For Flashback Friday. Here is a flashback to 40 years ago...1980. Every March or April the Readers' Poll issue of CREEM magazine would arrive. With all of the revisionist history out there (punk rock killed Led Zeppelin's popularity, etc.) it is sometimes instructive to go back in time to contemporaneous accounts to see what the kids were really thinking back then. If I had a dollar for every old geezer who tells me they were really into Joy Division back in 1980 I would be a millionaire, haha. For space reasons I will only include the top 3 results for each category. Here now are the 1979 Readers' Poll Results as published in the March 1980 issue of CREEM. WAX TOP ALBUM OF 1979 1. In Through the Out Door - Led Zeppelin 2. Candy-O - The Cars 3. Dream Police - Cheap Trick TOP SINGLE OF 1979 1. My Sharona - The Knack 2. Let's Go - The Cars 3. Cruel to be Kind - Nick Lowe BEST R & B SINGLE OF 1979 1. Bad Girls - Donna Summer 2. You Gotta Serve Somebody - Bob Dylan 3. Sail On - Commodores BEST R & B ALBUM OF 1979 1. Bad Girls - Donna Summer 2. The Jukes - Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes 3. I Am - Earth, Wind & Fire BEST JAZZ ALBUM OF 1979 1. A Taste for Passion - Jean-Luc Ponty 2. Chicago XIII - Chicago 3. Mingus - Joni Mitchell BEST REISSUE OF 1979 1. Quadrophenia - The Who 2. The Kids Are Alright - The Who 3. The Clash - The Clash BEST NEW WAVE SINGLE OF 1979 1. Dreaming - Blondie 2. Rock Lobster - B-52's 3. I Don't Like Mondays - Boomtown Rats BEST NEW WAVE ALBUM OF 1979 1. Eat to the Beat - Blondie 2. The Clash - The Clash 3. Fear of Music - Talking Heads HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "If the Beatles get back together, I'll throw up." - Lori A. Nielsen Sterling Heights, MI FLESH AND BLOOD TOP THREE GROUPS 1. Led Zeppelin 2. Cheap Trick 3. Rolling Stones TOP THREE LIVE GROUPS 1. Cheap Trick 2. The Who 3. Led Zeppelin BEST MALE SINGER 1. Robert Plant 2. Robin Zander 3. Roger Daltry BEST FEMALE SINGER 1. Debbie Harry 2. Ann Wilson 3. Stevie Nicks BEST NEW WAVE SINGER 1. Debbie Harry 2. Elvis Costello 3. Joe Jackson BEST NEW WAVE BAND/PERFORMER 1. The Clash 2. Blondie 3. The Ramones BEST NEW GROUP 1. The Knack 2. B-52's 3. The Records HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "I won't have to. I've just discovered the concept of negative time." - Stephen Demm, Baltimore, MD BEST R & B GROUP 1. Rolling Stones 2. Earth, Wind & Fire 3. The Commodores BEST R & B SINGER 1. Mick Jagger 2. Donna Summer 3. Stevie Wonder BEST GUITARIST 1. Jimmy Page 2. Rick Nielsen 3. Mick Jones (The Clash) BEST BASSIST 1. John Entwistle 2. Tom Petersson 3. John Paul Jones BEST KEYBOARDIST 1. John Paul Jones 2. Rick Wakeman 3. Keith Emerson BEST DRUMMER 1. John Bonham 2. Bun E. Carlos 3. Neil Peart HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "Teeth clenched in the bathroom." - Joe Slate, Hollywood, CA BEST HORN PLAYER 1. Clarence Clemmons 2. Chuck Mangione 3. David Bowie BEST INSTRUMENTALIST 1. Ian Anderson 2. Brian Eno 3. Jean-Luc Ponty BEST SONGWRITER 1. Jimmy Page /Robert Plant 2. Rick Nielsen 3. Elvis Costello BEST PRODUCER 1. Jimmy Page 2. Nick Lowe 3. Roy Thomas Baker MOST VALUABLE PLAYER 1. Jimmy Page 2. Rick Nielsen 3. Pete Townshend HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "With my head up and my pants down." - Stan Rooks, Seat Pleasant, MD SUNDRY BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT 1. No Led Zeppelin tour 2. Led Zeppelin's "In Through the Out Door" 3. Sid Vicious' death RIPOFF OF THE YEAR 1. LP prices 2. Concert prices 3. Gas prices DRUG OF THE YEAR 1. Marijuana 2. Cocaine 3. Alcohol HERO/HEROINE OF THE YEAR 1. Rick Nielsen 2. Keith Richards 3. Robert Plant COMEBACK OF THE YEAR 1. Led Zeppelin 2. The Who 3. The Kinks HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "Armed and heavily sedated." - Edouard Dauphin, New York, NY WORST GROUP 1. Kiss 2. Bee Gees 3. The Knack MOST PATHETIC OF THE YEAR 1. Kiss 2. Disco 3. Bee Gees ALBUM COVER OF THE YEAR 1. "In Through the Out Door" - Led Zeppelin 2. "Dream Police" - Cheap Trick 3. "Candy-O" - The Cars ROCK CRITIC OF THE YEAR 1. Robert Christgau 2. Lester Bangs 3. Rick Johnson ROCK PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 1. Lynn Goldsmith 2. Neal Preston 3. Bob Gruen HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "Without a job." - James Meiklejohn, Swartz Creek, MI FASHION PLATE OF THE YEAR 1. Rick Nielsen 2. Debbie Harry 3. Mick Jagger SEX OBJECT OF THE YEAR 1. Debbie Harry 2. Robin Zander 3. Loni Anderson FAD OF THE YEAR 1. Roller Disco 2. Disco 3. Drugs ROCK JOCK OF THE YEAR 1. Rod Stewart 2. Robert Plant 3. Roger Daltry HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "With whiter teeth, fresher breath, and the Ramones." - Gretchen Meyer, NYC BEST ROCK 'N' ROLL MOVIE 1. The Kids Are Alright 2. Rock 'n' Roll High School 3. Life of Brian TV SHOW OF THE YEAR 1. Saturday Night Live 2. WKRP in Cincinnati 3. Mork & Mindy COUPLE OF THE YEAR 1. Stiv Bators & Bebe Buell 2. Cher & Gene Simmons 3. Rod & Alana Stewart PUNK OF THE YEAR 1. Iggy Pop 2. Sid Vicious 3. Elvis Costello HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "Oh shit." - Connie Bennett, San Diego, CA BEST OF THE 70's BEST ALBUM OF THE 70's 1. Led Zeppelin IV 2. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen 3. Alive - Kiss 4. Some Girls - Rolling Stones 5. Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols - Sex Pistols * 14. The Song Remains the Same - Led Zeppelin BEST SONG OF THE 70's 1. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin 2. Rock 'n' Roll All Night - Kiss 3. Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd 4. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen 5. Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who * 13. Kashmir - Led Zeppelin BEST GROUP OF THE 70's 1. Led Zeppelin 2. Rolling Stones 3. Kiss 4. The Who 5. Sex Pistols BEST THING OF THE 70's 1. Punk/New Wave 2. Rock 'n' roll 3. Drugs 4. Sex 5. Heavy Metal

Beautiful number, with a whole pallete of different renditions. One of my favourite ones is the first rough version on the LZIII deluxe version. It's just so damn raw. Who cares if it's sloppy, or an alternative take? My "hands down favourite version" is the BBC version from April 1971. It is tight (Bonzo and Jonesy in top form), Jimmy is not too flashy, but rather more presice and soulful in his playing, and last but not the least... Percy's on fire!!! Nuff said, I'd like to hear what y'all think?!