No Elvis*, Beatles or Stones in 1977. At least not here. (One of them died!) These are my 150 favorite LPs of the year. I’ve spent the past four years or so re-listening to my entire LP and CD (even cassette) collection, then resorted to streaming several albums I can’t physically touch. I’m ready to reveal the fruits of my labor, and this is just the beginning.
There are steaming piles of punk rock, more Brit pub rock than seems strictly necessary, and countless bands on the punk/new wave/late-glam/hard rock cusp. I’m not gonna try to figure out whether disco or funk does better, but maybe you can. Unless the Marshall Tucker Band count (second-highest-placing Southern rock album despite Jimmy Carter being president), four out of the six country LPs wind up in the bottom 20, including a CB radio comp bringing up the rear. The list also maybe goes a bit skimpy on on solo women — top two are both Donna Summer, at #1 and #60. (Trivia note: Only album on this list I actually owned in the year of two sevens clashing is Heart’s Little Queen.)
Other artists on the list twice: Cheap Trick, City Boy, Steve Gibbons Band, David Bowie, Santa Esmeralda. Second ’77 albums by Ramones, Cameo, Ashford & Simpson, Legs Diamond, Detective, Belle Epoque, Pat Travers and Derringer didn’t quite make the cut. There are music critics who, on lists like this, would pretend Low and Heroes (or Rocket to Russia and Leave Home) together qualify as one album occupying a single spot, but that’s cheating. Had I included the other Cameo, there would be LPs on the list named both You Know Who You Are and We All Know Who We Are. So that’s kind of a shame.
- – Wait, I was wrong! There is an Elvis below. Just not that one.
- Donna Summer Once Upon a Time… (Casablanca)
- Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols (Warner Bros.)
- Fleetwood Mac Rumours (Warner Bros.)
- Boney M Love For Sale (Atlantic)
- The Clash The Clash (CBS UK)
- Garland Jeffreys Ghost Writer (A&M)
- Ornette Coleman Dancing In Your Head (Horizon)
- Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly (Capitol)
- The Vibrators Pure Mania (Epic UK)
- Lynyrd Skynyrd Street Survivors (MCA)
- Jimmy Castor Bunch Maximum Stimulation (Atlantic)
- Earthquake Leveled (Beserkley)
- Kraftwerk Trans Europe Express (Capitol)
- Elvis Costello My Aim is True (Columbia)
- Slave Slave (Cotillion)
- C.J. & Co. Devil’s Gun (Westbound)
- The Persuasions Chirpin’ (Elektra)
- Hit Rocket: 20 Super Hits (Arcade Germany)
- AC/DC Let There Be Rock (Atco)
- Saturday Night Fever (RSO)
- Jack DeJohnette Pictures (Elm)
- Cheap Trick Cheap Trick (Epic)
- Steely Dan Aja (ABC)
- The Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats (Mercury)
- Bizarros/Rubber City Rebels From Akron (Clone)
- Cerrone Supernature (Cotllion)
- Hawkwind Quark Strangeness and Charm (Sire)
- Starz Violation (Capitol)
- Yabby You Deliver Me From My Enemies (Grove UK)
- Hit Tornado: 20 Super Hits (Arcade Germany)
- Cheap Trick In Color (Epic)
- Ted Nugent Cat Scratch Fever (Epic)
- Archimedes Badkar Tre (MNW Sweden)
- L.T.D. Something to Love (A&M)
- Talking Heads Talking Heads 77 (Sire)
- The Dictators Manifest Destiny (Asylum)
- Bionic Boogie Bionic Boogie (Polydor)
- Ramones Rocket to Russia (Sire)
- Chic Chic (Atlantic)
- Christ Child Christ Child/Hard (Buddah)
- Riot Rock City (Fire Sign)
- Richard Hell and the Voidoids Blank Generation (Sire)
- Bad Boy The Band That Make Milwaukee Famous (United Artists)
- Al Green The Belle Album (Hi)
- Nick Gilder You Know Who You Are (Chrysalis)
- Ultravox Ultravox! (Island)
- Space Magic Fly (United Artists)
- Mr. Brown Mellan Tre Ögon Med Mr. Brown (Mr. Brown Sweden)
- Golden Earring Mad Love (MCA)
- Television Marquee Moon (Elektra)
- Ram Jam Ram Jam (Epic)
- The Count Bishops The Count Bishops (Chiswick UK)
- Pat Travers Putting It Straight (Polydor)
- Eddie and the Hot Rods Teenage Depression (Island)
- Foghat Live (Bearsville)
- Brownsville Station Brownsville Station (Private Stock)
- Steve Gibbons Band Rollin’ On (MCA)
- Santa Esmeralda Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood (Casablanca)
- The Motors The Motors (Virgin)
- Donna Summer I Remember Yesterday (Casablanca)
- The Marshall Tucker Band Carolina Dreams (Capricorn)
- Kate and Anna McGarrigle Dancer With Bruised Knees (Warner Bros.)
- Blondie Plastic Letters (Chrysalis)
- Foreigner Foreigner (Atlantic)
- Grupo Sportivo 10 Mistakes (Ariola Benelux)
- Graham Parker and the Rumour Stick to Me (Mercury)
- Heart Little Queen (Portrait)
- Belle Epoque Miss Broadway (Shady Brook)
- Goddo Goddo (Fatcat Canada)
- Parliament Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome (Casablanca)
- Heartbreakers L.A.M.F. (Trak UK)
- Culture Two Sevens Clash (Joe Gibbs UK)
- Lavender Hill Mob Lavender Hill Mob (United Artists)
- Billion Dollar Babies Battle Axe (Polydor)
- Disco Fever: Die Platte Des Jahres (K-Tel Germany)
- Fatback NYC NYUSA (Spring)
- Fela and Afrika 70 Zombie (Creole UK)
- Blue Öyster Cult Spectres (Columbia)
- Geils Monkey Island (Atlantic)
- Merle Haggard A Working Man Can’t Get Nowhere Today (Capitol)
- MX-80 Sound Hard Attack (Island UK)
- Dirty Tricks Hit and Run (Polydor)
- Dave Edmunds Get It (Swan Song)
- Metro Metro (Sire)
- Fabulous Poodles Fabulous Poodles (Pye UK)
- Jackson Browne Running on Empty (Asylum)
- Kongas Africanism (Crocos)
- Mink Deville Mink Deville (Capitol)
- David Allan Coe Rides Again (Columbia)
- Earth, Wind and Fire All ‘n All (Columbia)
- Radio Stars Songs for Swinging Lovers (Chiswick UK)
- Chris Spedding Hurt (Rak UK)
- Boxer Absolutely (Epic)
- City Boy Young Men Gone West (Mercury)
- Steve Gibbons Band Caught in the Act: Live (MCA)
- Judas Priest Sin After Sin (Columbia)
- Automatic Man Visitors (Island)
- The Alpha Band Spark in the Dark (Arista)
- Gilla Help! Help! (Hansa International Germany)
- Dr. Feelgood Sneakin’ Suspicion (Columbia)
- Amanda Lear I Am a Photograph (Chrysalis)
- Legs Diamond Legs Diamond (Mercury)
- Mother’s Finest Another Mother Further (Epic)
- Brick Brick (Bang)
- Mick Stevens The River (Spaceward Studios UK)
- Disco Fever: 20 Original Disco Hits (K-Tel UK)
- Cameo Cardiac Arrest (Chocolate City)
- Derringer Sweet Evil (Blue Sky)
- Ashford & Simpson So So Satisfied (Warner Bros.)
- Nils Lofgren Night After Night (A&M)
- Suicide Suicide (Red Star)
- War Galaxy (MCA)
- Deaf School Don’t Stop the World (Warner Bros. UK)
- Nutz Hard Nutz (A&M)
- Angel On Earth as it is in Heaven (Casablanca)
- Peter Gabriel Peter Gabriel (Atco)
- Joe Tex Bumps and Bruises (Epic)
- The Tubes Now (A&M)
- David Bowie Low (RCA Victor)
- Piper Can’t Wait (A&M)
- Prism Prism (Ariola America)
- Randy Newman Little Criminals (Warner Bros.)
- Aerosmith Draw the Line (Columbia)
- Hirth Martinez Big Bright Street (Warner Bros.)
- City Boy Dinner at the Ritz (Mercury)
- Radio Birdman Radios Appear (Trafalgar Australia)
- Damned Damned Damned Damned (Stiff UK)
- Millie Jackson Feelin’ Bitchy (Spring)
- Hydra Rock the World (Polydor)
- Sweet Off the Record (Capitol)
- Shalamar Uptown Festival (Solar)
- Muddy Waters Hard Again (Blue Sky)
- Santa Esmeralda The House of the Rising Sun (Casablanca)
- Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots The Original Disco Duck (RKO)
- Styx The Grand Illusion (A&M)
- Joe Ely Joe Ely (MCA)
- Charlie Rich Rollin’ With the Flow (Epic)
- Yes Going for the One (Atlantic)
- Detective It Takes One to Know One (Swan Song)
- David Bowie Heroes (RCA Victor)
- Village People Village People (Casablanca)
- Gary Stewart Your Place or Mine (RCA Victor)
- Flame Queen of the Neighborhood (RCA)
- Floaters Floaters (ABC)
- The Angels The Angels (Albert Productions Australia)
- The Eyes New Gods: Aardvark Thru Zymurgy (World Theatre)
- Nona Hendryx Nona Hendryx (Epic)
- Thundertrain Teenage Suicide (Jelly)
- Horslips Aliens (DJM)
- All Ears: 10 New and Original Songs with a CB Theme (Realistic)
Eliminated for Reasons of Space 
via facebook:
Steve Crawford
Chuck Eddy, Good to see the debut Cheap Trick album rated so highly. It’s generally considered their best album by their hardcore fans, but has never received much critical acclaim. If fact, I recently saw a Twitter post where Ken Tucker reinforced a dismissal of the album that he wrote in 1977.
Chuck Eddy
Wow — Ken’s got some explaining to do! (I’d probably rank it their second best myself, behind Heaven Tonight. But In Color, which for some reason I always kinda dismissed as their wimpy powerpop album, surprised me more — The first two turn out to run fairly neck-and-neck, rockingnesswise.)
Chuck Eddy
Actually, though, now that I think of it, it doesn’t surprise me that the debut would be the favorite of hardcore fans. Big Black did cover “He’s a Whore” after all. (Don’t think Black Flag or Minor Threat covered any, but still.)
Steve Crawford
Jack Douglas produced their first album, after discovering the band (legend has it) at a Wisconsin bowling alley. I think he captured the live energy they had in that era. Lots of good songs with Tom Werman producing from ’77 to ’79, but sometimes he went unnecessarily soft for my tastes. The tack piano on the studio version of “I Want You to Want Me” has always driven me nuts. Also, lyrically on the debut you had a suicide (“Oh, Candy”), a sexual deviant (“Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School”), and a serial killer (“The Ballad of T.V. Violence,” based on Richard Speck), so it just felt edgier in every way.
Jaz Jacobi
I think IN COLOR is their strongest overall set of songs, and I’m usually not bothered by the production [okay, like Steve Crawford mentions, the “I Want You to Want Me” studio version is a little more twee]–if I made a list of my top 10 Cheap Trick songs, my gut suspicion is 5 or 6 of them might be from that album. [This is kind of like how I prefer the songs on LOS ANGELES, but that album’s production, or at least the overbearing Manzarek organ fills, make it seem like a poor cousin to the more-acclaimed WILD GIFT.]
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Chuck Eddy
Confession: I’ve never loved any version of “I Want You To Want Me.” I mean, it’s fine, sure. But I’ve never near considered it among their best songs.
Jaz Jacobi
“Clock Strikes Ten” is totally my fave CT song
Also all the songs that I believe Chuck called “lovestruck sap,” or something like that!
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Sorry to see neither Iggy Pop album made the grade. Both are among my very favorites of all time, especially The Idiot for “Funtime” and the original “China Girl” alone. I also think live albums by Bette Midler and Santana are pretty outstanding. My (inevitable) P&J ballot:
Talking Heads ’77 (30)
Iggy Pop/The Idiot (15)
Never Mind the Bollocks – Here’s the Sex Pistols (10)
David Bowie/Low (10)
Elvis Costello/My Aim Is True (5)
Beatles/Live at the Hollywood Bowl (5) (archive)
Kraftwerk/Trans-Europe Express (5)
Donna Summer/. . . Once upon a Time (5)
Santana/Moonflower (5)
Ramones/Leave Home (5) (I prefer this one to Rocket to Russia)
10 Favorite Singles:
Foghat/I Just Want to Make Love to You
Marvin Gaye/Got to Give It Up
Crystal Gayle/Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
Grace Jones/I Need a Man (12″ Version)
KC & the Sunshine Band/I’m Your Boogie Man
Lynyrd Skynyrd/What’s Your Name
Queen/We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions
Santana/She’s Not There
Carly Simon/Nobody Does It Better
Donna Summer/I Feel Love
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Oops – I see that my P&J points only add up to 95, so give 5 more points to the Sex Pistols. I see also that there’s another Ken in this discussion, so I guess I should clarify that I’m not Ken Tucker. Stillman’s my last name.
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