It’s the end, the end of the Seventies.

It was a decade that had started with Edison Lighthouse and ended with Another Brick in the wall. After 221 number one singles, the decade that had given us everything from Bowie to Bell bottoms, from Chopper bikes to Chiquitita, Glam to Punk, and Sapphire to Steel, was closing down - and at a sensible hour too!

On the 31st December 1979, Kenny Everett asked the (more discerning) viewers on ITV, if he would indeed make it 1980. With the iconic help of Roxy Music, David Bowie, The Boomtown Rats and many more, he just about crossed over into that new decade. But really listens, the future was already with us.

And yes, 1979 did seem rather grim - a winter of discontent, political upheaval, TV strikes and terrorism. But isn’t this exactly the kind of period when popular culture and significantly POP, POP, POP MUZIK comes to save us all? The kids were indeed, alright!

So, in the company of some very special guests - singer/songwriter and pop legend Nick Heyward and Record Collector’s very own Daryl Easlea - as we revisit the cultural tsunami that is the NOW Yearbook 1979. Rediscover a glittering embarrassment of 7” smashes from the likes of Sparks, Chic, Blondie, Squeeze, Ian Dury & the Blockheads, Roxy Music. The list, just like the glorious pages of Daryl’s 1979 diary goes on and on.

As well as sharing his fabulous boxset, 1993–1998: The Epic & Creation Years, Nick tells us about how important 1979 was in shaping his own musical journey. From the early days of (what would become) Haircut 100, to rediscovering kitchen sink somewhere up a junction, to defining a look and sound as the seventies morphed into the eighties. 

We explore the sounds of 1979 - from XTC to The Knack, from Rainbow to Sad Cafe (yes, really!), how punk was evolving into New wave, which was evolving into New Pop which… (yes, we get the idea: Ed)

And also how video wasn’t exactly killing the radio star, but through visuals a new age was really dawning for pop. 

So, lets take a One Way Ticket, One Step Beyond some Parisienne Walkways (we’re not keeping these in! Ed)

1979.

Wow, indeed.

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