When I first was trying to figure out how I would sum this up, I said “probably the most ambitious documentary project ever.” I should have said “in English” as this idea was actually not invented by this series. Rather, the Germans beat the British to it by a few years. Due to typical Anglo …
Category: 1977
A Book of Common Prayer (1977) by Joan Didion
I’m in marketing. But I cannot for the life of me understand the cover of my copy of this novel, “published in Canada.” (Actually distributed by PaperJacks and published in New York. Anyway…) The cover tells me it’s “A story of passion” and there is an elegant woman’s hand in soft focus, holding a lighter. …
Capricorn One (1977, Peter Hyams)
I went through a really serious conspiracy movie phase – specifically a ’70s American movie phase – when I was in my early 20s and that’s probably why this movie was on my list. But in the ensuing years I not only stopped drinking the conspiracy theory koolaid personally, but I have also begun to …
Aerie Faerie Nonsense (1977) by The Enid
Someone forgot to tell these guys they’re supposed to be a rock band.
Two Sevens Clash (1977) by Culture
Though I find myself with some vestige of my childhood superstitions – I still knock on wood, unfortunately – I have fought my whole adult life to rid myself and my life of superstitions as much as possible. So I found the Mayan apocalypse stuff to be utterly ridiculous and I find every single fringe …
Police and Thieves (1977) by Junior Murvin
The thing I like more about Junior Murvin’s debut album, Police and Thieves, compared to some other Lee Perry-produced reggae albums from this period (1977 in particular) is that Murvin is more of a songwriter than some of his contemporaries. The songs are more memorable to me, not just because of the hooks – as …
Herat of the Congos (1977)
On account of my podcast, I am finding myself immersed in 1977 reggae right now more than I could ever have imagined. And so I’m learning more about reggae than I have wanted to for some time. (I imagined myself becoming a reggae/dub fan in my early ’20s – what white male young adult doesn’t? …
Equal Rights (1977) by Peter Tosh
Here’s my hot take: Peter Tosh is a way better lyricist than his former band-mate, and much more famous person, Bob Marley. I’ll make a possibly more preposterous claim, based on my ignorance of reggae in general: Tosh is one of the best lyricists in the history of reggae and, to my ears, the only …
Cluster and Eno (1977)
This record definitely finds Eno and Cluster at a sort of middle ground, the kind of middle ground you might imagine if you had heard Cluster’s records and heard Discreet Music, or Eno’s other more electronic stuff. Coming back to this after you’ve heard any of the Ambient series, the music is notable for being …
Suicide (1977)
It’s hard to review something when you’ve read too much about it but what you read did not in any way prepare you for what it is. That is the case for me with Suicide’s debut album, which is more minimalist than I ever imagined, as well as featuring much more of a clash between …
ABBA: The Album (1977)
As a young, male, red-blooded rock music fan I absolutely hated ABBA when I was younger. I may have not know what they sounded like outside of their biggest hits, but I knew I hated them, because their songs were so damn catchy, girls like them, and didn’t they win Eurovision?
The Belle Album (1977) by Al Green
Though not an Al Green fan, I have been spending a little bit of time with him over the past few years on account of my podcast. At this point, it’s enough to almost think of myself of an Al Green aficionado, if not an actual fan. (Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great singer, …
The Second Annual Report (1977) by Throbbing Gristle
What do we do with this, the official debut of one of the most important industrial bands ever?
Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome (1977) by Parliament
So i didn’t love Clones of Doctor Funkenstein at all. In the interim, I don’t know if I’ve changed (I think I am more accepting of the general zaniness of P-Funk now than I was) or maybe this is just a lot better.
Slowhand (1977) by Eric Clapton
At some point during Clapton’s recovery from heroin addiction, his style of music changed rather drastically. He still played the blues but a lot of the fire and rawness of that playing was gone. His solo records from the ’70s (excepting the first one) all have a similar pop blues style, even if the individual …
All n All (1977) by Earth Wind and Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire are yet another one of those bands I have preconceived notions about, due to over-exposure to a couple of hits songs. Let this be the nth reminder to never judge a book by its cover.
Saturday Night Fever Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1977)
I don’t like disco so you can imagine that when I found out this was a double album I was… unhappy.
Rocket to Russia (1977) Ramones
What do you do with a band like the Ramones if your a music fan who sees artistic evolution as an essential part of greatness? I have thought about this for years and still never figured it out.
Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols (1977)
This record should have come out a lot earlier. “Anarchy in the UK” was released 11 months prior to this record. A lot had changed in a year.
Street Survivors (1977) by Lynyrd Skynyrd
This album is perhaps most famous for its unfortunate album cover, showing the band (nearly) engulfed in flames. Three days after this album was released, 2/7ths of Lynyrd Skynyrd and four other people were killed in a plane crash, including one of their backing vocalists. The album then became their most successful, as is often …
Like a Mother Fucker (1977) by Heartbreakers
Aka L.A.M.F. and these Heartbreakers are not to be confused by Tom Petty’s band of the same name. Recorded in the UK, this record still sounds extremely “New York.” In fact, the central feature of this record and the thing that I struggle with while listening to it is its huge resemblance to the New …
AJA (2012) by The Darcys
All art and all pop culture has sacred cows, things that many (or even most) people think should be left alone because they were “perfect” (usually because they have a particular emotional pull to these people, not because they’re “perfect”).
The Stranger (1977) by Billy Joel
I have avoided Billy Joel albums my entire life. I wasn’t sure why until I listened to this record.
No More Heroes (1977) by The Stranglers
I used to think there was only one true British New Wave band: The Police. (Well, and Elvis Costello. But Costello is labeled New Wave primarily due to laziness; too punk to be Pub Rock and too classicist to be Punk, people didn’t know what else to call him.) The Police were the only band …
Aja (1977) by Steely Dan
This is my second Steely Dan album and, once again, I find I have the same problem with the band: these guys don’t like the same things I like, beyond stellar musicianship.
Pacific Ocean Blue (1977) by Dennis Wilson
Full disclosure: I did not want to listen to this. I don’t love The Beach Boys and have generally been annoyed by the Brian Wilson-worship that has bubbled to the surface over the last few decades. Of all the likely listeners of this record, one would expect me to be among the least fair.
Love Gun (1977) by KISS
I absolutely hated Destroyer, KISS’s most famous and ostensibly best record, so I had really low expectations for this record. Maybe that’s why I don’t hate it, but I think there are other reasons.
I Robot (1977) by The Alan Parsons Project
When I was young and obsessed with prog rock, people used to make fun of me. They would learn I loved prog and they would be bemused or even a little shocked/outraged. And I was confused because I really liked the stuff. Eventually, I realized that those who made fun of my tastes were often …
The Idiot (1977) by Iggy Pop
Recorded before Low but released afterwards, The Idiot feels in many ways like the missing link between “The Berlin Trilogy” and Station to Station. Though it’s Iggy’s solo debut, it is the least Iggy Pop album he recorded, as far as I know. I do think the criticism that Bowie hijacked Iggy for his own …
Káťa Kabanová; Cappriccio; Concertino (1977, 2006) by Leos Janacek, performed by Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Charles Mackerras featuring Elisabeth Söderström, Peter Dvorský, Naděžda Kniplová
This set pairs a Janacek opera with two of his chamber music pieces. It’s an odd pairing, but in the era of the CD it was a regular thing when an opera failed to fill out two discs.