Top 10 Oricon Singles for 1979

1. Jiro Atsumi                   Yume Oi Zake
2. Judy Ongg                    Miserarete
3. Sachiko Kobayashi         Omoide Zake
4. Masashi Sada                Kanpaku Sengen
5. Masao Sen                   Kita Kuni no Haru
6. Godiego                       Gandhara
7. Hideki Saijo                  YMCA
8. Alice                           Champion
9. Mieko Makimura            Michizure
10. Pink Lady                  Chameleon Army

I was rather shocked to realize that in nearly 1 year of operating this blog, I hadn't recognized either the top singles or the albums of 1979, despite the fact that I've profiled half of the list here already. Well, I'm gonna take care of half of that at least right now.

For those enka fans, 1979 must bring back some wistful memories considering how strong the genre still was in the rankings (Atsumi, Kobayashi, Sen and Makimura) As I've mentioned in the profiles for Godiego, the band had a banner year since no less than 5 of their tunes made it into the Top 100 of Oricon, and of course, for kayo kyoku fans, who can forget the epic "Miserarete" by Judy Ongg? Fling those wings, I say! And although, Pink Lady wasn't quite the steamrolling force they were in previous years, it still managed to get one hit into the Top 10....although I can't quite recollect how "Chameleon Army" quite goes.