# Random year 1977: What takes me back is... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2020, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009 "2020-05-18T01:19:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/21 "2020-05-18T15:08:57Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > I had yet to discover Basie, Miller, Satchmo…or Ella, nor the king of all Sir Duke, so that song had the most profound impact. After that, _Carry on My Wayward Son_ as a kapow at the end of that movie with Fonzie. Also, just generally great now and then, _Strawberry Letter 23_, _Dreams_, _Lido Shuffle_, _Night Moves_ and _I Wish_. Yeah, Sir Duke and I Wish, both off the same album, and both reeking of funk. Very tight production. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/22 "2020-05-18T15:22:11Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Al Stewart - Year of the Cat > > I worked at a distributing warehouse that sent out promotional copies of the LP for GRT (Great Records and Tapes). > [@Hatchie](#): > > GRT stood for General Recorded Tape (they made records too) Huh…to think I had the acronym wrong even after sending out all those albums. Doing a little more digging, Year Of The Cat was actually released in 1976…man, is that a year full of musical memories! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/23 "2020-05-18T15:28:34Z")
I turned eleven that year and the songs I _think_ I heard at the time were some of the more horrible ones from that list. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/24 "2020-05-18T15:35:57Z")
While I remember most of those songs, they had no major impact on me. In 1978, I vividly remember hearing Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” for the first time on an a 8 track tape. It really stood out since it was one of the first fully electronic dance songs. I do have clear memories of listening to a transistor radio in my garage during the Blackout of '77 in New York but I was listening to news, not music. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/25 "2020-05-18T15:57:51Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Hell, I was ten in 1977. > > I’ll just be honest and say the opening titles to Star Wars had the biggest impact on me. But there’s a lot of quality pop music on that list. Same here… I was 10 in 1977. And the first thing that pops to my mind when I hear “1977” is Star Wars. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/26 "2020-05-18T16:15:50Z")
The song that recalls that time, in its Proustian way, has got to be John Williams’ **Star Wars** overture. It’s not the best of that era, or the musically most significant, or anything. But it certainly defined that year in a way nothing else did. And I still love it. Got it on my playlist. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/27 "2020-05-18T17:02:25Z")
Not much impact on me either, as I was into harder rock. I was 15 then. I remember much of those 100 tunes, but at best it was OK background music for the soundtrack of life. At worst it made me throw up in my mouth. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/28 "2020-05-18T17:35:33Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > Having been an AM Top 40 DJ in 1977, I played these songs hundreds of times. With a handful of exceptions, this is a really bland list. Seeing them all together…well…it was worse than I remember. > > And every known copy of “Muskrat Love” by the Captain and Tennille should be throw into a bonfire. Exactly. I’d add ‘I’m all out of Love’ by Air Supply’ to the top of that bonfire. Even the slightly older people I knew then who liked corporate rock thought that one was too saccharine-y. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/29 "2020-05-18T17:38:14Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Say it a different way, that top 100 playlist was the genesis of American Hardcore. Christ, what a fucking bland top 100. I have to agree. I was 26 at the time and starting grad school in Colorado. I can’t say anything on the list “affected my worldview.” What I was listening to at the time was reggae, Tom Waits, and Ry Cooder. Of the songs on the list, Steve Miller’s _Fly Like an Eagle_ has the most emotional appeal. But the music from _Star Wars_ and Fleetwood Mac also brings me back to that time. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/30 "2020-05-18T17:39:24Z")
Wow, so much wunnerful music! I turned seventeen at the end of the year. Man, the songs really take me back. Good times! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/31 "2020-05-18T17:43:50Z")
Weird, I heard _Angel In Your Arms_ on Sirius this morning during my drive to work. Before today, the last time I heard it might have been 35 years ago? If it crops up again soon, something weird is going on. :dubious: > [@XOldiesJock](#): > > And every known copy of “Muskrat Love” by the Captain and Tennille should be throw into a bonfire. Hear him, people! ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/32 "2020-05-18T17:59:56Z")
1977 was basically the year I graduated from Elton John to more “adult” music. Some of this may be late 1976. I discovered the top 40 countdown and started writing the top songs down. I started making my own top songs (I think top 10). Now I have my top songs, albums, groups, etc. It all started then. Many of the songs on the list take me back to listening to the countdown. At a dance in 1977 I met a girl. I was hoping that this would develop to something (it didn’t). She said that she liked a new group named Boston. I had no opinion. I bought their album based on this. Now it’s number 1 on my top album chart - probably not a coincidence that the girl liked it and it’s my favorite album. My second favorite album also came out in 1977, but I didn’t appreciate it until later. It’s Aja by Steely Dan. My uncle praised the Hotel California album back then. I bought it. It’s now in my top 10. Probably not a coincidence that my uncle like it and it’s one of my favorite albums. My third favorite song came out in 1977. It’s Barracuda by Heart. The other three songs in my top four songs are songs that came out later by by Boston, Eagles and another Heart song. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/33 "2020-05-18T18:11:49Z")
I was 12 in 1977. Those were my songs. Since I listened to top 40, what I heard was the worst of the list. Also, I am not ashamed to admit that I like Muskrat Love. I just don’t get the hate for it. It’s a cute little love song about muskrats in love. It’s certainly not the worst song that ever existed. It appealed to 12 year old girls. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/34 "2020-05-18T18:50:12Z")
ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” is the pop song that comes to mind when I recall 1977. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/35 "2020-05-18T19:30:16Z")
Jeez, **Fleetwood Mac** were Royalty back then. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/36 "2020-05-18T19:53:42Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > I was 12 in 1977. Those were my songs. Since I listened to top 40, what I heard was the worst of the list. Also, I am not ashamed to admit that I like Muskrat Love. I just don’t get the hate for it. It’s a cute little love song about muskrats in love. It’s certainly not the worst song that ever existed. It appealed to 12 year old girls. Actually, I thought America’s original version was somewhat charming, and had that been released as a single, it may not have grated on me so much. The Captain and Tennille’s version was cloying, what with those electronic muskrat sound effects. But you’re right, it’s not the worst thing ever to hit the airwaves. I can think of many tunes I played as a deejay over the past 50 years that are as much or more annoying. For example, a fairly recent song I loathe with a passion and turn down any time it comes up in rotation is “Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood. It’s about vandalism, for God’s sake! ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/37 "2020-05-18T20:30:04Z")
Several of those songs tie into a trip I took the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in High School. When I was a freshman my NJ high school band went down to Maryland on an exchange trip. I met a girl down there and we hit it off. Miraculously I was able to arrange for her to stay at my house when their band came up. We fell for each other, made out a lot, etc. After she left we wrote dozens of letters (long distance was expensive) and she said ‘When I need You’ by Leo Sayer reminded her of me the most, so I’d listen to that and pine away. I was way into Queen at the time and probably mentioned something off of one their albums but I can’t remember. That summer my sister went down to VA to see her fiance and dropped me off at MD girl’s house. Yes, both sets of parents agreed to it. We hung out for a few days, went to the railroad tracks and squashed pennies from passing trains, got busted making out, and most interestingly went in to Baltimore to watch her father take the oath and be sworn in as an American citizen (he was English). They put me on a plane to Mississippi and I never saw her again. We stayed in touch but it eventually faded away. I landed in Jackson, Mississippi where my aunt lived and stayed with her and my uncle for a few days. It was there that I saw Star Wars (spent the afternoon in the theater and saw it a couple of times), so the ‘Main Title Star Wars theme’ was big, to add another song from the list… After that, my aunt put me on a bus to Gulfport and mostly what I remember are straight roads, pine trees, Coke signs and long dark houses, like they were covered in creosote or something dark like that. Besides Queen I was also listening to Peter Frampton alot and ‘I’m In You’ came out and I bought the album at a mall in Biloxi and played it endlessly at my cousins’ house. I had a lot of fun down there. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/38 "2020-05-18T21:29:05Z")
So I was only 8 in 1977. The one song on that list that is remember _from back then_ is **Barracuda by Heart**. My mom and I were at my Aunt’s house. My cousin Dianne who 10 yrs older than me, and who was my absolute favorite cousin was letting me hang out with her in her super groovy teenager bedroom. She was like, Listen to this new album I got. For some reason I remembered that particular song playing like it was yesterday. Any time I hear it, it reminds me of how cool she was (and still is), and how she didn’t make me feel like a “little kid”. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/39 "2020-05-18T21:35:21Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Say it a different way, that top 100 playlist was the genesis of American Hardcore. Christ, what a fucking bland top 100. > > There were the Ramones, Iggy and Stooges were out, Black Flag formed, the American hardcore era start,\*\* The Clash first album was in 1977.\*\* My bolding, and another vote for **China Guy**. I was at college in '77. I’d heard God Save The Queen by the Pistols and couldn’t understand why anyone was interested (I was right about that one). Heard New Rose by The Damned and didn’t get it (wrong about that one). But when I heard Complete Control by The Clash it was like a light clicking on and _that’s_ when I realised my generation was going to sweep all the old crap away and change the world. (Right musically, for a while anyway; wrong about most of the rest). j ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009/40 "2020-05-18T21:37:06Z")
Seeing that I was an infant at the time, none of the songs changed my worldview when they were brand new. You’ll just have to settle for my retrospective opinions. The ones that still kick ass, IMO, are primarily the R&B records (Stevie Wonder, “Strawberry Letter 23,” “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” “Got to Give It Up”). The ELO songs, “Somebody to Love,” and “Dancing Queen” are also ranked highly in the world-famous **Ponch8 Music Rating System**. I used to like many of the rock songs more than I do now. They’ve been played to death on classic rock stations, and I don’t really need to hear some of them anymore. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-year-1977-what-takes-me-back-is/854009.md?page=3)