Dickie Goodman: Energy Crisis ’79

This is my entry for Kevin’s No Theme Thursday.

I am just old enough to remember the 1979 oil crisis and the social, political, and global impacts it caused. I am not a historian, but I have always been interested in how specific events can influence the lives of people for decades. In many ways, the 1979 oil crisis (and it’s sibling the 1973 oil crisis) had an influence on the election of Ronald Reagan as U.S. president, the on-going conflict in the Middle East, the continuation of the Cold War in the 1980s, and other geo-political conflicts that are still unresolved today. My memory of that period in my life is mostly having fun in my youth – playing baseball, collecting comic books, listening to Kiss albums, eating steamed Maryland blue shell crabs smothered in Old Bay, and simply being a kid. However, as an adult, I can look back and remember the darker memories of those years – the long gas lines and my parents’ daily fear of being able to get anywhere during the oil crisis (data now shows that Americans wasted something like 20% of their fuel while waiting in line to buy more gas), the threat of nuclear disaster at 3-Mile Island, the Iranian Hostage Crisis, and the ever-present possibility of nuclear war with Russia. All generations experience similar fears of all kinds of local and global issues, and there isn’t any moral to my recollection of this memory. This is simply what came immediately to mind when I saw this image that looks like a gas station in the 1970s, with the orange design and old glass globe above the gas tank. Most likely, the current state of the world led me to think a little more darkly than I normally would, especially with the oncoming egg shortage and H5N1 pandemic that the mainstream world has been unfortunately ignoring. The upcoming 2025 Egg Crisis (yes, I just coined this historical term) came immediately to mind as soon as this image made me think of 1979.

But, this is a music blog, so I’ve selected a song that is a little bit lighter in theme. Dickie Goodman was a deejay who found popularity in the early days of the pop charts by taking current events and creating fake interviews using song clips as the response to his questions. His most popular singles were “The Flying Saucer” (hit #3 in 1956 during the first UFO craze) and “Mr. Jaws” (hit #4 in 1975 after Spielberg’s movie ruled the cinemas that year). He also had a hit with “Energy Crisis ’74”, but his 1979 single “Energy Crisis ’79” did not chart. Even so, the fun in listening to a Dickie Goodman single is in the nostalgia of the songs he uses and the remembrance of the hits of that year. “Energy Crisis ’79” is no exception, and includes clips from the following songs to create an interview with President Jimmy Carter, the first Secretary of Energy James Schlesinger, and even Middle East leaders Begin and Sadat.

1. Donna Summer – “Hot Stuff”
2. Supertramp – “The Logical Song”
3. The Doobie Brothers – “Minute by Minute”
4. Bee Gees – “Love You Inside Out”
5. Kenny Rogers – “She Believes In Me” (this snip is especially clever in the context of the song)
6. John Stewart – “Gold”
7. G.Q. – “Disco Nights (Rock Freak)”
8. Peaches and Herb – “Reunited”
9. Bad Company – “Rock and Roll Fantasy”
10. Sister Sledge – “We Are Family”
11. Cheap Trick – “I Want You To Want Me”

To learn more about the 1979 Oil Crisis, check out the Wikipedia article.

To listen to more songs of the day, check out the Radio Faux Show Song of the Day playlist.

• Song of the Day (2025)