Blondie was the top act of 1979 as punk and its influence
changed the pop music scene completely. The band built on its success of 1978 by scoring two consecutive number one single hits: "Heart of Glass" and "Sunday Girl" followed by a numbert wo with "Dreaming" and a top twenty hit "Union City Blue".

 

Number two act for the year were Police. They enjoyed hits with both singles and albums. Their singles included number ones with "Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon" as well as a number two for "Can't Stand Losing You" and a top twenty entry with "Roxanne".

 

In the top five list for the fourth year in a row was Abba. Their third position in 1979 was down to four top five singles "Chiquitita" (which peaked at number two), "Does Your Mother Know", "Voulez-Vous" and "Gimme Gimme Gimme".

 

Gary Numan was number four performer for the year - sometimes calling his band Tubeway Army but eventually settling on Gary Numan. His electronic sound gave him two number one hits: "Are Friends Electric" (as Tubeway Army) and "Cars" along with a top ten entry for "Complex".

 

Fifth spot for the year goes to the Sex Pistols. They made the top three twice, first with "Something Else" and then with "C'mon Everybody" while "Silly Thing" was also a top ten entry and "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle" a minor hit.

 

Unusually, none of the top five artists performed one of the top five singles - a sign of changing times.Top single of the year was "YMCA" by Village People, a million seller in the UK which they followed with a number two, "In The Navy".

 

Number two single was Art Garfunkel's "Bright Eyes", also a million seller.Pink Floyd released a rare single, "Another Brick in the Wall", and reached number one over Christmas for the third biggest single of the year and a million seller.
Gloria Gaynor released in this year "I Will Survive" and The Boomtown Rats followed their 1978 successes with a number one single "I Don't Like Mondays" and a top twenty hit "Diamond Smiles".

 

And finally Squeeze had two number two hits with "Cool For Cats" and "Up The Junction".