Category: Best List
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The Best Song of 1977
RECAP Before I reveal the best song of the turbulent year music had in 1977, here’s a recap of what we’ve gone through so far: #10: The Climax Blues Band “Couldn’t Get It Right,” but that just made it all the better. #9: The Electric Light Orchestra’s tragic love song is a “Livin’ Thing.” #8.…
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“Foreplay/Long Time” by Boston: The 2nd Best Song of 1977
The top two songs of the year are both songs that failed to make the Billboard year-end chart because I hate you all for loving and following Billboard so much and I want you to be sad. For real, though. As I mentioned on the worst list, the Cashbox year-end chart showed there was far,…
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“Hotel California” by Eagles: The 3rd Best Song of 1977
I’ve already pointed this out several times during this column, but I had to give plenty of safe choices the axe when writing this list. I already mentioned Stevie Wonder failing to make the cut for my best list, but he wasn’t even the biggest snub I made when writing this list. In 1977, Fleetwood…
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“Best Of My Love” by The Emotions: The 4th Best Song of 1977
Let’s discuss Earth, Wind, & Fire. They were a good band. I don’t think anyone in the universe disagrees with that statement. Maurice White and company presented us with nothing but the most radiant grooves and positive vibes throughout the seventies. After a few minor R&B hits such as “Kalimba Story” in the first half…
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“Easy” by The Commodores: The 5th Best Song of 1977
You know what’s kinda cool? When a bad band or artist makes something truly great. As irritating it can be when we keep rewarding success to musical acts that constantly fail to provide us with good songs, it can just make it that much more satisfying when they actually get it right. Just to name…
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The Star Wars Theme: The 6th Best Song of 1977
These days, we likely don’t see film as a key exporter of pop music. But in 1977, in a world where pop, R&B, soft rock, funk, and disco were all competing for attention, the x-factor of the year came from film soundtracks and film scores. Six of the 100 songs on the Billboard year-end list…
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“Boogie Nights” by Heatwave: The 7th Best Song of 1977
And now, a reflection of the biggest musical tragedy of the year. On October 20, 1977, just two weeks before the end of the Billboard year, and 15 years and a day before I was born, Lynyrd Skynyrd boarded a Convair CV-240 in Greenville, South Carolina after a concert. Just three days earlier, the band…
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“Dazz” by Brick: The 8th Best Song of 1977
On the worst list, I made the potentially controversial statement that in 1977, R&B was beginning to undergo a decline it would never recover from. Let me elaborate. I need to change up part of my theory regarding the decline of R&B. I stand by my initial claim that the genre was declining, in particular…
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“Livin’ Thing” by the Electric Light Orchestra: The 9th Best Song of 1977
No, I’m not leaving the Electric Light Orchestra off the best list. What kind of stupid, ignorant person would do that? “Livin’ Thing” – Electric Light Orchestra #13 peak (January 8-15, 1977)#77 year-end, 18 weeks on chart (16 in 1977) As stated on my sins of omission section of today’s column… I love the Electric…
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“Couldn’t Get It Right” by the Climax Blues Band: The 10th Best Song of 1977
There were a ton of contenders I considered to fill out the number ten slot on this list. I’ll go through what came close in detail when I get to the honorable mentions, since I’ll be giving quite a few of them away should I discuss them here. But, in short, they were from all…
Dr. Nelson Winston 