1970: Let It Be - The Beatles
1971: Straight Up - Badfinger
1972: Something/Anything - Todd Rundgren
1973: Band On The Run - Wings
1974: Radio City - Big Star
1975: A Night At The Opera - Queen
1976: Self-titled: Cheap Trick / 3.45 EST - Klaatu (just can’t split)
1977: Animals - Pink Floyd
1978: Heaven Tonight - Cheap Trick
1979: Drums & Wires - XTC
A mate had Escalator Over the Hill and let me tape it around the time it was released. Haven’t heard it for decades. I got into it because Jack Bruce played bass on some of it.
70 The Stooges - Fun House
71 The Who - Who’s Next
72 Rolling Stones- Exile on Main Street
73 Iggy Pop & the Stooges - Raw Power
74 New York Dolls - too much too soon
75 AC/DC - TNT
76 Kiss- Destroyer
77 The Ramones- Rocket to Russia
78 The Buzzcocks - Love Bites
79 The Clash - London Calling
This was hard. Too much choice. I could easily come up with an enduring favourite album from each month in the 1970s. Anyway here’s mine:
1970 Jesus Christ Superstar Soundtrack
1971 John Lennon. Imagine
1972 Slade. Slayed
1973 The Eagles. Desperado
1974 Skyhooks. Living in the 70s
1975 Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood Mac
1976 ELO. A New World Record
1977 Fleetwood Mac. Rumours
1978 Kate Bush. The Kick Inside
1979 Kiss. Dynasty
It’s funny how music impacts on us so differently…I’ve never really rated Communique and have always viewed it as the weakest of all Dire Straits studio albums…and yet I know that a lot of people rate it so highly…go figure
Started to listen to hard rock/metal in the early eighties
1970 Black Sabbath - Paranoid
1971 Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
1972 Deep Purple - Machine Head
1973 Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
1974 Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties
1975 Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic
1976 Ramones - Ramones
1977 Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks
1978 Van Halen - Van Halen
1979 The Clash - London Calling
1970: James Taylor - Sweet Baby James
1971: Bread - Manna
1972: Aphrodite’s Child - 666
1973: Charlie Rich - Behind Closed Doors
1974: Glen Campbell - Reunion: The Songs of Jimmy Webb
1975: Fleetwood Mac -Fleetwood Mac
1976: Boz Scaggs - Silk Degrees
1977: Bob Welch - French Kiss
1978: The Jam - All Mod Cons
1979: Van Halen - Van Halen II
It has taken me a while to compile the following list, since my laptop froze and l had to redo about 40 % of it. Still not what l would consider finished. l might come back to tweak it a little at some stage in the future, but for now, l am a bit tired. So, here goes…
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs – Derek & the Dominos. The ultimate album to unrequited love? I didn’t know about the love triangle with Clapton, Harrison and Patti Boyd at the time this was released, but l worked it out from the songs. Musically Clapton was pushed all the way Duane Allman, and the result is a guitar based album, that has never been equaled.
Sticky Fingers – The Rolling Stones. It took me longer to get into this album than many of their others, a bit of a sleeper. This album shows Mick Taylor in full flight, and is the Stones at their absolute best, it is now my fave RS album of all.
Runners– up. Muswell Hillbillies – The Kinks. Their most consistent set of songs, each with a charm all it’s own, enigmatic and evocative sketches of a different sort of England.
Zed Leppelin IV. Nearly every track a classic. Stairway has been flogged to death, but is still as majestic a song as any ever written, in counterpoint is When the Levee Breaks, written by Memphis Minnie, which is a pure, 100% sledgehammer to the guts.
Who’s Next - The Who. Begins with the brilliant Baba O’Riley and finishes with the primordial Daltrey scream on won’t Get Fooled Again. In between are sandwiched many a good tune, including but not limited to Behind Blue Eyes.
Broken Barricades – Procol Harum. Every track a gem.
Stormcock – Roy Harper, as his most melodic.
Obscured by Clouds – Pink Floyd. Although only a collection of short songs taken from a movie soundtrack, l loved the change from the epic length of Atom Heart Mother and Echoes from Meddle. This was the band in transition, working on their craft in a shorter format.
Runner – up. Exile on Main Street – The Rolling Stones. Not quite up to the level of Sticky Fingers for me. Grittier playing and production, not quite as melodic as the previous album, but still a powerhouse release.
Harvest – Neil Young. Like Zed Leppelin 4 and Tapestry, and James Taylor, and Tea For the Tillerman, this was a mainstay of many record collections, perhaps too many. The end result was everywhere you went people would play these records, over and over and over and you get the idea. Flogged to death, but Young’s finest work.
Dark Side Of The Moon – Pink Floyd. Although they had been around for a few good years and half a dozen or so albums, this LP announced them to the world, and made many people sit up, listen and take notice. This was the start of an era where every PF album was considered a major musical event, and many people can still recall, where they were the first time they heard a new PF album/track.
Runners – up. Lifemask – Roy Harper, featuring Jimmy Page on a couple of tracks. This was the first Harper album l heard all the way through, with the spoken word intro to The Lord’s Prayer and the evocative Highway Blues, which took acoustic guitar playing into whole new realms.
Valley Hi – Ian Mathews.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal – Lou Reed live. Twin guitars dueling on his best tracks. Marvellous.
Eldorado – Electric Light Orchestra.
No Other – Gene Clark.
I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight – Richard & Linda Thompson.
Crime of the Century – Supertramp.
461 Ocean Boulevard – Eric Clapton. This was the much anticipated return after battling drug addiction for three years. This album established his solo career, and established a formula that was used on successive releases, although they were pale imitations of this album.
HQ – Roy Harper. IMHO his finest moment with the epic 13 minute The Game taking centre stage and still one of my two all–time favorite tracks. HQ was awarded Record of the Year in Portugal in 1975. That year Harper also received a similar award in Finland for the same record (from Wikipeadia).
Runner up – Physical Graffiti – Zed Leppelin. Maybe their best album ever. Contains Page’s favourite track Kashmir, mine also, as well as the ethereal In the Light. There is not a single weakness on this album.
Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd. Featuring Roy Harper singing on Have a Cigar.
Desire – Bob Dylan. Marked a welcome return to form, but with stronger backing.
Runners – up. Frampton Comes Alive – raised the production bar for every live album that followed. The sound sparkled, and outshone the strength of the material, but well played throughout.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – debut album. Such a cool little album.
Joan Armatrading – debut album. Years before Tracy Chapman appeared, was this superior album.
Year of The Cat – Al Stewart.
Wired – Jeff Beck.
Animals – Pink Floyd. I was in Lake Toba for the first time, when someone picked up the BBC World Service playing this entire album on its release, 41 years ago this month. Like l said above the release of a new PF album became such significant events that people could remember where and when they were the moment they first heard a new album.
Runners – up. Rough Mix – Pete Townsend & Ronnie Lane.
Peter Gabriel – debut album. Announced his arrival as major talent and proved he was the driving force behind Genesis, who were never the same after he left
My Aim is True – Elvis Costello.
New Boots & Panties – Ian Dury & The Blockheads.
One World – John Martyn.
David Gilmour – debut album.
Runners up. More Songs about Buildings and Food – Talking Heads.
Some Girls – The Rolling Stones. A welcome return to form after a couple of failed experiments.
Peter Gabriel II – Peter Gabriel. PG continued to stretch his song writing legs in this follow up.
This Year’s Model – Elvis Costello. Catchy as all hell.
Darkness at the Edge of Town – Bruce Springsteen. The Boss starts to rock as well as he writes.
Easter – Patti Smith Group.
The Wall – Pink Floyd. Their masterpiece double album that completed the promise they made with Dark Side. Contains their best ever track, Comfortably Numb, a song Roger Waters wrote in 90 minutes about an unscrupulous doctor who loaded him up on drugs to complete a show.
London Calling – The Clash. Also a double album and their best work, with half a dozen bona fide classic tracks. Full of energy.
Low Budget – The Kinks. Their last great hurrah? Certainly this was their strongest album since Muswell Hillbillies.
The B52’s – debut album. Lots of fun being had here, not to be taken seriously.
Look Sharp – Joe Jackson.
