These days, it’s rare for a rock artists to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100. For decades, though, rock bands and singers commonly claimed the No. 1 spot on the U.S. singles chart.
Videos by American Songwriter
Even in 1977, when the disco craze was nearing its height, quite a few rock acts released songs that ascended to the pinnacle of the Hot 100. Here are four rockers that conquered the singles chart that year, including two artists who did it with songs from a couple of the best-selling albums of all time:
[RELATED: Are These 3 Songs From 1977 Overplayed, or Are They Just That Good?]
Rod Stewart – “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright)”
Rod Stewart enjoyed one of the biggest hits of his career with “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright).” The steamy, R&B-influenced ballad spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 at the end of 1976, and ended its chart-topping run after an additional week to start 1977.
“Tonight’s The Night” was the raspy-voiced British rocker’s second single to top the Hot 100, following “Maggie May” in 1971. It appeared on Rod’s seventh solo album, A Night On The Town, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
The tune, which Stewart wrote, features Rod trying to coax a lover into enjoying a night of passion with him. The end of the track features Stewart’s then-girlfriend, Swedish actress Britt Eklund, cooing lustfully in French.
The song’s suggestive lyrics resulted in a temporary radio ban in the U.K., as the BBC took issue with the line, “Spread your wings and let me come inside.”
The main musical tracks for “Tonight’s the Night” were recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama. The final vocals were laid down at Caribou Ranch studio in Colorado.
“Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright)” became the top song overall for 1977 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band – “Blinded By The Light”
Bruce Springsteen has never had a No. 1 hit on the Hot 100, but in 1977, the British rock group Manfred Mann’s Earth Band achieved the milestone with a song written by the Boss. The group’s cover of Springsteen’s tongue-twisting 1973 deep cut “Blinded By The Light” topped the chart on February 19.
South African-born keyboardist Manfred Mann had previously hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 1964 with his eponymous 1960s band’s version of the Ellie Greenwich-Jeff Barry tune “Do Wah Diddy Diddy.”
“Blinded By The Light” was the first track of Springsteen’s debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. The song featured Bob Dylan-esque wordplay and music reminiscent of Van Morrison’s early-1970s work. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band cover appeared on the group’s seventh studio album, The Roaring Silence. The band reworked Springsteen’s song into a soaring rock anthem.
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band slightly changed one line in the song from “cut loose like a deuce” to “revved up like a deuce.” The way singer Chris Thompson enunciated the lyric, fans infamously misheard “deuce” as “douche.”
In a 2005 episode of VH1 Storytellers, Bruce joked that the mistaken reference to a feminine hygiene product may have been the reason why Manfred Mann’s version of the song became so popular.
Eagles – “New Kid In Town” and “Hotel California”
On February 26, 1977, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s cover of “Blinded By The Light” was knocked from the top of the Hot 100 by The Eagles’ “New Kid In Town.” The Latin-flavored country-rock tune was the lead single from the Eagles’ massively successful album Hotel California, released in December 1976.
The song was co-written by founding members Don Henley and Glenn Frey, along with frequent Eagles collaborator JD Souther. “New Kid In Town” was written about artists who hit it big when they are young that eventually start to be forgotten as newer artists become popular.
The song became the Eagles’ third career Hot 100 chart-topper, after “Best Of My Love” and “One Of These Nights” in 1975. In 1978, “New Kid In Town” won a Grammy for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices.
Hotel California spent eight non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. It’s become the second-best-selling studio album in U.S. history, after Michael Jackson’s Thriller, certified 28 times Platinum by the RIAA for equivalent sales of 28 million copies.
The Eagles scored a second No. 1 hit on the Hot 100 in 1977 with Hotel California’s title track. The enigmatic classic rock anthem topped the chart on May 7 and spent one week there. “Hotel California” was co-written by Henley, Frey, and Eagles guitarist Don Felder.
In a 2007 episode of CBS’ 60 Minutes, Henley explained that the song was “about the dark underbelly of the American Dream and about excess in America, which was something we knew about.”
“Hotel California” won the Record of the Year honor at the 1978 Grammy Awards.
Fleetwood Mac – “Dreams”
Fleetwood Mac scored its only No. 1 hit on the Hot 100 with “Dreams.” The melodic ballad, written and sung by Stevie Nicks, topped the chart for a week starting on June 18, 1977.
Nicks wrote the melancholy tune about her breakup with bandmate Lindsey Buckingham. “Dreams” was the second single released from Fleetwood Mac’s hugely popular album Rumours. The first was “Go Your Own Way,” which Buckingham also wrote about his split from Nicks.
Rumours took over the top of the Billboard 200 chart for an impressive 29 non-consecutive weeks in 1977. It won the Album of the Year honor at the 1978 Grammys, beating out Hotel California.
Rumours is among the 10 best-selling albums of all time in the U.S. It’s been certified 21 times Platinum by the RIAA for equivalent sales of 21 million copies.
(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images; Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns)
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.