| Trouser Press
|
| TP Collectors' Magazine
|
—
|
Best of show 1977
Ira Robbins, Jim Green, Dave Schulps
To TP's way of thinking, 1977 has been a truly ace year for rock 'n' roll. In years gone by, the age-old tradition of compiling Top 10 lists has been a painful challenge: it was often impossible to find 10 singles or albums that had spent more than a few dubious moments on the turntable. This past year, for a change. has been good enough to make it tough to whittle our lists down to 10 (witness IR's top 12 LP choices). In any case, here they are: the particular preferences of the TP editorial staff, excluding confusion like "Anarchy in the UK" (actually released in December) and a few singles that qualify more as LP tracks than 7" wonders. So now. for your edification and entertainment, we are pleased to present (a little fanfare please) the Best Of Show 1977.
Ira Robbins
Albums
- The Clash — The Clash (import)
- In Color — Cheap Trick
- The Boomtown Rats - Boomtown Rats
- IV Rattus Norvegicus / No More Heroes — Stranglers
- Vibrators — Vibrators (import)
- New Wave Sampler (Vertigo import)
- Animals — Pink Floyd
- Get It — Dave Edmunds
- Heroes — David Bowie
- Rocket to Russia — Ramones
Singles
- "God Save the Queen" — Sex Pistols (import)
- "Go Your Own Way" — Fleetwood Mac
- "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" — Ramones
- "Your Generation" — Generation X (import)
- "London Lady"/"Grip" — Stranglers (import)
- "Remote Control"/"London's Burning" — Clash (import)
"Complete Control"/"City of the Dead" — Clash (import)
- "2.4.6.8 Motorway" — Tom Robinson Band (import)
- "Lookin' After No. 1" — Boomtown Rats (import)
- "Neat Neat Neat" — Damned (import)
- "Jet Airliner" — Steve Miller Band
Honorable Mentions: Elvis Costello (My Aim Is True), the Kinks (Sleepwalker), Ramones ("Swallow My Pride"), Television ("Venus"), Sex Pistols ("liar" and "Pretty Vacant"), Jam ("Away from the Numbers" and "In the City"), John Cale (Animal Justice EP), Hot Rods ("Do Anything You Wanna Do" and "Quit This Town"), Talking Heads ("Love Goes to Building on Fire"). Roger McGuinn and Tom Petty ("American Girl").
Thanks for Helping '77 swing: Nick Lowe, Horslips, Pete Townshend, Graham Parker, Queen. Blondie, Jack-son Browne, Motors, Jon Richman and Little Bob Story.
Jim Green
Albums
- My Aim Is True — Elvis Costello
- In Color — Cheap Trick
- Rough Mix — Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane
- Marquee Moon — Television
- Sleepwalker — The Kinks
- Get It — Dave Edmunds
- Twilley Don't Mind — The Dwight Twilley Band
- Cheap Trick — Cheap Trick
- Ramones Leave Home — Ramones
- Blondie — Blondie
Singles
- "God Save the Queen" — Sex Pistols (import)
- "Father Christmas" — The Kinks
- "2.4.6.8 Motorway" — Toni Robinson Band (import)
- "Summer Sun" — Chris Stamey
- "Holidays in the Sun" — Sex Pistols (import)
- "Hold Back the Night" — Graham Parker & the Rumour
- "Down on the Boulevard" (EP) — The Pop!
- "Mongoloid" — Deno
- "Do Anything You Wanna Do" — Eddie
- the Hot Rods
- "Lookin' After No. 1" — Boomtown Rats (import)
Honorable Mentions: Too many to name 'em all. Tops include (for LPs) Robert Gordon with Link Wray, Mink DeVille, Frankie Miller, the Clash. Ramones (Rocket to Russia), Kiss (Alive II), Split Enz (Mental Notes), Sherbet (Magazine), Deaf School and Bionic Gold. Singles include Split Enz ("Another Great Divide"), Kiss ("Calling Dr. Love"). Queen ("Long Away"), Generation X ("Your Generation"), Gentle Giant ("Turning Around"), Peter Gabriel ("Solsbury Hill") and every Ramones single. Album that should've been Top 10 (but wasn't): Dictators' Manifest Destiny. Top 10 album that never was (but might be next year): The album the Planets should have been signed to record. Special mention to Stiff Records for thumbing its nose at the vagaries of the Biz, and the Residents for thumbing their noses at the vagaries of the music.
Dave Schulps
Albums
- My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello
- In Color-Cheap Trick
- Boomtown Rats — Boomtown Rats
- The Clash — The Clash (import)
- Sleepwalker — The Kinks
- Marquee Moon — Television
- Rough Mix — Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane
- Super Active Wizzo — Roy Wood's Wizzo Band (import)
- This Is the Modern World — The jam (import)
- Rocket to Russia — Ramones
Singles
- "God Save the Queen" — Sex Pistols (import)
- "Pretty Vacant" — Sex Pistols (import)
- "Sheen Is a Punk Rocker" — Ramones
- "Summer Sun" — Chris Stamey
- "2.4.6.8 Motorway" — Tom Robinson Band (import)
- "Complete Control" — The Clash (import)
- "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" — The Adverts (import)
- "Whole Wide World" — Wreckless Eric (import)
- "Lookin' After No. 1 - Boomtown Rats (import)
- "Hold Back the Night" — Graham Parker & the Rumour
Honorable Mentions: LPs: Sex Pistols, Dictators, Blondie, Dave Edmunds. Graham Parker, Rubinoos, Chiswick Chartbusters, first Cheap Trick and Bowie. Singles: The Pop! ("Down on the Boulevard"), Generation X ("Your Generation"). Unexpected pleasure of the year: Nice, Ashton and Lord's Malice In Wonderland. Most over-rated group: Talking Heads.
|
Page scans.
Watching The Detectives
Elvis Costello
Jim Green
"Watching the Detectives" b/w "Blame It on Cain" & "Mystery Dance" (live) Elvis Costello — Stiff (UK) BUY 20
|
Elvis freaks, now hear this: if you got the LP as an import, you don't have this A-side, which is on the American version of the LP (which has a slightly different cover design); neither LP has the live tracks on the flip. On the other hand, if you're a recent Elvis convert and got the US LP release, you'd only want the B-sides, which are not exceedingly inspiring takes, so you'd have to be an Elvis fanatic. The main thing is to have the A-side, distinctively reggaefied El with exquisite Farfisa organ amplifying the dramatic moments. Then again, there is the matter of the picture sleeve (sigh). Charlie Ainley (primo EC fan) shot me a sly "tsk, tsk" when he found my copy was without one.
|
|
Cover.
|
