Listomania! - 1977

I never got the number of the bus that hit me in 1977. You see, being a good-time Charlie was #1 on my list of priorities that year, closely followed by acting like a completely irresponsible, teenage idiot. I had a steady girl and the relationship was hot and heavy, resulting in an estrangement from pretty much all of my friends. I skipped more classes than I attended, which led to my Mom being called to the school at the end of the year and being told I wasn't welcome back at that particular institution. She then told me I had to get a job and start paying rent and I did get work, at a pizza place full-time for $1.60/hour. I quit playing all sports, which up until then, had been my whole existence outside of music. A disgrace? Most certainly. An asshole? Without question. I was so used to being smart and well-behaved, so used to being the big cheese- now it had all come crashing down around me. I had zero skills to cope with any of this and everything had spiralled so out of control that I was completely powerless to stop the huge snowball that was aiming straight for me. About a week after I was shown the door at school, the snowball smashed my little world to pieces. Debbie, my girlfriend of 18 months, was pregnant. She was 18, I was 16, and we were scared shitless. When my parents were told, my Dad wanted to send me to England to run away from my responsibilities. My Grandfather wanted me to come up north and get a job on the railroad or the pipeline and abdicate my responsibilities. In a moment of sanity, despite my age and stupidity, I chose neither option and decided that I couldn't bring a child into this world and not know who he or she was, or how they were doing, or go off and leave Debbie to deal with something that life-altering by herself. I chose to see this through, thinking that I loved her enough that it could work regardless of our ages. This story does have a happy ending, but 1977 was my annus horribilis. Music was my refuge from the storm and, as you will see by the list, times were changing. Punk had appeared on the scene and, while I was still mostly on the Classic Rock train that year, my tastes were starting to shift.

Top 10 Of 1977

10. Holidays In The Sun - The Sex Pistols

Young, loud and snotty - that describes both this song and me at the time. I had seen a TV special on the Punk phenomenon which focused on the Pistols and, completely fascinated, went to my local record store and bought Never Mind The Bollocks. I took it over to Steve's and we put it on the turntable. We burst out laughing at the vocals, at the lousy sound, at the amateurish playing. See, we were suburban kids who had no idea of the petri dish which had spawned such anger and discontent and need to get out and do it yourself. We were used to bands like Queen and Zeppelin and their professional playing and big production. Hell, the singer even sang with a hardcore English accent! Well, 6 months later, I had changed my tune and it finally hit home. This was always my favourite Pistols song and it still is today. Steve Jones plays that wicked descending riff and Rotten sneers and preens and spits his way through the lyrics. Sid Vicious didn't play the bass on this song (Steve Jones did that as well), but he got into a punch up with Paul Weller of The Jam in a London pub because he was taunting Weller about how the Pistols had stolen the riff from Weller's In The City. The riffs are similar, but not identical, so no harm no foul as I see it. "I don't wanna holiday in the sun. I wanna go to the new Belsen. I wanna see some history, 'cause now I got a reasonable economy." Provocative little buggers eh?

9. No More Heroes - The Stranglers

Another one of those songs where I dare you to not tap a toe along with it. It has such an infectious rhythm, driven along by Jean-Jacques Burnel's throbbing bass line and Dave Greenfield's signature keyboards. Several historical figures are name-dropped here, including Lenny Bruce and Leon Trotsky. The Stranglers were lumped in with Punk, but they were older guys who had been around for several years and had a degree of proficiency on their instruments that the Punk bands couldn't match. To be sure, there are similarities to Punk, like the angry vocals of Hugh Cornwell and the fast, driving tempo. This great little ditty is the title track from their second album, also the second album they had released that year. They had a long career and changed their sound many times. "Whatever happened to Leon Trotsky? He got an ice pick that made his ears burn." Ouch!

8. Watching The Detectives - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

I have never been a fan of reggae, but certain songs I do like. This reggae-infused monster of a song would be one of them. I liked Elvis pretty much from the start and this single-only release was one of the first songs I ever heard by him. Produced by Nick Lowe, it has a tension and cynicism to it that still appeals to me. The bass trudges along on that now-familiar reggae beat and Costello's lyrics flesh out this tale of a lover who would rather watch TV than be with him. The bass and drums were actually played by 2 guys from Graham Parker's band The Rumour as it was recorded before The Attractions were formed. Steve Nieve of The Attractions later dubbed in the keyboard part. Elvis' vocal delivery is that of his early years, kind of a half-sneer, in keeping with the trend of the times. "They beat him up until the teardrops start, but he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart." Whatchoo talkin' 'bout Elvis?

7. Psycho Killer - Talking Heads

Pushed along by one of the most famous bass lines ever, played by Tina Weymouth, this song has become one of the most iconic in the Heads' canon. At the time, it sounded very strange to these ears, especially David Byrne's paranoid, high-pitched singing. When I think of New York City in that time period, these guys immediately come to mind and they along with Patti Smith were the main impetus for my 1980 trip there. I had to see what inspired these great artists to write such great songs and fantastic lyrics. This song is sung from the viewpoint of the serial killer and is still very chilling and full of kinetic energy, even the part sung in French. The guitar always sounded like what goes on in a crazy person's brain, all disjointed and shrieking. "You start a conversation you can't even finish it. You're talking a lot, but you're not saying anything. When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed. Say something once, why say it again?" Words to live by.....

6. The Modern World - The Jam

Here's another band that put out 2 albums in '77. This is the title cut from the second album and it's all righteous anger and vitriol. Singer/guitarist Paul Weller was just 19 when he wrote this in reaction to reviewers who claimed that he was just a Who revivalist. Like the aforementioned Stranglers, The Jam were lumped in with the Punks, but their tailored suits and Mod leanings were very unlike other Punk acts. They had the speed and anger and energy of their peers though and played on the same bill as many of them such as The Pistols and Clash. Weller's guitar is manic and Bruce Foxton on bass and Rick Buckler lay down the bottom with precision and chops. Weller's Cockney accent gives his angry vocals added oomph and verve. "Don't have to explain myself to you. I don't give two fucks about your review." Yes you do Paulie, you wrote a bloody song about it!

5. Fly At Night - Chilliwack

I've always had a soft spot for songs that start out with acoustic guitar and morph into rockers with electric guitars. This is a genuine Canadian classic that is known by a scant few outside our borders. It is an ode to life on tour, not exactly an original subject even back then, but it is such a wonderful song that the subject makes no difference to me. Sung in his trademark falsetto by Bill Henderson, one has no power to resist the gorgeous melody which usually prompts a singalong when this song is played. My buddy Coup often broke into this when we'd get together to jam, without complaint from any of us in attendance. A fave then, and now. "Ooh, we like the big wide spaces. Yeah, we like a sea of faces." This obviously wasn't written just after playing Call The Office then!

4. Aja - Steely Dan

This epic always fascinated me. I remember buying the album and playing it at the home of this girl I had a big crush on - Anne Marie Chesterman, where are you now? I knew absolutely nothing about Jazz, but this song is all Jazz. The chords, Wayne Shorter from Miles Davis' band and his brilliant saxophone, Larry Carlton on guitar - a veritable who's who of Jazz greats. Shorter's blazing sax solo is mind-blowing, but it is the drumming of Steve Gadd that makes this tune so amazing. Hands down, the best drum soloing ever put on record. The story goes that Gadd came in, was handed his part, read it over, sat down, and did it in one take. Now go listen to it and come back and read this again One take!!! Well tie me to the side of an ant hill and smear my ears with jam! "Chinese music always sets me free. Angular banjos sound good to me." Deedle-deedle-dee-dee, dee dee dee!

3. Sound And Vision - David Bowie

In order to clean up from all the coke in L.A., Bowie fled that scene in late '76 for Berlin. He set up shop there and recorded 2 albums, both of which were released in '77, Low and Heroes. He was quite in love with the German sound and he immersed himself in it and the culture. This song is one of his best dance tunes, having shaken many a leg to it myself. Bowie hired Brian Eno to play synths on this song and, along with producer Tony Visconti's wife, Mary Hopkin of Those Were The Days fame, provide backing vocals. It is barely 3 minutes long, but it packs a huge punch. The rhythm section is fantastic with the percolating bass guitar being the foundation of this great song. Bowie's vocal is quite laid-back and low-key, but the epitome of cool. "Pale blinds drawn all day, nothing to do, nothing to say. Blue, blue." Sunday morning coming down!

2. Complete Control - The Clash

Clear the furniture! Grab the kids and get them out of harm's way! 250 pounds of thrashing madman coming through! Man, do I love this song! The energy, the feel, Joe Strummer starring as the raving lunatic! The band is just giving their all, sounding so dangerous and young and angry. This single was not on the first album in the U.K., but it was put on the U.S. release. The Clash were much better players than the Pistols and they packed at least as good a lyrical punch. This song relates to their concerns over CBS having too much say in what the band did and wrote, kind of a naive notion, but a common one with musicians and artists. There was nothing worse to Punks than being a sell-out and The Clash took a lot of heat from their peers for signing with such a huge corporation. It was produced by Jamaican reggae legend Lee "Scratch" Perry and has achieved classic status, deservedly so. I love when Strummer sarcastically yells out"You're my guitar hero" when Mick Jones is playing his solo. What a song! "They said we'd be artistically free when we signed that bit of paper. They meant we'll make a lotsa mon-ee an' worry about it later." All hail the corporations!

1. Dum Dum Boys - Iggy Pop

It begins with the roll call of his former Stooges bandmates and the fate that had befallen them. It was seen as a put down by some critics, but I actually feel the opposite. It's kind of a twisted homage to his former buddies, backed up by the line "Where are you now my dum dum boys? Where are you now when I need your noise?" Produced in Berlin by David Bowie, it is Bowie's band that plays on this and gives it that sludgy, crawl-on-your-belly sound. Carlos Alomar plays a great druggy guitar and Iggy's voice sounds threatening and twisted and really fits the feel of this amazing tune. This is from Iggy's debut solo outing The Idiot, in my opinion an outstanding record. When Martina and I were in university, we pulled into the parking lot there one morning at 8AM with this just blasting from the car, much to the alarm of the 4 or 5 people waiting at the adjacent bus stop. They were most definitely alarmed by my singing it at the top of my lungs! "I was most impressed. No one else was impressed, not at all." I, too, was impressed Iggy!

PS - I will be at a cottage until Sunday Aug.22 so no more posts until then.