6/26/21
In hindsight, 1977 was the first year I really started getting into music. I had a paper route and disposable income which I used to join Columbia House, wherein a dozen LPs could be acquired for something like twenty-five cents, with a commitment to fulfill a “contract” by buying several more at regular price, all shipped directly to my house! I didn’t have a big imagination when it came to music, influenced entirely by what I was hearing on FM radio. I acquired albums by ELO, Styx, Foreigner, Bob Seger and Bad Company. But in particularly I was enamored with Rumors (still am) and the beach-bum vibe of Changes in Latitudes. More than anything, however, the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever stands out, although soundtracks aren’t eligible for these end-of-year lists; if they were, SNF would share the top of the list with Mac. I was a sensitive and emotional kid. Or better still, as I know it now, a closet case. The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack felt very comfortable (which makes perfect sense now) and ushered in the brief, yet delightful, era of disco, which I devoured with gusto.
I wish I had been cool enough in 1977 to be listening to many of the albums on this list. Three in particular – by Bob Marley, Iggy Pop and the Sex Pistols – were completely foreign to me at the time. I now see how barrier breaking they were. But at the time they were out of my comfort zone and probably would have been frowned upon at home by my parents. At the end of the day I was a priviledged white kid in a conservative house who didn’t know any better. Thank god we all grow up, eventually.
1. Fleetwood Mac, Rumors
2. Bob Marley & The Wailers, Exodus
3. Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols
4. Brian Eno, Before And After Science
5. Bad Company, Burning Sky
6. Electric Light Orchestra, Out Of The Blue
7. Iggy Pop, The Idiot
8. Jimmy Buffett, Changes in Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes
9. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Street Survivors
10. Kraftwerk, Trans-Europe Express
HONORABLE MENTION: David Bowie, Heroes; Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True; Styx, Grand Illusion; Television, Marquee Moon; David Bowie, Low; Billy Joel, The Stranger; The Clash, The Clash; Foreigner, Foreigner; Iggy Pop, Lust For Life; Pink Floyd, Animals; Ramones, Rocket to Russia; Eric Clapton, Slowhand