5 Songs From 1977 That Sound Even Cooler Today

In many ways, 1977 was a bellwether year for rock music. As "Saturday Night Fever" brought disco to the mainstream, Rod Stewart, the Eagles, and Fleetwood Mac carried the airwaves; hard rock stalwarts like Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and Ted Nugent filled arenas; and psychedelic and prog experimentalists such as Genesis and Pink Floyd got weirder and better. This was the year punk and new wave broke out of CBGB, and the Sex Pistols' anti-anthem, "God Save the Queen," was banned on the BBC. For rock — and pop music in general — 1977 seems to be when the long shadow of the '60s had truly receded, and coming trends came into focus.

The late '70s were an especially vibrant time for rock singles and albums. A generation of musicians raised on the Beatles brought new sounds and pushed established acts to evolve. Though not every vintage from 1977 stands the test of time, some songs really are like wine; they've gotten better over the last 50 years, sounding even cooler today than they did then. That year, there were so many groundbreaking releases to choose from, and what's cool is subjective. As such, we aimed for a sonically broad-ranging list and considered how much each song has impacted music since then and continues to influence musicians today. In this very short list, we sought songs with staying power: songs that don't just hold the line but show invention and vision.

No doubt, Fleetwood Mac had cemented its position as a pop rock giant by 1977. Its self-titled album from 1975 — the first with the classic line-up of Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks — topped the U.S. charts and catapulted it to fame. And with "Dreams," the second single from its iconic follow-up, "Rumours," Fleetwood Mac hit a new milestone: its first and only U.S. Billboard No. 1. Personally, this was a difficult period — among other splits in the band, Nicks and Buckingham broke up — but it all led to creative gold.

With its driving groove, layered pop construction, and heart-wrenching lyrics, "Dreams" sets the standard for transcendent, timeless rock songs about love. Needing to take a break from Buckingham and the rest of the band during the "Rumours" recording sessions, Nicks often retreated to a separate studio. There, with the help of a drum machine and piano, she wrote the song "in about 10 minutes" "(via Rolling Stone). She sees it as a sibling to Buckingham's breakup ballad "Go Your Own Way," the album's lead single.

What helps "Dreams" stand the test of time is that it speaks from an empowered female perspective. "Say women, they will come, and they will go," Nicks sings of men, "When the rain washes you clean, you'll know." No doubt, you can trace Nicks' influence on countless female artists, from Sheryl Crow to Taylor Swift. What's even cooler is that in both 2020 and 2025, more than 40 years after its initial release, "Dreams" returned to the top of the Billboard rock charts. 

An early fixture at the legendary CBGB club in New York City, Television never sold many records but left a clear impact during its first run from 1974 to 1978. Featuring the twin guitar attack of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, this art-rock-slash-proto-punk band was weirder and more musically refined than punkier or poppier peers like Blondie, the Ramones, and even Talking Heads. Improvisation and experiment were part of the band's DNA. Verlaine, for instance, was into free jazz, citing inspiration from experimentalists like Albert Ayler and Ornette Coleman.

Released in February of 1977, Television's debut "Marquee Moon" pushed genre boundaries, widening the lane for guitar-driven rock. Featuring interlocking guitar solos and long instrumental breaks, the title track — a 10-and-a-half-minute epic — is truly the album's centerpiece. It's a musical journey that recalls psychedelic or prog fair like the Grateful Dead or Pink Floyd in places, while remaining uniquely angular, anguished, and jagged. With Verlaine singing, "Life in the hive puckered up my night / A kiss of death, the embrace of life," it's truly a song that captures the cool and mystery of New York in the '70s.

Few albums and songs have had a greater impact on alternative and indie rock than "Marquee Moon." Its fingerprints are all over the guitar work of countless post-punk and indie bands that followed, like Joy Division, R.E.M., and Sonic Youth. The song remains as baffling and beautiful as the day it came out.

The late 1970s saw many established acts adapt and evolve. In mid-1976, the ever-changing David Bowie — long past the era-defining glam rock of his Ziggy Stardust phase and tired of the personas he'd developed since — retreated from LA to Europe. After recording Iggy Pop in a chateau in the South of France, Bowie enlisted trusted musicians and legendary producers Brian Eno and Tony Visconti to record "Sound and Vision." As guitarist Carlos Alomar recalled, "He isolated us so we could only think about him and his music. It was luxurious but a trap" (via Uncut). This would kick off what would be called the Berlin Trilogy. This trio of albums — 1977's "Low" and "Heroes"; 1979's "Lodger" — would represent another creative peak in Bowie's storied career.

The first single off "Low," "Sound and Vision" highlights an album drenched in experimental jams and soundscapes. Anticipating sounds that would come to dominate new wave music (not to mention indie rock), its angular grooves are draped in lush layers of synthesizer. Adding to the song's cool air is that, against that catchy backdrop, Bowie has the blues, with lines like "pale blinds drawn all day / nothing to read, nothing to say." Inventive but focused, the "Sound and Vision" single reached No. 3 in the U.K., Bowie's highest-charting song since "Sorrow" in 1973. Inspiring artists like Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and Robert Smith of the Cure — who considers "Low" the best album ever made — "Sound and Vision" sounds as fresh today as it did in 1977.

Blending hard rock, heavy metal, and folk influences, Heart broke out in 1976 with the U.S. release of "Magic Man" and "Crazy on You" off its first studio album, "Dreamboat Annie." With Ann Wilson's powerful vocals leading the charge, the band released a follow-up, "Little Queen," in May of 1977. Written by Ann and her sister and rhythm guitarist Nancy Wilson, the lead single "Barracuda" is a revenge song: a direct response to an inappropriate comment from a male record promoter. As Nancy told American Songwriter, it "started out as a personal revenge-type of song, but the longer it was out in the world ... it became more universal because there's so many damn barracudas out there."

The opening phrase of "Barracuda" is a hard, driving guitar riff played by Roger Fisher, and it only gets heavier from there. While this song may seem straightforward — hitting you head-on with its distorted hook — it contains complex, cool layers. In keeping with the prog rock of the time (bands like Yes and Genesis), it shifts time signatures and has complicated musical breaks, adding to the overall tension. What makes "Barracuda" iconic, though, is that it features a powerful voice that blazes a trail for countless female rock musicians. And with pop mega-star Chappell Roan covering it on her tours, new generations are learning what makes this song so special. 

Wire's debut, "Pink Flag," stands out in a 1977 class that features a laundry list of essential punk albums, from the Sex Pistols' "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" to the Ramones' "Rocket to Russia." Packing an astonishing 21 tracks into only 36 minutes, the album took the punk sound to the woodshed, making it precise and more musical. According to singer and guitarist Colin Newman, "most of punk — it was sloppy. I loathed sloppiness" (via Magnet). Aiming for precision and tightness — and influenced by bands that paved the way for punk like the Velvet Underground, the Modern Lovers, and krautrock bands like Can — Wire became a standard-bearer for the emerging post-punk sound.

"Ex Lion Tamer" is "Pink Flag" at its catchiest and most infectious. Oscillating between more staccato verses and sweeping choruses, it features guitar lines that wouldn't be out of place in an indie rock song. With Newman repeating the refrain "Stay glued to your TV set," the song conveys loneliness in a way that still resonates decades later while making you bob your head in time. Though Wire remains more obscure than some of its punk peers, its influence on post-punk, indie, and alternative rock is undeniable, with R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, Hüsker Dü's Greg Norton, and Graham Coxon of the Blur among admirers. Angular and angry, "Ex Lion Tamer" remains electric and vibrant even as it approaches 50 years old.