Best albums of 1977
Spectrum
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The traditional thing that most rags do at the end of a year is invite all the writers to give their opinions on what was the best of the new music for the year. Well, in spite of the fact that the scholars here at The Spectrum know it's only a worthless exercise, we like to be degenerates now and then.
First, a bit of review. It became impossible to avoid the impending acceptance of new wave. The Ramones made the Billboard charts with "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," and within two weeks, both Elvis Costello and the Sex Pistols were in Time Magazine. The reason some new wave choices appear more than others does not indicate a deviation in quality, but rather shows New Wave regulated by the indicator of media pressure.
Jazz showed itself being on an incredible upswing, especially in the college audience. Both Anthony Braxton and Flora Purim, Downbeat poll champs, appeared in Buffalo. Local heroes Spyro Gyra put out. a record. Buffalo showed itself a pioneer in this realm.
We lost Elvis in 77, but rock and roll began once again leaning toward vibrancy and freshness, throwing off itself the heavy yoke of production. Rock seemed to be getting its shot in the arm. Death to disco, and complacency.
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The Choices
Andrew Ross
Foreigner, Foreigner
Cheap Trick, In Color
Fleetwood Mac, Rumours
Ramones, Rocket To Russia
Sex Pistols, Never Mind The Bollocks
Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True
Pablo Cruise, Place In The Sun
Lynyrd Skynyrd, Street Survivors
Steely Dan, Aja
Neil Young, American Stars and Bars
Harold Goldberg
Karla Bonoff, Karla Bonoff
Ktaatu, Hope
Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True
Charles Mingus, Three or Four Shades of
Cheap Trick, Cheap Trick
Fleetwood Mac, Rumours
Illusion, Out Of The Mist
Joan Armatrading, Show Some Emotion
Peter Gabriel, Peter Gabriel
Talking Heads, 77
Terence Kenny
The Jam, In The City
Talking Heads, 77
The Animals, Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted
Pink Floyd, Animals
Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True
The Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks
Fleetwood Mac, Rumours
Television, Marquee Moon
Joan Armatrading, Show Some Emotion
Ramones, Rocket to Russia
Honorable Mention: Steely Dan, Aja; Burlesque, You Need Acupuncture
Michael F. Hopkins
Toshiko Akyioshi/Lew Tabakin Big Band, Road Time
William Shatner, Live
Sun Ra, Solo Piano Vol 1
Von Karajan Sikelius, Four Tone Poems
Anthony Braxton, The Montreux/Berlin Concerts
Alex Haley, Roots
Woody Shaw, At The Berliner Jazztage
McCoy Tyner, Focal Point
John Coltrane, The Other Village Vanguard Tapes
Shakti, A Handful of Beauty
Drew Reid Kerr
The Kinks, Sleepwalker
James Taylor, JT
Steely Dan, Aja
Neil Young, American Stars and Bars
Genesis, Wind and Wuthering
Michael Franks, Slaying Gypsy
Bread, Lost Without Your Love
Heart, Little Queen
The Band, Islands
Waiter Egan, Fundamental Roll
Dimitri Papadopoulos
Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks
Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers, LA.M.F.
Ramones, Rocker to Russia
Talking Heads, 77
Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True
Peter Tosh, Equal Rights
Persuasions, Chirpin'
Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Sane
Mink DeVille, Cabretta
Television, Marquee Moon
Honorable Mentions; The Damned, the Damned; UFO, Lights Out; The Clash, the Clash; The Dictators, Manifest Destiny
Barbara Romansky
James Taylor, JT
Ramones, Rocket to Russia
Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True
Karla Bonoff, Karla Bonoff
Talking Heads, 77
Cheap Trick, In Color
Steely Dan, Aja
Neil Young, American Stars and Bars
Mink Deville, Cabretta
Randy Newman, Little Criminals
Honorable Mentions: Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks
Tim Switala
Steely Dan, Aja
Talking heads, 77
Cheap Trick,Cheap Trick
Peter Gabriel, Peter Gabriel
Joni Mitchell, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
Television, Marquee Moon
Santana, Moon flower
Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True
Yes, Going For The One
Weather Report, Heavy Weather
Michael Nord
Shakti, A Handful of Beauty
Shakti, Natural Elements
Charles Mingus, Three or Four Shades of Blue
Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Live at Munich
Count Basie, Jam number two
Art Tatum, Solo Masterpieces
John Coltrane, First Meditation for Quartet
Richie Cole, Alto Madness
Cecil Tayor, Live at Cafe Montmarte
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