1977 — a year filled with musical struggles!  But “Disco” was clearly winning the battle.  However, Progressive Rock sustained itself, thanks to contributions of some great bands and artists from across The Big Pond.  As for myself and other Rock radio music directors around the country…our station’s goal was to side-step all of the Disco puddles in our path that year.  So we countered by playing a bunch of deeper album tracks and unknown artists who comprised the essence of 1977 Progressive Rock radio.

Back in 1977:

• Minimum wage in the U.S. was $2.30 per hour
• The average annual income was $15,070
• A new car sold for $4,785
• You could build a new house for $49,319
• A loaf of bread was 36 cents
• A full-service gallon of gas was 65 cents
• First Class postage was only 13 cents

1977 World News Headlines:

• Idi Amin held 240 Americans hostage in Uganda
• Italy ended the status of Roman Catholicism as its state religion
• Menachem Begin became premier of Israel
• The worst aviation disaster on history occurred when two jumbo jets collided in the Canary Islands, killing 374 people
• An oil well in the North Sea shot out of control, creating a slick 45 miles long and 30 miles wide

1977 U.S. News Headlines:

• The U.S. State Department urged emergency admission of 10,000 Vietnamese “boat people” as refugees
• Edward Koch became the 105th mayor of New York City
• A 25-hour power failure hit Manhattan
• Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore was executed by firing squad at the Utah State Prison — the first execution in the U.S. in over 10 years
• The 799-mile Trans-Alaska oil pipeline opened
• The first diesel automobiles were introduced by General Motors
• “Roots”, an ABC mini-series about the family tree of author Alex Haley attracted 80 million viewers

TV shows that debuted in 1977:  Three’s Company, The Love Boat, Fish, Soap, Siskel & Ebert, Eight Is Enough, and CHiPs!

Favorite movies from 1977:  Annie Hall, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Deep, The Goodbye Girl, High Anxiety, Jabberwocky, Julia, The Kentucky Fried Movie, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Oh God!, Saturday Night Fever, Slap Shot, Smokey and the Bandit, The Spy Who Loved Me, Star Wars, and The Turning Point.

Hear the progressive free-form FM sounds of 1977 on-the-air right now on both Live365 and TuneIn apps!

Thank you for listening to and supporting our station!

– Fred