the next studio down from Bruce Springsteen, who was recording Darkness On The Edge Of Town. He was having trouble finishing a song, so the engineer of both records, Jimmy Iovine, asked Bruce if he could take the song to Patti to see if she thought it was any good. She of course thought it was and added to the words and the rest is history. It became her biggest single ever and it is still a classic today. I love her vocals in general, but on this one, she kills it, especially the rant she goes on that starts at about the 2:09 mark. Lenny Kaye adds a tasty guitar solo and the piano is quite gorgeous and haunting. "With love, we sleep. Without, the vicious circle turns and burns." Oh, to have the ability-the gift-to write like that!

5. I Need To Know - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Here's a guy who I have a ton of respect for. He never pandered to critics or sold his soul. He just made some great records his way and he is still doing it 35 years into his career. I'm not a huge Petty fan, but he can sure write a great song. This is my personal favourite of his, with its Who-ish, 2 chord guitar riff and punky energy. Benmont Tench pounds the piano, Mike Campbell plays his usual solid guitar, and the rest of the band just kicks ass on this tune. I love the urgency here, with Petty playing the paranoid lover, all tension and worry. Simply put, it is just a fab song, short but oh so sweet! "Who would've thought that you'd fall for his line? All of a sudden it's me on the outside." Hands up if you've been there before.

4. Down In The Tube Station At Midnight - The Jam

This is the sound of Paul Weller stretching his wings. From the brilliant 3rd album, All Mod Cons, it is the chilling story of a guy catching the train home to his wife and being harassed and beaten up by thugs who steal his money and keys and the victim is left wondering if they will go to his home and assault his wife too. It percolates along on Bruce Foxton's bass line, but it is Weller's great vocal that stars in this tune. It is a very effective narrative, contrasting the warmth and safety of home with the urban decay and danger of the outside world. On the back cover of the single, Weller had the record company put a picture of one of his heroes, Keith Moon of The Who, who had just passed away about 1 month earlier. "I first felt a fist and then a kick, I could now smell their breath. They smelt of pubs and Wormwood Scrubs and too many right-wing meetings." Steven Harper and the Keebler Elf perhaps?

3. Trapped Again - Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes

In '78, Steve and I were still listening to M105 out of Cleveland and this song would come on the radio and cause us to start grooving in his living room. The Jukes were a Jersey Shore band who never really achieved commercial success, but they were a very good, tight band. Miami Steve Van Zandt, who also played in Springsteen's E-Street Band, was the guitarist and producer for the Jukes, and also one of their main songwriters. He penned this with Johnny and Bruce and it is a killer slice of '60s-infused R'n'B. The bass is too cool and the horn section is funky as all get out. The drummer lays down some great sixteenth notes on the high-hat as well and you can't stop moving your feet even if you want to. "Can't let the hand of fate, let it drag me down. I can't get no angel of mercy, I came to stay, but I got swept away." The party starts here!

2. The Big Country - Talking Heads

From the delicious More Songs About Buildings And Food, this is my fave Heads tune. I love the slide guitar and the way it gives an almost country-rock feel to the song. I loved this song from the moment I first heard it. I had bought the album for their rendition of Al Green's Take Me To The River, but this track soon became the one that I played over and over. I started working in a factory around the time this was released, and this song was one I always had in my head during that time. I was young and even though I had a kid and lots of responsibilities, I still felt like an outsider and this anti-establishment anthem was one of my theme songs. This fed right into my obsession with all things New York City at the time. The lyrics are fantastic and David Byrne's quirky delivery is just the perfect way to get them across. How I love this song! "I wouldn't live there if you paid me. I wouldn't live like that, no siree. I wouldn't do the things the way those people do. I wouldn't live there if you paid me to." The start of my career in copper tubing!

1. The Promised Land - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band

My hands-down favourite Springsteen song is this paean to the working-class guy that wants to escape and overcome the odds against him. Having started working in the same factory as my Dad, I saw what it had done to him, with the lack of respect he felt, like a rat trapped in a cage. I, being young and naive, thought it would never happen to me of course. It was the first time I realized that I was from a working- class family and it started to turn my thinking around in many ways. It didn't make me defeatist, just harder and more determined that they would never get my soul. It was a side of me that I never really showed to friends and loved ones at the time and it took about another 5 or so years before I did. I loved Darkness On The Edge Of Town much more than Born To Run and still do. This still hits me right in the gut every time I hear it, especially the "Mister I ain't a boy, no I'm a man" part. Bruce is the master of writing about the common feelings of the common man, and this, in my opinion, is his masterpiece. This is my fave verse:

"I've done my best to live the right way
I get up every morning and go to work each day
But your eyes go blind and your blood runs cold
Sometimes I feel so weak I just want to explode
Explode and tear this town apart
Take a knife and cut this pain from my heart
Find somebody itching for something to start."

Gets me every time.....