4 Songs From Rock Acts That Snuck Into the Top 10 During the Disco Days of 1979

Rock music was in a funny place in the late 70s. Some artists tried to stand firm with traditional rock sounds. Others leaned into the disco/soul sounds that were prevalent and came up with a hybrid approach. It was by no means an easy choice to make. But these four rock acts navigated the issue quite well with 1979 songs that managed to eke their way into the Top 10.

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“Shine A Little Love” by ELO

Rock critics didn’t take too long after the release of the ELO album Discovery to come up with the alternate title “Disco-Very.” It’s not like the band was hiding their attempt to court that sound. As he did with most everything else, frontman Jeff Lynne found a way to achieve this in a seamless fashion on songs like “Shine A Little Love”. There’s no doubt there are nods to the dance floor in the song’s rhythmic structure. And, since strings were naturally involved in a lot of disco songs, Lynne and company had no problem incorporating that element, something they’d been doing all along anyway. Still, this track, which peaked at No. 8, shows that pop songcraft was still the ultimate calling card for this band.

“Mama Can’t Buy You Love” by Elton John

The idea seemed like a good one. Elton John would record an album with Thom Bell, notable as the architect of the Philly Soul sound that dominated the airwaves in the first half of the 70s. Unfortunately, relations between the two men apparently turned mighty frosty in a hurry. As a result, what was supposed to be a full album eked out as a three-song EP. But at least one of those songs, “Mama Can’t Buy You Love”, rose to No. 9 on the charts. Written by Leroy Bell and Casey James, it now stands out as one of the most memorable songs of John’s catalog from the late 70s, a time when he had mostly abandoned his songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin.

“Tusk” by Fleetwood Mac

Lindsey Buckingham just isn’t the type of artist to rest on his laurels. After the unprecedented success of Rumours, Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 pinnacle, the band easily could have ridden its coattails on their next few releases. But Buckingham pushed them into thornier territory on Tusk, the highly anticipated follow-up. Especially on the songs that he wrote, Buckingham steered the recordings into more experimental territory. The title track epitomizes this, as the Mac hired the USC marching band to bring a bit of counterintuitive pomp to a song that’s otherwise pretty dark. Pop fans still loved it, sending it to No. 8.

“Take The Long Way Home” by Supertramp

Supertramp hit a surprisingly towering peak with their 1979 album Breakfast In America. Not that they weren’t a talented group. It’s just that their brand of thoughtful, quasi-progressive rock wasn’t exactly chart catnip in an era dominated by soft rock and disco. Maybe that was their secret weapon in that they were filling out an underserved niche. Or maybe these guys just came through with resonant songs time and again on the record. “Take The Long Way Home”, written and sung by Roger Hodgson, references an existential malaise that’s quite relatable. Even with its weighty themes, the song had enough juice to make it to No. 10.

(Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns)