An Alternative History of "Pop" Music

[daf]

Vincent Price ‎– The Monster Mash



Released in August 1977 - did not chart

"Monster Mash" was a 1962 novelty song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett. Pickett was an aspiring actor who sang with a band called The Cordials at night, while going to auditions during the day. One night, while performing with his band, Pickett did a monologue in imitation of horror movie actor Boris Karloff while performing the Diamonds' "Little Darlin'". The audience loved it, and fellow band member Lenny Capizzi encouraged Pickett to do more with the Karloff imitation.

Pickett and Capizzi composed "Monster Mash" and recorded it with Gary S. Paxton, pianist Leon Russell, Johnny MacRae, Rickie Page, and Terry Berg, credited as "The Crypt-Kickers". The song was partially inspired by Paxton's earlier novelty hit "Alley Oop", as well as by the Mashed Potato dance craze of the era.

The BBC banned the record from airplay in 1962 on the grounds that the song was "too morbid". It was re-released in the United Kingdom in 1973, where it peaked at number three in early October.

   

In 1976, Vincent Price recorded a cover of "Monster Mash" for a single, putting his voice to a backing track laid down in London by record producers Bob Newby and Ken Weston.

[Astronaut Omens]

Herman's Rocket- Space Woman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCY6jZn_1x8


Between Valentina Tereshkova's solo spaceflight in 1963 and Svetlana Savitskaya's trip to the Salyut 7 space station in 1982, there weren't any trips into space by women,  but in 1977, the year this science-fiction-disco platter came out, future Italian astronaut and record-breaking spacewalker Samantha Cristoforetti was born, so maybe Jean Pierre Massiera, the producer behind the track had one eye on the future. I'm not sure if the heliumy lead vocal on this tune ever says anything about space at all, mind you.

[Brundle-Fly]

Potter's Field - Tom Waits.  Released on Asylum in 1977.



This was the track that I first ever heard by Tom Waits off the compilation double LP, Asylum Years way back in 1984. It absolutely blew me away and remains my favourite of his to this day. It is like a huge, majestically arranged, Leonard Bernstein number.

We all know who Tom Waits is but what was Potter's Field, NYC? This link is rather poignant.

https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2020/04/pandemic-victims-are-filling-graves-new-yorks-hart-island-it-isnt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=564l2-5z6rQ

[Astronaut Omens]

Eddie Hazel-Frantic Moment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej41zcmRfPg

A highlight of the Parliament-Funkadelic guitarist's "solo" album- (really the LP is another P.Funk band record, with most of the group contributing to this track). While P-Funk did have some brilliant anthems like "Flashlight" and "One Nation Under a Groove", it's diffuse, unresolved,  collage-like tracks like this, that  make their albums very re-playable- every time I listen to this the way the chirpy guitar solo section and the depressive lyrics flow into each other wrong-foots me, as does the 'backing vocals as lead vocals'' sound.

[Astronaut Omens]

Pharoah Sanders- Memories of Edith Johnson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08IJpJ3S7kk



As with the Don Cherry track I posted on here ages ago, here is another track by a musician associated with the more aggressive and challenging sounds of avant-garde jazz trying something else, something a bit gospelish maybe, but in such an original way that I think fans of long krautrock tunes will like it.

[daf]

Geraint Jarman - Tacsi i'r Tywyllwch



Title track of the album 'Tacsi i'r Tywyllwch' - released in 1977

Geraint Jarman was born in Denbigh in 1950, but the family moved to Cardiff when he was four years old. His earlier interests were football and rock & roll, and Bob Dylan's performance in Cardiff in 1966 made a lasting impression on him. In 1969, he formed the band 'Y Bara Menyn' with Heather Jones and Meic Stevens, and two EPs were released on the Dryw label. Taking the mickey out of contemporary bands was their initial intention, but they became very popular and filled venues all over Wales. The group however was shortlived, and Geraint spent the next four years at the Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff.

   

His dream was to become a poet, and two volumes were published, Eira Cariad (1970) and Cerddi Alfred Street (1976). He released his first solo album, 'Gobaith Mawr y Ganrif' [Great Hope of the Century] in 1976, and the follow up, 'Tacsi i'r Tywyllwch' [Taxi into Darkness] in 1977.

I love the design of the Sain record labels - as a nipper, watching these stripes revolving on the turntable would induce a weird hypnotic effect. I've never taken LSD, but I imagine the experience is pretty much the same.

[SteveDave]

Is that the doc where Captain Sensible tells the story of somebody drunkenly pouring lighter fuel on a sleeping Costello on the bus and then sets him on fire?

No, this isn't a retrospective documentary. This is a film of that Stiffs tour. Everyone is wired to fuck. Elvis Costello glares at everyone and there's an amazing version of "Heart Of The City" with Pete Thomas and Terry Williams both drumming.

[Brundle-Fly]

Down, Deep Inside (12" Disco Extended Version) - Donna Summer.  Released on Casablanca in 1977





Ah, The Deep. The slightly disappointing Peter Benchley follow up to Jaws (1975). The poster and the nasty moray eel were certainly very cool though, as so the John Barry soundtrack. Up there with his best work and it must have been a coup to get Ms. Donna Summer on deck too.

Alright, alright, I'm bending the thread rules here as this single got to UK No 5 but not the 12" version. That was only available to Swedish DJs and is only commercially available now on the expanded OST that was released in 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEOoV11N8Yg&feature=emb_logo

[daf]

Dennis Wilson - River Song



Released in September 1977 - did not chart

Dennis Wilson had been considering releasing a solo album as far back as 1970, but it took another seven years until he was confident to finally step into the spotlight with the magnificent 'Pacific Ocean Blue - released in August 1977.

Dennis Wilson : "It's just a little home-made album, that's all. I am also producing it, but it's no huge production. It's simple and fun. I'm really interested to see what happens. You know, it's no big ego flash. I don't know how to put that delicately, but it's not like, "OK, I'm gonna be a big star," or anything. It's just a hobby for me and I love doing it. I am doing it."

The album opened with the single 'River Song' written by Dennis and Carl. Dennis provides a raspy yet soulful lead vocal, and the song features a choir backing, performed by Alexander Hamilton's Double Rock Baptist Choir. Carl is also featured in the mix singing backing vocals with the choir.

 

Al Jardine : "In a way he was really purging himself with his music. It's a little melancholy and reflects what he was going through at the time. But sometimes you have to hear something that you can tap your foot to. You can be insightful and frank and emotional but you also have to realise you're trying to get some airplay. What I miss on there is some commercial product where you can go to the media and say, "I think people are gonna be able to dance to this or sing this.""

Brian Wilson : "It surprised me to see so much soul and inspiration in Dennis. I never motivated Dennis to write; he had his own motivation. His writing style was very funky, a rock'n'roll kind of a writer. His roots he learned from The Beach Boys. He watched me produce records and he watched Carl produce and he watched Alan produce, and he just got the knack and started producing records."

Pacific Ocean Blue' elicited effusive praise from the music press, including Rolling Stone magazine, who raved, "Track-by-track this music is as charming and more forceful than anything The Beach Boys have done in years." An artistic and commercial triumph, the album chalked up sales of close to 250,000 copies.

   

Al Jardine : "I was impressed that he finished the album, especially in the midst of all the Beach Boys activity. He really isolated himself and took himself out of The Beach Boys and basically took over the studio. We were ticked off that he'd booked out the studio and we couldn't get in to finish Love You, but somehow we managed to get both projects done. He outsold The Beach Boys with that album. Of course, we weren't selling a lot of records at that time – 40 or 50 thousand records. We were languishing in between careers in a way. But Dennis eclipsed the whole Beach Boy thing, which is really pretty impressive."

Brian Wilson : "Dennis had many unique talents. He was creative lyrically, expressive vocally and was melodically talented as well. He was all of those things put together and they are all reflected beautifully in Pacific Ocean Blue."

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Speaking of whom...

The Beach Boys - Let Us Go On This Way



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMTMTQkyIvY

Brian's back! And he's brought a load of fat analogue synths with him.

The Beach Boys Love You is the 21st studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys. Originally planned as a Brian Wilson solo outing named Brian Loves You, the album is almost entirely written and performed by Wilson, and was penned during a process of mental and drug rehabilitation for him. Synthesizers are featured heavily in its arrangements, while the lyrics tend to be autobiographic or conversational. It was initially received with a sharp divide between fans and critics, peaking at number 53 on US record charts.

Love You has since been recognized as a work of "proto-synth pop," a forerunner to new wave experiments, and an idiosyncratic and creative oddity in the Beach Boys' canon. After being asked where somebody should begin with the Beach Boys discography, Wilson answered: "Pet Sounds first, then listen to The Beach Boys Love You."

[daf]

Was considering either 'Ding Dang', or 'Honkin' Down the Gosh Darn Highway' - but that'll do nicely!

[daf]

Cherry Vanilla - The Punk



Released in September 1977 - did not chart

Kathleen Dorritie was born in Woodside, New York. Adopting the stage name Cherry Vanilla, she starred in the London productions of Andy Warhol's play, 'Pork', directed by Tony Ingrassia, and other theatre of the ridiculous plays including a role as a necrophiliac nurse.

She worked for MainMan LTD as Dave Bowie's publicist, in the early 1970s, and became known for her outrageous marketing strategies, which included an open offer to perform oral sex on any DJ who would play The Dave Bowie Band's records. After parting ways with Dave Bowie in 1974, Vanilla formed her first band with Kasim Sulton, which played under her name. In 1976, she formed Cherry Vanilla & her Staten Island Band, with Buzzy John Vierno (bass guitar), Frank La Rocca (drums), Thomas Morrongiello (guitar), and Gary Cohen (piano).

     

She relocated to London in 1976, becoming part of the burgeoning punk scene and was signed by RCA Records. The London-based Cherry Vanilla Band initially consisted of Vanilla's boyfriend/guitarist Louis Lepore and pianist Zecca Esquibel, along with bassist "Sting", guitarist Henry Padovani and drummer Stewart Copeland from The Police, who loaned their services and equipment in exchange for £15 a night and the support spot on her tour, including a date on March 5, 1977 at London's legendary Roxy Club. Their first release was the single "The Punk" in September 1977, followed in February 1978 by the debut album 'Bad Girl'.

[jamiefairlie]

The Adverts - Bored Teenagers

https://youtu.be/pzGYRithpb8



This was originally the b-side to second single "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" and later was on debut album "Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts"

[Brundle-Fly]

The Underdog - The Drones   Released on Valer in 1977.





First punk button badge I ever owned. It was 1977.  I was only eleven.

I could style this out but I'd never heard a single note by the band.  I just liked the name and thought she looked like the cool green alien Star Trek girl.    Bone Idol is the better key Drones track but I prefer the more progressive The Underdog.

The Drones are an English punk rock band from Manchester, England. For a period of time, the band were in their early days produced and managed by Paul Morley.

Most bands in the thriving Manchester punk scene stayed in the city, but The Drones relocated to London. They became one of the pioneering punk bands that performed in the first few months of the now-legendary Roxy Club. They supported The Vibrators in January 1977, headlined in February, and supported X-Ray Spex and Chelsea in March. Later that year they supported The Stranglers on tour.

The band's debut EP, Temptations Of A White Collar Worker (1977), was described by one reviewer as "classic dole-queue punk."  In October 1977, the Drones' second single, "Bone Idol", was released. In December 1977, they recorded a session at Maida Vale 4 studio for John Peel at BBC Radio 1. That same month they released their debut album, Further Temptations, which has come to be regarded as a punk classic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4Zb5P4m_8M&feature=emb_logo

[daf]

The Snivelling Shits - I Can't Come!



Released in September 1977 as the B-side to 'Terminal Stupid' - did not chart

Initial pressings were manufactured in the UK and had paper labels. There were under 2000 of these and they are now very collectable. A second pressing quickly followed. These were manufactured in France and have plastic injection moulded labels. The second pressing is a bit easier to find but still quite highly prized as it's such a great single!

[Brundle-Fly]

upside down punky girl Image association, daf ?

[daf]

Ha - No, complete coincidence!

(To be honest, they could be gargling the National Anthem here - I just liked the sound of the band name!)

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

The Avengers - We Are the One



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUmBCPbCNdg

The Avengers are an American punk rock band formed in 1977. They recorded an EP, We Are the One that same year, and after opening for the Sex Pistols worked in the studio with Steve Jones. However, they hadn't released an album by the time they broke up in 1979. They got back together in 1999, and still make sporadic live appearances.

[daf]

Injaroc ‎– Halen Y Ddaear



Title track of their only album 'Halen Y Ddaear' [Salt of the Earth] - released in 1977

Edward H. Dafis were formed in 1973, and over the following three years experienced tremendous success, creating a passionate and loyal following among the young people of Wales. By 1976, they decided to form a supergroup - the eight-piece Injaroc [India Rock].

The group included most of Edward H. Dafis : guitarist Hefin Elis, vocalist Cleif Harpwood,  bass player John Griffiths and drummer Charli Britton - leaving Dewi Pws as the only member not to join. Geraint Griffiths who was an old friend of Hefin's and a cousin of John, would occasionally come back with Charli to play guitar with Edward H. on the weekends. Geraint moved back to Wales in October '76 and Charli returned shortly afterwards.

Caryl Parry Jones and Sioned Mair were members of 'Sidan' - whose album, 'Teulu Yncl Sam', had been produced by Hefin in 1975. Completing the line up was Endaf Emlyn who was a popular solo recording artist that had released the classic album, 'Salem' in 1974.

   

Whole weekends were spent rehearsing in various centers such as Aelwyd your Urdd, Cardiff, Dihewid village hall, Penrhyndeudraeth village hall, and mainly the Aberystwyth University campus. Sain had already shown interest in the band, and offered them a recording contract for an album. Their musical influences included American bands 'Eagles' and 'Orleans'.

[jobotic]

The Pop Rivets - What'cha Gonna Do About It?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsSlHRyw3I8

Love that the recording and the footage is from Detling Village Hall.

An older friend played me the Pop Rivets version of this when I was very young, ages before I heard the original, and I always think of the lyrics as being "I want you to know that I hate you baby, I want you know I don't care..."

[daf]

Peter Gabriel - Here Comes The Flood



Closing track on the album 'Peter Gabriel' - released in February 1977

Peter Gabriel was the debut solo studio album by ex-Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel. The album was produced by Bob Ezrin.

Peter Gabriel : "Bob Ezrin was suggested. For my part, I didn't feel I could be an Alice Cooper, but I made him listen to the extracts of what I had done and he liked them – or, rather, he liked what I liked. We understood each other. We talked. There was an excellent rapport immediately – a human rapport – and that was what I was looking for above all ... I tried to achieve a combination of Bob and me as producers. He controlled the American rhythm sections and I handled the more European things. And, on the album, Bob dominated the very rock passages which I wasn't used to producing, and I led the quiet parts – things I'd done in Genesis."

The photo on the cover is of Peter Gabriel sitting in the front passenger seat of a 1974 Lancia Flavia, owned by Storm Thorgerson, co-founder of Hipgnosis and the cover's designer. For the shoot, which took place in Wandsworth, the car was sprayed with water from a hose. The black-and-white image was then hand-coloured, and reflections modified using a scalpel, by artist Richard Manning.

   

Amongst the musicians playing on the album, were guitarist Robert Fripp, and his future King Crimson bandmate Tony Levin on bass.

Peter Gabriel : "I was uncertain of what I could or couldn't do so went with some of Bob Ezrin's choice of musicians (including Tony Levin) and invited Robert Fripp and Larry Fast to cover my more soundscape orientated / European ambitions. Although it was mainly recorded in a snowy couple of weeks in Toronto I remember the sessions as fast, exciting and hot. Many of the backing tracks were put down live, working to the limitations of the 16-track tape machine. It was a fun, intense and scary session, with a great band – who later came out to tour with me."

Although mainly happy with the music, Gabriel felt that the album – particularly "Here Comes the Flood" – was overproduced. Gabriel often performs the song live, accompanied by only himself on keyboard, either in German or English, depending on the audience. The song was debuted during an appearance on Thames Television's Good Afternoon in the summer of 1976. The album went to No. 7 in UK and No. 38 in the US.

Bob Ezrin basically inventing the sound of Pink Floyd's The Wall album two years early here!

[Phil_A]

John Martyn - One World

One World is the seventh studio album by British guitarist and singer John Martyn, released in November 1977 by Island Records. The album, produced by Island owner Chris Blackwell at his Berkshire farm, was recorded with a myriad of musicians, including Steve Winwood, Danny Thompson, John Stevens, Hansford Rowe and Rico. The album followed a sabbatical where, at Blackwell's invite, Martyn holidayed in Jamaica in 1976 with his family, having become disillusioned with the music business. The trip helped revitalise his interest in music.

The album combines Martyn's experimental tendencies with more pop-leaning material, with influences from the dub music of Lee "Scratch" Perry, who Martyn worked with during the trip to Jamaica and co-wrote the song "Big Muff" with. The record features a relaxing, echoing sound with usage of Martyn's distinctive Echoplex guitar effects, while his lyrics discuss love, specific people and his disintegrating marriage. Some of the recording was achieved outdoors, with Island's mobile recording studio being used to operate a live feed across the farm's surrounding lake; microphones picked up the full ambience of the area, including natural reverb and surrounding geese and trains, helping contribute to the album's sweeping sound.[1]

Island Records' mobile recording unit was operated in a courtyard over half a mile away from the main farmhouse. Brown recalled that a typical day's recording would begin at 2pm, occasionally working through to 4 or 5am.[14] At Blackwell's recommendation, microphones were used to record the lapping sounds of the lake and the resident geese,[14] with speakers shipped out onto a punt at the centre of the water, creating what Martyn deemed a unique sound.[12] As an engineer, Brown had developed the idea of outdoor recording when working with Murray Head in 1973, but it was when using these techniques on Robert Palmer's Pressure Drop (1975) that he inspired Blackwell. Brown later recalled: "That was possibly the seed of recording One World that way. I don't think at this point there was any great plan about using the water. That just kind of evolved once we got set up and realised the possibility of the place."[7] He credited the outdoor recording, "pumping whatever John was playing through a PA system and across the lake and miking it up", for making the sessions seem "magical".[7]

[Brundle-Fly]

Are You Being Served? The Movie Theme - Ronnie Hazlehurst. Never released in 1977.





daf? I'm frankly quite staggered this funky masterpiece wasn't your first entry for 1977. 

Ronald Hazlehurst (13 March 1928 – 1 October 2007) was an English composer and conductor who, having joined the BBC in 1961, became its Light Entertainment Musical Director.  Hazlehurst composed the theme tunes for many well-known British sitcoms and game shows of the 1970s and the 1980s, including Yes Minister, Are You Being Served?, I Didn't Know You Cared and Last of the Summer Wine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaY-pV5LRTs

[daf]

Wow - Never heard that before!

Was this really 1977? - sounds like some sort of lounge-jungle thing from the mid 90s!

[daf]

Jess Conrad - Lock Up Your Daughters



Released as the B-side to 'Save It For A Rainy Day' in September 1977 -  did not chart

Gerald Arthur James was born in Brixton, South London and started his career as a repertory actor and film extra. As a boy he was nicknamed "Jesse" after American outlaw Jesse James; as there was already an actor named "Gerald James" in Actors' Equity, a drama teacher who was a fan of writer Joseph Conrad suggested the stage name of "Jess Conrad".

Conrad was cast in a television play 'Bye, Bye Barney' as a pop singer, and was noticed by Jack Good who included him in his TV series Oh Boy!, and then was signed to Decca Records and had a number of chart hits recording for Columbia, Pye and EMI.

   

Conrad boasted of biting off part of the nose of the singer Heinz during a confrontation backstage at a package show in the early 1960s. Similarly, in 'Sex, Secrets & Frankie Howerd', he told of threatening to cut off comedian Frankie Howerd's ears when Howerd made undesired sexual advances to him in a dressing room.

In 1977 no fewer than seven of Conrad's singles were included in the 'World's Worst Record' list, chosen by listeners to Capital FM DJ Kenny Everett's show, and "This Pullover", voted sixth worst song ever, later featured on 'The World's Worst Record Show', a 1978 LP dedicated to the songs voted for, together with two other Conrad recordings "Cherry Pie" and "Why Am I Living?".

[Satchmo Distel]

Beach Boys - Johnny Carson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuZJPpf2Ljk&ab_channel=TheBeachBoys-Topic

https://dangerousminds.net/comments/patti_smiths_review_of_the_beach_boys_love_you

[Satchmo Distel]

David Bowie - Always Crashing In The Same Car

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m30aaI5Yf8&ab_channel=ItsIanNipper

[Satchmo Distel]

Augustus Pablo - East of the River Nile:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg-L7WOrNJ4&ab_channel=BionicDub

[Brundle-Fly]

This page 70 is a corker!

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Eddie and the Hot Rods - Quit This Town



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QiOQt8DHy4

This Springsteenian (thematically anyway) blast of amphetamine pub rock barely scraped into the top 40. For shame, pop pickers of 1977. I know it's basically a rewrite of their biggest hit, but it's a good un.

Eddie and the Hot Rods were a pub rock band from Canvey Island, Essex. They are best known for their 1977 UK top ten hit Do Anything You Wanna Do.