One of my favorite pre-79 songs is "What Am I Living For?" by Chuck Willis, from 1958.
I had never heard of this song (or Chuck Willis) before, until I accidentally came across it while going through my father's 50's Rock n' Roll collection a few years ago (that's probably because Chuck Willis died at such a young age - he was only 30). As soon as I heard the song, I thought "this is one of the best 50's songs ever!!!".
[video=youtube;L2znRVg599g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2znRVg599g[/video]