The 80s were Born in 1979

What a year 1979 was for music releases.

The sounds of new wave and post-punk music had developing by leaps and bounds throughout the 1970s.  Synthesizers went from bulky stationary objects to around the size we see today.  Their cost and availability dropped dramatically moving more artists to experiment with their artificial sound.  The complexity of progressive rock inevitably gave way to the polar opposite in punk rock which lead to the develop of post-punk.

Bowie had been experimenting electronic equipment with Station to Station and especially Low in the mid-70's.  Low often quoted as having heavily influenced Joy Division, Gary Numan and more.  Along with the work of Kraftwerk ranging from their kraut-rock to more pop sensible albums like Autobahn, Radio-Activity and Trans-Europe Express.  Artists and record labels, it would seem, started to take notice of a new sound rising.

All of these developments lead us to the year 1979 and the birth of the music of the 1980's.  Many artists would release some of their first or best work in 1979.  And much of the music would pave the way for the "sound of the 80's".  Below is a brief list influential releases from 1979 (in no particular order):

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (debut album)
Talking Heads - Fear of Music 
Michael Jackson - Off the Wall (first platinum solo record)
Gary Numan - Replicas and the Pleasure Principle (first release to rely heavily on synthesizers)
The Human League - Reproduction (debut album)
The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys and Boy's Don't Cry-single (debut album)
Gang of Four - Entertainment (debut album)
Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead (debut single)
Public Image Limited - Metal Box
Kraftwerk - Man Machine
The Fall - Dragnet (debut studio album)
B-52's - s/t (debut album)
Blondie - Eat to the Beat
Cabaret Voltaire - Mix-Up (debut album)
Oingo Boingo - Demo EP (first release)
XTC - Drums and Wires 
Japan - Quiet Life
Sparks - No. 1 in Heaven - (produced by Giorgio Moroder during his success with Donna Summer)
Simple Minds - Life in a Day (debut album)
Devo - Duty Now for the Future
Wire - 154
Simple Minds - Life in Day
Squeeze - Cool for Cats (more chart hitting singles than any other Squeeze album)