In 1976, record shoppers knew what they liked – the Eagles and Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder and Bob Dylan – and they bought it in droves.
Only 11 different albums reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart that year, with Peter Frampton and George Benson sneaking to the top between the better-known likes of Wings, Led Zeppelin, Earth, Wind & Fire, and a few other familiar acts.
The singles chart, meanwhile, was all over the place, with radio stations in transition and not sure where to land. Wings’ “Silly Love Songs” was the overall top single of ’76, but Rod Stewart’s “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)” wasn’t far behind.
Disco was starting to make inroads on the airwaves with No. 1 hits such as Johnny Taylor’s “Disco Lady” and “Walter Murphy’s “A Fifth of Beethoven.” Soul and funk showed up strongly with Ohio Players’ “Love Rollercoaster” and Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music.”
And ’70s soft rock was hanging around too, with Barry Manilow‘s “I Write the Songs,” Chicago‘s “If You Leave Me Now,” and, um, the Starland Vocal Band’s “Afternoon Delight,” which for some reason I can still sing from memory, also all reaching No. 1.
But we’re here for the albums, and now let’s get to ’em!
“Chicago IX: Chicago’s Greatest Hits,” Chicago / Weeks at No. 1: 2
Chicago, which finished 1975 with three weeks at 1, held onto the top spot for two more weeks to open 1976 on the Billboard 200 album chart. This album is so stacked with hits that you can drop the needle anywhere and land on a huge hit song, from “Saturday In the Park” and “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day” to “Make Me Smile” and “Wishing You Were Here.” Yet somehow it didn’t chart in the United Kingdom.
New and noteworthy: You know what was No. 1 on the UK album charts at the start of 1976? Perry Como’s “40 Greatest Hits,” proof that the Sex Pistols couldn’t show up soon enough. Some little-known guy named Peter Frampton released an album titled “Frampton Comes Alive!” in the United States on Jan. 15. I wonder what happened with that?
“Gratitude,” Earth, Wind & Fire / Weeks at No. 1: 3
Eight months after Earth, Wind & Fire scored its first No.1 album in May 1975 with “That’s the Way of the World,” the soul-funk-pop band was back there with “Gratitude,” a mostly live double album. There’s stuff on here that’s less-than-essential, but you’ll feel good even listening to that. It also contained a handful of newly recorded songs, including “Sing a Song” and “Can’t Hide Love.”
New and noteworthy: The Thin White Duke reached record stores when David Bowie released “Station to Station” in February, an album that spun off the singles “Golden Years” and “TVC15.” Diana Ross’s self-titled album included the disco classic “Love Hangover,” and Lynyrd Skynyrd requested that you “Gimme Back My Bullets.”
“Desire,” Bob Dylan / Weeks at No. 1: 5
Dylan released his follow-up to “Blood on the Tracks” between legs of his 1975-76 Rolling Thunder Tour, recording it before heading out in ’75 with many of the same musicians who’d join him on the road. The familiarity of bard and band shines through here with classic songs, such as “Hurricane,” “Isis,” “Mozambique,” and “One More Cup of Coffee.” It wraps up with “Sara,” a heartfelt, unusually personal song for his soon-to-be ex-wife, Sara Dylan.
New and noteworthy: What were the Brits digging as “Desire” topped our charts? Oh dear. They’d just put “The Very Best of Slim Whitman” at No. 1 for six weeks. Phil Collins replaced Peter Gabriel as vocalist for Genesis’s “A Trick of the Tail.” Captain and Tennille released “Song of Joy,” and finally muskrats had something to dance to at the prom. Be-Bop Deluxe released “Sunburst Finish,” which you should go listen to now.
“Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975),” the Eagles / Weeks at No. 1: 5
For decades, this was the one Eagles album that almost everyone you knew had on vinyl or CD. For good reason, too, because like the Chicago compilation that opened ’76 at No. 1, this Eagles‘ collection had nothing but massive hits: “Take It Easy,” “Desperado,” “Tequila Sunrise,” “Lyin’ Eyes” and more. This baby is certified to have sold more than 38 million copies in the U.S. alone, making it the No. 1 selling album of the 20th century.
New and noteworthy: Kiss released “Destroyer” with singles such as “Shout It Out Loud” and “Detroit Rock City.” Kiss drummer Peter Criss also let his lady know that he and the boys just couldn’t find the sound, which was a lie because “Beth” became Kiss’s biggest single ever. Marvin Gaye sang “I Want You,” one of his sexiest songs ever, and the Doobie Brothers were “Takin’ It to the Streets,” with Michael McDonald on vocals for the first time. And more! Thin Lizzy dropped “Jailbreak,” Rush delivered “2112,” and Boz Scaggs had “Silk Degrees.”
“Frampton Comes Alive!” Peter Frampton / Weeks at No. 1: 10
Here’s that guy with all those lovely curls! Peter Frampton‘s double live album debuted at No. 1 for a single week in April at first, but came back for another week in July, three more in August and five in September and October. Ten weeks, the top album of the whole year, powered by the singles “Show Me the Way,” “Baby, I Love Your Way,” and “Do You Feel Like We Do” – and that rad talk-box that had many teenage boys trying to imitate it as they drove aimlessly around their small towns looking to meet girls.
New and noteworthy: It’s a little tricky because of the gaps between “Comes Alive!” at No. 1, but in its three weeks in August alone, Boston released its self-titled debut as did that city’s Modern Lovers; Hall & Oates delivered “Bigger Than Both of Us,” which spun off the single “Rich Girl”; and Lee “Scratch” Perry and the Upsetters’ released the dub classic “Super Ape.” New Zealand’s Split Enz put out “Second Thoughts,” produced by Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music, whose live album “Viva!” also landed.
“Wings at the Speed of Sound,” Wings / Weeks at No. 1: 7
Like Frampton, Paul McCartney‘s band bounced up and down to No. 1 a few times – a week in April, another in May, and five in June and July. This was a softer Wings sound than earlier albums such as “Band on the Run.” The hits included “Let ‘Em In,” which taught us all what to do when someone’s knockin’ at the door, and “Silly Love Songs,” which was exactly what it said on the tin. But the record was huge, and the subsequent tour, Wings Over the World, saw McCartney play live in the U.S. for the first time in a decade since the Beatles’ last shows here.
New and noteworthy: Rod Stewart’s “A Night on the Town” included “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright),” which got banned by the BBC for being too s-e-x-y, and his classic Cat Stevens cover, “The First Cut Is the Deepest.” The title track of Maxine Nightingale’s “Right Back Where We Started From” was a delightful pop hit. The Beach Boys‘ “15 Big Ones” is a good latter-day album. Reggae singer Peter Tosh made his debut with “Legalize It,” and Graham Parker and the Rumour’s “Howlin’ Wind” signaled the shift of British pub rock toward new wave.
“Presence,” Led Zeppelin / Weeks at No. 1: 2
Some acts are big enough that they’re always going to grab the top spot on the charts based on reputation alone. “Presence” is probably the least-known of Zeppelin’s studio albums, with only “Achilles’ Last Stand” and “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” ever being played in live shows before the band split. Today it’s seen as a return to the hard rock of Led Zeppelin’s earlier days, but in 1976 it quickly sold the usual millions of copies before being overshadowed by “The Song Remains the Same” when the concert film and soundtrack arrived that fall.
New and noteworthy: Speaking of hard rock, Aerosmith released “Rocks” during “Presence’s two weeks at No. 1. Soul-jazzer Roy Ayers put out “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” the title track of which would make a few hundred hip-hop samplers happy in future decades. And the Southern California all-female rock band the Runaways released their self-titled debut, giving the world its first glimpse of future solo star Joan Jett.
“Black and Blue,” the Rolling Stones / Weeks at No. 1: 4
As with Led Zeppelin and “Presence,” the Stones‘ album this year sold a ton, wasn’t praised as much at the time, but then saw its reputation grow as the years passed. The band didn’t technically have a lead guitarist when they recorded it – Mick Taylor quit the band two years earlier, and though Ronnie Wood plays on some of the tracks, he wasn’t officially invited to join until it was time to tour. “Fool to Cry” and “Memory Motel” are the songs you remember most.
New and notable: Warren Zevon’s self-titled major-label debut didn’t sell a lot, but he still made bank thanks to Linda Ronstadt’s covers of “Carmelita,” “Poor Poor Pitiful Me,” and “Hasten Down the Wind.” Billy Joel’s “Turnstiles” produced a pair of his standards, “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” and “New York State of Mind.” David Bowie added another terrific compilation to the year with “Changesonebowie,” and the Steve Miller Band did the same in all but name with “Fly Like an Eagle,” packed with great songs.
“Breezin’,” George Benson / Weeks at No. 1: 2
Jazz-soul guitarist George Benson broke out of the jazz genre to score a hat trick of No. 1s on the pop, R&B and jazz charts. It’s a smooth record with a pair of acclaimed and enduring hits. The single “This Masquerade,” a cover of Leon Russell’s song, went on to win the Grammy for record of the year in 1977, while the title track earned the Grammy for best pop instrumental performance.
New and noteworthy: New releases were a bit thin during Benson’s two weeks at the top, but we did get Merle Haggard‘s “My Love Affair With Trains,” for which Hag’s only original was “No More Trains to Ride.” It also included a pair of hobo songs, “The Hobo” and “Where Have All the Hoboes Gone.” Remarkably, this was Merle’s second train-based album, after the Jimmy Rodgers tribute “Same Train, A Different Time,” which itself included a pair of hobo songs, “Hobo Meditation” and “Hobo Bill’s Last Ride.”
“Fleetwood Mac,” Fleetwood Mac / Weeks at No. 1: 1
Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood for this album, and suddenly Fleetwood Mac rocketed toward the stardom it would carry into commercial and critical acclaim in the decades that followed. But it took time! The album was released in July 1975, and it wasn’t until the singles “Over My Head, “Rhiannon,” and “Say You Love Me” had been all over the radio that the album hit No. 1 for a week in September 1976.
New and noteworthy: Bob Dylan, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Rush all released live albums, “Hard Rain,” “One More From the Road,” and “All the World’s a Stage,” respectively. Funkadelic released “Tales of Kidd Funkenstein,” which opened with a track titled “Butt-to-Butresuscitation” and closed out side 1 with “Take Your Dead Ass Home!” Joan Armatrading and Tom Waits released two different takes on singer-songwriter albums, with hers self-titled and his titled “Small Change.”
“Songs in the Key of Life,” Stevie Wonder / Weeks at No. 1 / 11
Stevie’s masterpiece of masterpieces closed out 1976 with 11 consecutive weeks at No. 1. A double album with a bonus 4-track EP, “Songs” is stuffed with fantastic tunes from “Sir Duke,” “I Wish” and “Pastime Paradise” to “As,” “Another Star” and “Isn’t She Lovely?” Seeing him perform it in full at the Forum in 2014 was a bucket list moment. That it arrived in 1976 after a run of albums that began in 1972 with “Music of My Mind,” “Talking Book,” “Innervisions,” and “Fulfillingness’ First Finale” says everything you need to know about the genius of Stevie Wonder in his prime.
New and noteworthy: ABBA’s “Arrival” landed with hits including “Dancing Queen,” “Money, Money, Money,” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You.” Elton John and Bob Seger released “Blue Moves” and “Night Moves” on the same day in October, yet somehow we didn’t get the Blue Night Moves tour from the two of them. The Patti Smith Group released “Radio Ethiopia,” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers dropped their self-titled debut, the Eagles checked us all into the “Hotel California,” Queen took us to “A Day at the Races,” and just before the end of the year, Blondie made its self-titled debut, too.
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