75 Years of the Album: 29. 1977

1977 may have been the year when punk hit the headlines, but it’s remembered largely for its great singles rather than (with a few exceptions) its albums. Its influence was palpable everywhere, though, not least in the sheer speed in which acts were issuing albums. Here’s a selection of the best.

David Bowie – Low (RCA January) / David Bowie – ‘Heroes’ (RCA October) / Brian Eno – Before and After Science (Island December).

Not only was Eno all over these three records, but all are structured in the same way: a ‘rock’ side one and an ‘electronic’ side two. Both Bowie and Eno’s debt to German acts such as Cluster and Neu! was obvious. Even so, all three of these albums are remarkable, and all still sound completely contemporary.

Ultravox! (Island February) / Ha! Ha! Ha! (Island October).

John Foxx and co. were heavily in debt to both Bowie and Roxy, but with a dash of punk urgency, and a splash of Kraftwerkian mechanics they came up with something unique. For me, each of their first three albums is a couple of songs short of what they could have been, but at their best they were the equal of any of their peers.

Peter Gabriel (Charisma March).

For his first solo album, Gabriel turned his back on prog with a set of songs as wildly eclectic as any he’s ever done. There is Bob Ezrin bombast, barbershop, ballads and big orchestral epics. And to cap it all, the timeless “Solsbury Hill”. His old muckers Genesis began the year with Wind and Wuthering, and ended it with the live double Seconds Out. Both showed that they remained an adventurous band, with Phil Collins an able replacement. That seemed to really change with Steve Hackett’s departure.

Television – Marquee Moon (Elektra March).

Voted by Uncut writers as the greatest album of the seventies, Marquee Moon is a record whose reputation has never faltered over the years. It’s hard to see now how strikingly different it sounded at the time, but the guitar interplay between Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd had no precedent in rock. The solos are structured like jazz, but tightly scored like a classical piece. But somehow they still sound nothing like a dry academic exercise, and much more like a head rush. Like any artwork that arrives fully-formed from nowhere, it proved unrepeatable.

Iggy Pop – The Idiot (RCA March) / Lust for Life (RCA September).

Both produced in collaboration with a very busy David Bowie, Iggy’s greatest two solo records arrived in the space of six months. They are inseparable as a pair and can be seen almost as a double album that never was.

Culture – Two Sevens Clash (Joe Gibbs May) / Bob Marley and the Wailers – Exodus (Island June).

Exodus was Marley’s commercial zenith, packed as it was with hits. The title track, and longest studio piece he ever released, caps off a first side of harder edged Rasta anthems, whilst the more pop stuff follows on the flip. Joseph Hill’s magnum opus stuck to the message all the way through. It’s one of the very best roots reggae albums ever made.

Hawkwind – Quark, Strangeness and Charm (Charisma July).

Hawkwind’s interstellar psychedelic rock was less evident on this album. Singer Robert Calvert dominated in a way that he never had before ( or did subsequently), and the music is cut to service his gripping sci-fi tales. “Spirit of the Age” is the standout.

Steely Dan – Aja (ABC October).

The antithesis of punk, all angles polished away until it gleamed, not a note out of place, not a hint of sweat or toil. Smooth. Everything I detest in a rock band. But somehow the antiseptic sheen services the band’s finest set of songs very well indeed.

There were a slew of punk albums in 1977, none of which I’ve covered above. Most were rushed or just inept. The best ones were The Ramones Leave Home and Rocket to Russia, The Clash’s eponymous debut, The Saints’ I’m Stranded, and Wire’s Pink Flag. Talking Heads and Blondie both produced credible debuts, as did Ian Dury (New Boots an Panties) and Elvis Costello (My Aim Is True). Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours was huge. It still is (in the last top ten I looked at). Jackson Browne’s Running on Empty was a great collection of new material and covers recorded in concert, on the tour bus, and in motel rooms. Roy Harper came up with his most ambitious album, Bullinamingvase, and Sandy Denny’s last, Rendezvous, was uneven, but still magical. Blue Oyster Cult issued another strong set in Spectres, and Pink Floyd’s Animals was a last great album before Roger Waters’ megalomania destroyed them as a band. Finally, there was Trans-Europe Express. In a year of great and highly influential albums, none was greater, or more influential than Kraftwerk’s first of three straight masterpieces.

Song of the day: ULTRAVOX! – Just For A Moment (1978)

Through the eighties, Ultravox had a succession of slick synth-pop hits that continue to be mainstays of oldies radio stations. They were unfashionable at the time, and little has changed over the years. The three albums that they made for Island with John Foxx – prior to Midge Ure, Chrysalis Records and pop stardom – are still relatively little known. Yet they were massively influential, and have stood the test of time far better than the eighties material.

Over twenty months between February 1977 and October 1978, Ultravox!, Ha Ha Ha and Systems Of Romance appeared in rapid succession. Each fused Bowie/Eno type electronics with a punk spirit to create something utterly unique. Unfortunately for the band, musical sophistication was not on the agenda in 1977 and they only ever received a lukewarm press. By the third album, though, the world was catching up. Magazine and Wire both proved that using keyboards didn’t necessarilly turn you into ELP, and acts like Cabaret Voltaire, the Normal and Suicide were applying punk techniques to electronic music. Ultravox’s time seemed to have come. Instead, Island dropped the group in January 1979, and two months later both singer Foxx and guitarist Robin Simon left. The group went on to have much commercial success with Midge Ure, but musically they’d become conservative and safe.

“Just For The Moment” was the track that brought the curtain down on the Foxx era. The last track on Systems Of Romance, it maintained the group’s tradition of ending an album on a sombre, downtempo note – just as “My Sex” and “Hiroshima Mon Amour” has done on their previous records. There is just a synthesised bass pulse, like a heartbeat, simple synth chords and a brief piano bridge. Foxx sounds dislocated, almost robotic, during the verses: “Listening to the music the machines make / I let my heart break / Just for a moment“. It’s just a glimpse of emotion behind the cybernetic facade. The chorus is passionate, almost anthemic – but also contradictory “We’ll never leave here – ever / Let’s stay in here forever / And when the streets are quiet / We’ll walk out in the silence” (how can you do that if you’re staying in forever?). Minor quibble – it’s a great song, even if “Vienna” uses the same basic structure.

All three Island era albums were reissued last year with bonus tracks, and at mid-price. All are unreservedly recommended. They are just as good as more feted albums from the era like Metal Box, Real Life, Chairs Missing and even Low and Heroes.