of angels. Suicide failed commercially, no doubt the
public repelled by the band’s uninviting name.
Dance music—almost the opposite of punk, which
has to be smooth jazz—also had its year zero in 1977.
Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder’s synth-driven I
Feel Love brought disco to the mainstream. And by the
end of the year, Saturday Night Fever filled up every
dancefloor and became the best-selling soundtrack of
its time.
The year’s biggest album, however, showcased
neither punk nor disco. Instead, Fleetwood Mac’s
Rumours was a pop-rock record that sheltered a
tormented soul. “I know I could have loved you, but
you would not let me”—its most heartbreaking track,
Silver Springs, didn’t even make the final cut. Rumours
was a phenomenon that produced hit after hit and is
proof that, ultimately, the devil is in the melodies.
Icons that coruscated during this stellar year
included David Bowie, who completed his Berlin
trilogy, and Neil Young, with his blisteringly beautiful
reflections on love at first sight in Like A Hurricane.
Leonard Cohen took an artistic misstep working
with Phil Spector, though his Death Of A Ladies Man
contains some of his best material if you can get past
the overdubbing. Reggae hit a high point with Bob
Marley’s Exodus, and Steely Dan released their jazz-
rock classic Aja, my favourite album of the year, which
includes Deacon Blues, probably the coolest song ever
written about a mid-life crisis.
The music of 1977 has a staying power that
precludes it from ever experiencing irrelevance. Today,
disco’s synthesizers reign over electronic music’s
huge landscape, although I hope EDM dies a quick
and inconsequential death. Punk is prevalent in any
modern-day guitar rock and, 40 years after its release,
Rumours is still a staple on radio stations across
the world.
In 2007, my dream came true when Marky Ramone
played Sheena Is A Punk Rocker at my music festival
in Beijing. It was the Ramones song I wanted to hear
more than any other. Live in China and in front of
20,000 people, it was the biggest punk rock concert
the country had ever seen. Marky later asked me why
I called the event Beijing Pop Festival. Rebellious
concepts aside, I explained that “safety first” meant
no overt dissemination of “punk,” and that “pop” did
not mean giving in to mainland censors. I told him
my goal was laid out in the opening lines of Stevie
Wonder’s 1977 hit Sir Duke: “Music is a world within
itself / With a language we all understand.” Marky
Ramone, ever the punk rocker, told me he didn’t listen
to Stevie Wonder.LIFE | MUSIC
hong kong tatler. september 2017 235