Breakfast in America (Supertramp)

Breakfast in America
Supertramp (1979)

Top Tracks: “The Logical Song”, “Goodbye Stranger”, “Take the Long Way Home”

Again, we’re on one of the best albums in history. Hard to criticize in any way. Around 1979, I was on roller skates a lot, and in my headphones was “The Logical Song”. Supertramp is like two bands in one, with the poppy (and sometimes schmaltzy) sounds of Roger Hodgson balanced with the more laid back rock oriented vibe of Rick Davies. I liked them both. And yes, it was very popular at the time, holding the #1 spot on the Billboard albums chart for six weeks in 1979 (June 2020).

Candy-O (The Cars)

Candy-O
The Cars (1979)

Top Tracks: “Let’s Go”, “Candy-O”, “Dangerous Type”

What do you do after you make one of the best debut albums in history? You make one of the best sophomore albums in history. I frankly don’t have enough good adjectives to talk about the early output of the Cars. These first two albums helped define an entire era of new wave and power pop, with the brilliant production of Roy Thomas Baker and the songwriting of Ric Ocasek combining for some of the best music of my lifetime (June 2020).

Damn the Torpedoes (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)

Damn the Torpedoes
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1979)

Top Tracks: “Here Comes My Girl”, “Refugee”, “ Don’t Do Me Like That”

A totally solid rock album. I thought “Here Comes My Girl” had a terrific progression from the first time I heard it in middle school, and associated the tune at the time with the myriad young ladies who I was suddenly interested in romantically. Definitely an influential album on me as a rock songwriter (June 2020).