Tuesday Afternoon Thread: Top Music of 1976

It was a very wild year!

January–February

January 5 – Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans is shot dead by Los Angeles police after refusing to drop what police only later determine is an air rifle.
January 7 – Kenneth Moss, a former record company executive, is sentenced to 120 days in the Los Angeles County Jail and four years probation for involuntary manslaughter in the 1974 drug-induced death of Average White Band drummer Robbie McIntosh.
January 13 – A trial begins for seven Brunswick Records and Dakar Records employees. The record company employees are charged with stealing more than $184,000 in royalties from artists.
January 19 – Concert promoter Bill Sargent makes an offer of $30 million to the Beatles if they will reunite for a concert.
February 15 – Bette Midler bails seven members of her entourage out of jail after they are arrested on charges of cocaine and marijuana possession.
February 19 – Former Tower of Power lead singer Rick Stevens is arrested and charged with the drug-related murders of three men in San Jose, California.

February 24 – Having been released one week before, The Eagles‘ Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) compilation becomes the first album in history to be certified platinum by the RIAA. The new platinum certification represents sales of at least 1 million copies for albums and 2 million copies for singles.

March–April

March 9 – The Who‘s Keith Moon collapses onstage ten minutes into a performance at the Boston Garden.
March 15 – Members of The Plastic People of the Universe are arrested in communist Czechoslovakia. They were sentenced from 8 to 18 months in jail.
March 25 – Jackson Browne‘s wife Phyllis commits suicide.
April 14 – Stevie Wonder announces that he has signed a “$13 million-plus” contract with Motown Records.
April 23 – The Ramones release their eponymous titled debut studio album Ramones.
April 24 – Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels makes a semi-serious on-air offer to pay the Beatles $3000 to reunite live on the show. In a 1980 interview, John Lennon stated that he and Paul McCartney happened to be watching the show together at Lennon’s apartment in New York and considered walking down to the SNL studio “for a gag” but were “too tired”. On May 22, Michaels raises his offer from $3,000 to $3,200.
April 29 – When his tour stops in Memphis, Tennessee, Bruce Springsteen jumps the wall at Elvis Presley‘s mansion, “Graceland“, in an attempt to see his idol. Security guards stop Springsteen and escort him off the grounds.

May–June

May 19
- Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is involved in a car accident northwest of London. Cocaine is found in his wrecked car. Richards is given a court date of January 12, 1977.
- Rumour spread by German press: ABBA members killed in plane crash, only Anni-Frid survived.
June 10 – Alice Cooper collapses and is rushed to UCLA Hospital in Los Angeles, three weeks before the Goes To Hell tour would begin. The tour is cancelled.
June 18 – ABBA perform “Dancing Queen” for the first time on Swedish television in Stockholm on the eve of the wedding of King Carl XVI Gustaf to Silvia Sommerlath.

July–August

July 4 – Many outdoor festivals and shows are held all over the United States as the country celebrates its bicentennial. Elton John performs for 62,000 at Shaffer Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, while The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac play for 36,000 at Tampa Stadium, Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top draw 35,000 at Memphis Memorial Stadium and Elvis Presley performs for 11,974 at the Mabee Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
July 7 – 50,000 fans brave the rain in New York to attend a free Jefferson Starship concert in Central Park.
July 27 – Tina Turner files for divorce from husband Ike.

August 5 – Eric Clapton provokes an uproar over comments he makes on stage at a Birmingham concert, voicing his opposition to immigration using multiple racial slurs while exhorting the audience to support Enoch Powell and to “keep Britain white”.
August 11 – Keith Moon is rushed to hospital for the second time in five months, collapsing after trashing his Miami hotel room.
August 16 – Cliff Richard becomes one of the first Western artists ever to perform in the Soviet Union when he gives a concert in Leningrad.
August 31 – A U.S. district court decision rules that George Harrison had “subconsciously” copied The Chiffons‘ hit “He’s So Fine” when he wrote the song “My Sweet Lord“.

September–October

September 1 – Ode Records president Lou Adler is kidnapped at his Malibu home and released eight hours later after a $25,000 ransom is paid. Two suspects are soon arrested.
September 8 – In a candid interview appearing in the October 7 edition of Rolling Stone published today, Elton John publicly discloses his bisexuality for the first time.
September 14 – The one-hour Bob Dylan concert special Hard Rain airs on NBC, coinciding with the release of the live album of the same name.
September 18
- Queen performs a massive free concert at London’s Hyde Park for over 150,000 people.
- The second annual Rock Music Awards air on CBS. Peter Frampton wins Rock Personality of the Year, while Fleetwood Mac wins for Best Group and Best Album.
September 25 – Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr form a band called Feedback in Dublin. The band would later be renamed U2.
October 2 – Joe Cocker performs a duet of “Feelin’ Alright” with himself (as portrayed by John Belushi) on Saturday Night Live.
October 31 – George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic begin “The P-Funk/Rubber Band Earth Tour” in Houston, a national live series highlighting one of the biggest and revolutionary stage shows in the history of the music industry (the rock group Kiss would be the other group to do a similar act), relying on elaborate costumes, special lighting and effects, and extremely large props including “the Mothership”, which would arrive and land on stage, all of what this band is generally known for. This live set would vary in length (on average of 3 to 5 hours long) and at high volume.

November–December

November 18 – Former Tower of Power lead singer Rick Stevens and another person are found guilty on two counts of murder.
November 23
- Thin Lizzy are forced to cancel their U.S. tour when guitarist Brian Robertson injures his hand in a bar fight.
- Jerry Lee Lewis is arrested after showing up drunk outside Graceland at 3 a.m., waving a pistol and loudly demanding to see Elvis Presley. Presley denied his request.
December 1 – In the UK, the Sex Pistols cause a national outcry after swearing on Thames Television‘s Today show.
December 2 – The Bee Gees perform at Madison Square Garden and donate the proceeds to the Police Athletic League in New York. In January 1979, they will receive the Police Athletic League’s “Superstars of the Year” award.
December 3
- A Pink Floyd album cover shoot in South London goes awry when a large inflatable pig balloon being used for the shoot breaks free of its moorings and drifts out of sight.
- Bob Marley and several others are injured when gunmen burst into his home in Kingston, Jamaica and open fire.
December 8
- The Carpenters air their “Very First Television Special” on ABC.
- The Eagles release Hotel California.
December 12 – Ace Frehley is shocked on stage during a Kiss concert in Lakeland, Florida after touching an ungrounded metal railing. The incident inspires the song “Shock Me“.
December 31 – The fifth annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve special airs on ABC, with performances by Donna Summer, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Four Seasons, and KC and the Sunshine Band.

Record of the Year – “This Masquerade” – George Benson (artist) & Tommy LiPuma (producer)

Album of the Year – Songs in the Key of Life – Stevie Wonder (artist) & Stevie Wonder (producer)

Song of the Year – “I Write the Songs” – Bruce Johnston (songwriter) (performed by Barry Manilow)

Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female – Natalie Cole for “Sophisticated Lady (She’s a Different Lady)”

Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male – Stevie Wonder for “I Wish”

Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus – Billy Davis Jr. & Marilyn McCoo for “You Don’t Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show)”

Best R&B Instrumental Performance – George Benson for “Theme From Good King Bad”

Best Rhythm & Blues Song – Boz Scaggs & David Paich (songwriters) for “Lowdown” performed by Boz Scaggs

I had a hunch and was right on who won the Grammy for Best Album Cover Art in 1976! Well I wasn’t sure of the year I just knew somewhere in the 70s whenever this was released, it won.

American Music Awards

Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist – John Denver

Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist – Olivia Newton-John

Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group – Tony Orlando and Dawn

Favorite Pop/Rock Album – Have You Never Been Mellow? – Olivia Newton-John

Favorite Pop/Rock Single – “Rhinestone Cowboy” – Glen Campbell
(I love this song! fight me!)

Tuesday Afternoon Thread: Top Music of 1976

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