Here are the next eight albums in the 1976 Hideaway 40: The Albums, ranked from 32 through 25. Click HERE if you've missed any of the 1976 Hideaway 40: The Albums countdown.
32
Firefall
Firefall
I would describe Firefall (the group) and Firefall (their debut album) as a softer version of the Eagles (the group) and Eagles (their debut album). A recent back-to-back listening session of both albums confirmed my description. Meant that as a compliment to both bands, by the way. Firefall was a collection of country-rock veterans, unafraid to drag out their pedal steel guitars, saxophone, or flute in their version of the California soft-rock sound. Listening to them fifty years after first hearing them on WLS, it is confounding that Dad never got into their music. Never bought a 45 of theirs, nor an album or tape, as far as I know. Like me, he probably would have loved "Cinderella"; despite its chauvinistic lyrics, it's a great song. The Firefall album fits me like a comfortable shirt.
Song Of Joy
Captain & Tennille
It took me a few years to realize that Song Of Joy was modeled after Love Will Keep Us Together. Both albums feature a slew of covers, including songs that were hits for others. Both albums feature a strong Beach Boys songwriting connection throughout, including a cover of "God Only Knows" and the recorded debut of "I Write The Songs". That checks out because The Captain, aka Daryl Dragon, met Toni Tennille while both were playing keyboards for the Beach Boys. I bought the 45s of "Lonely Night (Angel Face)" and "Shop Around" before picking up the album as part of the initial shipment of albums when I signed up for RCA Music Service. I am nearly as surprised as you are that Song Of Joy ended up here just outside the Top 30 of the 1976 Hideaway 40: The Albums.
Takin' It To The Streets
Doobie Brothers
I forget which Doobie Brothers song captivated me in 1976, but Dad remembered me asking him about them and stuffed the Best of the Doobies album in my Easter basket in 1977. Minute By Minute was my second Doobies album, followed by Takin' It To The Streets several years after its 1976 release. I recall an afternoon spent listening to TITTS (ha!) over and over through headphones, hearing it with such clarity and detail that it triggered re-evaluations of many of my favorite albums. An undertaking of such scope and scale that I wouldn't be able to repeat it until just a few years back.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was another album I came to some time after its initial release. I didn't board the Tom Petty Express until 1982's Long After Dark; specifically, the song "Change Of Heart" captured my ears, and then I found the album on sale. I began slowly working my way backward through Petty's previous four albums while keeping up with his new stuff, culminating in finally being able to see him and the Heartbreakers live in 1985. The last stop on my journey back through their discography was the band's eponymously titled 1976 album, and listening to it reminded me I had seen them perform "American Girl" on Fridays! in 1980. It's such a great song.
Too Hot To Handle
Heatwave
Too Hot To Handle was released here in the USA in May 1977. It had been released with different artwork in the UK nearly a year earlier, in June 1976. Our next-door neighbors from 1974 until 1978 had transferred in from the UK; the Mom and the two preteens spoke with a British accent. Daughter Rachel was a year older than I was, and we bonded over music. Long-time Hideaway viewers will recall that Rachel was the source of my first kiss as part of a convoluted 45 swap. While not as vivid a memory as that kiss, I recall Rachel had several albums in her collection I had never seen before, including Billy Ocean, several K-Tel albums, and Heatwave's Too Hot To Handle. Someone must have sent it to her or brought it with them when they visited. I remember hearing "Boogie Nights" in our basement with Rachel, which means I was playing it on Dad's system. Guess she liked bad boys. Weird, I don't recall hearing "Always and Forever" until much later. Too Hot To Handle makes this list on a technicality.
Bigger Than Both Of Us
Hall & Oates
"Rich Girl" is a great pop song. I glommed onto it immediately, picking up the 45 ASAP even though I had the parent album Bigger Than Both Of Us already on my shelf thanks to Santa. I think Dad bought it mistakenly, so it was regifted to me at Christmas 1976 sans cellophane. He liked the song "She's Gone", which re-charted in 1976, so he probably asked the guy at the store for the latest Hall & Oates album, thinking that's where he'd find the song. And then I found "Back Together Again" on a 45 just as school began in the fall of 1977. The issue may have been that I was still new to owning and listening to albums and still very much into the weekly pursuit of singles. I've never seen it in the wild, but I read somewhere that "Rich Girl" and "Back Together Again" exist back-to-back on a 45; that would be another single for my dream jukebox.
Thirty-Three & ⅓
George Harrison
In 1976, I was not yet consumed with an undying passion for the music of the Beatles. I enjoyed Dad's 8-track compilations 1962-1966 and 1967-1970, but the Fab Four were better known to me as solo artists John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison. Dad loved Ringo's 1973 Ringo and Lennon's "Happy Xmas", but I don't think he was ever into solo works from Paul or George. I would get into Paul's stuff via Wings; we'll talk about that later. Cannot exactly remember when I first heard George's "This Song" – my best guess would be on American Top 40 in mid December 1976. It was a catchy tune for my ten-year-old ears and I was completely oblivious to Harrison's reasons for writing the song until several years later. Bought the 45 and absolutely loved the label. Then "Crackerbox Palace" was released, and I loved it more than "This Song", especially the opening lyrics. Took a while to locate the 45, which has the same Dark Horse label art as the previous single. I finally picked up a used copy of the album in the mid-Eighties. Really like to listen to it on Sunday afternoons. I find it settling, relaxing, and soothing.
Run With The Pack
Bad Company
My Uncle Sam is nine years older than me, and for the first twenty years of my life, he was the coolest guy I knew. (Sorry, Dad. If it's any consolation, you were the coolest guy I knew for the next thirty years of my life.) I last saw him at Dad's funeral ten years ago, though we've texted maybe half a dozen times since then; usually on the birthday he shared with Dad – there was eleven years between them. I told him he was a huge influence on my musical tastes, introducing me to so much music during the summers I spent around him. I remember him being a huge fan of Bad Company's first album. He had it on 8-track. I also remember him having Run With The Pack, repeatedly playing "Young Blood" while singing along. I didn't acquire my own copy of the album until after I was the proud father of three amazing kids. All three of them grew up listening to the music I enjoyed and each of them continues to develop their unique musical tastes. Other than the kissy face emojis my wife sends me almost daily, my favorite texts are the ones from each of my kids telling me to check out an artist/song/album OR asking me if I've heard an artist/song/album OR thanking me for introducing them to an artist/song/album when they were growing up.
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The next eight albums, ranked 24-17 in the
1976 Hideaway 40: The Albums countdown,
will be published soon
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