Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Fake THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Playlist: THIS IS 1977!

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl is simply too large a concept to be neatly contained within a mere three-hour weekly time slot. Hence these occasional fake TIRnRR playlists, detailing shows we're never really going to do...but could.

Okay. Following in the footsteps of a classic real-world TIRnRR celebrating THIS IS 1965!, a recent phony-baloney  playlist devoted to THIS IS 1966!, and this week's actual playlist (which was influenced by the passing of Television's singer and guitarist Tom Verlaine), we now turn the fake TIRnRR spotlight on THIS IS 1977!

Like I just said yesterday, the spring of '77 was the end of my senior year in high school, leading into the fall of my freshman year in college. I was 17 years old, and my pop music horizons were expanding and exploding. A sudden awareness of something called punk rock had a lot to do with that. You can read part of the story here, and a dovetailed part here. Looking back, I gotta say 1977 deserves its own playlist.

And here it is. As with the 1965 and 1966 editions, the 1977 playlist includes a few tracks that were released prior to the year at hand, but which had impact in our year of focus. As always, I am not under oath here. The playlist isn't meant to be a definitive representation of pop music '77--not objectively, nor of my direct experience of it--but it culminates with the record that changed my life, "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" by the Ramones.

I'm not backing away from my conviction that 1965 and '66 were pop music's best years. But I can't deny the importance of '77. And besides, ALL years offer some great rockin' pop music for anyone with the will to find it and revel in it. Today, we revel in 1977. I can't speak for you, but I'm all hopped up and ready to go. 

So, let's GO! THIS IS 1977!

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl--y'know, the real one--airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at westcottradio.org You can read all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO). TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS are always welcome.

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

You can follow Carl's daily blog Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) at 
https://carlcafarelli.blogspot.com/

Fake TIRnRR Playlist: This Is 1977!
Entries in BOLD indicate tracks I think I actually heard before the end of 1977; knowledge of the rest came later

THE CLASH: 1977
DAVID BOWIE: Heroes
DONNA SUMMER: I Feel Love
THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Sweet Virginia
THE EMOTIONS: Best Of My Love
MICHAEL NESMITH: Rio
--
RONNIE SPECTOR & THE E STREET BAND: Say Goodbye To Hollywood
ABBA: Knowing Me Knowing You
THE KINKS: Juke Box Music
ROSE ROYCE: Wishing On A Star
FLEETWOOD MAC: Go Your Own Way
THE SAINTS: (I'm) Stranded
--
HEART: Kick It Out
TAVARES: More Than A Woman
SHAUN CASSIDY: That's Rock 'n' Roll
SANFORD TOWNSEND BAND: Smoke From A Distant Fire
THE SHIRTS: Tell Me Your Plans
MEAT LOAF: You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth
--
THE TRAMMPS: Disco Inferno
GRAHAM PARKER & THE RUMOUR: Hold Back The Night
SUZI QUATRO: Tear Me Apart
BOZ SCAGGS: Lido Shuffle
THE BABYS: Isn't It Time
KISS: Any Way You Want It
--
CHERRY VANILLA: The Punk
BLONDIE: Rip Her To Shreds
STARZ: Cherry Baby
THE RUBINOOS: Wouldn't It Be Nice
GREG KIHN: For You
STEVIE WONDER: Sir Duke
--
YVONNE ELLIMAN: If I Can't Have You
EDDIE MONEY: Two Tickets To Paradise
PEZBAND: Baby It's Cold Outside
JOAN ARMATRADING: Show Some Emotion
THELMA HOUSTON: Don't Leave Me This Way
THE BROTHERS JOHNSON: Strawberry Letter 23
--
THE SEX PISTOLS: God Save The Queen
QUEEN: We Will Rock You
QUEEN: We Are The Champions
PIPER: Drop By And Stay
KANSAS: Carry On Wayward Son
THE COMMODORES: Brick House
--
LINDA RONSTADT: It's So Easy
TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS: American Girl
EARTH, WIND & FIRE: Serpentine Fire
RADIO BIRDMAN: Aloha Steve & Danno
THE DICTATORS: Sleepin' With The TV On
TALKING HEADS: I Wish You Wouldn't Say That
THE HEARTBREAKERS: Chinese Rocks
TELEVISION: Elevation
--
EDDIE & THE HOT RODS: Do Anything You Wanna Do
THE RUNAWAYS: School Days
RICHARD HELL & THE VOIDOIDS: Love Comes In Spurts
THE JAM: In The City
THE ADVERTS: Gary Gilmore's Eyes
PATTI SMITH: Ask The Angels
ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS: Radio Radio
THE RAMONES: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
--
DEBBY BOONE: You Light Up My Life

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