1977 (Ash album)

1977 is the first official album by Ash, released in May 1996 in the United Kingdom and the following month in the US. The punk-rock-influenced album proved popular in the UK and Ireland, and to a lesser degree elsewhere, where Britpop was a smaller cult phenomenon. It is ranked at 417 on the NME poll of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[4]

1977
Studio album by
Ash
Released6 May 1996
RecordedRockfield Studios November 1995–February 1996
GenreBritpop,[1] garage rock,[2] grunge[3]
Length61:52
LabelInfectious, Home Grown
ProducerAsh, Owen Morris
Ash chronology
Trailer
(1994)		 1977
(1996)		 Live at the Wireless
(1997)
Singles from 1977
  1. "Kung Fu"
    Released: 20 March 1995
  2. "Girl from Mars"
    Released: 31 July 1995
  3. "Angel Interceptor"
    Released: 9 October 1995
  4. "Goldfinger"
    Released: 15 April 1996
  5. "Oh Yeah"
    Released: 24 June 1996

Recording

In 2008 Tim Wheeler remembered:

We'd literally left school six months before... It was insane, just a totally mental time. It was the first time we had a residential time in a studio, and they had all the meals for you and you could just stay up. We just got very nocturnal and very crazy. [Producer] Owen Morris had been not so gradually introducing us to drugs, so we were off our heads a lot of the time! One of the dumbest thing we did was we recorded this track called The Scream. We spent three days working on it. We built up 48 tracks that started out like a murmur up to full on screaming. I was on acid one time dancing to it. By the time we got to the end of it we were too scared to mix it. Sick Party was originally one of the tracks we were adding to this melange of noise, but we kept listening to it and it turned out to be so funny we ended up using it on its own.[5]

Title meaning

The title refers to a year of three events that shaped the band: the births of two of the band-members; the year the first punk albums were released (especially Damned Damned Damned and Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols); and the release of Star Wars. The album opens with the sound of a TIE fighter, and ends with the track "Darkside Lightside", the title of which is a Star Wars reference, and which climaxes with a choral version of the Star Wars theme. The band also covered "Cantina Band", as the b-side to the "Girl From Mars" single.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Alternative Press3/5[6]
Drowned in Sound8/10[7]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[8]
The Guardian[9]
The Irish Times[10]
Mojo[11]
NME7/10[12]
Q[13]

"Originally it was the fast, poppy songs that made me go up and down a lot," remarked Neil Hannon, frontman of The Divine Comedy. "But then suddenly you have the most beautiful chord changes and tunes that you never thought would happen like 'Goldfinger' and 'Oh Yeah'. It's also nice to have your chums from home being big in the pop world."[14]

Accolades

Several UK music magazines placed the album in their end-of-year lists for 1996, including Vox, NME, Melody Maker, Q, Select and Kerrang!.[15] In 2010, Classic Rock magazine ranked the album at number one in its list of the "150 Greatest Debut Albums Ever."[15] It is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[16] The album is currently certified Platinum by the BPI and, according to the biography on the official site, has sold over two million copies around the world.

Jackie Chan is celebrated in the lyrics of "Kung Fu", and used the song for the end credits of his movie Rumble in the Bronx. The song "Lose Control" was featured in the game Gran Turismo, the first time one of the band's songs was used in a videogame (it was later followed by "Burn Baby Burn" from the album Free All Angels, featured in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003, and by "Orpheus" from the album Meltdown, featured in Burnout 3: Takedown).[17]

Live performances

Ash played the album in its entirety at London Roundhouse on 5 September 2008. Following the huge demand and speed of which the Roundhouse show sold out, they also added a show at London Astoria for the following day, Saturday 6 September 2008.[2]

In June 2013, Ash announced a three date tour of Australia, playing 1977 in its entirety, followed by a set of greatest hits.[18] In June 2016 Ash announced a tour of the UK, Ireland, Europe and the US to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1977 album commencing in September and finishing off in December including a show at the Roundhouse in London [19]

Track listing
  • "Jack Names The Planets" (hidden track, original pressing only)
  • "Don't Know" (hidden track, original pressing only)
  1. "Lose Control" (Wheeler/Hamilton) – 3:37
  2. "Goldfinger" (Wheeler) – 4:31
  3. "Girl from Mars" (Wheeler) – 3:30
  4. "I'd Give You Anything" (Wheeler) – 4:31
  5. "Gone the Dream" (Wheeler) – 3:29
  6. "Kung Fu" (Wheeler) – 2:17
  7. "Oh Yeah" (Wheeler) – 4:45
  8. "Let It Flow" (Wheeler) – 4:42
  9. "Innocent Smile" (Hamilton) – 5:52
  10. "Angel Interceptor" (Wheeler/McMurray) – 4:04
  11. "Lost in You" (Wheeler) – 4:19
  12. "Darkside Lightside" (Wheeler) – 16:49

Hidden tracks

The first 50,000 pressings of the CD feature the original version of "Jack Names the Planets" and its b-side "Don't Know" (February 1994), hidden in the album's pregap: they are accessed by 'rewinding' from track one. There is also a hidden track of band members vomiting in a non-musical tape recording named, "Sick Party", which appears after "Darkside Lightside" on all versions. "Sick Party" was included in Pitchfork Media's 2010 list of "ten unusual CD-era gimmicks".[20]

Collector's edition

A three-disc collector's edition of the album was released on 3 November 2008.

Disc: 1

Tracks 1-12 are from the original 1977 release
Tracks 13-19 are from the Trailer EP

  1. "Lose Control" – 3:39
  2. "Goldfinger" – 4:33
  3. "Girl From Mars" – 3:30
  4. "I'd Give You Anything" – 4:33
  5. "Gone The Dream" – 3:31
  6. "Kung Fu" – 2:19
  7. "Oh Yeah" – 4:47
  8. "Let It Flow" – 4:44
  9. "Innocent Smile" – 5:54
  10. "Angel Interceptor" – 4:06
  11. "Lost In You" – 4:21
  12. "Darkside Lightside" – 5:07
  13. "Season" – 3:02
  14. "Jack Names the Planets" – 3:12
  15. "Intense Thing" – 4:36
  16. "Uncle Pat" – 3:14
  17. "Get Out" – 1:31
  18. "Petrol" – 4:25
  19. "Obscure Thing" – 4:23

Disc: 2

Tracks 1-11 were recorded live at Live at the Wireless, Triple J Studios, Australia, October 1996
Tracks 12-24 were live at Reading Festival '96, Reading, Berkshire, England, 25 August 1996

  1. "A Clear Invitation To The Dance (Part I)" – 1:03
  2. "Darkside Lightside" – 3:04
  3. "Girl From Mars" – 2:58
  4. "Oh Yeah" – 4:22
  5. "T. Rex" – 2:08
  6. "I'd Give You Anything" – 3:12
  7. "Kung Fu" – 2:25
  8. "What Deaner Was Talking About" – 2:17
  9. "Goldfinger" – 4:17
  10. "Petrol" – 4:13
  11. "A Clear Invitation To The Dance (Part II)" – 1:06
  12. "Lose Control" – 3:34
  13. "Jack Names the Planets" – 2:21
  14. "T. Rex" – 2:27
  15. "Goldfinger" – 4:28
  16. "Angel Interceptor" – 3:16
  17. "Darkside Lightside" – 3:11
  18. "Oh Yeah" – 4:28
  19. "Innocent Smile" – 4:45
  20. "Lost In You" – 3:59
  21. "Petrol" – 3:57
  22. "Gone The Dream" – 3:37
  23. "Girl From Mars" – 3:31
  24. "Kung Fu" – 3:07

Disc: 3

Track 1 is from the band's 4-track demo tape
Tracks 2-3 are from the 7" vinyl single for "Jack Names the Planets", issued by La-La Land Records
Tracks 4-6 and 8 are from the US version of the album Trailer
Tracks 7, 9-19, 21-22 are b-sides from the Trailer and 1977 (and their respective singles) recording sessions
Track 20 is a previously unreleased version of the non-album single from the soundtrack for A Life Less Ordinary

  1. "Girl From Mars" (4-Track Demo) – 2:33
  2. "Jack Names the Planets" (La-La Land Records 7" version) – 2:55
  3. "Don't Know" (La-La Land Records 7" version) – 2:58
  4. "Punk Boy" (Helen Love cover) – 2:07
  5. "Different Today" – 2:54
  6. "Hulk Hogan Bubblebath" – 5:11
  7. "Luther Ingo's Star Cruiser" – 1:49
  8. "Day of the Triffids" – 3:36
  9. "Astral Conversations With Toulouse Lautrec" – 6:09
  10. "Cantina Band" – 3:28
  11. "5am Eternal" – 4:03
  12. "Gimme Some Truth" (John Lennon cover) – 5:27
  13. "I Need Somebody" – 2:39
  14. "Sneaker" – 3:17
  15. "Get Ready" (The Temptations cover) – 2:51
  16. "T. Rex" – 2:25
  17. "Everywhere Is All Around" – 2:33
  18. "Does Your Mother Know" (ABBA cover) – 3:02
  19. I Only Want To Be With You" – 2:37
  20. "A Life Less Ordinary" (Tim Simenon version) – 3:44
  21. "Sick Party" – 5:43
  22. "The Scream" – 4:23

Singles
  • "Kung Fu" was released on 20 March 1995, with "Day Of The Triffids" and "Luther Ingo's Star Cruiser".
  • "Girl From Mars" was released on 31 July 1995, with "Astral Conversations" and "Cantina Band"
  • "Angel Interceptor" was released on 9 October 1995, with "5am Eternal" and "Gimme Some Truth" (by John Lennon)
  • "Goldfinger" was released on 15 April 1996, with "I Need Somebody", "Sneaker", and "Get Ready" (Smokey Robinson). "Get Ready" itself was released as a fan club only single in December, 1995 (as a Christmas present), with " Zero Zero"
  • "Oh Yeah" was released on 24 June 1996, with "T. Rex", "Everywhere Is All Around" (Wheeler/Carr), and "Does Your Mother Know" (ABBA).

Personnel
Ash
Additional musicians
Technical personnel
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References
  1. "Ash 1977: Collector's Edition". Record Collector Magazine.
  2. Sullivan, Caroline (8 September 2008). "Ash". The Guardian.
  3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "1977 – Ash". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  4. "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 500-401". NME. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  5. Johnston, Emma. Kerrang! Issue #1235, November 08, 2008. Treasure Chest. The Intimate Portrait Of a Life in Rock. Tim Wheeler. P.54
  6. "Ash: 1977". Alternative Press (97): 70. August 1996.
  7. Albert, Joss (21 April 2001). "Album Review: Ash – 1977". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  8. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Ash". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
  9. Sullivan, Caroline (10 May 1996). "Ash: 1977 (Infectious)". The Guardian.
  10. Boyd, Brian (31 October 2008). "Ash: 1977 Collector's Edition/Remastered". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  11. "Ash: 1977". Mojo: 118. [T]he bonus material commemorates Ash's early breadth, with a masterful cover of Abba's 'Does Your Mother Know?' offset by creditable faux-American post-hardcore in the shape of '5am Eternal.'
  12. Cigarettes, Johnny (4 May 1996). "Ash – 1977". NME. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  13. "Ash: 1977". Q (118): 112. July 1996.
  14. Thornton, Anthony: 'Neil Hannon's Record Collection', Q #146, November 1998, p67
  15. "Ash 1977 All Time Lists". Acclaimed Music. Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  16. Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
  17. Music, I. G. N. (23 August 2004). "Burnout 3: Takedown Soundtrack". IGN.
  18. "Ash To Play '1977' In Full During Australian Tour This August -". Music Feeds. 20 June 2013.
  19. "MOZ GETS IT WIGHT! -". NME. 18 March 2005.
  20. "A Feature About Nothing: The 1990s in Lists - Page 4 -". Pitchfork.
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