The greatest punk band of all time was The Clash, and their debut album came out on April 8, 1977. A little before that, and for the rest of the year, punk bands came on strong and fast: Blondie, The Dead Boys, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, The Dictators, The Ramones (two albums in 1977!), The Talking Heads…Legendary stuff.
In this post, I pay tribute by posting covers of some of my favorite songs from 1977. I’ll start you with this one, then hit the break for a slew more…
Plastic Letters was Blondie’s second album, and it had two big hits. The first was Denis, which was a cover of a 1960s tune, and the second was one of my all-time favorite Blondie tunes: (I’m always touched by your) Presence, Dear…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxKr4iW3Ois
The Clash’s debut was 100% awesome. Here’s some covers…
If you’re a fan of Ian Dury’s classic 1977 album, you can hear a track-for-track cover, below…
The Boys are a kind of forgotten punk band, but their 1977 album had a Beatles cover on it.
The Sex Pistols also released their best album in 1977, Nevermind the Bullocks, with songs like, “Pretty Vacant” and “God Save the Queen.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snyjRd93HBs
Elvis Costello put out “My Aim Is True,” which was unique for having punk ballads and showed a greater sophistication both musically and lyrically than most of the punk genre. Still, the album qualifies as a punk record, and it has one of the greatest Elvis songs ever…
And of course The Dictators were big in 1977.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jo4jCPvFD0
I really could go on and on and on with this, and it is fun, but at some point it’s time for bed. But not without celebrating Iggy! He put out two stellar records in 1977, with tons of classic tunes. Here’s a couple, starting with the magical pairing of prepunker Tom Jones and the great postpunkers The Pretenders. I’m not even getting into Television, The Ramones, The Talking Heads…1977 might have been the greatest year for music of all time.
