1976 changed music forever – and these 10 tracks still sound phenomenal today
As some of you may know, a certain hi-fi magazine is turning 50 this year (spoiler: it’s us).
Given we’re nostalgic souls, this momentous milestone has led our reviewers to take a fond trip down memory lane, revisiting the top tracks that came out in the same year as our launch.
1976 was one of the most iconic years in music history (and not just because What Hi-Fi? was born) – a year crammed with sonic treats for every type of music fan.
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Dancing Queen by ABBA
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50 years ago. Half a century. That’s a long time in any life, and for most readers of whathifi.com, it’s ancient history. For me, though, it’s my childhood. And I find myself looking back at a time that was bang in the middle of the formative years of my musical taste.
If I’m honest (and this strikes me as a perfectly acceptable time to tell the truth) my musical preferences when I was 10 were pretty embarrassing – and certainly not something I would confess to as a younger adult. Time is a great mellower and adjuster of preconceptions though. So now? I’m not sure I care what others think of my love, when I was 10, for the music of Showaddywaddy.
The first track to jump out at me, when I looked at the list of UK hit singles from 50 years ago was Under The Moon Of Love, by the crepe-shoed rockers from Leicester. I loved Showaddywaddy, and I loved that track most of all. But it is, without doubt, of its time – and not really a standout system-tester either.
There was, though, one track on that list of top 10 hits from all those years ago that shines out, head and shoulders above the rest, as a beacon of mid ’70s brilliance. Abba’s Dancing Queen is still a guaranteed dancefloor filler half a century after it first topped the UK charts.
From the treble to bass glissando that kicks everything off to the fading out of the “da-dum, da-dum, da-dum” piano chords at the end, this track is, surely, one of the ultimate slices of pop perfection.
It’s a brilliantly produced record, too – and one that serves well as a test disc for your system. If there’s any flaw in the dynamics or rhythmic flow of the set-up you’re listening to, your dancing feet will soon pick it up. You’ll want electronics that are precise as well, to keep up with that irresistible beat.
Having said that, this one is such a banger that it would get most people up and shuffling about if it came out of the tinniest of tinny speakers. So forget about scrutinising equipment for a moment; just stick Dancing Queen on, and revel in a pop-music masterpiece.
Words by Jonathan Evans
Buy Arrival by Abba on vinyl at Amazon
New Rose by The Damned
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Released in late October, New Rose marked the beginning of a glorious period for music, certainly for anyone who loves UK punk – and new wave – as much as I do.
While The Damned weren’t the only members of UK punk’s first wave, this single, and the subsequent album Damned Damned Damned, saw the London group beat the likes of The Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Vibrators into the studio to become the first British punk band to release a single and an album, respectively.
Truth be told, New Rose is a banger. Perfectly encapsulating the raw aggression that was to become a hallmark of this genre, it crashes, bangs, and wallops, often all at the same time. Stick it on your headphones or speakers, ideally some with plenty of rhythmic drive and punch, turn up the volume and enjoy the ensuing frenzy.
Words by James Cook
Buy Damned Damned Damned on vinyl at Amazon
I Wish by Stevie Wonder
If this song sounds familiar, I have three words for you: Wild Wild West. (Or rather, wicki-wicki Wild Wild West.)
Say what you want about Will Smith, the man knows how to ruin a good song, be it As The Beat Goes On (Miami), Forget Me Nots (Men In Black) or Rock The Casbah (Will 2K), but his pantomime despoilment of this Stevie Wonder classic is the most unforgivable.
I Wish is vintage Stevie, and comes from Wonder’s golden period. It’s taken from the album Songs In The Key Of Life, which is stacked full of classic cuts like Sir Duke, Pastime’s Paradise and Isn’t She Lovely, and which followed Fulfillingness’ First Finale and Innervisions in a creative hat-trick of the likes rarely seen. In an album chock full of first-rate cuts, it still manages to stand out.
A paean to simple childhood pleasures (like “hang[ing] out with those hoodlum friends of mine”), this is Wonder at his best: effervescent, infectious, with those deft opening licks sounding like nothing else before or since.
Wonder apparently got inspiration for the track after attending a Motown picnic – whatever was in those Scotch eggs, it certainly did the trick.
Words by Joe Svetlik
Buy Songs In The Key Of Life on vinyl at Amazon
Fool to Cry by The Rolling Stones
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Black and Blue isn’t The Stones’ best album, that much is for certain. Jagger and co. had enjoyed an enviable run of four back-to-back (to-back-to-back) classics before 1976’s release debuted to a somewhat mixed reception, setting themselves an unreachable bar courtesy of Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St. between 1968 and 1972. You can’t maintain that sort of standard forever.
Still, the band’s thirteenth studio album does house a few of the sorts of gems that made the group’s earlier works shine so bright, with the bluesy, downtrodden Fool to Cry serving as a reminder that Mick and Keith still had a couple of years before many were wishing they’d take up residency at the Home for Retired Rockers. If anything, 1978’s Some Girls was a return to form…
However you view Fool to Cry, it still has so much of that soulful Stones sound to keep the punters happy, with Jagger’s lyrics riding that finest of fine lines between sincere blue-eyed soul and tone-deaf parody.
Conviction and charisma just about manage to pull things through, mainly thanks to Jagger’s committed performance and Keith Richard’s inspired noodling.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Buy Black and Blue on vinyl at Amazon
(Don’t Fear) The Reaper by Blue Öyster Cult
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(Don’t Fear) The Reaper isn’t just Blue Öyster Cult’s best-known track; it’s likely one of the most recognisable songs in the world.
Over its 50-year existence, it has been used in more movies than can be listed in this article (Halloween, Scream, The Prophecy, The Frighteners and The Stand, to name a few) and covered by everyone from Finnish goth rockers to American folk singers.
The original is undeniably the best version, at least in my mind. Featuring an emotive, barebones guitar intro, written in A-minor, that slowly builds, adding overdubbed harmonies before exploding into a chaotic, almost psychedelic, midsection, the song is a delight from start to finish.
The deceptively complex, layered composition, which also includes an iconic cowbell rhythm part and textured bass section, makes it a great track for testing hi-fi and a generally exciting, well-recorded listen, even 50 years on.
Yet what truly makes it special, and in my mind is the main reason for its ongoing popularity, are the timeless themes the track explores as it delves into the human condition.
Though many listeners assume it’s a basic story about a couple considering committing suicide together, lead guitarist, Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser, has constantly challenged this interpretation.
Instead, he insists it’s a deep exploration of our mortality inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, designed to celebrate love’s ability to transcend death – a theme humanity has explored since the dawn of time, and a key reason the song remains so relevant and fresh to this day.
Words by Alastair Stevenson
Buy Don’t Fear The Reaper: The Best Of Blue Öyster Cult on vinyl at Amazon
Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy by Queen
Before music streaming was a big part of my life, I would rely on my trusty CD player and my collection of shiny discs to jam along to my favourite tunes.
One of the tracks that I played again and again (suitably featured in my edition of Queen’s Greatest Hits) was Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy. And, even as it turns 50 this year, it is still as much of a banger as it was when it came out.
Released as one of the tracks from A Day at the Races, the tune includes plenty of Queen tells: Freddie Mercury’s cheeky yet absurdly talented vocal performance heads the show, with clever lyrical wordplay making for toe-tapping listening.
Then there’s Brian May’s playful guitar solo, which is just a masterclass in how to capture your audience. The track’s runtime of just under three minutes goes by in a joyful blur, and it begs to be listened to on repeat.
If it has been a while since you dug out this Queen track, I implore you to give it another listen.
Words by Robyn Quick
Buy A Day at the Races on vinyl at Amazon
Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry
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Prior to the release of Play That Funky Music in April, Ohio-based group Wild Cherry were a hard rock cover band struggling to find gigs as disco surged in popularity. But one fateful Pittsburgh show saw a member of a predominantly black audience ask drummer Ron Beitle, “are you going to play some funky music, white boys?” and the track, with its instantly recognisable hook, was born.
As soon as the opening guitar riff hits, the tone is set for a dance-off, and then things continue to ramp up as bass, drums, horns, and even a cowbell for a brief period enter the mix. Wild Cherry then tops it off with a short solo in the hard rock vein, as the group expertly blends their rocking past with the then disco present.
Despite being penned in just five minutes, this funk rock classic steamrolled its way to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 by September, and it’s one that you really should take out the subwoofer for, provided you own one, of course.
Words by James Cook
Buy Play That Funky Music on vinyl at Amazon
More than a Feeling by Boston
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More than a Feeling is another classic 1970s anthem that still gets a lot of airtime, and there are plenty of good reasons why.
Featuring a catchy melody and emotive lyrics that are ably delivered by vocalist Brad Delp, it’s a fantastic tune that will get everyone from classic rock snobs to Taylor Swift fans’ heads bopping along to the beat.
For me, what makes it so interesting is that, as well as sounding great, it was actually quite revolutionary at a technical level at the time.
Despite that big, polished sound – which has gone on to become almost a cliché in soft rock communities, after decades of bands trying to replicate the track’s catchy magic – it was actually recorded using a wealth of custom equipment in guitarist and composer Tom Scholz’s basement.
This is a key reason it took him five years to complete More Than A Feeling, with Scholz creating his own hardware and techniques to stack the layered guitar parts and vocals that have since become synonymous with the band.
So, as well as sounding nice, it’s also a trailblazing song that laid the groundwork for the garage recording, home-produced revolution that has been keeping smaller acts alive and helping new bands get discovered for decades now. Boston, we doff our collective caps to you!
Words by Alastair Stevenson
Buy Boston on vinyl at Amazon
Disco Inferno by The Trammps
Did someone say burn, baby, burn? Yes, the Trammps did way back in December 76 and Disco Inferno is still very capable of keeping the party going nearly 50 years on from its initial release.
While it needed to be included on the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever (1977) and re-released in order to break into the mainstream, where it peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, it remains one of the most iconic tunes to come out of the disco era.
It’s virtually impossible to sit still once those infectious basslines hit your eardrums, and this only becomes more difficult when the uplifting strings and catchy chorus join the party.
It goes without saying that this is a great song for systems with lots of low-end. If yours has excellent clarity in the mid and higher frequencies, however, I recommend you check out the extended album version (in the video above), where you can fully appreciate just how groovy those delightful drum patterns are.
Words by James Cook
Buy The Best Of The Trammps on vinyl at Amazon
The Boys Are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy
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When it comes to hard-rocking hits, it doesn’t get much better than Thin Lizzy’s The Boys Are Back in Town.
Released in April, it reached number one in the group’s native Ireland, but didn’t hit higher than eight in the UK or 12 in the US. A travesty, but still, chart position is rarely a reflection of a song’s quality. I mean, have you seen the state of the charts these days?
Anyway, now this rant has made me look far older than I actually am, let’s get back to what’s important: singing the praises of Ireland’s greatest band and their second-biggest hit, behind 1973’s markedly different but equally brilliant rendition of Whiskey In The Jar.
The Boys Are Back in Town is a true exemplar of everything that’s great about Thin Lizzy: an endless array of catchy guitar riffs, one of which hooks you in right from the start; a clever tale delivered in an effortlessly cool way that only frontman/bass player Phil Lynott was capable of; and a rhythm section bursting with energy, underpinned by Brian Downey’s swinging drums and tasteful fills.
Fancy yourself a rocker? Well, why not be a roller too, baby and get this on your hi-fi sooner rather than later.
Words by James Cook
Buy The Boys Are Back in Town on vinyl at Amazon
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