Adrienne Writes

Last night’s American Idol – where would-be Idols were asked to perform a song from the year of their birth – got me to thinking: what’s my 1977 hit list?

I’ve never before thought about the music that arrived in the same year that I did. But when I started considering it, it was a very powerful experience. See, I love Stevie Wonder and Aerosmith and Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band. LOVE. Never occurred to me to actually check out the years that I Wish, Sir Duke, Walk this Way and Cherchez le Femme were released.

Andy Gibb came out with I Just Want to be Your Everything, which is on my list of top 100 love songs. Abba released Dancing Queen – which is on my list of top 50 dance hits. I must’ve been infected with the happy found in Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, a song that became the soundtrack of my time living in Miami  early in my career. The theme songs for Star Wars and Rocky hit the charts, as did the respective movies. The number one song on my guitar hit list, Hotel California, came out. (It’s also the song I sang for one year straight leading up to my wedding. Go figure. I just couldn’t get enough of that guitar.) Marvin Gaye’s greatest hits, including Got to Give It Up, were made that year. And the indomitable Barbra Streisand released the love theme from A Star is Born, otherwise known as Evergreen.

What a year for music!

Upon further research, I found that many music critics say 1977 was one of  THE best years in American music. So many styles were growing and adapting. All of the people who are mega stars now were baby stars then – already hugely famous and unaware of what the future would bring.

Who knew then that Andy Gibb would no longer be with us but that his music would be a favorite of a baby who liked disco?  Who knew that bringing that same baby to see Star Wars would change her life and instill in her a love for classical symphonies and deep, dark baroque? (Love live John Williams and the London Symphony Orchester! Music lovers, you should know that Williams wrote the music for Star Wars and Superman and Indiana Jones, ET the Extraterrestrial, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter AND Jaws. He’s the master and the BOMB when it comes to film scores) And clearly, my love of plain ole fun music was cultured by my sister’s incessant playing of Cherchez La Femme (which, dear reader, if you have never heard this song, you MUST find it. You will love it. I promise. It’s so damn happy and very trancelike!)

Easy, Fly Like an Eagle, I’ve Got Love On My Mind and Lucille by Kenny Rogers came out too.

What’s most interesting about these songs is that they all tell a story. They’ve all got a story arc that includes a complete beginning, middle and end with a climax somewhere in the middle, right around the bridge. They’re not silly and they each speak to life at that time – and still do. Hotel California and I Wish are both perfect examples of songs that spin a complete tale, all in under five minutes (unless, of course, you listen to the 10 minutes version of that hit.)

As a writer, I enjoy songs that tell stories. I study them. As a musician who started playing the piano at age 3 and the flute at age 10, I enjoy the nuances and live performances of these songs. Consider  Strawberry Letter 22, another 1977 hit, that has all the description and nuance of a 200-page novel. That’s the beauty of poetry and even better when said poem is put to music with lovely harmonies.

Think about your birth year. How did the songs of your birth year shape your life? Let me know.