1977 was ablaze in pomp and glory, with conquering globetrotters Split Enz, Supertramp, Electric Light Orchestra, 10cc, The Alan Parsons Project, Klaatu, Kayak, Utopia, Sherbet and City Boy besting formidable bodies of work.
By the spawn of ‘England’, symphonic maximalism held global shares: from Germany (Epidaurus, Epidermis, Grobschnitt, Katamaran, Madison Dyke, Zomby Woof), Scandinavia (Akasha, Coma, Dice, Eik, Kaamos, Nebulosa), Italy (Gramigna, Locanda delle Fate, Madrugada, Pierrot Lunaire, Stormy Six, Zauber), Switzerland (Circus, Island, Rumple Stiltzken Comune, Shivananda), Benelux (Aksak Maboul, Lady Lake, Nuit Caline a la Villa Mon Reve, Univers Zero), Iberia (Azahar, I Cocai, Gotic, Tantra), Yugoslavia (Den za Den, Ipe i Laza, Nepocin, Predmestje), Oceania (Aleph, Airlord, Schtung, Guruh Gipsy), Israel (Sheshet, Zingale) and the USA (Hands, Quill, Northwind, Happy the Man).
Folkies spanned the Old World (Waterfall, Irolt, Deirdre, Opo, Kong Lavring, Gwendal, Machin, Tarentule, Tanzbar, Kolinda) and the New (CANO, Connivence, Aucan, Soluna, Bermuda Triangle, Yellow Autumn), whilst synthetics shone luminous (Ashra, Anna Själv Tredje, Bernard Xolotl, Neuronium, Richard Pinhas, Tim Blake) and feverish (Arpadys, Cerrone, Giorgio Moroder, Space).
Insurgency shuffled the States, where funksters throbbed (Cameo, Faze-O, Heatwave, Newban, Shotgun, Slave), popsters thrived (Bob Welch, Dean Friedman, Eric Tagg, Gary Ogan, Keith Green, Carole Bayer Sager) and weirdos thawed (Gary Wilson, George-Edwards, Iltar, The Residents, MX-80 Sound, Talking Heads), whilst Canucks cracked the ice caps (Alpha Centauri, FM, Rose, Sweeney Todd, Wanka) and Rastas smoked the tropics (The Congos, Dennis Brown, Rico, U-Roy, Yabby U).
Gauls reigned supreme, with jewels from France’s Archaia, Artcane, Benoit Widemann, Edition Spéciale, Emmanuelle Parrenin, Forgas, Francis Cabrel, Mahjun, Manu Lannhuel, Metabolisme, Mona Lisa, Richard Vimal and Ripaille, in addition to Quebec’s Eternite, L’Engoulevent, Maneige and Ungava.
UK debuts soared, highlighted by The Stranglers, Ultravox, Café Jacques, The Boomtown Rats, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Trickster, Burlesque, Flashman, XTC, Elvis Costello, The Clash, The Fabulous Poodles, Sad Cafe, Turning Point and Skywhale.
Meanwhile, classic hard rock stood firm, with brawny knockouts by Aeroblus, Bastard, Bow Wow, Crawler, Detective, The Hunt, Legs Diamond, Lone Star, Pat Travers, Streetwalkers, Ian Gillan Band and Paice Ashton Lord.
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