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Song of the Day #6,498: ‘Anarchy in the U.K.’ – Sex Pistols

Continuing my look at the albums of 1977…

What Kraftwerk did for electronic music, the Sex Pistols did for punk. Though the English band lasted just two and a half years and released only one studio album, they are considered the godfathers of the punk movement in the UK and beyond.

That album was 1977’s Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols, an unlikely chart-topping hit in the United Kingdom. That success came despite the album being banned by major retailers and having to make up the slack through sales in independent stores. Exactly as it should be, I suppose.

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Song of the Day #6,497: ‘Trans-Europe Express’ – Kraftwerk

Now that I’ve counted down my favorite 1977 albums, the time has come for me to highlight other albums from the year with which I’m less familiar.

Having now listened to a bunch of 1977’s most notable albums, I’m confident that my personal top ten is a great representation of the year’s best music (according to my taste, anyway). If you’re a fan of punk or electronic music, you probably feel different. Still, I did manage to hear a few new gems.

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Song of the Day #6,496: ‘Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)’ – Cher

The Righteous Brothers stayed at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of April 19, 1966, with ‘(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration.’ That song would surrender its perch the following week.

At #2 was Cher’s ‘Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),’ a track written by Sonny Bono and released on her sophomore solo album, The Sonny Side of Chér. This was the highest-charting song of Cher’s solo career until her trio of #1 hits in the 70s with the increasingly problematic titles ‘Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves,’ ‘Half-Breed,’ and ‘Dark Lady.’

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Song of the Day #6,495: ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ – Elvis Presley

We’re throwing back to the week of April 18, 1956, and the 50s just got interesting!

While Les Baxter’s instrumental ‘The Poor People of Paris‘ held on to the #1 spot for the sixth straight week, it was about to be unseated by the song at #2.

That was Elvis Presley’s ‘Heartbreak Hotel,’ the King’s first of 17 chart-topping hits on the Hot 100 (or the Best Sellers in Stores chart, as it was called before 1958).

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Song of the Day #6,494: ‘Second Hand News’ – Fleetwood Mac

Concluding a countdown of my favorite albums of 1977…

#1 – Rumours – Fleetwood Mac

If you ask somebody to name iconic albums, chances are it won’t take long for them to say Rumours.

Fleetwood Mac’s 11th album, but only second with Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks onboard, is the sixth best-selling album in the United States and the eighth worldwide. It’s an album everybody knows and loves, across generations and musical tastes.

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