30 April 2013: it's... 1978

[dischead]

1978.  Bleagh.  The best I can say is that it could have been much worse.  A tolerable collection
of mostly-overplayed songs, with the Blues Brothers & Bob Marley "rarities."

[ggould]

LN1: da Straits and da Sultanz.

I think it's important to remember how jaw-droppingly gripping this sounded coming out of KSAN back in the day, when this was an undiscovered band.  I saw their first couple of gigs at The Old Waldorf, site of other debuts I saw (Elvis Costello, Tom Petty).

[RGMike]

1978.  Bleagh.  The best I can say is that it could have been much worse.  A tolerable collection
of mostly-overplayed songs, with the Blues Brothers & Bob Marley "rarities."

Any '78 set that avoids "Thunder Island" and "Dreadlock Holiday" is halfway to being decent, IMHO, but yeah it coulda been far more adventurous.

[Here'sToYa!]

LN1: da Straits and da Sultanz.

I think it's important to remember how jaw-droppingly gripping this sounded coming out of KSAN back in the day, when this was an undiscovered band.  I saw their first couple of gigs at The Old Waldorf, site of other debuts I saw (Elvis Costello, Tom Petty).

I remember rooting for it to climb the charts when I was in fifth grade. I think it reached number four. I still enjoy it every time because of the sentimental value, though it certainly has enjoyed a hefty amount of airplay over the years.

[dischead]

LN1: da Straits and da Sultanz.

I think it's important to remember how jaw-droppingly gripping this sounded coming out of KSAN back in the day, when this was an undiscovered band.  I saw their first couple of gigs at The Old Waldorf, site of other debuts I saw (Elvis Costello, Tom Petty).

While I can't address the KSAN aspect, you make a good point about context.  Part of my problem
with popular music in 1978 is that "rock" was largely tired and played-out, with little creativity
in evidence from many long-established bands.  Punk & funk, particularly the harder core examples,
understandably didn't get much mainstream airplay.  New Wave was just a tiny ripple.  And disco
was very polarizing.   Against that backdrop, groups like Dire Straits and The Cars sounded fresh
and exciting.  Still, there was relatively little new stuff overall, and thus as soon as 1979 both
those bands were well on their way to being overplayed.