In retrospect, I realize that my path through 1977 was paved with dominoes, each falling in its proper place. The path began in December of 1976, when I saw my first rock concert: KISS with Uriah Heep at the Onondaga County War Memorial. It wound its way through Christmas gifts that deepened my appreciation of the mid '60s British Invasion, through increased attention to freer-form FM radio as I left AM Top 40 (partially) behind, through a tabloid rock rag that introduced me to something called punk rock, and a friend in high school who intensified my appreciation of The Monkees. Each domino fell with its own melodious thud. I turned 17 in January. I would graduate from high school in June, and begin college in late August. 1977. The dominoes never knew what hit them.
My Christmas gifts in 1976 included a pair of double-LP sets, The Best Of The Animals and The History Of British Rock, Vol. 2. I was already a fan of The Animals, so the former just reaffirmed preexisting obsessions; the latter made me a fan of The Kinks. I've told that story elsewhere; for now, suffice it to say that I quickly went from being a kid who loved The Kinks' single "Lola" into a full-on dedicated follower of well-respected men. The set included "All Day And All Of The Night," my sister pointed me toward "You Really Got Me," and WOUR-FM gave me "Tired Of Waiting For You" and "No More Looking Back" (and more!).
WOUR was a key contributor to my burgeoning rockin' pop interests. The station introduced me to The Rubinoos, Graham Parker, Greg Kihn, and Nick Lowe, and it had a simply amazing Friday night oldies show. WOUR sponsored the free local distribution of Phonograph Record Magazine, which hooked me on the notion of punk rock well before I actually heard any punk rock. Finally, OUR did play my first punk record in the summer of '77, with a spin of a brand-new single called "God Save The Queen" by The Sex Pistols. I was instantly fascinated. It's not music, I wrote, but it's exciting--I like it! My understanding of the parameters of what was or wasn't music would soon evolve, and the newly-mapped boundaries would most certainly include The Sex Pistols.
My LP acquisitions began to grow at a more rapid pace: sometimes new, more often used from the flea market and used record stores in North Syracuse and in Cleveland Heights, where my sister lived. My sister gave me KISS' Rock And Roll Over album as a graduation gift, and three girls I knew combined resources to get me The Beatles' White Album; I also got Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band somewhere in this period. Linda, one of the girls who had chipped in for my copy of The White Album, also let me borrow her copies of some old Monkees albums, including Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones. Ltd. and Head; I'd never heard either of those albums before, and both of 'em just blew my mind. I was already a Monkees fan, but Head and Pisces shifted that into freakin' overdrive.
Off to college at Brockport in the fall, where campus radio station WBSU-AM offered more opportunity to hear the acts I'd read about in Phonograph Record Magazine, including Blondie and The Ramones. I tried to immerse myself in music, old and new. My girlfriend hated most of it. The majority of my college peers hated all of it. Every word they uttered against The Ramones made me dig in my heels, and deepened my growing disdain for The Eagles and The Grateful Dead, my confidence that I was the only one who knew what music was right for me. Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine. By the time I got to Thanksgiving break, I had expanded my mental library of favored sounds in less than one year's time. Everything would just explode after that, from the moment I first heard my new 45 of The Ramones' "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker." You can read that story here; when we return, we'll resume this narrative in late '77 through late '78. No future for me? Oh, I'd say there was, man. I'd say there was.
After The Gold Rush Neil Young
All Day And All Of The Night The Kinks
Any Way You Want It The Dave Clark Five
Baby Blue Badfinger
Ballroom Blitz Sweet
Beat On The Brat The Ramones
Blinded By The Light Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Both Sides Now Judy Collins
Bottle Of Wine The Fireballs
Calling Dr. Love KISS
Carrie Anne The Hollies
Carry On Wayward Son Kansas
Catch Us If You Can The Dave Clark Five
Cherry Bomb The Runaways
Cry Baby Cry The Beatles
Daddy's Song The Monkees
Daily Nightly The Monkees
Day After Day Badfinger
A Day In The Life The Beatles
Do You Love Me The Dave Clark Five
Don't Be Taken In The Dave Clark Five
The Door Into Summer The Monkees
Ecstasy The Raspberries
Eight Miles High The Byrds
Elevation Television
Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except Me And My Monkey) The Beatles
Gary Gilmore's Eyes The Adverts
Get Off Of My Cloud The Rolling Stones
Getting Better The Beatles
Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' Crazy Elephant
Glad All Over The Dave Clark Five
Gloria Patti Smith
Go All The Way The Raspberries
Go Your Own Way Fleetwood Mac
God Save The Queen The Sex Pistols
Gold Dust Woman Fleetwood Mac
Good Lovin' The Young Rascals
Having A Wild Weekend The Dave Clark Five
Heart Full Of Soul The Yardbirds
How Can I Be Sure The Young Rascals
I Can't Control Myself The Troggs
I Can't Explain The Who
I Never Thought It Peculiar The Monkees
I Wanna Be With You The Raspberries
I Want You (She's So Heavy) The Beatles
I'm Down The Beatles
I'm Telling You Now Freddie & the Dreamers
If I Needed Someone The Beatles
Isn't It Time The Babys
It Won't Be Long The Beatles
It's My Life The Animals
Judy In Disguise John Fred & his Playboy Band
Jukebox Music The Kinks
Jumpin' Jack Flash The Rolling Stones
Kicks Paul Revere & the Raiders
Knowing Me, Knowing You ABBA
The Last Time The Rolling Stones
Lazy Sunday The Small Faces
Laugh, Laugh The Beau Brummels
Let Me! Paul Revere & the Raiders
Lies The Knickerbockers
Lola The Kinks
Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress The Hollies
Love Is A Rose Linda Ronstadt
Love Is Only Sleeping The Monkees
Maybe I'm Amazed Paul McCartney
Mr. Soul Buffalo Springfield
Mother's Little Helper The Rolling Stones
Needles And Pins The Searchers
The Night Before The Beatles
No Matter What Badfinger
No More Looking Back The Kinks
No Reply The Beatles
Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue The Ramones
On Broadway The Dave Clark Five
Peace Of Mind Boston
Porpoise Song (Theme From Head) The Monkees
Rebel Rebel The Bay City Rollers
Rock And Roll Is Dead The Rubinoos
Rock And Roll Love Letter The Bay City Rollers
She Is Still A Mystery The Lovin' Spoonful
She's Not There The Zombies
So It Goes Nick Lowe
So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star The Byrds
Stop, Stop, Stop The Hollies
Summer In The City The Lovin' Spoonful
Thank You, Girl The Beatles
This Ain't The Summer Of Love Blue Oyster Cult
Tired Of Waiting For You The Kinks
We Are The Champions Queen
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place The Animals
We Will Rock You Queen
What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round The Monkees
White Rabbit Jefferson Airplane
Will You Love Me Tomorrow The Shirelles
Words The Monkees
Wouldn't It Be Nice The Rubinoos
X-Offender Blondie
You Really Got Me The Kinks
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away The Beatles
WHEN WE RETURN: 18 (And I Like It!)
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Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes,Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here.
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