Throwing back to the week of July 4, 1976 — the nation’s bicentennial — we find Wings’ ‘Silly Love Songs‘ holding on to the top spot.
Right behind it was a 70s one-hit wonder, Starland Vocal Band with the deceptively promiscuous ‘Afternoon Delight.’ The song reached #1 the following week, its “skyrockets in flight” chorus a perfect match for the summer of America’s 200th birthday.
Continuing my list of best debut albums (with quite a few caveats)…
Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
By far the most successful debut album that ended up being the only studio album released by its artist, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is a unique and transcendent work of personal art. Winner of five Grammys, including Album of the Year, the album sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and achieved Diamond status (10 million sales) in the U.S.
The album was conceived by Hill after her band the Fugees broke up, and its songs chronicle her relationships with her former bandmates as well as her childhood, love life, and motherhood.
Continuing my list of best debut albums (with quite a few caveats)…
Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes (1983)
The debut album by the Milwaukee-based folk-punk trio Violent Femmes is one of the record industry’s greatest slow-burning success stories.
Released in 1983, the album failed to make a splash commercially, but it was a college radio success that picked up steam over the years. Buoyed by a compact disc release, it finally reached the Billboard 200 chart in 1991 and to date has sold more than 3 million copies.
Continuing my list of best debut albums (with quite a few caveats)…
Sara Bareilles – Little Voice (2007)
This selection is a bit of a cheat, but it’s also one of the reasons I wanted to do this theme week in the first place, so I’m keeping it in.
Funnily enough, I wrote about the debut album theme idea more than five years ago when a song from Sara Bareilles’ Little Voice popped up on Random Weekends. But then I discovered Bareilles had independently released a record called Careful Confessions three years earlier.
Continuing my list of best debut albums (with quite a few caveats)…
Hootie and the Blowfish – Cracked Rear View (1994)
I couldn’t resist listing the best-selling debut album in U.S. history, especially when it’s one I really loved back in the day. I haven’t returned to Hootie and the Blowfish’s Cracked Rear View much since my early 20s, but it has the same comfortable power when I do.
This album received a modest rollout, aimed at boosting the profile of a hard-working bar band. It ended up catching fire, selling more than 20 million copies in the U.S. alone, buoyed by the top ten hits ‘Hold Her Hand,’ ‘Let Her Cry,’ and ‘Only Wanna Be with You.’
Meet Me In Montauk 