Song of the Year 1976

Eagles video - Hotel California

Hotel California moves the Eagles from folk rock to the all American Rock Band. The transition was mostly due to the replacement of Bernie Leadon with rocker Joe Walsh. That same year the Eagles Greatest Hits 1971 -1975 album was released to become the biggest selling album in America history. Perhaps no band has captured the musical essence of America better than the Eagles. The Eagles website

Billboard Top 40 of 1976

1. Silly Love Songs, Paul McCartney and Wings
2. Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Elton John and Kiki Dee
3. Disco Lady, Johnnie Taylor
4. December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night), Four Seasons
5. Play That Funky Music, Wild Cherry
6. Kiss And Say Goodbye, Manhattans
7. Love Machine (Part 1), The Miracles
8. 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, Paul Simon
9. Love Is Alive, Gary Wright
10. A Fifth Of Beethoven, Walter Murphy and The Big Apple Band
11. Sara Smile, Daryl Hall and John Oates
12. Afternoon Delight, Starland Vocal Band
13. I Write The Songs, Barry Manilow
14. Fly, Robin, Fly, Silver Convention
15. Love Hangover, Diana Ross
16. Get Close, Seals and Crofts
17. More, More, More, Andrea True Connection
18. Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
19. Misty Blue, Dorothy Moore
20. Boogie Fever, Sylvers
21. I'd Really Love To See You Tonight, England Dan and John Ford Coley
22. You Sexy Thing, Hot Chocolate
23. Love Hurts, Nazareth
24. Get Up And Boogie, Silver Convention
25. Take It To The Limit, Eagles
26. Shake Your Booty, K.C. and The Sunshine Band
27. Sweet Love, Commodores
28. Right Back Where We Started From, Maxine Nightingale
29. Theme From "S.W.A.T", Rhythm Heritage
30. Love Rollercoaster, Ohio Players
31. You Should Be Dancing, Bee Gees
32. You'll Never Find Antoher Love Like Mine, Lou Rawls
33. Golden Years, David Bowie
34. Moonlight Feels Right, Starbuck
35. Only Sixteen, Dr. Hook
36. Let Your Love Flow, Bellamy Brothers
37. Dreamweaver, Gary Wright
38. Turn The Beat Around, Vicki Sue Robinson
39. Lonely Night (Angel Face), The Captain and Tennille
40. All By Myself, Eric Carmen

Top Albums of 1976

Abba - Greatest Hits
John Denver - Live In London
The Eagles - Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975
Slim Whitman - The Very Best Of Slim Whitman
Warren Zevon - Warren Zevon
Tom Petty - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Ramones - Ramones
Jackson Browne - Pretender
Boston - Boston
Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key of Life
Blue Oyster Cult: Agents of Fortune
Aerosmith - Rocks
Eagles - Hotel California
Tom Waits: Small Change
Judas Priest: Sad Wings Of Destiny
Rush: 2112
AC/DC: Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap
Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
Kiss - Destroyer
Bob Seger - Night Moves
Steve Miller Band - Fly Like an Eagle
Blondie - Blondie
Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive
Bob Seger - Live Bullet

Music News 1976

The Ramones - In Queens, New York Punk Rock takes the stage with Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone who were not related. Though never a commercial success they have became recognized as creative innovatorsand often rated at the very top of all time great bands of all time. Ramones 1976 review by Richard Hell.

Rock & Roll 1976

AC/DC Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

AC/DC (named after a logo on a vacuum cleaner) found a niche playing a simple brand of kickass rock and roll. Brothers Angus and Malcom Young on guitars, singer Bon Scott, drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Marc Evans moved from their High Voltage/ TNT days in Austrialia to sign with Atlantic Records and a move to Europe with their second album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. The ACDC website

Heavy Metal 1976

English Heavy Metal group Judas Priest became known as the Metal Gods with their first successful album Sad Wings of Destiny. Ian Hill of bass, Rob Halford vocals with guitarists Glenn Tipton and K. K. Downing. The Judas Priest Website

2112 became the breakthrough Album for Canadian Heavy Metal band RUSH. Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart make one hell of a lot of noise for just 3 guys. Rush the 2112 album.

Rhythm & Blues 1976

Play that Funky Music White Boy

The biggest Funk hit of the year came from an all white rock band from Ohio called Wild Cherry . At a local disco bar a black audience member shouted "Play some funky music, white boy." Lead vocalist and guitarist Rob Parissi wrote it down, went into a studio and overnight changed their style to create one of the greatest disco funk songs of all time. Wild Cherry at Wiki

Folk Rock 1976

Heart - Dreamboat Annie

Heart began as a Seattle folk rock band with Nancy Wilson on vocals and sister Ann Wilson on lead guitar. Their first album Dreamboat Annie had two big hits, Magic Man and Crazy on You which were much subdued versions of what they were to put out only a year later. They were the first successful rock band led by women. The Wilsons at wiki.

Country & Western 1976

Emmylou Harris broke out on her own with the albums Pieces of Sky and Elite Hotel putting a new sound to old C & W. After years of love and work with Gram Parsons who succumbed to an overdose she got a a band together, the Hot Band, and became one of Reprise Records top money makers for a generation. The Emmylou Harris website