Rewind: Top 10 Songs of 1976

If you have ever wondered what is the worst year in modern popular music history, the answer (without question) is 1976. The year is a wasteland of below average efforts from mediocre bands. Even the greatest artists of the era released lackluster albums during the year. There is a reason that 1977 has such resonance in music circles as The Clash, The Sex Pistols and others rose to tackle the mediocrity of disco and bland rock. In Pitchfork's top 100 albums of the 1970's, 1976 had one single album (The Ramones debut) which is a statistical impossibility. 1977 had 15 albums on the list.

Which is not to say that I don't like the songs below. It's simply that my #1 song of 1976 might not make the top 10 in other years.

Grooveshark playlist is at the bottom.

Top 10 Songs of 1976

1. "Step by Step" / Jesse Winchester / Let the Rough Side Drag"
   "Cause Jacob's golden ladder / get's slippery at the top / and many a happy-go-lucky saint / has made that long long drop"
2. "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" / Blue Oyster Cult / Agents of Fortune
   "The candles blew then disappeared / the curtains flew then he appeared <more cowbell>"
3. "Love's in Need of Love Today" / Stevie Wonder / Songs in the Key of Life
   " Don't delay / send yours in right away"
4. "American Girl" / Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers / Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
   "After all it was a great big world"
5. "Golden Years" / David Bowie / Station to Station
   "I'll stick with you baby for a thousand years"
6. "Johnny Was" / Bob Marley and the Wailers / Rastaman Vibration
   "Johnny was a good man"
7. "Memory Motel" / The Rolling Stones / Black and Blue
   "What's all this laughter on the 22nd floor?"
8. "Judy is a Punk" / The Ramones / The Ramones
   "Oh, I don't know why / perhaps they'll die"
9. "Take the Money and Run" / Steve Miller Band / Fly Like an Eagle
   "He ain't gonna let those two escape justice / he makes his livin' off of the people's taxes"
   (so wonderfully terrible)
10. "Cocaine" / JJ Cale / Troubadour
    "When your day is done and you got to run"