Looks like you've beaten me to the punch there Mike. And you've almost stolen the very words from my mouth where 1979 is concerned. This was indeed the pivotal year in my lifelong love of music. For me this year meant so much because at the age of 16 and actually living through this transitional period in music my hunger for the new was insatiable.

I'm sure that many of you, and some already have, could make a case for a year in the 60s but I'd find it difficult to pick a year where the music, the radio play, the live scene all pre-dated my enjoyment of the records. As much as I adore the Zombies "Odyssey and Oracle" there's no personal connection with any of the tracks on the record. I'll never remember where I was or how I felt when I first heard "This Could be Our Year". I distinctly remember how I felt upon first hearing "Making Plans for Nigel" and understanding that my parents would never ever get this song.

To add to Mike's already very complete list:

Squeeze - Cool for Cats
Joe Jackson - Look Sharp
The Police - Regatta de Blanc
Blondie - Parallel Lines
The Cars - Candy-O (not as great as their debut but pretty great, the sort of reverse Strokes)
Buzzcocks - A Different Kind of Tension (the band along with the Jam that, more than the Sex Pistols, defined the late 70's UK music scene)
Cheap Trick - Dream Police
B52s - B52s
Stranglers - The Raven
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
Gary Numan - Pleasure Principle
Pretenders - the album came out in 1980 but Stop Your Sobbing and Brass in Pocket were both singles in 1979
Flash and the Pan - Flash and the Pan