3 Songs From 1977 That Sounded More Like the 1980s

There’s something about the zero in looming decades. The zeroing out suggests a new dimension, some uncharted territory. In hindsight, the changes aren’t so drastic because they’d already been happening incrementally. Rock history is full of these moments. With early rock and roll, proto-punk, punk, post-punk, new wave, etc. Genres work broadly, but humans are far too messy—let alone the chaos of a rock band—to fit neatly inside them.

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Today, we look at 1977 and how many musicians were already hinting at what came next with their songs. Here are three legendary artists who, in their own way, predicted what the 1980s were going to sound like.

“Psycho Killer” by Talking Heads

The fact that Talking Heads’ debut album is so well executed was, in itself, punk. You can hear the angular, slacker riffs defining the evolution of post-punk and new wave in the 1980s. But there’s real refinement here. Within “Psycho Killer” alone, the next decade and beyond are foreshadowed, including dance and alternative rock. Talking Heads didn’t need to wait for what followed punk; they were already ahead of it as they ignored the scene’s stuffy parochialism.

When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed
Say something once, why say it again?

“Solsbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel

When you don’t fit in with any genre, you probably won’t be tethered to any era either. Peter Gabriel’s debut already signaled the future. In 1977, Gabriel was too prog for punk yet too punk for prog with his songs. He wrote pop music with a sophistication lacking from the kind of music aimed at wide audiences. “Solsbury Hill” is Gabriel’s first solo masterpiece. An uplifting anthem about letting go, just as he’d let go of Genesis.

I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery.

“Cold As Ice” by Foreigner

Before Journey, Van Halen, and Bon Jovi had keyboard-driven rock hits in the 1980s, Foreigner released “Cold As Ice” in 1977. It wasn’t the first hard-hitting tune with keys, but Foreigner’s self-titled debut advanced 70s rock into the next decade with new wave instrumentation. The group, made up of Brits and Yanks, already felt like outsiders. But musically, guitarist Mick Jones took advantage of existing in a kind of no man’s land. And the creative borders of 1970s rock wouldn’t contain him either.

I’ve seen it before; it happens all the time
You’re closing the door, you leave the world behind.

Photo by Gus Stewart/Redferns