An interesting year 1977. One thing that stood out to me when putting this together is how long so many songs are. I also feel like if there were a graph we'd see some sort of change about to happen here going into 1978. Anyhow here are my 20 songs.
20. (Love Is) Thicker than Water by Andy Gibb
I always liked Andy Gibb. Listening to this song in 2024 I realized it has aged very well.
19. Feel So Good by Chuck Mangione
Maybe nothing says 1977 more than this song, well if it weren't for Saturday Night Fever.
18. Alison by Elvis Costello
Costello is someone I discovered in college and really more as an influence on the people I really liked than from his own music.
17. Heroes by David Bowie
This is 1977, but honestly this song could have been on soundtrack of any John Hughes teen movie and everyone would have thought it was a new release. Such an influential song.
16. I Feel Love by Donna Summer
It's funny in putting together this list I could never skip past this song. It gets me every time.
15. Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffett
Such a classic.
14. Strawberry Letter 23 by The Brothers Johnson
These guys didn't do a lot, but for a couple of songs they really knocked it out of the park.
13. Dreams by Fleetwood Mac
You knew the album had to be represented on this list. What song would you have picked?
12. Psycho Killer by Talking Heads
I'm not a Talking Heads fan, but this song is great.
11. The Closer I Get to You by Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway
Such a beautiful song. I wish music like this would make some sort of a comeback on the R&B side.
10. Mr. Blue Sky by ELO
Always liked this song. Always puts a smile on my face.
9. Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel
It seems like this did make it on a number of 80's teen movies. :)
8. Waiting in Vain by Bob Marley & the Wailers
I really like this song.
7. Stayin' Alive by Bee Gees
This really does define 1977, at least when it comes to what was happening in pop culture.
6. Dream of the Archer by Heart
Meanwhile Heart was putting out their best album. This song makes me think of sitting around the house as a kid playing board games and messing around with D&D.
5. Anarchy in the UK by Sex Pistols
Let punk begin. This is a great song, just great.
4. Just Remember I Love You by Firefall
This is an all time love song for me. It's so pretty and I really like the lyrics.
3. Dust in the Wind by Kansas
This song has aged extremely well. Sounds just as good today as it did in 1977.
2. Barracuda by Heart
It's funny but going through this 1977 music I realized just how different Heart was with anything else that was going on at the time. At least that was popular.
1. Here You Come Again by Dolly Parton
This is an all timer for me. By far the best song Dolly Parton ever did. I really like the album version. It has a sense of sadness about the whole thing that I really like. That gets lost on the live versions.
I am surprised to learn you're an Andy Gibb fan.
ReplyDeleteHe was good
DeleteAndy Gibb is an enormous force in 1977 and 1978. I think the life and death of Andy Gibb should be a much bigger deal than it is.
DeleteI loved "Feels So Good," and I still love it. This Chuck Mangione record was among the first albums I acquired via one of those music clubs.
ReplyDeleteYour Rumours choice is a good one. Mine would've been "You Make Loving Fun," which is probably my all-time favorite of Fleetwood Mac's.
ReplyDeleteI would have picked "Go Your Own Way."
DeleteAfter all these years of loving it, I honestly started a letter to Peter Gabriel just six months ago, to thank him for writing "Solsbury Hill." It was a tremendous salve this past winter and spring in thinking about our daughter's decision to fly the coop early. Still is, in fact.
ReplyDeleteI really like the new thing where people say something "is a vibe," especially when something is very meaningful to different people in different ways. So, for example, we are having a rainy morning in Madisonville, and a rainy morning can be melancholy for one person and renewing for another. So, rainy mornings are a vibe. I really like it that people came up with a new way of expressing that odd solidarity.
ReplyDelete"Waiting in Vain" is a vibe.
Agree
DeleteHere's the closed caption that YouTube generates at the start of "Dust in the Wind:"
ReplyDelete(wistful acoustic guitar music)
Very fun countdown. Thanks for putting it together. For what it's worth, here are some others from 1977 I've enjoyed in 2024:
ReplyDeleteRolling with the Flow, Charlie Rich
If It Ain’t Love By Now, Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelius
It’s All in the Game, Tom T. Hall
Nights on Broadway, Candi Staton
Echoes of Love, Doobie Brothers
Yes Jesus Loves Me, Sonny Stitt
Woncha Come On Home, Joan Armatrading
Joy to Have Your Love, Patti Labelle
Sparkle, Aretha Franklin
Teach Me to Run, Air Supply
We Just Disagree, Dave Mason
Saturday Night in the City of the Dead, Ultravox
Swingtown, Steve Miller Band
Your Love Has Lifted Me Higher and Higher, Rita Coolidge
I Believe in Love, Kenny Loggins
If It Wasn’t for the Wabash River, Johnny Cash
For You, Greg Kihn Band
Hello Stranger, Yvonne Elliman
Smoke, Tubes
In the City, Jam
The Eternal Kansas City, Van Morrison
If We’re Not Back in Love By Monday, Merle Haggard
Some Broken Hearts Never Mend, Don Williams
Earth Song, Chaka Khan and Rufus
Loving You, Phyllis Hyman
Daytime Friends and Nighttime Lovers, Kenny Rogers
Reach, Orleans
Trade Winds, Lou Rawls
I’ll Go Where the Music Takes Me, Jimmy James
Lonely Boy, Andrew Gold
Harvest for the World, Isley Brothers
The Killing of Georgie (Part I & II), Rod Stewart
If You Want Me, Billie Jo Spears
High School Dance, Sylvers
Good Friends, Livingston Taylor
Just in Time, Linda Lavin and Mike Douglas live on the Mike Douglas Show 19770307
Oh, and "Sunflower," by Glen Campbell, which opens today 1977's episode of The Ralph Emery Show with Emmylou Harris.
DeleteGiven that it's the year Star Wars was released, 1977 has to be in the running for one of the best years in pop culture history.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, if you take all the teams in MLB, and you take their records as of today, and you put them back in the four divisions that existed in 1977 (allocating new teams to the appropriate division as needed), then the four teams with the best record in the 1977 divisions would be the following:
ReplyDeleteNL East: Philadelphia
NL West: Los Angeles
AL East: New York
AL West: Kansas City
In other words, if not for wild cards and other nonsense, we'd have the same divisional winners this year that we had in 1977.
I probably listen to "Alison" more often than I listen to any other song from 1977.
ReplyDelete