1977 in British music explained

This is a summary of 1977 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

Events

• 1 January – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, the Roxy.
• 6 January – Record company EMI drops the controversial punk rock group the Sex Pistols.^[1]
• 22 January – Maria Kliegel makes her London début at the Wigmore Hall, with a programme of Bach, Kodály, and Franck.
• 26 January – Fleetwood Mac's original lead guitarist, Peter Green, is committed to a mental hospital in England after firing a pistol at a delivery boy bringing him a royalties check.
• 27 January – After releasing only one single for the band, EMI Records terminates its contract with the Sex Pistols.
• 4 February – Fleetwood Mac's Rumours is released; it goes on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time.
• 15 February – Sid Vicious replaces Glen Matlock as the bassist of the Sex Pistols.
• 10 March – A&M Records signs the Sex Pistols in a ceremony in front of Buckingham Palace. The contract is terminated on 16 March as a result of the band vandalising property and verbally abusing employees during a visit to the record company's office.
• 2 May – Elton John performs the first of six consecutive nights at London's Rainbow Theatre, his first concert in eight months. John keeps a low profile in 1977, not releasing any new music for the first year since his recording career began eight years previously.
• 7 May – Having been postponed from 2 April because of a BBC technicians' strike, the 22nd Eurovision Song Contest finally goes ahead in London's Wembley Conference Centre.
• 11 May – The Stranglers and support band London start a 10-week national tour.
• 12 May – Virgin Records announces that they have signed the Sex Pistols.
• 7 June – The Sex Pistols attempt to interrupt Silver Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II by performing "God Save the Queen" from a boat on the River Thames. Police force the boat to dock and several arrests are made following a scuffle.
• 12 June – Guitarist Michael Schenker vanishes after a UFO concert at the Roundhouse in London. He is replaced for several months by Paul Chapman until he appears again to rejoin the group in October.
• 15 June – The Snape Maltings Training Orchestra makes its London debut at St John's, Smith Square.
• 25 June – The Young Musicians' Symphony Orchestra of London, conducted by James Blair, gives the belated première of William Walton's 1962 composition Prelude for Orchestra.
• 6 July – During a Pink Floyd concert before a crowd of 80,000 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, bassist Roger Waters becomes increasingly irritated by a fan and exerts his frustration by spitting on him. The incident becomes the catalyst for the group's next album, The Wall.
• 22 July – The first night of the Proms is broadcast by BBC Radio 3 for the first time in quadraphonic sound.
• 26 July – Led Zeppelin cancel the last seven dates of their American tour after lead singer Robert Plant learns that his six-year-old son Karac has died of a respiratory virus. The show two days before in Oakland proves to be the band's last ever in the United States.
• 17 August – The final appearance of conductor Sir Adrian Boult, aged 88, at the Proms, conducting Job by Vaughan Williams, a work dedicated to Boult.
• 1 September – World première at the Royal Albert Hall in London of the expanded version of Luciano Berio's Coro.
• 16 September – T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan is killed in an automobile accident.
• 27 October – The Sex Pistols release Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, which would be their only studio album.

Charts

Number-one singles

Date	Song	Artist
8 January	"When a Child Is Born"	Johnny Mathis
15 January	"Don't Give Up on Us"	David Soul
22 January
29 January
5 February
12 February	"Don't Cry for Me Argentina"	Julie Covington
19 February	"When I Need You"	Leo Sayer
26 February
5 March
12 March	"Chanson D'Amour"	The Manhattan Transfer
19 March
26 March
2 April	"Knowing Me, Knowing You"	ABBA
9 April
16 April
23 April
30 April
7 May	"Free"	Deniece Williams
14 May
21 May	"I Don't Want to Talk About It" / "The First Cut Is the Deepest"
28 May
4 June
11 June
18 June	"Lucille"
25 June	"Show You the Way to Go"	The Jacksons
2 July	"So You Win Again"	Hot Chocolate
9 July
16 July
23 July	"I Feel Love"	Donna Summer
30 July
6 August
13 August
20 August	"Angelo"	Brotherhood of Man
27 August	"Float On"	The Floaters
3 September	"Way Down"	Elvis Presley
10 September
17 September
24 September
1 October
8 October	"Silver Lady"	David Soul
15 October
22 October
29 October	"Yes Sir I Can Boogie"	Baccara
5 November	"The Name of the Game"	ABBA
12 November
19 November
26 November
3 December	"Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School"	Wings
10 December
17 December
24 December
31 December

Number-one albums

Date	Album	Artist	Weeks
8 January	A Day at the Races	Queen	1
15 January	Arrival	ABBA	1
22 January	Red River Valley	Slim Whitman	4
29 January
5 February
12 February
19 February	20 Golden Greats	The Shadows	6
26 February
5 March
12 March
19 March
26 March
2 April	Portrait of Sinatra	Frank Sinatra	2
9 April
16 April	Arrival	ABBA	9
23 April
30 April
7 May
14 May
21 May
28 May
4 June
11 June
18 June	The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl	The Beatles	1
25 June	The Muppet Show	The Muppets	1
2 July	A Star is Born	Original Soundtrack	2
9 July
16 July	The Johnny Mathis Collection	Johnny Mathis	4
23 July
30 July
6 August
13 August	Going for the One	Yes	2
20 August
27 August	20 All Time Greats	Connie Francis	2
3 September
10 September	40 Greatest Hits	Elvis Presley	1
17 September	20 Golden Greats	Diana Ross and the Supremes	7
24 September
1 October
8 October
15 October
22 October
29 October
5 November	40 Golden Greats	Cliff Richard	1
12 November	Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols	The Sex Pistols	2
19 November
26 November	The Sound of Bread	Bread	2
3 December
10 December	Disco Fever	Various Artists	4
17 December
24 December
31 December

Year-end charts

1977 is the first year for which "full year" UK year-end charts exist – in order to be published in the year's final issue of Music Week and to be broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on New Year's Day, the collection of sales data had a cut-off point sometime in early December each year. This continued to be the case until 1983, when Gallup took over the compilation of the charts from the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) and automated the data collection process, which meant that sales could be tabulated right up until the end of the year and still produced in time for the Radio 1 broadcast. However, from 1977 to 1982 (with the exception of 1979), BMRB produced updated charts a few months later which included the missing final weeks' sales for each year.

The tables below include sales between 1 January and 30 December 1977: the year-end charts reproduced in the issue of Music Week dated 24 December 1977 and played on Radio 1 on 1 January 1978 only include sales figures up until 10 December 1977.

Best-selling singles

^[2]

scope=col		scope=col	Title	scope=col	Artist	scope=col	Peak position
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	1	"Mull of Kintyre"/"Girls' School"	Wings	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	2	"Don't Give Up on Us"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	3	"Don't Cry for Me Argentina"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	4	"When I Need You"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	5	"Silver Lady"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	6	"Knowing Me, Knowing You"	ABBA	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	7	"I Feel Love"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	8	"Way Down"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	9	"So You Win Again"	Hot Chocolate	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	10	"Angelo"	Brotherhood of Man	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	11	"Chanson D'Amour"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	12	"Yes Sir, I Can Boogie"	Baccara	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	13	"Black Is Black"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	14	"Fanfare for the Common Man"	Emerson, Lake and Palmer	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	15	"Ma Baker"	Boney M	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	16	"The Name of the Game"	ABBA	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	17	"Rockin' All Over the World"	Status Quo	3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	18	"Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)"		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	19	"How Deep Is Your Love"	Bee Gees	3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	20	"Lucille"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	21	"The Floral Dance"	Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	22	"Magic Fly"	Space	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	23	"We Are the Champions"	Queen	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	24	"Boogie Nights"	Heatwave	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	25	"You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)"		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	26	"Sideshow"		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	27	"Float On"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	28	"Show You the Way to Go"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	29	"Baby Don't Change Your Mind"	& the Pips	4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	30	"Free"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	31	"Sound and Vision"		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	32	"Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	33	"I Don't Want to Talk About It"/"The First Cut Is the Deepest"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	34	"Going in with My Eyes Open"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	35	"Dancin' Party"	Showaddywaddy	4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	36	"When"	Showaddywaddy	3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	37	"You Got What It Takes"	Showaddywaddy	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	38	"Oxygène (Part IV)"		4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	39	"Daddy Cool – The Girl Can't Help It"	Darts	6
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	40	"Best of My Love"		4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	41	"The Crunch"		6
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	42	"I Will"		4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	43	"Black Betty"	Ram Jam	7
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	44	"The Shuffle"		4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	45	"Nobody Does It Better"		7
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	46	"Down Deep Inside (Theme from The Deep)"		5
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	47	"Red Light Spells Danger"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	48	"2-4-6-8 Motorway"	Tom Robinson Band	5
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	49	"Isn't She Lovely"		4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	50	"Nights on Broadway"		6

Despite spending four weeks at number one, Rod Stewart's "I Don't Want to Talk About It"/"The First Cut Is the Deepest" was only placed at number 33 on the year-end chart for 1977, the lowest ranked number one single of the year, and lower than another of Stewart's singles, "You're in My Heart", which only reached number three. Some chart-watchers claim to have evidence that an incorrect panel sale figure was applied to sales during the period that "I Don't Want to Talk About It"/"The First Cut Is the Deepest" was out, resulting in a lower estimation of the single's total sales, and that the single should actually be placed inside the top fifteen year-end positions. However, this claim has never been verified by BMRB or any of the subsequent chart compilers.

Best-selling albums

The list of the top fifty best-selling albums of 1977 were published in the third edition of the BPI Year Book in 1978. However, in 2007 the Official Charts Company published album chart histories for each year from 1956 to 1977, researched by historian Sharon Mawer, and included an updated list of the top ten best-selling albums for each year based on the new research. The updated top ten for 1977 is shown in the table below.^[3]

scope=col		scope=col	Title	scope=col	Artist	scope=col	Peak position
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	1	Arrival	ABBA	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	2	20 Golden Greats		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	3	20 Golden Greats	and the Supremes	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	4	Rumours	Fleetwood Mac	3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	5	A Star Is Born	/Kris Kristofferson	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	6	Hotel California	Eagles	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	7	The Sound of Bread	Bread	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	8	The Johnny Mathis Collection		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	9	Greatest Hits	ABBA	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	10	Animals	Pink Floyd	2

Notes:

Classical music: new works

• Malcolm Arnold – Variations on a Theme of Ruth Gipps for Orchestra, Op. 122^[4]
• John Buller – Proença for mezzo-soprano, electric guitar, and large orchestra^[5]
• Peter Maxwell Davies – A Mirror of Whitening Light, for chamber orchestra
• Brian Ferneyhough – Time and Motion Study I, for bass clarinet
• Alun Hoddinott – Sinfonia Fidei
• Michael Tippett – Symphony No. 4

Opera

• William Alwyn – Miss Julie
• Peter Maxwell Davies – The Martyrdom of St Magnus (premièred 18 June at St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall)
• Thea Musgrave – Mary, Queen of Scots
• Michael Tippett – The Ice Break (premièred 7 July at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden)

Film and incidental music

• John Addison – A Bridge Too Far directed by Richard Attenborough
• Richard Rodney Bennett – Equus, starring Richard Burton

Births

• 4 January – Tim Wheeler (Ash)
• 18 January – Richard Archer, singer (Hard-Fi)
• 25 January – Christian Ingebrigtsen, Norwegian-born singer (A1)
• 23 February – Chris Gentry, guitarist (Menswear)
• 2 March – Chris Martin, singer and songwriter (Coldplay)
• 3 March – Ronan Keating, Irish singer (Boyzone)
• 7 March – Paul Cattermole, singer (S Club 7)
• 10 March
  • Colin Murray, DJ
  • Rita Simons, singer (Girls@Play) and actress
• 18 March – Nick Grant, singer (Ultimate Kaos)
• 21 March – Lee Missen, singer (Code Red)
• 26 April – Celena Cherry, singer (Honeyz)
• 4 May – Carrie Askew, singer (Shampoo)
• 31 May – Joel Ross, DJ
• 30 July – Ian Watkins, singer (Lostprophets)
• 17 August – Claire Richards, singer (Steps)
• 4 September – Lucie Silvas, singer
• 11 September – Jon Buckland (Coldplay)
• 27 October – Mariama Goodman, singer (Solid HarmoniE, Honeyz)
• 1 November – Alistair Griffin, singer/songwriter
• 4 November – Kavana, singer
• 7 December – Dominic Howard, drummer (Muse)

Deaths

• 10 February – Grace Williams, composer, 70
• 26 March – Madeleine Dring, composer and actress, 53 (cerebral haemorrhage)
• 21 April – Issy Bonn, English actor, comedian, and singer, 74
• 22 April – Ryan Davies, comedian, singer and songwriter, 40 (asthma)
• 13 June – Matthew Garber, former child star of Mary Poppins, 21 (pancreatitis)
• 16 September – Marc Bolan, 29, singer-songwriter (car crash)
• 11 October – Joseph Wheeler, musicologist, 49/50
• 14 November – Richard Addinsell, Warsaw Concerto composer, 73
• 24 December – Raymond Sunderland, organist and composer, 56
• 25 December – Charlie Chaplin, actor and composer, 88
• date unknown
  • Jimmy Cooper, hammered dulcimer player, 69/70^[6]
  • Charles Turner, composer and spy^[7]

Music awards

BRIT Awards

The 1977 BRIT Awards were to mark the Queen's Silver Jubilee and were for the previous 25 years of her reign. The winners were:

• Best British non-musical record: Richard Burton and cast – Under Milk Wood
• Best British producer: George Martin
• Best classical soloist album: Jacqueline du Pré – Elgar, Cello Concerto
• Best international album: Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge over Troubled Water
• Best orchestral album: Benjamin Britten – War Requiem
• British album: The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
• British breakthrough act: Julie Covington
• British female solo artist: Shirley Bassey
• British group: The Beatles
• British male solo artist: Cliff Richard
• British single: Queen – "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Procol Harum – "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (joint winners)
• Outstanding Contribution: L.G. Wood and the Beatles (joint winners)

See also

• 1977 in British radio
• 1977 in British television
• 1977 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1977

External links

• BBC Radio 1's Chart Show
• The Official Charts Company

Notes and References

1. Web site: From the archive, 7 January 1977 : EMI guns down Sex Pistols. The Guardian. January 7, 2011.
2. Book: Nigel . Hunter . Peter . Scaping . BPI Year Book 1978 . Top 100 Singles in 1977 . The British Phonographic Industry Ltd . London, England . 216–17 . 3rd . 1978 . 0-906154-01-4.
3. Web site: Sharon . Mawer . Album Chart History: 1977 . . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20071217020432/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1977.php . 17 December 2007.
4. Web site: Malcolm Arnold. AllMusic. 17 June 2018.
5. Web site: John Buller. The Guardian. 18 Sep 2004. Martin Wainwright. 17 June 2018.
6. Gifford, Paul M. (2001), The Hammered Dulcimer: A History, The Scarecrow Press, Inc. .
7. https://www.theguardian.com/frontpage/story/0,,2086853,00.html A day at the opera with Hitler: the secret agent who captured rare moments for MI5 | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited