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Song of the Day #6,504: ‘Just a Song Before I Go’ – Crosby, Stills & Nash

Continuing my look at the albums of 1977…

I always expect to know Crosby, Stills & Nash’s music better than I do. When the band’s third studio album, CSN, showed up on lists of notable 1977 releases, I figured it would feature several familiar tracks. But only first single ‘Just a Song Before I Go’ rang a bell.

The folk rock supergroup, both with and without Neil Young, has had a profound impact on American music, but very little impact on me. So I welcomed the chance to hear a bit more of their music.

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Song of the Day #6,503: ‘Manic Monday’ – The Bangles

The week of April 26, 1986, offered up a bonanza of 80s musical goodness atop the Billboard Hot 100.

In the top spot for the second straight week was Prince’s ‘Kiss,’ followed by Robert Palmer’s ‘Addicted to Love’ and Pet Shop Boys’ ‘West End Girls.’ Now there’s a trio of songs that simultaneously take you back several decades but still work like gangbusters today.

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Song of the Day #6,502: ‘Right Back Where We Started From’ – Maxine Nightingale

Throwing back to the week of April 26, 1976, we The Bellamy Brothers holding on to the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Let Your Love Flow.’ This was the song’s sole week at #1.

Just behind at #2, where it peaked, was ‘Right Back Where We Started From’ by British R&B singer Maxine Nightingale. The song had enjoyed a successful run in the UK the previous year and was released in the U.S. in January.

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Song of the Day #6,501: ‘Someone to Lay Down Beside Me’ – Karla Bonoff

Continuing my look at the albums of 1977…

I have commenter RussParis to thank for today’s selection. He offered up his own list of favorite 1977 albums, naming several I’ve covered here and others I considered and at least one name that was completely new to me — Karla Bonoff. I promptly gave the album a listen and discovered what may well be a new favorite.

Bonoff is a singer-songwriter best known for songs of hers that other people recorded. Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Lynn Anderson, and Wynona Judd have all had hits with her tunes.

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Song of the Day #6,500: ‘The Passenger’ – Iggy Pop

Continuing my look at the albums of 1977…

David Bowie had a hell of a 1977. He released the first two albums in his “Berlin trilogy,” Low and “Heroes”, experimenting with electronic music and becoming heavily influenced by German bands such as Kraftwerk. I covered both of those records in my Bowie deep dive (and I’m not a huge fan of either) so I’m not featuring them here.

By Bowie’s side throughout that period was Iggy Pop, the American punk artist he befriended years earlier. The two men lived together in Berlin while trying to kick their respective drug habits, and Bowie played a major role in the writing and recording of Pop’s first solo album, The Idiot.

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