I won't pretend that I was listening to all of this music in 1977 at the age of 6. It was all Blondie, David Soul, Belle Epoque, The Stranglers and Patsy Gallant on Radio 1, usually played in my parents' Austin Maxi; they upgraded to an Austin Allegro a few years later.
My deep love for reggae via Gregory Isaacs, Horace Andy and Yabby You came much later, but it was seeded in 1977 with chart hits like Althea & Donna's Uptown Top Ranking. Likewise, disco prevailed with I Feel Love by Donna Summer, Everybody Dance by Chic and not forgetting Meco's cover version of the theme from Star Wars. It's fair to say that I wasn't sufficiently switched on in my primary school years to pick up on John Cooper Clarke, The Clash and John Cale, or John Foxx-era Ultravox, for that matter.
What a bloody great playlist it would have made, though. I'm as excited now by the music as I think I would have been, had I been introduced to it all simultaneously back in 1977.
I love music, that's all there is to it. Nothing more, nothing less, only love.
1) One Chord Wonders (Album Version): The Adverts
2) (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear: Blondie
3) Silver Lady: David Soul
4) I Married A Monster From Outer Space (Live @ Electric Circus, Manchester, 1-2 October 1977): John Cooper Clarke
5) I Need You (Cover of The Kinks): The Count Bishops
6) Chicken Shit: John Cale
7) Slavemaster: Gregory Isaacs
8) Black Is Black (Single Version) (Cover of Los Bravos): Belle Epoque
9) The Man Who Dies Everyday (Black Sand Extended Edit): Ultravox
10) I'm So Bored With The U.S.A.: The Clash
11) That's What Friends Are For (Single Version) (Cover of Deniece Williams): Janet Kay
12) No More Heroes (Album Version): The Stranglers
13) From New York To L.A. (Single Version): Patsy Gallant
14) Blood A Go Run Down King Street: Yabby You
15) Mr. Bassie (Discomix By Everton Da Silva): Horace Andy
