THE BEST ALBUMS OF 1977
This is a really fun topic. So, let’s continue now with another year in pop music.
Based on all the positive feedback to yesterday’s inaugural “Best Albums” list, I’ll expand this fun writing project and retrospective — alternating daily between each year backwards and forwards from 50 years ago.
Your comments, additions, subtractions, criticisms, tips, and insults are all welcome. By no means is my list perfect, but it’s better than most. See LINK at end of this article
See if you agree. Here’s my countdown of the “Best Twenty” albums of 1977:
20. Foreigner ….. Foreigner
19. Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes ….. Jimmy Buffet
18. Feels So Good ….. Chuck Mangione
17. In Your Mind ….. Bryan Ferry
16. Heavy Weather ….. Weather Report
15. Slowhand .…. Eric Clapton
14. Street Survivors ….. Lynyrd Skynyrd
13. News of the World ….. Queen
12. The Clash ….. The Clash
11. Out of the Blue ….. Electric Light Orchestra
10. Barry Manilow Live ….. Barry Manilow
9. Aja .…. Steely Dan
8. Exodus ….. Bob Marley and the Wailers
7. Commodores ….. Commodores
6. Simple Dreams ….. Linda Ronstadt
5. Animals ….. Pink Floyd
4. Talking Heads: 77 ….. Talking Heads
3. The Stranger ….. Billy Joel
2. Rumours ….. Fleetwood Mac
1. Saturday Night Fever (Soundtrack) ….. Bee Gees
Notable Omissions: “Bat Out of Hell” was a massive commercial success, but I never understood Meatloaf’s pop appeal as a very one-dimensional act……David Bowie was coming off serious drug issues that year and his career was sliding just as “Low” was released which divided fans and critics as a sort of sobriety project…..Neil Young released two fine country/folk-themed albums that same year, but he split the best material in half…..Kiss’ “Love Gun” probably belongs in the top-20 and it will piss some people off that I axed it….Streisand would have been on this list, but “A Star is Born” and “Superman” album projects crowd each other and watered down one otherwise superior album…..Any of disco diva Donna’s Summer’s albums from this era are lock contenders, but she just missed with this one (I listened for the first time all the way through while writing most of this)…..it pained me to leave master of sound Brian Eno’s last real rock album off this list…..it’s criminal to omit Peter Gabriel’s debut solo effort, but somehow I did…..Barry White’s double-album came close but his best stuff was just a few years prior…..Jackson Browne belongs here commercially speaking, but I could never stand Jackson Browne so pffft–he’s toast (I’m running on empty here)…..and yes I should be run out of town for omitting Elvis Costello’s debut collection (we’ll get more of Elvis later on in the series)….”Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols” was omitted and I expect to get physical threats next time I go out in public. Sorry, musical anarchy is *not* art.
My Liner Notes: Foreigner’s debut album consisting of solid/steady rock throughout easily belongs in this top-20…..Jimmy Buffet’s best work here is pure unapologetic escapism but sometimes we need that and besides this album included “Margaritaville” (enough said!)…..”Feels So Good” was playing everywhere you went anywhere in America that year–what a great mainstream jazz album!….former Roxy frontman Bryan Ferry’s vocals with all original material stands as one of the year’s most underrated albums and it’s a tough call to say this better than other albums I left off, but I say this is stronger overall material and I’ve always had a spot for Roxy Music…..Weather Report has to be someplace on one of these yearly best-lists as such a massive jazz best-seller, so I’ll go with this since it’s their most successful album…..Clapton put out several blues-inspired guitar classics in the riff-heavy ’70s and this is arguably his best collection….I wasn’t a fan of the Southern rock sound, but Lynyrd Skynyrd’s album released three-days before the plane crash (killing three band members) was already destined for greatness and the tragedy made this album into a musical memorial….Queen’s album produced two monster hits that have since become sports anthems sung and chanted worldwide — “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions.” so it’s hard to argue with the lasting legacy this album left behind…..The Clash isn’t my favorite, but it must be in here given its massive influence and consensus praise from critics…..ELO seemed to put out a masterful record successfully both commercially and with critics every year and 1977 was no different–this double album sold ten million copies…..Barry Manilow may be a Las Vegas crooner now but he was an extraordinarily-talented songwriter/pianist/performer and this collection of live music from the first half of his career (his first #1 album) stands a a testament to his talent and showmanship***when making these lists it’s easy to diss Manilow, but given what he does, when it comes to putting it on an album it’s hard to top this in that genre…..Steely Dan is another group I’m not a fan of, but this album just has to be here (maybe higher)–sometimes I can admit to not liking a sound but it can still be a great album….Bob Marley’s most commercially-successful album wasn’t just a fine musical contribution, it was a breakthrough of a new sound that influenced countless other musicians……Commodores were a monster success and any album that includes such diverse classics as soft-listening “Easy” and funky “Brick House” is an automatic inclusion…..”Simple Dreams” was Linda Ronstadt’s best-selling album of her career and contains multiple classic hits–an easy choice here…..Any Pink Floyd album from the 70s is an automatic top-20, though this is not as strong as the albums (two prior and on afterward) that bookended it…..Talking Heads debut album–enough said (and their stuff would only get better over the next decade though the high-energy of this album is unmatched)…Billy Joel’s “The Stranger” contains five smash hit songs and came after a commercially disappointing album where Columbia almost dropped him–this is a personal and professional triumph (arguably could be #1 if it weren’t for the Bee Gees)…..this is heresy, but I’m not a Fleetwood Mac fan at all–still, this album was a force throughout the late 70s and its impossible to deny its influence….finally, nothing topped the Bee Gees that year, and so far as worldwide popularity and influence musically, culturally, on fashion and coolness, “Saturday Night Fever” was it—and yes, the music matched the hype and sounds even cooler now than 49 years ago {check out the opening 3 minutes of music of the movie; my favorite short scene is Travolta putting $5 bucks down on the blue shirt on the “layaway plan.” So Brooklyn working-class perfect, as if Martin Scorsese would have directed MTV videos)
Special Prize for Worst Album: “Come In from the Rain” by Captain & Tennille spent 15 weeks on the charts as the follow up the the baffling hit single, “Muskrat Love.”
Note: I hope you are having as much fun reading and commenting as I am listening and writing these!
LINK TO SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER OPENING: see blow…..
