Fantastic list! I was 17 and just making the big transition from prog to punk. Loved Trick of the Tail, Zoot Allures and The Ramones. Still had long hair, but cut it in December!
Fantastic retrospective Michael and a wonderful list of albums. I was five in 1976 and still tapping into my dad’s old Beatles records for most of my musical entertainment. There’s a great mix of well known and new to me albums on this list and I’m looking forward to writing my way through your playlist.
What a great piece, you couldn't have missed much! Plus, great mention for Boz Scaggs, Silk Degrees is sublime. Probably my most played song of 1976 is Caves Of Altimera by Steely Dan, a sampler's paradise.
Quite an impressive undertaking, Michael! The TV shows and movies were a cool "place-setting" addition! In '76, I was 21, and was straddling 2 radio positions that year....Music Director with a 3-hr daily afternoon on-air soft rock shift at U of Houston's KUHF-FM, while also part-time behind the mic at leading commercial FM rocker, KLOL-FM 101.
Shortly into '77, I was offered the 7-midnight nightly shift at commercial FM rocker, WFMF-FM 102/Baton Rouge, LA. There are about 1/2-dozen of these albums I can actually remember where I was when I received the promo, mostly at whichever station when the local/regional rep stopped by to deliver them!
Of course, a box of 'em might also come addressed to the Music Director or Program Director, and he would pass 'em around to jocks present, maybe shove some into jock mailboxes, and/or start auditioning the LPs to mark (on the banding strip, if supplied, on the front of the jackets) which cuts he/they OK-ed for preferred airplay.
The Petty debut: I was in the news studio at KUHF (ripping late news off the wire), and my girlfriend, Susan M., a news gal at the station, brought it in to me, saying she thought I'd "like this one". I think she thought Tom was cute, and might've figured it was power pop-ish, already a known fave genre of mine!!
The week of Boston's debut release was momentous to the point of me writing about receiving an Epic/CBS promo sampler LP that featured a couple tracks each by Boston, and the other 3 (far more veteran than newcomers Boston) acts who happened to share the ignominy of having their Epic debuts released that same last week of August '76: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/breaking-boston-behind-the-scenes?utm_source=publication-search
Those other 3 artists? Veteran session banjo/guitarist, Herb Pedersen, the writer (while still in college) of "Vehicle" as a member of The Ides of March in 1970 (#2 in the U.S.), Jim Peterik (who went on to co-write "Eye of the Tiger" as a member of Survivor in the '80s), and veteran mixed-race rock/soul band, Mother's Finest. We never heard from any of them after that week, as Boston's debut soared out of sight into history!
One more: I got an official Swan Song/Atlantic/WEA promo Led Zep "Presence" obelisk (individually numbered), and hung onto it for a couple decades. At some point at a '90s-era record show, where I had rented a seller's table, someone managed to walk away with it!
Excellent post as always, Brad. I also remember Herb Pedersen from his days in the Desert Rose Band. He and Hillman made some great music together over the years.
Those radio stories never fail to entice me back into those (sometimes) halcyon days of yore. Although I've been off the air for going on 13 years now, I still miss the days of two turntables, cart machines, reel-to-reels, black coffee, and music meetings!
Ha....I hear ya, Michael! I appreciate your indulgence....as my memories go back to the '70s, Imma keep pulling 'em out as long as I'm able to still remember 'em, until I can't no more!!!
When I was looking up JUST how voluminous Pedersen's session work was in the '70s, I (and I think it's in that Boston article) suggested that "you" (whomever) might have heard Pedersen's music far more than than they've heard ALL of Boston's music, on top of how many times anyone may have worn out their personal debut LP copy!!
So, my brother-in-airwaves, I believe we're due for a third Tune Tag! Your first was in 10/24, while your second was 8/25! If you're game, hit me up on DMs with your first song, and I would propose we both find ways to drop some call-letter anecdotes among our notes!! I don't think you've done that before on our Tags, and it'd be cool to bounce back'n'forth our separate experiences and differences and similarities in our different time frames!📻🎤
What a great retrospective! Coincidentally just finished watching Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore for first time. Loved hearing all the Mott the Hoople. Didn't know about the Ian Hunter album with all my faves on there. Thanks!
I was 7 in 1976, and I remember my mom gave me that KISS poster where they were posed like Archibald Willard's famous "Spirit of '76" painting. KISS seemed to be everywhere, especially 1976-1979.
And, I agree with you 100% on Aerosmith 'Rocks.' It's by far their best album and rocks from start to finish.
Agreed. The solo albums (Ace’s being the one exception), ‘Dynasty,’ followed by Peter leaving and the utter shite that was ‘Unmasked,’ were the perfect storm for many of us original KISS Army members to abandon the sinking ship.
Funny thing is, I included 'Dreamboat Annie' on last year's '75 list because it was first released that year in Canada. I sometimes wrestle with whether to go by US dates or not when doing these things. My rules are very, um, arbitrary a lot of times. (I like to believe I have my own internal logic at work.)
I was a huge KISS fan around '75-'76. They were my first favorite band, but by the time their makeup came off, my interest went along with it. Still love Fleetwood Mac, though! Barry? Not so much. :)
Good point about release dates. I always think in terms of when the album was peaking. There were a number of "Dreamboat Annie" hits on the U.S. charts in 1976 which is why I mentioned them.
Barry is an interesting case. At the time it wasn't "cool" to like his music. In recent years though I find a lot of people around my age "coming out of the closet" about their love for Barry. My neighbors across the street even invited us over for a Barry sing-along one night!
I feel that way about Neil Diamond. I've always been a fan of his, but he's been maligned rather unfairly over the years. He's a fantastic songwriter, and he possesses a strong, distinctive voice.
'76 my 18th year on the planet and I took off on the road from there. Worked for Rotten on PiL Metal Box at Stiff America but the armband on the fan was the message that turned off Matlock's mom, told him to bail, and unleashed Sid on the world who was a great artist in his own right. It would take all these years for Glen to get some recognition and Jimmy Carter for that matter. That fashion statement / message somehow still persists unabated. Great article! Great year! Good times are coming... slowly.
"so we were treated to Damien, the Antichrist, in The Omen, which—at the time, anyway—was considered a fictional tale.¹¹
ROFL! Trump's bored of peace?
1976. Big year for me too. I was ten. We heard all about your bicentenary all the way out here in New Zealand. Quite massive coverage from memory. Although it was still two years before the country got it's first McDonalds. We usually got 'American things' about ten years after Americans, so it was the start of things getting here faster.
I wish we got news of Trump ten years after the fact....
I was happily oblivious to nearly all of that! But 1976 was memorable for other things. The year I married.
Fantastic list! I was 17 and just making the big transition from prog to punk. Loved Trick of the Tail, Zoot Allures and The Ramones. Still had long hair, but cut it in December!
Is that Apple link meant to do something?
Thanks for letting me know. Refresh your browser and try again. It's working for me now.
I live in Mpls. That Springsteen single is viral here, FYI.
You guys are the model of strength for the nation right now. We stand with you. Stay safe!
Fabulous article, so many of my favourite albums and artists. Thank you 🙏. Just listening to All-American Alien Boy again. A song for the ages ❤️
I was 13 in ‘76 like Dan. This post speaks to me on so many levels. Thanks so much.
Fantastic retrospective Michael and a wonderful list of albums. I was five in 1976 and still tapping into my dad’s old Beatles records for most of my musical entertainment. There’s a great mix of well known and new to me albums on this list and I’m looking forward to writing my way through your playlist.
Thanks for the kind words and for reading!
Holy cow Michael. You went all out on this one. Loved that Silk Degrees made the cut.
It was a great year for music. Here is my bicentennial mix: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6aZt95Ihvnla0iauTYYCLD?si=53cde81159a54e3c
Nice!
What a great piece, you couldn't have missed much! Plus, great mention for Boz Scaggs, Silk Degrees is sublime. Probably my most played song of 1976 is Caves Of Altimera by Steely Dan, a sampler's paradise.
Quite an impressive undertaking, Michael! The TV shows and movies were a cool "place-setting" addition! In '76, I was 21, and was straddling 2 radio positions that year....Music Director with a 3-hr daily afternoon on-air soft rock shift at U of Houston's KUHF-FM, while also part-time behind the mic at leading commercial FM rocker, KLOL-FM 101.
Shortly into '77, I was offered the 7-midnight nightly shift at commercial FM rocker, WFMF-FM 102/Baton Rouge, LA. There are about 1/2-dozen of these albums I can actually remember where I was when I received the promo, mostly at whichever station when the local/regional rep stopped by to deliver them!
Of course, a box of 'em might also come addressed to the Music Director or Program Director, and he would pass 'em around to jocks present, maybe shove some into jock mailboxes, and/or start auditioning the LPs to mark (on the banding strip, if supplied, on the front of the jackets) which cuts he/they OK-ed for preferred airplay.
The Petty debut: I was in the news studio at KUHF (ripping late news off the wire), and my girlfriend, Susan M., a news gal at the station, brought it in to me, saying she thought I'd "like this one". I think she thought Tom was cute, and might've figured it was power pop-ish, already a known fave genre of mine!!
The week of Boston's debut release was momentous to the point of me writing about receiving an Epic/CBS promo sampler LP that featured a couple tracks each by Boston, and the other 3 (far more veteran than newcomers Boston) acts who happened to share the ignominy of having their Epic debuts released that same last week of August '76: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/breaking-boston-behind-the-scenes?utm_source=publication-search
Those other 3 artists? Veteran session banjo/guitarist, Herb Pedersen, the writer (while still in college) of "Vehicle" as a member of The Ides of March in 1970 (#2 in the U.S.), Jim Peterik (who went on to co-write "Eye of the Tiger" as a member of Survivor in the '80s), and veteran mixed-race rock/soul band, Mother's Finest. We never heard from any of them after that week, as Boston's debut soared out of sight into history!
One more: I got an official Swan Song/Atlantic/WEA promo Led Zep "Presence" obelisk (individually numbered), and hung onto it for a couple decades. At some point at a '90s-era record show, where I had rented a seller's table, someone managed to walk away with it!
Thanks for the memories, Michael!
Excellent post as always, Brad. I also remember Herb Pedersen from his days in the Desert Rose Band. He and Hillman made some great music together over the years.
Those radio stories never fail to entice me back into those (sometimes) halcyon days of yore. Although I've been off the air for going on 13 years now, I still miss the days of two turntables, cart machines, reel-to-reels, black coffee, and music meetings!
.....and, wire-service tickers! Holy UPI, Batman!
Ha....I hear ya, Michael! I appreciate your indulgence....as my memories go back to the '70s, Imma keep pulling 'em out as long as I'm able to still remember 'em, until I can't no more!!!
When I was looking up JUST how voluminous Pedersen's session work was in the '70s, I (and I think it's in that Boston article) suggested that "you" (whomever) might have heard Pedersen's music far more than than they've heard ALL of Boston's music, on top of how many times anyone may have worn out their personal debut LP copy!!
So, my brother-in-airwaves, I believe we're due for a third Tune Tag! Your first was in 10/24, while your second was 8/25! If you're game, hit me up on DMs with your first song, and I would propose we both find ways to drop some call-letter anecdotes among our notes!! I don't think you've done that before on our Tags, and it'd be cool to bounce back'n'forth our separate experiences and differences and similarities in our different time frames!📻🎤
Agreed! Sounds like a plan!
A great nostalgic read for me. Thanks for including the Groovies Michael,it was an awfully good time!
Hey! Thanks for reading and, more importantly, for the music!
Thanks Michael, great stuff!
What a great retrospective! Coincidentally just finished watching Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore for first time. Loved hearing all the Mott the Hoople. Didn't know about the Ian Hunter album with all my faves on there. Thanks!
I was 7 in 1976, and I remember my mom gave me that KISS poster where they were posed like Archibald Willard's famous "Spirit of '76" painting. KISS seemed to be everywhere, especially 1976-1979.
And, I agree with you 100% on Aerosmith 'Rocks.' It's by far their best album and rocks from start to finish.
KISS Meets the Phantom was probably when I first saw the cracks in the armor. That was horrible even by an 8-year-old's standards!
Agreed. The solo albums (Ace’s being the one exception), ‘Dynasty,’ followed by Peter leaving and the utter shite that was ‘Unmasked,’ were the perfect storm for many of us original KISS Army members to abandon the sinking ship.
That Gene Simmons solo affair included the most bonkers lineup of guest stars I can remember. And yeah, Ace’s was easily the best of ‘em.
Agree about ‘Unmasked’ and although I’m not a complete ‘Elder’ hater, that attempt at being “artistes” didn’t do them any favors, either.
In 1976 I was 13 and listening to Barry Manilow, Melissa Manchester, Fleetwood Mac, Heart, and Captain & Tennille!
Funny thing is, I included 'Dreamboat Annie' on last year's '75 list because it was first released that year in Canada. I sometimes wrestle with whether to go by US dates or not when doing these things. My rules are very, um, arbitrary a lot of times. (I like to believe I have my own internal logic at work.)
I was a huge KISS fan around '75-'76. They were my first favorite band, but by the time their makeup came off, my interest went along with it. Still love Fleetwood Mac, though! Barry? Not so much. :)
Good point about release dates. I always think in terms of when the album was peaking. There were a number of "Dreamboat Annie" hits on the U.S. charts in 1976 which is why I mentioned them.
Barry is an interesting case. At the time it wasn't "cool" to like his music. In recent years though I find a lot of people around my age "coming out of the closet" about their love for Barry. My neighbors across the street even invited us over for a Barry sing-along one night!
I feel that way about Neil Diamond. I've always been a fan of his, but he's been maligned rather unfairly over the years. He's a fantastic songwriter, and he possesses a strong, distinctive voice.
Yeah, that's a good one. He's had so many great songs. Glad to see people are coming back around to him.
'76 my 18th year on the planet and I took off on the road from there. Worked for Rotten on PiL Metal Box at Stiff America but the armband on the fan was the message that turned off Matlock's mom, told him to bail, and unleashed Sid on the world who was a great artist in his own right. It would take all these years for Glen to get some recognition and Jimmy Carter for that matter. That fashion statement / message somehow still persists unabated. Great article! Great year! Good times are coming... slowly.
"so we were treated to Damien, the Antichrist, in The Omen, which—at the time, anyway—was considered a fictional tale.¹¹
ROFL! Trump's bored of peace?
1976. Big year for me too. I was ten. We heard all about your bicentenary all the way out here in New Zealand. Quite massive coverage from memory. Although it was still two years before the country got it's first McDonalds. We usually got 'American things' about ten years after Americans, so it was the start of things getting here faster.
I wish we got news of Trump ten years after the fact....