Dec. 30, 1977 review: Best albums of 1977

 

It isn’t often that we got a pivotal year in music, but this was one of them. Things would never be the same after 1977. 

Dec. 30, 1977

Year’s Best Records – Rock

          In rock, this was the year that the rules changed and the music became dangerous again. After seasons of increasing refinement and smug commercialism, the tide shifted. In came the New Wave.

          Commercially, the punk-rockers have made little impact. But artistically, they’ve left their ripple. No longer do would-be superstars have to imitate Elton John, practice for 15 years or adopt a disco beat. Rock has returned to its foundations and rediscovered its essence – excitement. As the old favorites grow tired, the new ones will be building on the groundwork laid this year.

          The last 12 months have been a period of transition. On the surface, this has been the year of Rod Stewart (when he shows up), Andy Gibb, Rita Coolidge, the Eagles, Steve Miller, the Commodores and Natalie Cole. But while the top pop record charts continue to celebrate the mainstream, an undertow has developed.

          This reviewer’s contention has been that this year’s best music wasn’t making the airwaves or the charts. If the following list contains names that still seem strange, remember that it wasn’t so long ago that Steely Dan, Linda Ronstadt and Boz Scaggs seemed like strange names too.

          1. Fleetwood Mac, “Rumours.” There’s no contest. Nothing could touch it, for listenability or for the 8 million sales that gave it a record-breaking reign at the top of the charts.

          2. Elvis Costello, “My Aim Is True.” “There’s no such thing as an original sin,” observes this skinny, self-conscious kid from England as he clothes the naked intensity of the New Wave with a torrent of brilliant, double-edged lyrics.

          3. Kate & Anna McGarrigle, “Dancer with Bruised Knees.” Two sisters from Montreal twine their bilingual Sunday school harmonies around a highly whimsical, shrewdly personal testament to the pratfalls of dependence.

          4. Spryo Gyra, “Spyro Gyra.” The best record made in Buffalo this year isn’t likely to remain a hometown secret much longer. Here’s adult jazz-rock that doesn’t pander, doesn’t meander and doesn’t go stale after it’s been around the house for a while.

          5. Ramones, “Rocket to Russia.” For their first two albums, this seminal street foursome from Queens was all pinhead Dadaism, going for dumb fun like the opener here, “Cretin Hop.” But now they’ve expanded their focus to include the whole Mad magazine milieu of high school madness.

          6. Johnny (Guitar) Watson, “A Real Mother For Ya.” Steve Miller stole “The Gangster of Love” from this funkster 10 years ago, but you can’t keep a bad man down. He wrote, arranged and produced this populist piece of sassiness and delivered it with a wink. It became the first gold record of his 20-year career. Ain’t that a bitch.

          7. Blondie Chaplin, “Blondie Chaplin.” The best-kept secret in rock today is this South African singer who used to handle the high parts in “Wild Honey” when he was with the Beach Boys. … Chaplin’s the true heir to Brian Wilson’s old magic.

          8. Dave Edmunds, “Get It.” A veteran British revivalist who presaged the New Wave with this artful re-examination of the hit rock styles of the past, ranging from Creedence Clearwater Revival to Leroy Van Dyke.

          9. Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Street Survivors.” The highest-flying Southern Rock band until that plane crash in October, just after this album hit the racks. Its insistent rhythms and its brooding recognition of the horrors of the road ring even more chilling in death than they did in life.

          10. Talking Heads, “Talking Heads ’77.” This arty quartet from New York City downsized rock the way Detroit shrank the automobile. … Like new cars next to the old ones, this album makes everything else seem obsolete.

 

          11. Joan Armatrading, “Show Some Emotion.”

          12. Randy Newman, “Little Criminals.”

          13. Cheap Trick, “In Color.”

          14. Aerosmith, “Draw the Line.”

          15. The Stranglers, “Rattus Norvegicus” and “No More Heroes.”

          16. Ashford & Simpson, “Send It.”

          17. Janis Ian, “Miracle Row.”

          18. Muddy Waters, “Hard Again.”

          19. Crystal Gayle, “We Must Believe in Magic.”

          20. Boz Scaggs, “Down Two, Then Left.”

          21. The Rubinoos, “The Rubinoos.”

          22. Martin Mull, “I’m Everyone I Ever Loved.”

          23. John Martyn, “So Far, So Good.”

          24. Marshall Chapman, “Me, I’m Feelin’ Free.”

          25. Al DiMeola, “Elegant Gypsy.”

          26. Phoebe Snow, “Never Letting Go.”

          27. Karla Bonoff, “Karla Bonoff.”

          28. Cathy Chamberlain, “Cathy Chamberlain’s Rag and Roll Revue.”

          29. Marshall Tucker Band, “Carolina Dreams.”

          30. Ben Sidran, “The Doctor Is In.”

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IN THE PHOTO: Elvis Costello after a 1977 radio performance in the Netherlands.

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FOOTNOTE: How good was my musical crystal ball in 1977? In retrospect, fewer clunkers than usual. Only disappointment is Blondie Chaplin, who didn’t release another album of his own until 2006, but who has been a sideman and session guest with all kinds of greats, from the Band to the Rolling Stones.