Welcome to Monday Music Day and Freealonzo’s Guest DJ rock week, brought to you by the year 1978.

I know most people take a cursory look at the videos posted so I thought I’d take a different approach and spoiler all my video selections for the week. I supposed you could close this post if you want to be surprised. Hopefully this will prompt you to check out the vids.

All seven videos are songs released in 1978, which I think is a fascinating year musically. Rock and roll, which had been fully ensconced in the popular zeitgeist for nearly 15 years, was still reigning supreme but after the Sex Pistols and Ramones broke out in 1977, there were a burgeoning punk and new wave scene as well. Also, some experimenting with reggae and other musical genres were sneaking into the songs. I think 1978 was the beginning of transition from rock to a broader musical experience which led to eventually over time a more popular acceptance of hip-hop, alt-country, hard core punk, etc., which has led to the diffuse musical genres we all experience 45 years later in 2023. As a 15-year-old at the time I was in my element. I still listen to most if not all these albums to this day with Elvis Costello’s This Year’s Model and Van Halen practically getting spins monthly.

All videos are from the era and mostly shot from crowd or with minimal effects. No staged performances on a tv sound stage in the bunch. I will give more background on each song during the week. Enjoy!

Monday: Van Halen – Feel Your Love Tonight
Tuesday: Bruce Springsteen – The Promised Land
Wednesday: Talking Heads – Warning Sign
Thursday: Cars – You’re All I got Tonight
Friday: The Police – So Lonely
Saturday: Elvis Costello – Pump It Up
Sunday: Rolling Stones – Shattered

Also, I could have easily done this for another week. Here are a bunch more albums that came out in 1978 that you should check out.

The Jam – All the Mod Cons
Cheap Trick – Heaven Tonight
The Clash – Give 'em Enough Rope
Warren Zevon – Excitable Boy
Nick Lowe – Jesus of Cool
Kraftwerk – Man-Machine
Blondie – Parallel Lines
Devo – Are We Not Men
Big Star - Third