1979 Alternative Rankdown (Complete)

[singingrulebritannia]

Well, I'm happy at least one of The Damned songs was high...

[Optical Apex]

21

The Buzzcocks

"Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Should'nt Have)?"

Points: 551

Standard Deviation: 27.76

Ranking without my list: #20

7 gonecountry

11 @crapkuki23

15 American Idiot

22 singingrulebritannia

27 Doc Indie Party Rock

37 Optical Apex

38 Butterflies & Hurricanes

100 Ernesto

Did you know that their original bassist is now their lead singer and guitarist? 
A cover of this song was featured in Shrek 2. I wish it was the original though, but "I Don't Mind" it. Speaking of Shrek, the original actor for Shrek was going to be Chris Farley (R.I.P), and some original footage of animation from the Farley Shrek adaptation was recently found, it was essentially seen as a holy grail for lost media enthusiasts like myself. 

Up next: We are now at the top 20! I'm about to add more stats shortly. 

[singingrulebritannia]

#100 for this? LMAO why?

[Optical Apex]

Here are more stats:

User [Highest ranking lost, Lowest ranking remaining, # of bottom 10s/ bottom 50s remaining, # of top 10's/ top 20's remaining]

@crapkuki23 [1, 43, (0, 0), (8, 13]

singingrulebritannia [3, 50, (0, 0), (7, 12]

Butterflies & Hurricanes [5, 54, (0, 1), (7, 11]

Ernesto [4, 61, (0, 1), (7, 13]

Doc Indie Party Rock [2, 79, (0, 5), (9, 13]

gonecountry [4, 60, (0, 2), (5, 11]

American Idiot [2, 95, (2, 3), (6, 9]

Optical Apex [9, 69, (0, 1), (8, 13]

Up next: #20 has one top-10 loss unleashed, and two people ranked this one bottom-50. 

[Optical Apex]

20

Siouxsie and the Banshees

"Hong Kong Garden"

Points: 553

Standard Deviation: 15.68

Ranking without my list: #28

8 Optical Apex

16 Ernesto

20 @crapkuki23

33 American Idiot

34 Butterflies & Hurricanes

36 singingrulebritannia

53 gonecountry

55 Doc Indie Party Rock

Yen is the currency of Japan, not Hong Kong btw. 

The song is inspired by racist skinheads attacking Chinese workers at a Chinese restaurant in London

“I'll never forget, there was a Chinese restaurant in Chislehurst called the Hong Kong Garden. Me and my friend were really upset that we used to go there and like, occasionally when the skinheads would turn up it would really turn really ugly. These gits would just go in en masse and just terrorise these Chinese people who were working there. We'd try and say 'Leave them alone', you know. It was a kind of tribute.”
Speaking of restaurants, I bet many of us have thought of seeing a unique restaurant, but how many of us have ever been to an underwater restaurant or a restaurant made of ice? These options exist, if you go to Maldives and Finland respectively. But here in the US, step into one NYC restaurant and you get served by ninjas who do tricks while you eat. 

Up next: #19 sees one top 10 out, and two people tuned out enough to rank it bottom 50. 

[Optical Apex]

This was unable to do as well as "Love Will Tear Us Apart" did on the 1980 Alt YE.

19

Joy Division

"Transmission"

Points: 554

Standard Deviation: 23.60

Ranking without my list: #27

8 @crapkuki23

11 Optical Apex

13 singingrulebritannia

25 Butterflies & Hurricanes

26 Ernesto

32 American Idiot

60 gonecountry

79 Doc Indie Party Rock


gonecountry and Doc Indie Party Rock couldn't dance to the radio. 

gonecountry should feel joy, as he's lost his final bottom 50, though, and is the first to only have rankings in the top-40 left. Woo hoo. 
This one feels like it could go in a cyberpunk game, but maybe that can apply to alot of songs here.

Up next: Another person loses a bottom 50, while someone loses a top 10. 

[Optical Apex]

18

M

"Pop Muzik"

Points: 562

Standard Deviation: 21.22

Ranking without my list: #13

7 Doc Indie Party Rock

11 Butterflies & Hurricanes

13 American Idiot

14 Ernesto

39 gonecountry

43 @crapkuki23

50 singingrulebritannia

69 Optical Apex

No more popcorn for Optical Apex

This marks Doc Indie Party Rock as the final user to lose 2 top-10 ranks. 

This was also the first #1 of the 1980 chart-year (which really started in November 1979, when it peaked).

For this song, Robin Scott's wife provided some vocals. True marriage teamwork there. 

Up next: #17 holds 3 top-20 rankings. 

[Optical Apex]

17

The Undertones

"Teenage Kicks"

Points: 570

Standard Deviation: 13.30

Ranking without my list: #23

12 Optical Apex

17 singingrulebritannia

20 gonecountry

25 American Idiot

30 @crapkuki23

35 Ernesto

47 Butterflies & Hurricanes

52 Doc Indie Party Rock

As a teenager, my exciting "kicks" would have been stuff like going on a rollercoaster. 
Anyway, a little bit of history - John Peel was a radio DJ in the UK who was known for broadcasting many early New Wave/ Punk artists and for promoting them. This song was his absolute favorite, so when he passed on, his mural and gravestone included lyrics to this very song. 

Up next: The final song I'm revealing tonight is #16. A low ranking being lost will make someone happy. Three top-10 rankings go bye bye. 

[Optical Apex]

Mr. Nigel may have cursed the dreams of American Idiot , but no more

16

XTC

"Making Plans for Nigel"

Points: 580

Standard Deviation: 27.37

Ranking without my list: #15

3 Butterflies & Hurricanes

4 singingrulebritannia

6 Doc Indie Party Rock

20 Ernesto

25 @crapkuki23

38 gonecountry

41 Optical Apex

91 American Idiot

Have you heard of the YouTuber Trash Theory? He makes good videos about different bands and genres, and he made one about XTC. 
I can't think of any fun facts for this one, but look up "steel art", it's some cool stuff since I do enjoy art overall. Check out the steel sea horse, you will not be disappointed. But you know who might be disappointed? The three additional participants who will lose their #1 before we get to our top 10 (@crapkuki23 is the only one to have already lost theirs). 

[Optical Apex]

15 songs remaining: 

3. Blondie - One Way or Another

5. The B-52's - Rock Lobster

6. The Police - Message in a Bottle

8. The Talking Heads - Life During Wartime

10. The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star

12. Blondie - Heart of Glass

14. Gang of Four - Damaged Goods

17. The Records - Starry Eyes

18. Bauhaus - Bela Legosi's Dead

19. The Cars - Let's Go

22. Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated

32. The Cars - Let the Good Times Roll

38. Tubeway Army - Are 'Friends' Electric

42. Blondie - Dreaming

54. Electric Light Orchestra - Don't Bring Me Down

[singingrulebritannia]

if we're going to lose masterpieces like "Making Plans for Nigel" before top 10, can we at least lose a couple songs that are only hanging on by their status as pop hits too (looking at you "One Way or Another" and "Don't Bring Me Down")?

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

30. The B-52's - "Planet Claire"
I always forget this song by name, but am reminded instantly once I click on it.

29. The Knack - "My Sharona"
man I was singing along to this as young as 6 years old. had no idea the song was a sex fest, but even then I knew what I liked. This song here is cursed to forever be my #2 song when it comes up against another certain classic form 1979.

28. The Dead Kennedys - "California Uber Alles"
There might be something ,somewhere in their discography that I might enjoy, but until then....

27. The Talking Heads - "Cities"
I do like this song. It just gets crushed under a stacked list like this.

26. The Clash - "I Fought the Law"
Love it. Has Green Day ever done a cover of it? I feel it would be a perfect fit for them, and especially Billie Joe Armstrong's vocals.

extras:

Lipps, Inc. - "Funkytown"
Love those classic Disco jams. Throw this one on a Mainstream Rock list and I might still give it top 20 rank....and probably immediately be banned from Rock forums for life. 

Simple Minds - "Chelsea Girl"
Not a one of their highlights for me.

The Sinceros - "Take Me to Your Leader"
OWEEEEE! Love this one. You know I'm gonna say it sounds like The Cars. Could have easily been on "Candy-O". One of my favorite discoveries on this RD. D/L check

Japan - "Quiet Life"
I hear "Careless Memories" on this one. Not only sounds like Simon Le Bon, but kinda looks like Nick Rhoads too. I know we charted "Gentlemen Polaroids"? Also had a Duran Duran vibe, but I like this one better. D/L check.

The Dishrags - "Love is Sh*t"
I loath titles like that, but I might prefer this Punk song a little more because of female vocal tones.

The B-52's - "Dance This Mess Around"
I can see Dale Bozzio singing this. I would either rank it high or mid RD depending on my mood that day.

The Skids - "Animation"
Dug the melody of the song. The vocals? Not so much.

Toyah - "Danced"
Florence + The Banshees. I kinda dug it.

25. The Police - "Walking on the Moon"
A very polarizing song for me. I've been known to give a high rank like this top 40 rank, but I have also been known to tank it. Don't know why but sometimes I'm into it ,and sometimes it is just grating. At this moment I'm getting those "Touch and Go" vibes so it's all good.

24. The Cars - "It's All I Can Do"
I genuinely love this song. The beauty of it is in Benjamin Orr's vocals. It always misses my top 10 because of those other 1978-79 Cars songs. As a treat here is the original Demo version with a little more emphasis on Elliott Easton's guitars during the verses. The original titles of the song was going to be "One Too Many Times (It's All I Can Do)"


23. Nick Lowe - "Cruel to Be Kind"
Another powerpop radio classic that made my own top 50 of 1979. Also making Nick Lowe a one -hit wonder on my music charts.

22. The Damned - "Smash It Up"
This here would be considered top tier The Dammed material for me.

21. The Buzzcocks - "Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Should'nt Have)?"
This is surely my ideal style of Brit Powerpop.

20. Siouxsie and the Banshees - "Hong Kong Garden"
I quite enjoyed this. Definitely rank it higher on a RD with overplayed radio hits. Love the Japan soundworlds.

19. Joy Division - "Transmission"
I can safely say I have never flipped over this band. As far as early 80's New Wave I go for New Order and even more Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

18. M - "Pop Muzik"
This was my actual #10 song of 1979. Such a gas to listen to. Just a fun POp song everyone can enjoy.

17. The Undertones - "Teenage Kicks"
Definitely a song I would slot top 20 on another list of songs. Had some Ramones vibes with the claps. Almost felt like a 50's punk song would sound like.

16. XTC - "Making Plans for Nigel"
The more this one appears on RDs the higher it will go on my list. Funny for a song I used to hate in the actual 80's era. I might even like it more than "Senses Working Overtime" by now. TBH honest I thought I would lose my #8 song before this one. Which is actually one of the ones just mentioned above.


Going this high into the RD I have to say I never expected The Records to go top 15.

So I did a quick over view of that RD where I gave Wire - "Map Ref 41 Degrees N 93 Degrees W" a #14 rank and after slightly previewing a few of the other songs in that RD I'm gonna stick to that High ranking, but I can also see why I would think it was a first time listen since it wasn't on an actual Yearly top 100 list. At the same time I'm also gonna stick to the #53 rank I gave it here. It's just swimming among a huge batch of radio classix and it barely stood out this time. I can 't even imagine where I would rank it if this has been a 1979 Mainstream Rock RD. Were talking a whole different top 20 for me.

This final stretch of this RD is looking good. My lowest rank left is a #69, another one just below my top half, but everything else in basically in my top 20. At this point it would be impossible for me to be disappointed at the outcome.

[gonecountry]

solid top 15. one song I don't particularly consider alternative but I do lovit.

[Optical Apex]

The final set will be revealed tonight. 

[Optical Apex]

The final reveals has been postponed due to personal circumstances, I have work all day tomorrow, so it should be around 10 ET.

[Optical Apex]

#15 is coming up in an hour. A #1 dies here. Stay tuned.

[Optical Apex]

Stats time

User [Highest # out, Lowest # remaining, # of bottom-50 ranks left, # of top 10s remaining]

@crapkuki23 [1, 39, 0, 7]

American Idiot [2, 95, 2, 6]

Doc Indie Party Rock [2, 69, 2, 7]

singingrulebritannia [3, 49, 0, 6]

Butterflies & Hurricanes [3, 54, 1, 6]

gonecountry [4, 37, 0, 5]

Ernesto [4, 61, 1, 7]

Optical Apex [8, 39, 0, 7]

[Optical Apex]

Here we have the final participant to eliminate their bottom-10, cool. 

15

Bauhaus

"Bela Lugosi's Dead"

Points: 594

Standard Deviation: 29.33

Ranking without my list: #18

1 Butterflies & Hurricanes

4 Optical Apex

7 @crapkuki23

13 gonecountry

16 singingrulebritannia

34 Ernesto

44 Doc Indie Party Rock

95 American Idiot

Bela Lugosi was actually an actor who portrayed Dracula in the 1931 film and immigrated to the US from Hungary in 1919 after his socialist views would lead him to persecution in his home country after a failed Communist revolution. 

Up next: #14 has only one person who put this song down in their top 10. 

[Optical Apex]

14

The Records

"Starry Eyes"

Points: 597

Standard Deviation: 18.14

Ranking without my list: #14

2 gonecountry

17 @crapkuki23

18 Ernesto

20 singingrulebritannia

27 Optical Apex

27 Butterflies & Hurricanes

31 American Idiot

69 Doc Indie Party Rock

Their lead guitarist was previously in a band called the Ratbites from Hell, which also had future members of the Only Ones (a song of theirs is on the 1978 list). But what a name

Up next: Two top 10's, none of which are top 5, say goodbye. 

[Optical Apex]

13

Gang of Four

"Damaged Goods"

Points: 598

Standard Deviation: 14.91

Ranking without my list: #16

9 American Idiot

9 singingrulebritannia

16 Optical Apex

21 Doc Indie Party Rock

25 Ernesto

37 gonecountry

39 @crapkuki23

54 Butterflies & Hurricanes

The Gang of Four is named after a group of 4 major Communist Chinese figures. 

Up next: Another #1 lost

[Optical Apex]

Sorry gonecountry

12

Blondie

"Dreaming"

Points: 628

Standard Deviation: 18.07

Ranking without my list: #12

1 gonecountry

3 Optical Apex

12 singingrulebritannia

19 Butterflies & Hurricanes

19 Doc Indie Party Rock

31 Ernesto

35 @crapkuki23

60 American Idiot

This one was 30 spots higher than #13, neat.

Crazy fact about dreams: Dreams often have very little sound (almost entirely visual), there have been studies that blind people can have visual dreams, and many even believe that fragments of your past lives can be seen in dreams.

Up next: #11 has yet another #1 eliminated, being one of two who placed it in the top-10, while one placed it bottom 50. 

@crapkuki23 is now the first user here to only have songs in their top 30 left, and American Idiot no longer has any bottom-50's remaining. 
 

[Optical Apex]

and there goes my #1


11

The Talking Heads

"Life During Wartime"

Points: 644

Standard Deviation: 14.85

Ranking without my list: #11

1 Optical Apex

7 Butterflies & Hurricanes

11 gonecountry

14 @crapkuki23

23 Ernesto

27 singingrulebritannia

30 American Idiot

51 Doc Indie Party Rock

This song is still relevant considering the wars happening all over the place in Israel/Palestine, Ukraine, DRC, etc.
Speaking of war, one crazy fact about World War II - there was once a cannon in Germany that was able to fire all the way into Great Britain without even crossing the seas. That sems crazy, though obviously the German government then was horrifically evil. 
David Byrne was born in 1952 in Scotland, meaning his parents most likely dealt with WW2 first hand even as civilians. The UK's civilians were at far more risk than those in the US. 

And Doc Indie Party Rock has now cleared his bottom-50 with this song, and is also the only person here to only have top-20 ranks in the top 10. His lowest rank left is a #15. 
Three others also don't have anything below #30 left: American Idiot, Butterflies & Hurricanes, and as previously mentioned, @crapkuki23

And we are now in the top 10! 
For #10, nobody ranked this down in the bottom-50, but one was close. Two top-10 losses down, however. 

[singingrulebritannia]

This top 10 is disappointingly poppy tbh

Next reveal might start to fix that though (it might be my 49)

[Optical Apex]

Top 10 remaining:

Blondie - One Way or Another

The B-52's - Rock Lobster

The Police - Message in a Bottle

The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star

Blondie - Heart of Glass

The Cars - Let's Go

The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated

The Cars - Let the Good Times Roll

Tubeway Army - Are Friends Electric
Electric Light Orchestra - Don't Bring Me Down

[Optical Apex]

EXTRAS

The Jags

"Back of My Hand"

I'm curious if Brittany Spears heard this song before making Womanizer, part of the song sounds like this. "I know just what you are"

Moon Martin

"Rolene"

cum on the operator

Suburban Lawns

"Gidget Goes to Hell"

Based off a film of a girl named Gidget (why her name is Gidget, idk), it was from the 50's. They had a song in the 1981 Alt rankdown that unfortunately did very badly (I'd probably have ranked it around #50 that year)


Mi-Sex
"Computer Games"

This went to #1 in Australia, I wonder if it boosted the sale of actual computer games. What's an XU-1 though? Couldn't find anything about that. 


The Comsat Angels
"Red Planet"

The Martian version of Public Image Ltd

[Optical Apex]

More Extras

Sparks

"Number One Song in Heaven"

Spizzenergi

"Where's Captain Kirk?"

Splodgenessabounds

"Simon Templar"

The Distractions

"Time Goes By So Slow"

A few more extras, but I won't post anymore. Note that this list was compiled by Butterflies & Hurricanes , whom I credit for quite a few of these extras I've posted.

ABBA Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)

Beat - Don't Wait Up For Me

Beat - Different Kind Of Girl

Blue Peter - Same Old Place

Cabaret Voltaire - Do The Mussolini

David Bowie - Yassassin

Dead Boys - Search And Destroy

Devo - Secret Agent Man

Dexy's Midnight Runners - Dance Stance

Dickies - Banana Splits (Tra La La)

Dire Straits - Sultans Of Swing

Elvis Costello - (What's So Funny Bout) Peace Love & Understanding

Fad Gadget - Back To Nature

Flash & The Pan - Walking In The Rain

Frank Zappa - Dancin Fool

Gary Numan - Metal

Gary Numan - ME

Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Reasons To Be Cheerful

Iggy Pop - I'm Bored

Jean Michel - Jarre Equinoxe

Joe Jackson - Fools In Love

Joe Jackson - I'm The Man

Joe Jackson - Look Sharp

Madness - One Step Beyond

Neil Young - My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)

New Musik - Living By Numbers

Patti Smith - Dancing Barefoot

Roxy Music - Angel Eyes

Simple Minds - Premonition

Suicide - Dream Baby Dream

Talking Heads - Heaven

Talking Heads - Memories Can't Wait

The Jam - Strange Town

The Police - It's Alright For You

The Police - So Lonely

The Teardrop Explodes - Bouncing Babies

[Optical Apex]

Jan 8, 2024 0:37:23 GMT -5 singingrulebritannia said:

This top 10 is disappointingly poppy tbh

Next reveal might start to fix that though (it might be my 49)

Here it is

10

Electric Light Orchestra

"Don't Bring Me Down"

Points: 650

Standard Deviation: 13.76

Ranking without my list: #9

1 Ernesto

6 gonecountry

11 Doc Indie Party Rock

21 Butterflies & Hurricanes

22 American Idiot

24 Optical Apex

24 @crapkuki23

49 singingrulebritannia

Looking good just like a snake in the grass

Up next, #9 has two top-5 ranks, neither of them are the top 2 though. No ranks below #40 either.

[Optical Apex]

Preferable to the disappointment The Offspring brought us with a similar name in 2021. 

9

The Cars

"Let the Good Times Roll"

Points: 652

Standard Deviation: 12.55

Ranking without my list: #8

3 American Idiot

5 Doc Indie Party Rock

9 gonecountry (Perfect ranking)

15 Ernesto

24 Butterflies & Hurricanes

29 @crapkuki23

32 Optical Apex

39 singingrulebritannia

This group sure had thunder appeal

Up next: This one had 5 people rank it top 10, but no #1 is eliminated. 

[Optical Apex]

8

Tubeway Army

"Are Friends Electric?"

Points: 660

Standard Deviation: 19.03

Ranking without my list: #10

3 Doc Indie Party Rock

5 American Idiot

6 Optical Apex

6 @crapkuki23

10 singingrulebritannia

22 Butterflies & Hurricanes

35 gonecountry

61 Ernesto

Ernesto has lost his final bottom 50, and now his lowest rank is #13. 

Up next: #7 has a #1 lost, after which only two #1's will remain. 

[Optical Apex]

7

The Cars

"Let's Go"

Points: 680

Standard Deviation: 13.65

Ranking without my list: #5

1 Doc Indie Party Rock

2 Ernesto

7 American Idiot

13 @crapkuki23

13 Butterflies & Hurricanes

16 gonecountry

37 singingrulebritannia

39 Optical Apex

Winding them down on her clock machine

The clock ticks, more reveals are revealed.

This reveal leaves singingrulebritannia as the final person to have both their #1 and #2. 

Up next: Nobody went so far as to put a top 5 for this