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This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977. This year was the peak of vinyl sales in the United States, with sales declining year on year since then.[1]
January 1 – The Clash headline the opening night of London's only punk rock club, The Roxy
January 6 – After releasing only one single for controversial English punk rock band the Sex Pistols, EMI terminates its contract with them in response to its members' disruptive behaviour last month on ITV's Today and two days ago at London Heathrow Airport[2]
January 20 – Jimmy Buffett's Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes is released, featuring the biggest single of his career, "Margaritaville"
January 22 – German cellist Maria Kliegel makes her London debut at the Wigmore Hall, with a programme of Bach, Kodály, and Franck
January 26 – Patti Smith falls off the stage while opening for Bob Seger in Tampa, Florida, and is rushed to the hospital for 22 stitches to close head lacerations
Paul Desmond gives his last concert with Dave Brubeck, in New York
American Bandstand celebrates its 25th anniversary on television with a special hosted by Dick Clark; an "all-star band", performing "Roll Over Beethoven", is made up of Chuck Berry, Seals & Crofts, Gregg Allman, Junior Walker, Johnny Rivers, the Pointer Sisters, Charlie Daniels, Doc Severinsen, Les McCann, Donald Byrd, Chuck Mangione and three members of Booker T and the MGs
Fleetwood Mac's widely anticipated Rumours is released; it goes on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time
February 14 – The B-52's give their first public performance at a party in Athens, Georgia
February 15 – Sid Vicious replaces Glen Matlock as the bassist of the Sex Pistols.
March 1 – Sara Lowndes Dylan files for divorce from her husband of 11 years, Bob Dylan
March 4 & 5 – The Rolling Stones play two shows at the El Mocambo club in Toronto
April – Van Morrison releases a new album, A Period of Transition, after a nearly three-year absence
March 10 – A&M Records signs the Sex Pistols in a ceremony in front of Buckingham Palace; this contract is terminated on March 16 as a result of the band vandalizing property and verbally abusing employees during a visit to the record company's office
April 21 – Jesse Winchester, who fled to Canada in January 1967 to avoid military service in Vietnam, performs a concert in Burlington, Vermont, his first on American soil in ten years having recently become free to return under the Presidential pardon given to all draft evaders
April 22 – Pink Floyd open the North American leg of their "Animals" tour in Miami, Florida
April 24 – Several artists, including Joan Baez and Santana, perform at a free concert for 653 inmates of California's Soledad Prison
May 2 – Elton John performs the first of six consecutive nights at London's Rainbow Theatre, his first concert in eight months
May 7 – Having been postponed from April 2 because of a BBC technicians' strike, the 22nd Eurovision Song Contest finally goes ahead in London's Wembley Conference Centre: the winner is Marie Myriam representing France with "L'oiseau et l'enfant"; the British entry, Lynsey de Paul and Michael Moran's "Rock Bottom", comes 2nd
May 11 – Punk rock band The Stranglers and support London start a 10-week national UK tour
May 12
Instruments made by all five members of the 17th- and 18th-century Guarneri family of violin makers are auctioned at Sotheby's, with the top price of £105,000 paid for an instrument made in 1738 by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù
Virgin Records announce that they have signed the Sex Pistols, the group having had contracts with two previous labels terminated in 4 months
May 28 – Bruce Springsteen and Mike Appel reach an out-of-court settlement, ending the year-long legal battle that has blocked Springsteen's ability to record new music
May 29 – Elvis Presley walks offstage in the middle of a concert in Baltimore, Maryland, the first time in his twenty-three year career he has done so; after receiving treatment from a physician, he reappears onstage thirty minutes later
May 31 – The musical Beatlemania is premièred at the Winter Garden Theatre on Manhattan
The Nikikai Opera Foundation is founded in Japan[3]
The Sex Pistols attempt to interrupt Silver Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II by performing their version of "God Save the Queen" from a boat on the River Thames
June 12
Guitarist Michael Schenker vanishes after a UFO concert at The Roundhouse in London (he is replaced for several months by Paul Chapman)
The Supremes perform for the last time together at Drury Lane Theatre in London before officially disbanding
June 15 – The Snape Maltings Training Orchestra makes its London debut at St John's, Smith Square
June 20 – Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart drives his Porsche over the edge of a canyon, suffering multiple broken bones but surviving as a tree breaks his fall
June 22 – Kiss are elected "most popular band in America" by a Gallup poll
June 26 – Elvis Presley sings his final concert before his death, at Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana. Earlier that day, he has received a plaque commemorating the two billionth pressing from RCA's record pressing plant in Camden, New Jersey
July 9 – Donna Summer's hit record "I Feel Love" is released in the UK; it is the first hit record to have an entirely synthesised backing track
July 13 – After a massive blackout hits New York City, NRBQ manages to play an all-acoustic set at The Bottom Line with flashlights taped to their microphone stands
July 22 – The first night of The Proms are broadcast in quadraphonic sound by BBC Radio 3 for the first time
July 26 – Led Zeppelin cancels the last seven dates of their American tour after lead singer Robert Plant learns that his six-year-old son Karac has died of a respiratory virus[4] (The show two days before in Oakland proves to be the band's last in the United States)
August 16 – Elvis Presley is found dead at his home Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. Also that same day, the final concert of Bing Crosby takes place in England, accompanied by Johnny Smith.
August 17 – Florists Transworld Delivery (FTD) reports that in one day the number of orders for flowers to be delivered to Graceland for the funeral of Elvis Presley has surpassed the number for any other event in the company's history
August 18 – The funeral of Elvis Presley takes place at Graceland and it airs on TV 2 days later.
August 20 – NASA's unmanned probe Voyager 2 is launched carrying a golden record containing sounds and images representing life and culture on Earth, including the first movements of J. S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Guan Pinghu's Liu Shui, played on the guqin, and Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode"
September–December[]
September 1 – World première at the Royal Albert Hall in London of the expanded version of Luciano Berio's Coro
September 3 – Nearly 110,000 fans pack Englishtown Raceway in Old Bridge, New Jersey, for an 11-hour concert by Grateful Dead, Marshall Tucker Band and New Riders of the Purple Sage
September 15 – The third – and final – annual Rock Music Awards aired on NBC (Fleetwood Mac dominates, winning five awards while Linda Ronstadt receives the Best Rock Female Vocalist trophy for the third time
September 16 – T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan is killed as a passenger in an automobile accident in Barnes, London
October 3 – Elvis in Concert, a TV concert special filmed during Elvis Presley's final tour, is aired on CBS; Canadian Channel CKND-DT simulcasts it. It got bad reviews.
October 5 – The bicentennial season of La Scala opens in Milan with a production of Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlo
October 9 – Aerosmith cancels several tour dates after Joe Perry and Steven Tyler are injured by an M-80 explosive thrown onstage at the Philadelphia Spectrum, burning Tyler's left cornea and cutting Perry's left hand
October 20 – A plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrdcrashes in a forest in Mississippi, killing songwriter & vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, background vocalist Cassie Gaines and assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick and seriously injuring many of the remaining band members
October 27 – British punk band Sex Pistols release Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols on the Virgin Records label. Despite refusal by major UK retailers to stock it, it debuts at number one on the UK Album Charts the week after its release. In a promotional stunt the group perform on a boat on the River Thames shortly afterwards, only for the police to wait for them and make several arrests, including that of Malcolm McLaren, the band's manager at this time
October 28 – British rock band Queen release the album News of the World
October 31 – The original version of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Jahreslauf is premièred at the National Theatre of Japan in Chiyoda, Tokyo, by the Imperial Gagaku Ensemble
November 25 – 10 Years of Rolling Stone, a television special commemorating the tenth anniversary of Rolling Stone magazine, airs on CBS in the United States; guests include Bette Midler, Art Garfunkel, Billy Preston, Melissa Manchester and Keith Moon
November 30 – Bing Crosby's final Christmas television special, Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas, airs on CBS (containing the notable segment of Crosby joined by David Bowie for the duet "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy")
December 14 – Saturday Night Fever appears in movie theaters, igniting a new popularity for disco music and pushing it to the forefront of American pop culture, with the soundtrack to the film by Bee Gees (who have composed most of the tracks)
December 17 – Elvis Costello makes his American television début on Saturday Night Live as a last-minute replacement for the Sex Pistols, who were refused visas to enter America; Costello is banned after substituting the scheduled performance of "Less than Zero" with "Radio, Radio" instead
December 31 – The sixth annual New Year's Rockin' Eve special airs on ABC and the United States, with performances by Ohio Players, Crystal Gayle, Kenny Rogers, KC and the Sunshine Band and Andy Gibb
Also in 1977[]
"Bohemian Rhapsody" named "The Best Single Of The Last 25 Years" by BPI
St Magnus Festival of the Arts founded in Orkney by local resident, composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
The Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe begins its annual festival based on the music of George Frideric Handel
Luigi Sagrati becomes president of the
The IRCAM Center, a scientific institute for music and sound and avant-garde electro-acoustical art music, opens in Paris
The Cars sign a contract with Elektra Records
Devo signs a contract with Warner Bros
Midnight Oil sign a contract with CBS Records
The Neville Brothers sign a contract with A&M Records
The Police sign a contract with A&M Records
Van Halen signs a contract with Warner Bros
Bands formed[]
See Category:Musical groups established in 1977
Bands reformed[]
The Animals
Bands disbanded[]
See Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1977
The following songs achieved the highest chart positions
in the charts of 1977.
#
Artist
Title
Year
Country
Chart entries
1
Eagles
Hotel California
1977
US BB 1 – Mar 1977, Canada 1 – Mar 1977, France 1 – Jun 1977, Grammy in 1977, Switzerland 2 – Jul 1977, OzNet 3, Norway 5 – May 1977, Europe 5 of the 1970s, US BB 6 of 1977, Germany 6 – Jun 1977, TheQ 6, POP 6 of 1977, UK 8 – Apr 1977, Netherlands 8 – May 1977, Austria 13 – Sep 1977, Belgium 18 of all time, RYM 18 of 1977, Scrobulate 28 of rock, US CashBox 35 of 1977, Poland 38 of all time, Acclaimed 43, Virgin 44, RIAA 46, Rolling Stone 49, 68 in 2FM list, WXPN 73, Party 87 of 2007, Italy 88 of 1977, Germany 317 of the 1970s
2
Donna Summer
I Feel Love
1977
UK 1 – Jul 1977, Netherlands 1 – Aug 1977, France 1 – Sep 1977, Austria 1 – Aug 1977, Australia 1 for 1 weeks May 1978, Switzerland 2 – Aug 1977, Germany 3 – Aug 1977, Sweden (alt) 5 – Jul 1977, Italy 5 of 1977, US BB 6 – Sep 1977, RYM 7 of 1977, Norway 8 – Nov 1977, Canada 9 – Oct 1977, Australia 17 of 1977, Scrobulate 32 of disco, US CashBox 57 of 1977, Acclaimed 181, Germany 271 of the 1970s, Rolling Stone 411
3
Wings
Mull of Kintyre
1977
UK 1 – Nov 1977, Netherlands 1 – Dec 1977, Austria 1 – Feb 1978, Switzerland 1 – Jan 1978, Germany 1 – Jan 1978, Republic of Ireland 1 – Dec 1977, Australia 1 for 11 weeks Jul 1978, Norway 2 – Dec 1977, Australia 2 of 1978, South Africa 5 of 1978, Sweden (alt) 14 – Dec 1977, Germany 21 of the 1970s, RYM 28 of 1977, Europe 76 of the 1970s, Italy 97 of 1978
4
Boney M.
Ma Baker
1977
Netherlands 1 – May 1977, Sweden (alt) 1 – May 1977, France 1 – Jun 1977, Austria 1 – Jun 1977, Switzerland 1 – May 1977, Norway 1 – Jun 1977, Germany 1 – May 1977, UK 2 – Jun 1977, Italy 16 of 1977, Australia 24 of 1977, Global 33 (5 M sold) – 1978, Germany 55 of the 1970s, Scrobulate 80 of disco, RYM 101 of 1977
5
Baccara
Yes Sir, I Can Boogie
1977
UK 1 – Sep 1977, Netherlands 1 – Jun 1977, Sweden (alt) 1 – Jul 1977, Switzerland 1 – Jun 1977, Norway 1 – Aug 1977, Germany 1 – Jun 1977, Republic of Ireland 1 – Nov 1977, France 2 – Jun 1977, Austria 2 – Aug 1977, Germany 31 of the 1970s, Italy 81 of 1978, RYM 123 of 1977
Chronological table of US and UK number one hit singles[]
US number one singles and artist (weeks at number one)
UK number one singles and artist (weeks at number one)
"Something Was Missing" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse from the musical Annie
"Star Wars-Main Theme" m. John Williams from the Star Wars films
"Stayin' Alive" w.m. Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb & Robin Gibb
"Thank You for the Music" w.m. Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
"There Goes the Ball Game" w. Fred Ebb m. John Kander. Introduced by Liza Minnelli in the film New York, New York
"Tomorrow" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse, from the musical Annie
"We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse from the musical Annie
"You Won't Be an Orphan for Long" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse from the musical Annie
"You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse, from the musical Annie
Punk rock[]
Main article: Punk rock
Perhaps most important is the beginning of what has become known as the punk rock explosion. 1977 was the year of formation of The Avengers, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Crass, Discharge, Fear, the Flesh Eaters, the Germs, the Misfits, 999, The Pagans, The Plasmatics, VOM, The Weirdos, X, and X-Ray Spex.
1977 also saw the release of several pivotal albums in the development of punk music. widely acknowledged as masterpieces and among the earliest first full-length purely punk albums, The Clash by The Clash, The Damned's Damned, Damned, Damned, the Dead Boys' Young, Loud and Snotty, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers' L.A.M.F., The Jam's In the City, the Ramones' Rocket to Russia, Richard Hell and the Voidoids' Blank Generation, the Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, Television's Marquee Moon, and Wire's Pink Flag are usually considered their respective masterpieces, and kick-started punk music as the musical genre it eventually became. The year also saw the release of debut albums by bands often associated with, if not defined as, punk, thought to be the beginnings of "New Wave" such as Elvis Costello's My Aim Is True, Suicide's Suicide, and Talking Heads' Talking Heads: 77. It also saw the release of Iggy Pop's Lust for Life, his second record as a solo artist.
^Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. ISBN0-14-029312-4
^Frisius, Rudolf. 2008. Karlheinz Stockhausen II: Die Werke 1950–1977; Gespräch mit Karlheinz Stockhausen, "Es geht aufwärts". Mainz, London, Berlin, Madrid, New York, Paris, Prague, Tokyo, Toronto: Schott Musik International. ISBN978-3-7957-0249-6.
