9 of the best – sounds of 1977

Something that I concocted over the weekend… a retrospective of 1977 in the form of my favourite sounds, in no particular order.

Sex Pistols – Holidays In The Sun

Television – Marquee Moon

David Bowie – A New Career In A New Town

David Bowie – Heroes

Fleetwood Mac – Dreams

Donna Summer ‎- I Feel Love

Grace Jones – La Vie En Rose

Bob Marley – Jamming

Idris Muhammad ‎– Could Heaven Ever Be Like This

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Honourable mentions also go to: Bill Conti for ‘Gonna Fly Now‘; Fela Kuti & The Africa ’70 for ‘Zombie‘; Loleatta Holloway (feat. The Salsoul Orchestra) for ‘Run Away‘; Marvin Gaye for ‘Got To Give It Up‘; Iggy Pop for ‘Lust For Life‘; Suicide for ‘Cheree‘; Barry White for ‘Playing Your Game, Baby‘; Neil Young for ‘Like A Hurricane‘; Peter Gabriel for ‘Solsbury Hill‘;  Parliament for ‘Flash Light‘; Fleetwood Mac for ‘You Make Loving Fun‘; Electric Light Orchestra for ‘Mr Blue Sky‘ and so many more (see 1977 – it was a great year).

Fontaines D.C. – Starburster (2024)

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Speaking of unexpected hip hop beats… post-punk outfit Fontaines D.C. are collaborating with James Ford (ex-Simian, ex-Last Shadow Puppets) on the production of upcoming album Romance. Taster single ‘Starburster’ is about frontman Grian Chatten’s experience of a panic attack while in St. Pancras station.

Wire – Three Girl Rhumba (1977)

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Punk at its best – Wire’s debut LP Pink Flag features some of my favourite songs of the genre, including ‘Mannequin’, ‘Ex Lion Tamer’ and ‘1 2 X U’. But with ‘Three Girl Rhumba’, they created a riff for the ages. Not a bad feat in just over 90 seconds. Elastica would use the riff for their Britpop calling card ‘Connection’.

The Clash – The Guns of Brixton (1979)

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Paul Simonon was asked to join The Clash because he was cool – and not because he was a musician. He also brought to the band his childhood growing up in London’s Brixton and Ladbroke Grove, which had become hubs for Caribbean culture. By the time of the band’s third album London Calling, his music was becoming more confident. Inspired by the 1972 Jamaican gangster flick The Harder They Come, ‘The Guns of Brixton’ appeared at the end of the LP’s A-side. This was Simonon’s work and his bassline was a thing to behold. Several years after the band split, it would reach a new audience when Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim) lifted it for Beats International’s hit single ‘Dub Be Good to Me’.

Superchunk – Everything At Once (2010)

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Hi all. I am not a big fan of Superchunk’s brand of power-pop-punk, but I like this track a lot. ‘Everything At Once’ features on the North Carolinians 2010 LP Majesty Shredding. Have a great week.

Siouxsie And The Banshees – Happy House (1980)

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Happy Halloween. In 1980, Siouxsie and the Banshees  recorded their first record with John McGeoch on guitar and Budgie on drums. Having already established himself an influential and idiosyncratic guitarist with the band Magazine, McGeoch does something magical with his instrument on ‘Happy House’. The song features on the band’s 1980 album Kaleidoscope.

The Creation – Making Time (1966)

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Probably a bit late for this post… British garage rock group The Creation are best known for their sublime freak beat ‘Making Time’. It will forever remind me of the Wes Anderson movie Rushmore (1998), his Texan high school setting and Jason Schwartzman’s Max Fischer. It was the band’s debut single in 1966 and they split two years later. Have a great week.

The Kinks – All Day And All Of The Night (1964)

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The follow-up single to The Kinks’ ‘You Really Got Me‘ was another power-chord classic. Arguably ‘All Day And All Of The Night’ is even better and this time, not only did it influence all, but it also set a template for some unashamed plagiarism. Obviously The Doors’ 1968 single ‘Hello, I Love You’ is no such case. There is a lot of noise from the band and press this year about 60 years of The Kinks and Ray Davies’s song-writing accolades. All retrospectives quickly reveal how difficult they were to pigeonhole: British R&B, power pop, garage rock, mod vaudeville, country and western… the list goes on.     

Parquet Courts – Walking At A Downtown Pace (2021)

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Good morning. Love this – Parquet Courts do Primal Scream. ‘Walking at a Downtown Pace’ features on the Brooklyn-based band’s 2021 album Sympathy For Life. Have a great week.

Siouxsie And The Banshees – Hong Kong Garden (1978)

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Not only is it probably the only song named after a Chinese takeaway in Chislehurst, but also Siouxsie and the Banshees’ debut single is probably their best. (I accept counter arguments for ‘Happy House’.) They absolutely nail the voice, guitar riff, look and subject matter of late 1970s England. Siouxsie Sioux would later explain how ‘Hong Kong Garden’ was a reference to various nights at the local takeaway where skinheads would regularly harass the staff.

Buzzcocks – Boredom (1977)

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The Manchester scene’s answer to The Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks had an ace up their sleeves in 1977. Namely, Martin Hannett recording as much of their sound as possible right by his desks. ‘Boredom’ stands out on the Hannett-produced Spiral Scratch EP, because they/he were able to retain an immediate “punk” feel – naturally the catchy lyrics help too.

Parquet Courts – Human Performance (2016)

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In 2016, Brooklyn-based Parquet Courts released Human Performance, their most melodic album to date. If there is a template for soulful garage rock, then the title track from their fifth album is probably close to it. It has the depth of a break-up track that Bob Dylan or Bryan Ferry might deliver, but then, of course, the feedback and guitars descend.

9 of the best – sounds of 1978

Something to digest over the weekend… a retrospective of 1978 and my favourite sounds, in no particular order.

The Cars ‎- Just What I Needed

The Undertones ‎- Teenage Kicks

Wire – Outdoor Miner

The Police – Roxanne

William Onyeabor – Atomic Bomb

Instant Funk – I Got My Mind Made Up

Funkadelic – One Nation Under A Groove

The Rolling Stones – Miss You

The Doobie Brothers – What A Fool Believes

 

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Honourable mentions also go to: Bee Gees for ‘Fever’; Queen for ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’; Crystal Gayle for ‘Talking In Your Sleep’; The Only Ones for ‘Another Girl, Another Planet‘; The Cars for ‘Good Times Roll‘; Chris Bell for ‘Speed Of Sound‘; Kate Bush for ‘The Man With The Child In His Eyes‘; Buzzcocks for ‘Ever Fallen In Love‘; Earth, Wind & Fire for ‘September‘; Elvis Costello & The Attractions for ‘Pump It Up’; The Clash for ‘(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais’; Blondie for ‘Hanging On The Telephone’; Talking Heads for ‘The Big Country‘; Warren Zevon for ‘Werewolves Of London‘; Squeeze for ‘Take Me I’m Yours’; The Boomtown Rats for ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’; Supertramp for ‘Breakfast In America‘; The Jam for ‘English Rose‘; Nick Lowe for ‘So It Goes’; The Human League for ‘Being Boiled’; Chic for ‘Le Freak’; Chaka Khan for ‘I’m Every Woman’; Yellow Magic Orchestra for ‘Firecracker’; Lee “Scratch” Perry for ‘Soul Fire‘; and The Rolling Stones for ‘Beast of Burden’.

Television – Venus (1977)

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I have just seen all the tributes to Tom Verlaine who died this weekend. Together with Richard Hell he formed the super-influential Television. ‘Marquee Moon‘ might me their magnum opus, but I have always listened to it alongside ‘Venus’, as a pair. This song is about his friendship with Hell, so to speak. R.I.P. TV.

The Yardbirds – Stroll On (1966)

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R.I.P. Jeff Beck. ‘Stroll On’ is by a classic lineup of The Yardbirds: Jeff Beck, Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty, Jimmy Page and Keith Relf. It was commissioned by Michelangelo Antonini for his movie Blowup. The filmmakers were unable to secure the performance rights for Tiny Bradshaw’s ‘The Train Kept a-Rollin’, a song that the band had successfully covered a year before. Instead The Yardbirds recorded the song with new lyrics.