1977

1977 was the year Star Wars opened in the United States, and the year Jimmy Carter was sworn in as president. It also brought the Tenerife collision between two Boeing 747s, the deadliest accident in aviation history. In Britain, the Silver Jubilee gave the country street parties and a fair few buses painted for the occasion.

Punk was the noise of the moment. The Clash headlined the opening night of the Roxy in January, and the Sex Pistols collected record deals and lost them at remarkable speed. Yet the old guard were far from finished. Led Zeppelin broke an indoor attendance record at the Pontiac Silverdome, and Pink Floyd opened the year with Animals in January. AC/DC followed in March with the raw Let There Be Rock, and Queen released their First E.P. in May before closing the year with News of the World in October. Motörhead's self-titled debut arrived in August, a sign that heavy metal was getting faster and nastier. Def Leppard, Dokken, Misfits and Great White all formed that year, along with the Police and Toto, who sounded rather different.

The losses were heavy. Scorpions' original bassist Achim Kirchhoff died in April, and Marc Bolan of T. Rex was killed in a car accident in September. A plane crash on 20 October killed Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines. Michael Schenker vanished after a UFO gig in June, and Ozzy Osbourne walked out on Black Sabbath, unhappy with their recent albums.