1976 music
Related: music - 1976 - 1970s - 1970s music
Events and trends: Roxy club opens in London - twelve inch single launched
Albums: Super Ape (1976) - Lee Perry
Super Ape (1976) - Lee Perry [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK] [...]
Probably the first reggae concept album to be conceived, this is an essential recording and easily the best of 1976.
Disco singles
- Double Exposure 'Ten Percent' Walter Gibbons
-
Wood Brass and Steel - Funkanova
- Aquarian Dream - Phoenix
- Salsoul Orchestra - 'Nice 'n' Nasty'
- Loleatta Holloway - Dreamin'
- Bumble Bee Unlimited - Love Bug
- Juggy Jones - Inside America
- Nature Zone - Porcupine
- Disco Dub Band - For the Love of Money
- The Universal Robot Band "Dance and Shake Your Tambourine".
- Dexter Wansel "Life On Mars"
- Side Effect - Always There
- Blackbyrds - Happy Music | Donald Byrd
- Brass Construction - Changin' -->Randy Muller
- Ecstacy, Passion & Pain - Touch And Go
- Lee Perry and the Upsetters Super Ape album.
- Donald Byrd - Dominoes
- Ned Doheny - To Prove My Love
- Carl Davis & Chi Sound Orchestra - Windy City Theme
- Jakki - Sun ... Sun ... Sun (wonderfully dubby)
- Manu Dibango - Big Blow
- Rare Pleasure - Let me Down Easy
- Jackson Sisters - I Believe in Miracles
- Harlem Underground Band - Smokin' Cheeba Cheeba
- Eddie Harris - It's Allright Now
- Four Below Zero - My Baby's Got ESP
- Sammy Gordon & The Hip Huggers - Making Love
- Diana Ross - Love Hangover
- Roberta Kelly - Troublemaker
More albums
- Zombie - Fela Anikulapo-Kuti & The Egypt 80 Band [1 CD, Amazon US]
1. Zombie 2. Mister Follow Follow 3. Observation Is No Crime 4. Mistake (Live At The Berlin Jazz Festival 1978)
The theme shared by the four tracks on this re-release/compilation is: refusal to ignore contemporary reality and refusal to repress one's commentary. "Zombie" (1976) may still be the best-known and best-loved Fela track, with its jagged yet hypnotic instrumental structure and insouciant humor. Here it sounds better than ever before. Its original b-side, "Mr. Follow Follow", is not nearly as iconic, but its subtler charms include a senuous soprano saxophone line that is among Fela's most distinctive melodic statements. "Observation is No Crime" is an outtake from 1977 or '78 (mislabeled in the liner notes as a live track) which represents Fela's love of jazz arrangements with a big-band approach to the horn charts. The track's lack of momentum probably contributed to its relegation to obscurity. The final track here actually is a live one, from a 1978 Berlin jazz festival which in retrospect mirrors Dylan's riotous 1965-66 appearances, with a roar of disapproval greeting Fela's every instrumental move (he plays keyboards more hamfistedly than usual in response); the Africa 70, who would soon leave the bandleader en masse for reasons of pay and exhaustion after years of government harassment, solo inspiredly and play at peak energy, capping an amazing era in music and a fine collection. [...] - Ramones (1976) - Ramones [1 CD, Amazon US]
The Ramones' April 1976 debut, recorded for little more than $6,000, long ago passed into legend. Its exalted status as the inspiration for thousands of punk bands worldwide, though, hasn't overshadowed its monolithic roar, the knowing hilarity of its lyrics ("Judy Is a Punk" crams the SLA, the Ice Capades, and a salute to Herman's Hermits into a 90-second frame), and the impulse to blast it for everyone within earshot: Hey, listen to this. Embracing and rewriting rock & roll history at once, Ramones speeded up heavy music, adding a pop patina to songs inspired by horror movies and glue sniffing, and claiming a great Chris Montez tune ("Let's Dance") from the supposedly fallow period that had fallen between Elvis and the Beatles. Absurdist, yeah (how could anything with Joey's super-affected Liverpool-via-Queens accent be otherwise?) and also smart: "Havana Affair" is the greatest song about the cold war this side of Dylan. This remastered edition complements the original LP with a slew of demos, including a Spectoresque "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," and the single version of "Blitzkrieg Bop," that, equally prophetically, puts Joey's vocal through a mixing trick that makes him sound like he's on the mic at a football game. --Rickey Wright for amazon.com [...] - Jorge Ben - Africa Brasil: Colecao Samba Soul [1 CD, Amazon US]
In a word -- WOW. Probably the best funk album ever recorded in Brazil, and certainly one of the best Brazilian pop albums as well. Features the often -anthologized "Umbabarauma" and the super-funky "Xica da Silva," along with a whole slew of other great tracks, such as the James Brown/Sly Stone inspired "Hermes Trismegisto Escriveu" and other groove-heavy wonders. A couple of songs are too shrill -- less disco flirtations than just plain old pop-funk gone jittery. One such track is an unfortunate remake of "Taj Mahal," the song from which Rod Stewart swiped the melody to "If You Think I'm Sexy"... Nevertheless, this is a masterpiece, one of the best Brazilian albums of the '70s. Absolutely essential, required listening. -- Joe Sixpack for Amazon.com [...] - Roast Fish Collie Weed & Corn Bread (1976) - Lee "Scratch" Perry [1 CD, Amazon US]
1. Soul Fire 2. Throw Some Water In 3. Evil Tongues 4. Curly Locks 5. Ghetto Sidewalk 6. Favorite Dish 7. Free Up The Weed 8. Big Neck Police 9. Yu Squeeze My Panhandle 10. Roast Fish & Cornbread This mouth-watering recipe may be the tastiest to come out of Perry's Black Ark kitchen-studio. Is the aging Upsetter truly mad these days, or just playing it his way? All one can say for sure is that he's working it and definitely getting paid. Most fans, though, prefer classic treats like this reissued early set, with the pre-hip hop music giant in relatively sound mind, freestyling his unique brand of uninhibited mind-science and down home rules for clean living over tracks of his own creation. Lee Perry is the original B-boy, one of the first to mic-toast over a dub track at a sound system dance. After he decided to come indoors and put it all down on wax, he was the first to scratch a record and press the sounds of daily life--ringing bells, barking dogs--into service of his muse. --Elena Oumano for amazon.com [...] - Stepping into Tomorrow (1976) - Donald Byrd [1 CD, Amazon US]
1. Stepping into Tomorrow 2. Design a Nation 3. We're Together 4. Think Twice 5. Makin' It 6. Rock & Roll Again 7. You Are the World 8. I Love the Girl
A lot of Donald Byrd's fans (including myself) have waited years for this album to be reissued on CD. It was well worth the wait! This album has so much to offer in smooth R&B/Jazz, from the cosmic "Stepping Into Tomorrow", to the 50's meet the 70's ballad "Rock & Roll Again". "Design A Nation" brings back the good feeling of a time that will probably never be repeated in this day & age. Jazz purists may prefer Byrd's earlier work. But don't let that prevent you from picking up this CD. This is music that today's R&B artists wish they could produce. Outstanding work by producer/songwriter Larry Mizell. -- A music fan from New York, NY. for amazon.com [...] - It's Your World [LIVE] - Gil Scott-Heron [1 CD, Amazon US]
Tracklisting: 1. It's Your World 2. Possum Slim 3. New York City 4. 17th Street 5. Trane 6. Must Be Something 7. Home Is Where the Hatred Is 8. Bicentennial Blues 9. Bottle 10. Sharing
There were two Gil Scott Heron treasures missing from my collection of CD's. "It's Your World" and "Bridges." Now if TVT can release "Bridges", my collection would be complete. I was lucky enough to have found "Reflections" and "Moving Target" when I visited London six years ago. "It's Your World " is a great combination of live and studio recordings that are a pure delite to listen too. No one writes lyrics like Gil Scott Heron. "New York City" and "Possem Slim" are polished jewels. I have heard about 6 different live versions of "The Bottle," but this one is my favorite. If your body has any rhythm in it, the percussions in this song will find it. I hope that we hear new recordings from Gil in the near future. The music industry needs high quality artists like him. This brother helped to shape my appreciation for artist like Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Charlie Parker. I discovered Jazz through Gil Scott Heron - and for that, I am truly grateful. It is great to hear this music again. Please release "Bridges" next!!!!!! - astandavis for amazon.com [...] - Roy Ayers - Everybody Loves The Sunshine [Amazon US]
1. Hey Uh-What You Say Come On 2. Golden Rod 3. Keep on Walking 4. You and Me My Love 5. Third Eye 6. It Ain't Your Sign It's Your Mind 7. People and the World 8. Everybody Loves the Sunshine 9. Tongue Power 10. Lonesome Cowboy
[ Downtempo trip. "My Life, My Life ... in the Sunshine".] [...]