June 30, 2010

1977 A Pivotal Year for Music

While at lunch with Massimo Farina today, I remarked that 1977 was a brilliant year for music. Not because of one thing, but because of the explosion of different styles that could be heard that year. It really was remarkable.

Here’s a sampling of some of the classic records and events from 1977 (with, much, much more in Wikipedia on this year in music.)

MAINSTREAM CLASSICS

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Bob Marley - Exodus

Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive!

Queen - News of the World

The Eagles - Hotel California

Jimmy Buffett - Margaritaville

Billy Joel - The Stranger

Jackson Browne - Running on Empty

Eric Clapton - Slow Hand

Supertramp - Even in the Quietest Moments

Steely Dan - Aja

Meatloaf - Bat Out of Hell

Ted Nugent - Cat Scratch Fever

Foreigner - Foreigner

Styx - The Grand Illusion

Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack

Donna Summer - I Feel Love

EVENTS

The Supremes officially disband

Elvis dies

Marc Bolan of T.Rex dies

Keith Richards arrested in Toronto for heroin possession

Lynard Skynyrd plane crash killing 3 band members

Studio 54 opens in New York

FIRST ALBUMS

Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bullocks

The Clash - The Clash

The Boomtown Rats - The Boomtown Rats (I Don’t Like Mondays)

Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (first solo)

Talking Heads - Talking Heads: 77 (Psycho Killer)

The Stranglers - Rattus Norvegicus (Peaches, (Get a) Grip (On Yourself)

The Damned - Damned, Damnd, Damned (Neat, Neat, Neat)

Elvis Costello - My Aim is True (Alison, My Aim is True)

The Jam - In the City (In the City)

X-Ray Specs - Oh Bondage, Up Yours!

Richard Hell and the Voivods - Blank Generation

Motörhead - Motörhead

The Tubes - The Tubes (White Punks on Dope)

PIVOTAL RECORDS

David Bowie - Heroes

Iggy Pop - Lust for Life

Television - Marquee Moon

Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express

Ramones - Leave Home & Rocket to Russia

Blondie - Plastic Letters

BANDS FORMED

B52’s

INXS

Stiff Little Fingers  (Don’t know them? Green Day should pay them royalties?)

Human League

Gary Numan’s Tubeway Army

Bad Brains

Black Flag

999

Plasmatics

X

1978 had a tough act to follow.

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