11. Blondie, Parallel Lines “Heart of Glass” was the fourth single released from Blondie’s Parallel Lines. Okay, technically it was the third single released in the United States, their label, Chrysalis, opting against issuing “Picture This” as the opening … Continue reading College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 11
12. Sea Level, On the Edge The Allman Brothers Band was one of those groups that felt like they were fractiously apart more than they were together, practicing a brand of precarious camaraderie befitting their familial nature. When the band experienced their first formal break-up in the mid-nineteeen-seventies, several members were already poised to do their own thing. Sea Level was a clear, supported offshoot of the Allman Brothers Band, opening shows for the southern rock icons in 1975 and 1976. In the latter year, it became the main thing going as the tension between Gregg Allman and his bandmates … Continue reading College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 12
13. Bryan Ferry, The Bride Stripped Bare In the great mushy mess of classic rock chronology that exists in my head, there are a few standard patterns that I grab tightly on like handlebars that will help me steer through … Continue reading College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 13
14. Hall & Oates, Along the Red Ledge The conventional wisdom is that the duo of Daryl Hall and John Oates didn’t hit their commercial stride until the early-nineteen-eighties. That’s hard to argue with, given that they topped the chart … Continue reading College Countdown: The First CMJ Album Chart, 14
15. 10cc, Bloody Tourists 10cc wasn’t a band that was going to let a little thing like a break-up slow them down. The quartet that started in the late nineteen-sixties and began formally using the name 10cc in 1972 reached … Continue reading College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 15
16. Styx, Pieces of Eight It’s the nineteen-seventies, and Styx’s Pieces of Eight is a concept album, so it’s absolutely got to have some weighty philosophical concerns pressed into its grooves. In this instance, the album was preoccupied by the … Continue reading College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 16
17. David Bowie, Stage Though it is undoubtedly neck and neck with the concept album, there may be no more characteristic remnant of nineteen-seventies rock than the double-live record. In some wise circles, it is referred to as the Foghat … Continue reading College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 17
18. Weather Report, Mr. Gone In 1978, the seminal jazz fusion act Weather Report was charged will following up their biggest hit to date, the previous year’s Heavy Weather. This being jazz fusion, blockbuster status was still fairly modest: topping … Continue reading College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 18
19. The Rolling Stones, Some Girls Some Girls is the best-selling Rolling Stones album in the United States, by a healthy margin. The 1978 release has been certified platinum six times over by the RIAA, with only 1981’s Tattoo You … Continue reading College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 19
20. Joe Cocker, Luxury You Can Afford In the late nineteen-seventies, Joe Cocker was going through one of those rocky stretches that were the accepted territory of raspy-voiced rock ‘n’ roll singers. He spent a decent portion of the decade bouncing around different managers and cultivating a reputation as a self-destructive alcoholic with an occasional penchant for vomiting mid-set onstage. In 1978, he was further trying to rebound by some significant commercial disappointment, and he had to prove himself to a new label. Luxury You Can Afford was his first for Asylum Records, after a long stretch with A&M Records. … Continue reading College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 20
Coffee for Two 