1977

Considering rule one of punk was to adopt a convincingly anti-social working-class persona, Rikki And The Last Days Of Earth made a rookie error. They had the look – all leather and spiky hair – and they were certainly early adopters, releasing their first single in May 1977.

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I went to see Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers for the first time at Hammersmith Odeon in the summer of ’77 and he sang Ice Cream Man – six times in a row.

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Has there ever been a more perfect match of a song to the opening scene of a movie? It’s impossible to think of Saturday Night Fever without the bouncy rhythm of Stayin’ Alive coming into your head.

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There are few stranger bands than The Residents, as much a performance art project as a pop group, rom their experimental avant-garde image to their experimental avant-garde sound.

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John Otway is one of those great English eccentrics this country occasionally produces, like Vivian Stanshall and Syd Barrett. In a career spanning half a century he’s had just two hit singles, 25 years apart. This is the first of them, with his musical partner Wild Willy Barrett.

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Iggy Pop – Turn Blue

24th November 2022 · 1970s, 1977, Music
Coming so soon after The Idiot later in 1977, Iggy’s next album Lust For Life – another collaboration with Bowie – seemed somehow frivolous by comparison.

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This oddity is one of Brian Eno’s most interesting deep cuts. It was the B-side to King’s Lead Hat, the single from his 1977 solo album Before And After Science.

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The first time I came across Grace Jones was in 1977 with her radical disco-meets-bossa nova take on Edith Piaf’s signature song La Vie En Rose.

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This was always my favourite song from Low. And this is the story of the day David Bowie played it for me in private – at my own request.

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Iggy Pop – Sister Midnight

9th November 2022 · 1970s, 1977, Music

In March 1977 I went to the Rainbow Theatre, scene of many of my favourite gigs, to see Iggy Pop for the first time – with a band including David Bowie.

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