Best #1 single of the year retrospective: 1977

[Cognoscant]

Just because a record has a groove, doesn’t make it in the groove. But “Sir Duke” is in the groove. You can feel it. Easy choice for me.

[Leaffan]

@chiroptera

Blinded by the Light. Was my vote.

Although by 1977, I was much more into punk and emerging electronic music than what was happening on Top of the Pops or the general popular music scene.

I went through a Kraftwerk phase myself in the early 80s. I loved it!

[Leaffan]

@It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery

I agree with the above statements to the point where I had to check the user name to make sure I didn’t write it. I haven’t decided yet, but may vote for “New Kid In Town” even though I would chuck every other Eagles song (except that and maybe “Last Resort”) into the nearest trash bin.

Oh, and for you: “Don Henley Must Die”

Wow. I’ve never even heard of Mojo Nixon before, but that was great!

[chiroptera]

@Leaffan

Wow. I’ve never even heard of Mojo Nixon before, but that was great!

Mojo Nixon rocks! I have seen him live a few times. Look him up on YouTube; seriously fun stuff and IMHO musically underrated.

[Maserschmidt]

@WordMan

My eyes skated right over ABBA. They would be a great choice for a representative track for this era. Shoulda picked them - Wonder’s I Wish is the best song, but this ain’t bad for what it represents.

Weird, must be one of them optical illusion kind of things, because I did the same. Dancing Queen is a reasonable choice, but I went with Dreams because that song has really held up well… I was definitely not a Fleetwood Mac fan when they became popular, but I’ve come around at least to admiring their ridiculously great songcraft.

[Maserschmidt]

@Leaffan

Wow. I’ve never even heard of Mojo Nixon before, but that was great!

If you don’t know Mojo Nixon, your song collection could use some fixin’.

[chiroptera]

@Maserschmidt

If you don’t know Mojo Nixon, your song collection could use some fixin’.

Seriously.

[Shagnasty]

@panache45

I’m almost apologetic, to admit voting for *Dancing Queen. *

Don’t be. I voted for ABBA too. I just like them a whole lot and especially Dancing Queen. I knew Hotel California would come out ahead. It is a decent song but a little irritating and pretentious at the same time. It has the same qualities as one of their other songs, Desperado, that got lambasted on Seinfeld for good reason.

Dancing Queen is just straight up pure ABBA and fun. It doesn’t try to be anything else but that.

[pulykamell]

Easy one for me. “Dancing Queen” by ABBA. ABBA really can do no wrong, in my opinion.

[Johanna]

It obviously came down to Stevie Wonder, no contest—but the only question was which one from Stevie Wonder, “I Wish” or “Sir Duke”? I couldn’t decide between them, so I flipped a coin, which resulted in casting my vote for “I Wish.”

[JohnT]

All right, will the person who voted for You Light Up My Life reveal themselves?

[Johanna]

@scabpicker

Well, as WordMan said, the wiki entry credits a three piece horn section, but no synths. Live versions are done with horns. You can hear the fsssst from the saxes at the start of the notes during the opening*. Plus, those slurs around 2:34 don’t sound anything like an algorithm to me, and the ones in closer are even further from what a synth of the era could do. Synths of the time sounded pretty stiff when you did pitch shifts, anything polyphonic pretty much sounded like you were speeding up or slowing down a tape. Those horns flow.
Plus, why would he fake the horns in a song that’s basically a tribute to great horn bands?

But if it all turns out that I’m wrong dong dilddly dong wrong, it wouldn’t be the first time that an instrument recorded in the studio sounded like something completely different. My first reaction on reading your post was “Wow, so a synth can fake a horn section convincingly, but not strings? Who knew?” I didn’t have to listen to it too critically until I found out there was a controversy.

The one standout example of that is Bowie’s “sax” on “Suffragette City.” Bowie had intended to play his real sax there, but couldn’t get it to come across in the mix with the badass sound he’d heard it in his mind. So he synthesized it and that worked. I was astonished to discover many years later that it wasn’t a real sax! I guess rock sax recording technology had advanced by the time Bowie made “V-2 Schneider,” though. (ummm… Those are real horns on “V-2 Schneider,” right?)

[Shodan]

@JohnT

All right, will the person who voted for You Light Up My Life reveal themselves?

He will.

Yes, it was massively overplayed, to the point of self-parody. But there is a reason it was so successful. It’s the best song of the year. 1977 is marginally less emetic than the previous few years, and YLUML is part of the reason.

I mean, come on - tell me Gonna Fly Now isn’t overplayed.

The only serious competition was Don’t Leave Me This Way and that’s disco.

Regards,
Shodan

[Sparky812]

@Leaffan

Wow. I’ve never even heard of Mojo Nixon before, but that was great!

Wow! How did you miss him, he was on heavy rotation on Dr. Dimento and had spots on MTV.

@Maserschmidt

If you don’t know Mojo Nixon, your song collection could use some fixin’.

[quote=“chiroptera, post:67, topic:700170”]

Seriously.

[/QUOTE]

Yep, and he has lots more, especially the first couple of albums with Skid Roper.

@JohnT

All right, will the person who voted for You Light Up My Life reveal themselves?

No Kidding…I can’t believe 2 people voted for Leo Sayer… and different songs at that!?

[dba_Fred]

I went with Blinded By The Light since from most of the songs on the list I was diabetizied by the saccharine.

[Suburban_Plankton]

While I think Rumours is quite possibly the best album of all time, I think Dreams is at most the 4th or 5th best song on the album, so my vote here goes to Hotel California.

[Leaffan]

@Sparky812

Wow! How did you miss him, he was on heavy rotation on Dr. Dimento and had spots on MTV. …

Well, since I don’t listen to Dr. Demento or watch MTV I think the answer is self explanatory.

[scabpicker]

@Johanna

The one standout example of that is Bowie’s “sax” on “Suffragette City.” Bowie had intended to play his real sax there, but couldn’t get it to come across in the mix with the badass sound he’d heard it in his mind. So he synthesized it and that worked. I was astonished to discover many years later that it wasn’t a real sax! I guess rock sax recording technology had advanced by the time Bowie made “V-2 Schneider,” though. (ummm… Those are real horns on “V-2 Schneider,” right?)

I think it’s real sax on “V-2 Schneider”, I’m almost certain the solo part is. The difference between the a two recordings was probably the microphones and engineers he could afford. Recording acoustic instruments is hard, and can get expensive.

But the whole question of what’s synthesized and what’s not gets tougher in just a few years. The sampling synths and drum machines get a lot better, and only a lack of and/or awkward dynamics will give them away.

[It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery]

@Shodan

He will.

Yes, it was massively overplayed, to the point of self-parody. But there is a reason it was so successful. It’s the best song of the year.

I’m not sure a world where “You Light Up My Life” was the best song of the year is a world worth living in.

[DChord568]

@Sparky812

No Kidding…I can’t believe 2 people voted for Leo Sayer… and different songs at that!?

Well, I’ll “reveal myself” a second time by stating that I voted for “When I Need You.” It may not be the best performance out of all these #1’s, but it’s the best song.

There seems to be a pattern though, of me casting the lone (or nearly lone) vote for a song in these polls.

Finally, “I can’t believe” that so many people think “Hotel California” is the best song here, or even that it’s a good song at all. It doesn’t surprise me that this is so…but I still can’t believe it.