After last year's enjoyable and well-received Thirty Year Thursday series on my favorite albums of 1986 ( http://www.imwan.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=97034 ), I've decided to travel back to the previous decade this year for FORTY YEAR FRIDAY, a new series on my favorite albums of 1977...the year I turned 11.

The first post is a 2-fer featuring Love Gun and Alive II from my favorite band at the time, KISS. Here's the link to that post:
https://kamertunesblog.wordpress.com/20 ... -alive-ii/

Cool picks, Rich. "Alive II" was my first Kiss album (on 8-track, no less). I'd seen some clips on TV, and I remember them winning the People's Choice Award, but "Alive II" really started me down the path of becoming a big Kiss fan. It didn't take long before I caught up on their catalog, including finding an 8-track copy of "The Originals".

Thanks, Alan. I figured there would be some Kiss fans lurking here among the more vocal ones. Alive II would be a perfect introduction to their music. Ooh, an 8-track of The Originals must be a rarity. Do you still own it? I never bought that collection because I already owned the original albums, but I did get the sheet music book. I still have it but it's in terrible condition

I consider 1977 to be greatest year ever for popular music. Look forward to reading about your choices in this thread, Rich.

Thanks, Jimbo. '77 is definitely one of the best if not THE best year for pop/rock music. Not sure any year with no new studio album from Zeppelin, The Who and The Stones could be #1 but it's possible.

I do. I also found a vinyl copy. The booklet in the 8-track was formatted differently because of the size.

And I have the songbook as well, and like yours, it's in bad shape because I've used it so much. Spent hours with that sucker learning song.

I'm always amazed how most Kiss fans never got rid of any of their memorabilia from when they were kids. Any idea if that 8-track is considered a collectable? I'm not sure I ever used the songbook even though I used to be able to read music when I was taking drum lessons. Mine is in bad shape mostly because I removed the photo section, and then a lot of the pages came loose from the binding.

I still have my button from the show that Alive II was "recorded".
Cheap Trick opened.

Of course, this triggers great nostalgia for me, as Love Gun was one of the first ever two KISS albums I got for my birthday that year.

Alive II is also great in that it was my first new release KISS purchase. I remember getting home late on a Friday night (I was 11 at the time) and staying up until I heard the whole dang thing. What a great time to be a KISS fan.

'77 was always a favorite year for me too, I'll hold off on offering some of mine until you solicit input Rich!

That is beyond cool. My parents wouldn't let me see Kiss back then. I didn't get to see them until the reunion tour ('96?). I called my parents the next day to let them know I finally forgave them. On a related note, Cheap Trick was my first concert, on the Dream Police tour. They were still supporting the first two albums when you saw them, right?

I also was at the Alive II tour when it hit Madison Square Garden that year. Wow! What a show!

I think all of us Kiss fans feel the nostalgia whenever we hear this music or even see the album covers. What a great era to get into music. I've been saying to non-believer friends for a long time that Kiss helped point me in the direction of so many great artists, and for that alone they deserve respect. But of course they also wrote some kick-ass songs, breathed fire, spit blood, and had smoke shoot out of their guitars. What more could a rock fan ask for?

No need to hold back. One of the main reasons for my blog is to start conversations with fellow music lovers. I likely won't comment about which albums will be featured in this series, but there were so many great ones released in '77 and I'm guessing we'll have a lot in common.

Thin Lizzy, UFO, Rainbow, Uriah Heep (2 albums), Golden Earring, Pat Travers, Aerosmith, Rush, Motorhead, Judas Priest, two albums from KISS as mentioned, Foghat, Blue Oyster Cult, Detective (2 albums), Cheap Trick (2 albums)...and this is just for Hard Rock fans!

1977 was truly a great year for music even if people said Disco and Soft Rock killed music, but that was not true at all.

I didn't even mention the great Rock, Prog, Fusion, Singer/Songwriter, New Wave and Punk albums that year!

In 1977, I was just the right age for this:

OK, then! Off the top of my head - in no particular order:

Fleetwood Mac/Rumours
Kenny Loggins/Celebrate Me Home
Jackson Browne/Running on Empty
Styx/Grand Illusion (a guilty pleasure now, but a soundtrack to my high school years)
Crosby, Stills & Nash/CSN
James Taylor/JT
Steely Dan/Aja
Jethro Tull/Songs from the Wood
Neil Young/Decade - I know, a compilation, but this one is so good!
Cat Stevens/Izitso
Yes/Going for the One
Pink Floyd/Animals
Bob Marley & the Wailers/Exodus

"Mull of Kintyre"/"Girls School" (single) - Wings

All great points (as usual), Pete. Although I agree about most of the albums you referenced, the majority of them probably won't make the cut for this series because there are numerous others that had a great impact on me. There's plenty of rock, pop, reggae, fusion, prog & more to come.

I hate when the '70s is simplified into disco, soft rock, punk and one-hit-wonder pop songs. That decade had everything, and most of it has held up extremely well. It was also my favorite decade of Elvis.

I got into them much later, but I love The Jam now. Not sure they'll make the cut for this series, though. Too many other albums from '77 made bigger impacts on me.

It will come as no surprise that Animals will be featured in this series, and I have a Kiss connection to this album. Stay tuned.