On this episode of the Greatest Year in Music on Slacker, WXPN’s Helen Leicht makes the case for 1976.
Though it would soon be faced with a lot of opposition, 1976 was all about disco.
Classic disco artists like Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer, KC and the Sunshine Band and the Bee Gees released albums this year. In Sweden, ABBA released their fourth record Arrival, which produced a handful of their biggest songs including “Dancing Queen.”
But the unrest that circled disco’s opulent lifestyle was beginning to break through the cracks. Frank Zappa took comical aim at the culture in “Disco Boy,” while the new, more grounded genre of punk was spreading its roots with the Ramones’ debut. Disco aside, the year saw big rock hits from Thin Lizzy, Heart, Blue Oyster Cult, and The Runaways. Let’s not forget that Joni Mitchell also released one of most artistically accomplished albums, Hejira.
Was disco “It?” in 1976?
Below, listen to the 1976 episode of the Greatest Year In Music hosted by WXPN’s Helen Leicht and Slacker.
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