Top 40 Hits - January 1977

It has been a while, but it is a new year, and time to get back into the music retrospectives.  Slightly different format, hope you enjoy.

What were the top songs of the month in January 1977 (40 years ago)?  Well, looking at Billboard's Hot 100, ranking by peak position during the month, with ties settled by average position over the 5 weeks of the month....  and presenting the top 40:



           Song  -  Artist  -  Peak Position

1. You Make Me Feel Like Dancing  -  Leo Sayer  -  1
2. I Wish  -  Stevie Wonder  -  1
3. Car Wash  -  Rose Royce  -  1
4. You Don't Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show)  -  Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr.  -  1
5. Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)  -  Rod Stewart  -  1
6. Dazz  -  Brick  -  3
7. The Rubberband Man  -  The Spinners  -  3
8. Hot Line  -  The Sylvers  -  5
9. More Than A Feeling  -  Boston  -  5
10. New Kid In Town  -  Eagles  -  6
11. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word  -  Elton John  -  6
12. Torn Between Two Lovers  -  Mary Macgregor  -  7
13. After The Lovin'  -  Engelbert Humperdinck  -  8
14. Blinded By The Light  -  Manfred Mann's Earth Band  -  8
15. Evergreen (Love Theme From A Star Is Born)  -  Barbra Streisand  -  9
16. Walk This Way  -  Aerosmith  -  10
17. Stand Tall  -  Burton Cummings  -  10
18. Enjoy Yourself  -  The Jacksons  -  11
19. Lost Without Your Love  -  Bread  -  12
20. I Never Cry  -  Alice Cooper  -  12
21. Somebody To Love  -  Queen  -  13
22. Livin' Thing  -  Electric Light Orchestra  -  13
23. I Like Dreamin'  -  Kenny Nolan  -  14
24. Love Me  -  Yvonne Elliman  -  14
25. Fly Like An Eagle  -  Steve Miller  -  15
26. Weekend In New England  -  Barry Manilow  -  16
27. Muskrat Love  -  Captain & Tennille  -  16
28. Jeans On  -  David Dundas  -  17
29. Nadia's Theme (The Young And The Restless)  -  Barry DeVorzon and Perry Botkin, Jr.  -  17
30. Nights Are Forever Without You  -  England Dan & John Ford Coley  -  18
31. Whispering/Cherchez La Femme/Se Si Bon  -  Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band  -  20
32. Hard Luck Woman  -  Kiss  -  20
33. Saturday Nite  -  Earth, Wind & Fire  -  21
34. Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing  -  Donny & Marie Osmond  -  23
35. Shake Your Rump To The Funk  -  The Bar-Kays  -  23
36. You Are The Woman  -  Firefall  -  23
37. Year Of The Cat  -  Al Stewart  -  24
38. This Song  -  George Harrison  -  25
39. Night Moves  -  Bob Seger  -  25
40. Dancing Queen  -  ABBA  -  26

Interesting that the 5 weeks of January 1977 gave us 5 different #1 songs! Not a bad month at all.  And 56 songs made the Top 40 during the month.  Most were either coming or going though.  The only song to both debut and drop out in the month?  Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird!  This was the live version, I suspect it was a radio-edit rather than the full 13 1/2 minute version...  Anybody remember?

Ah, January 1977...  I was 16 years old, and 1/2 way through my Junior year of high school...  the Oakland Raiders won their first Super Bowl, defeating the Minnesota Vikings 32-14.   Jimmy Carter was sworn in as president of the USA.  And Gary Gilmore was executed in Utah, inspiring The Adverts.