Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1977…
#9 – Slowhand – Eric Clapton
Slowhand is Eric Clapton’s fifth solo album and remains his best-performing in the U.S. (setting aside his live Unplugged album). It is best known for its hit singles ‘Lay Down Sally’ and ‘Wonderful Tonight.’
This is the only Clapton album I have ever owned, but I played the hell out of it in and around my college years. It’s a compulsively listenable record, a perfect vibe.
It’s time for another installment of the Decades series, which will eventually have me covering notable albums from every year between 1970 and 2009. Forty years, somewhere in the neighborhood of 800 albums. Wow.
I’ve made it through the first seven years of each decade so far. Twenty-eight years down, 12 to go. Over the next several weeks I’ll be covering the year 1977, first counting down my 10 favorites before covering albums that are new to me.
The week of April 5, 1966, found The Righteous Brothers enjoying their second (and last) #1 hit, ‘(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration.’ Two years earlier, the duo reached the top spot with ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.’
You might have guessed the other #1 was 1965’s ‘Unchained Melody,’ but that classic peaked at #4. The Righteous Brothers’ other two top ten hits were ‘Just Once in My Life’ and ‘Ebb Tide,’ both also released in 1965.
Throwing back to the week of April 5, 1956, we find a couple of repeats atop the singles chart in ‘The Poor People of Paris‘ and ‘Lisbon Antigua.’
At #3 that week was Perry Como with ‘Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom).’ This is Como’s fourth appearance on Throwback Weekends, and if this series stretched back into the 40s and early 50s he’d have a lot more.
Incidentally, I have written more than 300 Throwback Weekend posts now, making that category second only to Random Weekends, which numbered over 1,000.
I’m much more of a movie guy than a TV guy. I’m fully aware that the small screen features some of the greatest creative work being done these days, but it’s just not my preferred medium. I suppose it’s the time commitment and the uncertainty of renewals that keeps me from signing on to new shows.
I’ve certainly made exceptions. Breaking Bad is one of my all-time favorite achievements in any medium, and Better Call Saul nearly matched its brilliance. And my daughter and I remain devoted fans of Survivor 25 years into its run.
Meet Me In Montauk 