August 25, 1979 (Saturday)

From running log:
No entry, day off. However, on this date in 1979 the song "My Sharona" by The Knack hit #1 on the Billboard charts. It was the first time in over a year that a song hit #1 that was neither a disco song nor a sappy love ballad. Of course, that does not diminish the fact that both the song and the group were awful. It was only a few months later that The Clash ridiculed The Knack with the lyric "phony Beatle-mania has bitten the dust" in their fantastic tune "London Calling".

30 years later:
I was just plain tired after the first week of cross country practice, with the significant increase in mileage and intensity, so I needed a day off.

I remember the "Disco Sucks" wars of the late 70s, culminating in the infamous Disco Demolition night at Comiskey Park in Chicago in July 1979. In those days, I was firmly in the Disco Sucks camp (even though I had happily danced away to the Bee Gees and other empty dance bands at "Devi-Disco" only a couple years earlier. Ah, the folly of youth). Perhaps influenced by teammate Todd Crary, I had recently stacked my record collection with Led Zeppelin , Ted Nugent, and Def Leppard vinyl and memorized most of the songs, imitating Robert Plant's raspy wail as best I could. I'm sure my parents and sisters were rolling their eyes from other rooms in the house. These days my tastes are much broader, although I can't say I'm inclined to listen much to anything that is misogynistic or racist, or advocating violence, or twangy-sounding-good-old-boy-red-neck country music. But I've got just about everything else on my eclectic playlist.