.....and what an incredible year for music! The year that saw KISS have their footprints added to the sidewalk outside Hollywood's Grauman's Chinese Theatre on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, top Grammy honors were Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years" (Album of the Year), Captain & Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together" wins Record of the Year, and Judy Collins' version of "Send in the Clowns" wins Song of the Year...Queen played the biggest show in Europe that year at Hyde Park (200,000 people) while Yes and Peter Frampton played to 130,000 in Philly....chart topping songs like "Tonight's the Night" (Rod Stewart), "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" (Elton John & Kiki Dee), "Silly Love Songs" (Paul McCartney), "Disco Lady" (Johnnie Taylor), "December, 1963" (Four Seasons), and "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" (Paul Simon) ruled the charts, as well as one hit wonders like the incredible Starlight Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight"....the year we lost legends like blues legend Howlin' Wolf, jazz giant Vince Guaraldi, songwriting great Johnny Mercer, classical composer & theorist Walter Piston, guitar icons Freddie King and Tommy Bolin, and future legends were born like Melanie C (real name Melanie Chisholm), country singer Blake Shelton, rapper Ja Rule, vocalist Chester Bennington (Linkin Park),and singer Brandon Boyd (Incubus). We saw the birth of bands like U2, Foreigner, The Cure, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and The Clash, and the death of bands Deep Purple, Ike & Tina Turner, The Band, Three Dog Night, and Steppenwolf.....and so much more!
A host of amazing albums were released in 1976 and I hope to have time to write about many, including Boston's debut self-titled release, Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life", TWO albums by The Eagles ("Greatest Hits" as well as "Hotel California"), the legendary "Rocks" by Aerosmith, and of course, "Frampton Comes Alive" by Peter Frampton!
Today, however, we'll look at the groundbreaking album by Aerosmith, "Rocks".
