1976 was a year that had been hyped up so much during our years in elementary school, that there was no way the United States’ two-century birthday celebration was ever going to live up to that hype. The country’s dominant political and economic powers were still being wielded by the pre-Elvis generation, so there was no way a rock band would be on the list of performers for the celebrations in DC and in NYC that July 4th. Oh sure, they might have gotten crazy and invited the Beach Boys, but they were a nostalgia act by then. And, Johnny Cash was invited, I’m sure, as long as he stuck with his non-controversial country hits. Oh, the powers-that-be probably booked the Osmonds and Up with People, but that was the extent of a nod toward perhaps the most American of twentieth century music, right after jazz, the blues and country musics. But, I did not watch the celebration.
Instead, I took to the cul-de-sac, or as the kids called it “The Circle,” to watch a couple of martini-sipping middle-aged men with blowtorches, light all of the fireworks us twenty kids had purchased for our own celebration. Back in 1976 in Indiana, Hoosiers were not allowed to buy firecrackers, bottle rockets and any other explosive fireworks any teenaged boy would love to blow up. However, someone from the neighborhood was always traveling to Tennessee the week before Independence Day in order to buy illegal fireworks, so we were never without. Still, my favorite memories remain the men’s shaky hands doing the lighting by the end of the evening; the neighbor’s military-trained dog successfully several firecrackers and M80s before exploding; and, getting in a little hand-holding and kissing with a neighbor girl.
But, it was Casey Kasem’s special Fourth of July American Top 40 Countdown of the most popular songs from past July 4th countdowns during the rock era. That four-hour radio program was one of the most enjoyable history lessons that I ever took part in (I wrote it down…DUH!). But, my album of choice that summer was the classic album Destroyer by Kiss. No album before it had ever given me such a rush. It was nearly comparable to winning a Cross Country race or getting a double win in the half-mile and mile runs in track or making some great catch in centerfield in baseball. That album was a life-changer for me. And, 1976 had many more good albums. But, everything that was happening as a set-up for the seismic shift that would take place next year in the form of punk rock. Still, that was brewing in New York City and London, far away from some skinny would-be athlete from the middle of Farmland USA.
So, would you join me in my countdown of my 40 favorite albums from the bicentennial year of 1976, which the celebrations that year went off like popgun, while the music was more like a bazooka. Rock on everyone!
- Kiss – Destroyer
- Ramones – Ramones
- Queen – A Day at the Races
- Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
- Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life
- Boston – Boston
- Rush – 2112
- David Bowie – Station to Station
- Thin Lizzy – Jail Break
- Heart – Dreamboat Annie
- Lynyrd Skynyrd – One More from the Road
- Boz Scaggs – Silk Degrees
- Parliament – The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein
- Eagles – Hotel California
- Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record
- Steve Miller Band – Fly like an Eagle
- The Runaways – The Runaways
- Blondie – Blondie
- The Flamin’ Groovies – Shake Some Action
- Bob Seger – Live Bullet
- AC/DC – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
- Daryl Hall & John Oates – Bigger Than Both of Us
- Eddie & the Hot Rods – Teenage Depression
- Alice Cooper – Alice Cooper Goes to Hell
- Kiss – Rock and Roll Over
- Styx – Crystal Ball
- Aerosmith – Rocks
- The Alan Parsons Project – Tales of Mystery and Imagination of Edgar Allan Poe
- Bee Gees – Children of the World
- Bob Dylan – Desire
- Elton John – Blue Moves
- Bob Seger – Night Moves
- The Rolling Stones – Black and Blue
- Peter Frampton – Frampton Comes Alive
- Wings – Wings over America
- Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes – I Don’t Want to Go Home
- The J. Geils Band – Blow Your Face Out
- Manfred Mann’s Earth Band – The Roaring Silence
- Klaatu – 3:47 EST
- The Modern Lovers – The Modern Lovers
That is the year of 1976 according to my taste in music. Stay tuned for the of the Seventies as the week progresses. Rock on!
If My Records Could Talk 