Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth. In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.
We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 1977, the year of my third birthday. I still have no knowledge of these songs from their original release, given my age at the time. Only twelve of the Hot 100 are familiar to me now, with only six of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.
#99: London Symphony Orchestra – Star Wars (Main Title)
iTunes stats: 26 plays
Led by John Williams, the London Symphony Orchestra performed one of the best-known movie themes of all time.
#94: Fleetwood Mac – Go Your Own Way
iTunes stats: N/A
The group’s first top-ten hit in the United States, it was ranked as the 120th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone in 2010.
#90: Aerosmith – Walk This Way
iTunes stats: 26 plays
First discovered by my generation thanks to the 80s remake with Run-DMC, the original peaked at #10 in early 1977.
#58: Kansas – Carry On Wayward Son
iTunes stats: N/A
Written by guitarist Kerry Livgren, the song became the band’s first Top 40 hit, reaching No. 11 in early 1977, and has remained a staple of classic rock radio.
#53: Heart – Barracuda
iTunes stats: N/A
The song, which peaked at #11 in 1977, was named the 34th-best hard rock song of all time by VH1.
#52: Fleetwood Mac – Don’t Stop
iTunes stats: N/A
Used by Bill Clinton as the theme for his presidential campaign in 1992, the third single from the band’s Rumours album reached #3 in October 1977.
#33: Commodores – Easy
iTunes stats: N/A
Written by group member Lionel Richie and released in March of 1977, the crossover hit topped the Hot Soul Singles chart in July and peaked at #4 on the Hot 100.
#28: Steve Miller Band – Fly Like an Eagle
iTunes stats: N/A
First performed in 1973, the song was finally released in December of 1976 and went to #2 Hot 100 in March.
#21: Bill Conti – Gonna Fly Now
iTunes stats: 16 plays
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the theme from Rocky hit #1 in 1977.
#19: Eagles – Hotel California
iTunes stats: 28 plays
Winner of the 1978 Grammy for Record of the Year, the song first entered the charts in late February of 1977 and reached the top for one week in May, becoming the band’s fourth #1 hit.
#14: Jimmy Buffet – Margaritaville
iTunes stats: 21 plays
Buffet’s highest charting single, the tune reached #8 on the Hot 100 char, #13 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and #1 on the Easy Listening chart. It re-entered the charts in September of 2023 following Buffett’s death on September 1.
#12: ABBA – Dancing Queen
iTunes stats: 11 plays
ABBA’s only number one hit in the United States, the song also topped the charts in 17 other countries.
