Chapter 59: I Will Survive (June - December 1978)

June 16, 1978

Andy Gibb - Flowing Rivers

Released: June 16, 1978

Recorded: October 1976, December 1977 - February 1978

Producer: Barry Gibb, Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson

Track listing[1]

Side A

One More Look at the Night
Flowing Rivers
Dance to the Light of the Morning
Fool for a Night
Good Feeling
Let It Be Me
Starlight

Side B

Melody
I Go For You
Come Home for the Winter
Too Many Looks in Your Eyes
Waiting for You
In The End

Andy Gibb's solo debut album had initially been set for a release in 1977, but when some tracks ended up on the Bee Gees' Night Fever that same year, it was put on hold. Starting with December that year and lasting up to February 1978, some new tracks were recorded, along with some tracks co-written with his older brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice (and sometimes with just Barry) that would later end up on the Bee Gees' next album.

Flowing Rivers (#15 UK, #7 US) was finally released in June, backed with the title track as the sole single along with "Let It Be Me" as the B-side (#32 UK, #9 US). The album received generally positive reviews from critics as a solid first attempt from what many have dubbed "the baby Bee Gee". Andy's follow-up album, After Dark, would not be released until February 2, 1980.[2]

July 21, 1978

Peter Frampton performing at Oakland Coliseum Stadium, July 2, 1977.

Several weeks following the release of Andy Gibb's Flowing Rivers, the Bee Gees' film based upon their 1969 album Odessa had been released as a joint production between Apple Films and RSO Records. Directed by Lindsay Anderson, written by Henry Edwards and cinematography by Gilbert Taylor, Odessa was made on a budget of $13 million and made roughly $28.4 million in the box office, just breaking even and with a mixed critical reception. With Odessa having been released the same year as The Wiz (a co-production with Motown) and Superman: The Movie, both scheduled for release later in the year, 1978 was expected to be a big year for Apple Films.

Alongside the Gibb brothers, they were joined on the big screen by Sandy Farina as the love interest, George Burns as the kind-hearted captain of the Odessa, Donald Pleasence as the ambitious chief engineer, Frankie Howerd as the ship's cantankerous cook, Paul Nicholas as the jealous love-triangle rival, as well as guest appearances by Steve Martin as the slightly eccentric doctor (a role he would later repeat for Little Shop of Horrors) and Peter Frampton in a posthumous role as a crazed stowaway.

On June 29 in the Bahamas, Peter Frampton had been involved in a car accident that resulted in him being killed immediately. Prior to his death, Frampton had been in the midst of a commercial peak after having released the then-biggest-selling live album of all time, Frampton Comes Alive in 1976. After that, it was downhill from there; it had started when Frampton had taken a shirtless photo for Rolling Stone, which resulted in critics labeling him as a shallow teen idol. The commercial disappointment of his fifth solo album from 1977, I'm in You, further accelerated Frampton's fall from grace, despite reaching platinum.[3]

With Frampton's unexpected death at the age of 28, his solo career was given a critical reevaluation, and both Odessa and Grease (for which he played guitar on the title track sung by Frankie Valli for the soundtrack of the same name) were dedicated to his memory. His former band, Humble Pie, would later reunite the following year for a concert dedicated to Frampton.

September 15, 1978

Kiss - G.A.P.P.

Released: September 15, 1978

Recorded: February - July 1978

Producer: Kiss (all sides), Sean Delaney (Side Gene), Eddie Kramer (Side Ace), Vini Poncia (Side Peter) and Jeff Glixman (Side Paul)

Track listing[4]

Side Gene

Radioactive
Burning Up with Fever
See You Tonite
Tunnel of Love
Living in Sin

Side Ace

Rip It Out
Speedin' Back to My Baby
Snow Blind
Ozone
What's on Your Mind?

Side Peter

Don't You Let Me Down
That's the Kind of Sugar Papa Likes
Kiss the Girl Goodbye
Hooked on Rock 'n' Roll
I Can't Stop the Rain

Side Paul

Tonight You Belong to Me
Move On
Wouldn't You Like to Know Me
It's Alright
Love in Chains

By 1978, heavy metal rock band Kiss, consisting of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, was at a commercial peak. Alive II had become their fourth platinum album in under two years, and the tour that followed had the highest average attendance of 13,550 to date, with the gross income being $10.2 million. So where do they go from there?

PAUL STANLEY: "We wanted to do a solo album each and put then them all out on the same day. Tensions were rising between us at the time, and so doing solo projects and exploring our personal interests in other music genres seemed like a good idea at the time." (2004)

GENE SIMMONS: "Somehow, Casablanca Records [Kiss' label since 1973] didn't like that idea, though we did have a contract that called for four solo records. I don't want to delve too deeply into what went on behind the scenes, but come September 1978, we got half a solo album each on a double album that was credited to Kiss. Not Gene, Ace, Peter and Paul individually. Just Kiss as a collective unit." (1994)

Kiss performing live in Tokyo, Japan, 1978.

ACE FREHLEY: "It just felt like some kind of marketing gimmick, as if they were copying what the Monkees achieved with The Monkees Present back in the late 60s." (1997)

G.A.P.P. (with each initial standing for the first names of the band members) managed to reach #22 in the United States and received divisive opinions from critics and fans alike, with some wondering what they would've been like as solo albums. Others tried to trim it down to make a single band album instead of a collection of solo albums packaged together.

PETER CRISS: "We then wanted to do a movie that would cement our image as larger-than-life rock and roll superheroes, almost like a cross between A Hard Day's Night and Star Wars [released last year on May 4, 1977]. But after hearing of a scrapped Bee Gees project in which they sang Beatles songs, Phantom of the Park never got off the ground. Now that I'm thinking about it, it was probably for the best we canned the project altogether; I dunno what the hell we were thinking trying to accomplish such a movie like that." (2015)

17 November 1978

The Sex Pistols - The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle

Released: 17 November 1978

Recorded: February - September 1978

Producer: The Sex Pistols and Chris Thomas

Track listing[5]

Side A

No One is Innocent
Just Another Dream
Religion II
Cheap Emotions
Silly Thing
Annalisa

Side B

The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle [ft. Edward Tudor-Pole]
Empty Words
1-2-3
Attack
Burning Sounds
Fodderstompf

In January 1978, Johnny Rotten announced that the Sex Pistols would return to the studio to record a second album. The first single off of their upcoming album, "No One is Innocent" backed with "Cheap Emotions", was released on 30 June and topped out at #3 in the United Kingdom. It had been recorded at an unknown 16-track studio in Rio de Janeiro and was among the first songs to be recorded for the Sex Pistols' sophomore album.

STEVE JONES: "By that time, we had become associated with Edward [Tudor-Pole] and his band, Tenpole Tudor. When we were recording for 'Swindle', Johnny's voice was not in great shape, so we asked Eddie if he could fill in for the recording, and he agreed. The track was credited to both the Sex Pistols and Tenpole Tudor, but we probably should've credited it to the Tenpole Pistols." (2002)

The members of Tenpole Tudor, 1979. Edward Tudor-Pole (stage name Eddie Tenpole) is on the far left.

Tenpole Tudor was later brought to the attention of Apple Records A&R Director Jake Riviera by Paul Cook, who would then have the group signed onto the label by the start of 1979 along with English ska band Madness. The former group would put out their debut single "Who Killed Bambi?"/"Rock Around the Clock" (#14 UK) in March and the latter their debut album One Step Beyond... (#2 UK, #128 US) in October.

The Sex Pistols' second album, The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle (#7 UK) was finally released in mid-November, and was backed with the second single "Silly Thing"/"Attack" (#6 UK), before being followed up by the third and final single "The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle"/"1-2-3" (#4 UK) in February the following year. While Never Mind the Bollocks would receive wildly critical acclaim in later years, Swindle would be seen as "a slight step down, but with an interesting look into what they could've done had they stayed together into the next decade."

Yes, with new directions the Sex Pistols was taking with their music, it looked as if they were destined to continue for another decade or so. But tragically, the actions of a mentally disturbed fan, as well as his equally disturbed girlfriend, would not only throw a wrench in their works, but shake up the world...

December 15, 1978

The Bee Gees - Spirits Having Flown

Released: December 15, 1978

Recorded: March - November 1978

Producer: Bee Gees, Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson

Track listing[6]

Side A

Tragedy
Too Much Heaven
Love You Inside Out
An Everlasting Love
Reaching Out
Spirits (Having Flown)

Side B

Search, Find
Why
Stop (Think Again)
Living Together
I'm Satisfied
(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away

Following the modest success of Odessa, the Bee Gees' next album was pushed forward from the initial January 1979 release to December 15 for the Christmas rush. Spirits Having Flown was preceded that October by the double A-side "Too Much Heaven" and "An Everlasting Love", marking yet another #1 hit for the Bee Gees in the United States. This was followed up by two more #1 hits, "Tragedy" and "Love You Inside Out", and then "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away", although that reached no higher than #7.

Spirits Having Flown hit #1 in both the United States and the United Kingdom (their first album to do so for the latter country) and was met with positive reviews. Their next album, Living Eyes, would not come out until October 1981, and it would mark their final album for six years.[7]

Summary of Bee Gees releases, 1978 - 1979

• "Night Fever" / "Down the Road" - February 7, 1978 (#1 UK and US)
• "Shadow Dancing" / "Warm Ride" - April 17, 1978 (#42 UK, #1 US)
• "Too Much Heaven" / "An Everlasting Love" (double A-side) - October 24, 1978 (#3 UK, #1 US)
• Spirits Having Flown - December 15, 1978 (#1 UK and US)
• "Tragedy" / "Until" (non-album B-side) - February 12, 1979 (#1 UK and US)
• "Love You Inside Out" / "Desire" - April 30, 1979 (#13 UK, #1 US)
• "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away" / "Spirits (Having Flown)" - July 9, 1979 (#16 UK, #7 US)
• Bee Gees Greatest - October 19, 1979 (#6 UK, #1 US)

Footnotes

1. A straightforward compilation of songs from Flowing Rivers and Shadow Dancing that did not end up on Night Fever or Spirits Having Flown (see footnote 4 below).
2. On After Dark, "Me (Without You)" (from Andy Gibb's Greatest Hits) replaces "Desire", which is now a Bee Gees B-side. The song was worked on during the sessions for Spirits Having Flown, but it was left off for sounding too similar to "Too Much Heaven". Andy Gibb later added in his vocals in May 1979. For TTL, I simply pretended he recorded his vocals earlier.
3. In OTL, Peter Frampton narrowly survived his car accident. Because of the critical failure of the Sgt. Pepper film, he hit a severe career slump and never reached the heights of Frampton Comes Alive again.
4. Each side consists of an abridgment of the Kiss band members' respective solo albums from 1978. I arranged the album by picking out the solo tracks that were generally more popular among Kiss fans; your mileage may vary.
5. Tracks are sourced from the compilation album Flogging a Dead Horse, the Professionals' intended debut album from 1980, Public Image Ltd's Public Image: The First Issue and Rich Kids' Ghosts of Princes in Towers. In addition, for TTL, the tracks have Johnny Rotten primarily on lead vocals with Glen Matlock and Steve Jones occasionally stepping up to the microphone, and they have a more punk edge akin to Never Mind the Bollocks, although with a more experimental sound akin to their individual projects from the late 1970s/early 1980s.
6. All tracks are sourced from Spirits Having Flown, excluding "An Everlasting Love", "Why", and "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away", all sourced from Andy Gibb's Shadow Dancing. "Until" is released as a non-album B-side.
7. On Living Eyes, "Time is Time" (also from Andy Gibb's Greatest Hits) replaces "Soldiers", which also ends up becoming a non-album B-side.

Author's Comments

Not much to discuss here; the Bee Gees' story will more or less continue as it did per OTL, only with Andy Gibb as a member and surviving past 1988. Also, since the Sgt. Pepper film doesn't happen, the Bee Gees don't go through the commercial slump like they did in OTL.

I've been planning for Kiss and Yes to have storylines for Strawberry Peppers; in the case of the latter, Jon Anderson doesn't leave the band, and Vangelis will join Yes. I've even thought of having them sign up for Highway 61 Records. I was going to do something regarding their 1978 album Tormato, but I ended up cutting it because I couldn't think of something to do with it. Hopefully when I get to doing Drama (or its equivalent), I'll have something in mind. Other than Kiss having an album in 1978 and not doing Phantom of the Park, I don't know what else to do with them as a result of these changes, but I suppose that change isn't immediately obvious so it could be one of those cases.

Lastly, there's the Sex Pistols; since they've never run into Malcolm McLaren (and with Lord Beeching having told him to sod off like he did with Don Arden), they haven't broken up... yet. I don't think anyone's ever attempted to answer the question of what a follow-up to Never Mind the Bollocks would've sounded like had they not broke up, and if that's the case, then it looks like I might be the first. Your results may vary, and it'll be interesting to see what others can come up with. There will be more to do with them in a later chapter, and chances are it may not be pretty...

Chapter 58: Hotel California (February - September 1978)

February 10, 1978

Neil Young - Comes a Time

Released: February 10, 1978

Recorded: November 28, 1975 - November 21, 1977

Producer: Neil Young, David Briggs, Ben Keith and Tim Mulligan

Track listing[1]

Side A

Goin' Back
Comes a Time
Bite the Bullet
Lotta Love
Peace of Mind

Side B

Saddle Up the Palomino
Already One
Field of Opportunity
Motorcycle Mama
Four Strong Winds

Neil Young's latest album, Comes a Time (#42 UK, #7 US), was perhaps his most commercially accessible album in quite some time, marking a return to his folksy roots, including a cover of Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds" (#57 UK, #61 US) that was released as a single. Comes a Time received mostly positive reviews upon release. Young's last album of the 1970s, Rust Never Sleeps, would come out later in the year, for he would soon go on a lengthy tour with Crazy Horse of the same name.

Meanwhile, under the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, Young would co-direct a comedy film with Dean Stockwell called Human Highway, named for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 1975 masterpiece, spending $3 million of his own money on production, but it would not be released until 1982 to negative critical reaction. Also starring in the film were Stockwell, co-writer Russ Tamblyn, famed actor Dennis Hopper, and newly-signed Swan Song Records band Devo, who would put out their debut album on August 28.

31 March 1978

Genesis - And Then There Were Four

Released: 31 March 1978

Recorded: September - October 1977

Producer: David Hentschel and Genesis

Track listing[2]

Side A

Down and Out
Undertow
Minute By Minute
Snowbound
Burning Rope

Side B

Deep in the Motherlode
Many Too Many
Scenes from a Night's Dream
Say It's Alright Joe
The Lady Lies
Follow You Follow Me

The following is excerpted from Kim Beacon's 2006 autobiography, Spotting a Night Bird, published under Apple Books:

"It was about a few hours before an official recording session for And Then There Were Four, that Phil and I were in the studio, and I was messing around a bit on a drum kit. I had played drums in the past, but I never really thought I was that great a drummer. Heck, I'd even told Phil that he was better at it than I was, even though we had dual drum kits when we toured as Genesis during 1976 and 1977. Mainly, I did percussion work like bongos, timbales, tambourine, cymbals, that sort of thing.

'How about a drum duet?' he suggested. 'Nothing all that serious, you understand; just something for a little bit of fun in the studio.'

'Alright, Phil,' I said. 'I'm game.' It would be a while yet before Mike, Tony and David [Hentschel] would arrive, so I thought that a drum duet between me and Phil would be a nice time killer. Sadly, we never thought about recording it, because if we had, then I bet people would really understand the fun we had behind the scenes.

Mine and Phil's drum duet, what we humorously dubbed as 'Collin for a Beacon' (get it?), was kind of akin to what Ralph Humphrey and Chester Thompson did with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention for the live album Roxy and Elsewhere a few years prior. By the time the recording session began proper, Phil and I thought of switching things up a bit like myself playing drums on occasion - usually for one song at most - while Phil played on my set of percussion.

Phil Collins behind the drums, 1978.

The tour for And Then There Were Four, our first album as a quartet and with Daryl Stuermer as touring guitarist, began shortly before the album was released, lasting about eight months, and to say it was grueling would be a bit of an understatement. Especially for Phil. Of course, we did have breaks between legs, but I think he suffered more than the rest of us. His marriage with Andrea [Bertorelli] seemed to be faltering at the time, and he wasn't spending as much time as he wanted to with her or their baby son Simon.

It wasn't until after the final show of the tour in Osaka, Japan [3 December 1978] that Phil finally opened up to the rest of us.

'I'm sorry, guys,' he said, 'but my heart's just not into being part of Genesis anymore. I feel like I'm an absent father and I've recently offered my services as drummer to another band.'

Tony, Mike and I didn't know what to say at first, but after what felt like eternity, I walked over to Phil, my closest friend in the band, and hugged him. I'd noticed he'd been feeling distant for the past few weeks ago, especially when we began the North American leg at the end of September. It was a bit of a red flag in hindsight and we probably should've seen this coming. I was upset, mostly with myself for not noticing it sooner, but whatever Phil wanted to do, I was behind him all the way.

Eventually, Mike and Tony joined in the group hug as well. I can't remember how long it lasted, though there were tears in my eyes by the end of it. Some time afterward, Phil went to Vancouver to try and fix his marriage, though we still kept in close contact and even co-wrote a few songs that would later up either on Genesis albums or on solo projects either by me or by Phil. By the start of the new year, 1979, we soon discovered 'who' Phil was now the drummer for..."

Summary of Genesis releases, 1978

• "Follow You Follow Me" / "Minute By Minute" - 25 February 1978 (#2 UK, #10 US)
• And Then There Were Four - 31 March 1978 (#1 UK, #3 US)
• "Many Too Many" / "The Day the Light Went Out" - 30 June 1978 (#14 UK, #26 US)

May 2, 1978

Tom Petty & Mudcrutch - Terminal Romance

Released: May 2, 1978

Recorded: 1977-1978

Producer: Pete Ham and Tom Petty

Track listing[3]

Side A

When the Time Comes
You're Gonna Get It
Hurt
You Don't Care
Magnolia
I Don't Know What to Say to You
Too Much Ain't Enough

Side B

I Need to Know
Listen to Her Heart
Save Me
No Second Thoughts
Restless
Long Way from Home
Baby's a Rock 'n' Roller

The third album under Tom Petty & Mudcrutch, Terminal Romance, did better than their previous album, American Girl, commercially (#28 UK, #16 US), even reaching gold status (half a million units sold), although it was ranked a notch lower than the latter album. The album's two singles, "I Need to Know"/"No Second Thoughts" (#26 US) and "Listen to Her Heart"/"I Don't Know What to Say to You" (#33 US), were also Top 40 hits after being released in June and August, respectively.

18 August 1978

The Who - Who Are You

Released: 18 August 1978

Recorded: September 1977 - April 1978

Producer: Glyn Johns and Jon Astley

Track listing[4]

Side A

New Song
Had Enough
905
No Road Romance
Sister Disco
Music Must Change

Side B

Trick of the Light
Guitar and Pen
Say It Ain't So, Joe
Love is Coming Down
Who Are You

PETE TOWNSHEND: "Ever since this little battle of the bands with the Rolling Stones ended back in 1972, we were feeling kind of burned out, if Who by Numbers was any indication. The Tommy film did really well, as did the 1976 tour, but we needed a break." (1996)

The last few years were generally a mixed bag for the members of the Who. Pete Townshend stayed at home with his family, Roger Daltrey put out a solo album called One of the Boys, and John Entwistle was planning a science-fiction rock opera of his own; it would concern a man given the identity number 905 and living with another man named 503, and both were absolutely identical. No women existed in the future because that was what they were eating, but Entwistle eventually scrapped the project, deciding that the story seemed too similar to the 1973 dystopian thriller Soylent Green.

But what about the Who's very own Jekyll and Hyde, Keith Moon? To him, going on tour meant that he would be very physically active, but having not done so since 21 October 1976 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Moon was in a very unhealthy state, not helping that he had become obese. His drumming for a gig filmed on 15 December 1977 for a documentary was so lackluster that the footage remained in the vaults. To be fair to Moon, however, having not played as a group for over a year meant that the performance itself was weak overall.

The Who, 1978.

ROGER DALTREY: "Because of Keith's state, we agreed not to make any live performances for the immediate future. Pete had this idea for a sequel to Lifehouse and John had his Soylent Green-esque sci-fi story, but it was decided instead to make a standard album instead. The sessions were pretty hellish, not helping by the fact I had throat surgery. I think our personal lives may have affected our performance." (2006)

Tensions between the band and production grew had grown so intense that Townshend had planned to fire Moon unless he cleaned up his act. Taking this threat seriously, Moon attempted to kick his alcohol addiction and take his drumming skills with greater enthusiasm. Once recording for Who Are You had finally finished in April, the Who filmed another performance that May for the documentary, The Kids Are Alright. It was a much stronger performance overall than the one in December, and what made this performance stand out was that it was the last gig Keith Moon would perform with the Who.

Who Are You was a fast seller in both the United States (#2) and the United Kingdom (#6), although in the former country, it was left out of the top spot by the soundtrack to the movie Grease, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The sole lead single, "Who Are You"/"Had Enough" (#18 UK, #14 US), was released on 14 July prior to the album.

7 September 1978

9 Curzon Square, formerly Curzon Place, 2012. Cass Elliot and Keith Moon died in apartment 12, a two-bedroom apartment, within four years of each other, both aged 32. Harry Nilsson also lived there before renting it out to Moon in 1978, thinking that the apartment was cursed.

KEITH MOON: "If you don't like it, you can fuck off!" (1978, his last words to girlfriend Annette Walter-Lax)

In mid-1978, Keith Moon had moved into Flat 12 at 9 Curzon Place, Shepherd Market, Mayfair, London, renting from Harry Nilsson. Cass Elliot of the Mamas and the Papas had died there four years ago at the age of 32 from heart failure. Nilsson was concerned about letting Moon live there, believing it was cursed. Townshend dismissed Nilsson's concerns by saying "lightning wouldn't strike the same place twice."

How wrong he would be...

On 6 September, Moon and his girlfriend Annette Walter-Lax, a Swedish model, were at a preview of The Buddy Holly Story, and afterward dined with Paul and Linda McCartney, who had also seen the film, at Peppermint Park in Covent Garden. Upon heading home, Moon watched The Abominable Dr. Phibes and asked Walter-Lax to cook him steak and eggs, to which she objected too. He then took thrity-two clomethiazole tablets and when Walter-Lax checked on him the following afternoon, Moon was dead.

Keith Moon during his last tour as drummer for the Who, 1976.

Moon had been given a prescription of Heminevrin (clomethiazole, a sedative) to try and overcome his alcohol withdrawal symptoms, and because of his fear of psychiatric hospitals, Moon insisted on doing it at home. Physician Geoffrey Dymond, who was unaware of Moon's lifestyle, had prescribed a bottle of a hundred pills, instructing him to take only one pill when he felt a craving for alcohol, but no more than three pills per day. Six of the thirty-two pills Moon had taken were digested, and that was enough to end his life.

Pete Townshend was the first to be informed about Moon's death, and he soon let Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle (the latter of whom was being interviewed in France at the time) know about what had happened. Now that Keith Moon had died before he could get old, the three remaining members of the Who were left wondering, what next? Would they carry on despite losing their friend, or would they break up out of respect for his legacy?

PHIL COLLINS: "Shortly after Moonie's demise, I was working with Pete Townshend at Oceanic in Twickenham, helping on tracks for an artist from New York he was producing, Raphael Rudd, a brilliant pianist and harpist. At the time Pete was running around London clubs with New Romantic gadabout Steve Strange. He wasn't in great shape, partying all night and recovering all day. Pete was still sleeping when I arrived at the studio for the session. But once he was up I grabbed him: "Who's gonna play drums for The Who now? 'Cause I'd love to do it.' 'Oh damn, we haven't thought of that.' It was a serious offer, and I was a little surprised but also happy and nervous. This meant that I had to leave Genesis to join Pete, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle. This is The Who we're talking about, man! I grew up with that band. I just loved the energy and I know I could have done it and made it work. After Genesis finished the And Then There Were Four tour, I got to play with a set of childhood heroes full time. Meanwhile with Genesis, and now there were three." (A Stranger Like Me, 2011)[5]

Now that Genesis had been reduced to just Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Kim Beacon, the trio had planned on continuing despite Phil Collins' departure, with Beacon now taking the position as the band's drummer (as well as keyboards here and there). Beacon was initially nervous about becoming the new drummer for Genesis, but with encouragement from Banks and Rutherford as well as Collins' blessing, he gradually grew more comfortable with the position. Whenever the band would go on tour, Chester Thompson would be brought in to play the drums live. The now classic Genesis lineup was born.

Footnotes

1. All tracks are sourced from Comes a Time, excluding "Bite the Bullet" and "Saddle Up the Palomino", both from American Stars 'n Bars.
2. All tracks are sourced from ...And Then There Were Three..., excluding "Minute By Minute" which comes from Kim Beacon's Ravenna. In addition, Kim Beacon sings lead vocals on all of the tracks
3. Terminal Romance was the original title for You're Gonna Get It!. All tracks from said album are included. "I Don't Know What to Say to You" is sourced from Playback and "You Don't Care", "Save Me" and the 1977 re-recording of "Long Way from Home" are all from the bootleg Mudcrutch and Solo Petty Outtakes, being recorded during the sessions for You're Gonna Get It!.
4. All tracks are sourced from the 1996 remaster of Who Are You, excluding "Say It Ain't So, Joe", taken from Roger Daltrey's One of the Boys, which features Keith Moon on drums and John Entwistle on bass guitar. "Guitar and Pen" is the Olympic 1978 Mix and "Who Are You" is the Lost Verse Mix.
5. The first half is verbatim from Phil Collins' 2016 autobiography, Not Dead Yet: The Memoir. The second half was re-written to reflect the events of TTL. In addition, Collins and Pete Townshend had played together on other people's records prior to Keith Moon's death, so they knew each other prior to that event. The autobiography also mentions the death of John Bonham and the break-up of Led Zeppelin in OTL.

Author's Comments

Quite a bit to unpack on the Genesis side of things, isn't there? This time around, Phil Collins has left the group to play with the Who following Keith Moon's demise, and this time, he gets the gig. How will this change things up for the Who? Probably not much; Face Dances and It's Hard would likely be unchanged bar the covers with Phil in Kenney Jones' place, and their trajectory continues more or less like in OTL, barring John Entwistle surviving. I don't think any Genesis songs Phil wrote during 1979-1982 would've ended up on either of the 80s Who albums.

And for those who are curious, here's the rest of the actual Phil Collins quote from Not Dead Yet:

"Oh damn, we just asked Kenney Jones to do it". It was a serious offer, and I was a little disappointed. I'd have left Genesis to join Pete, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle. It's The Who, man! I grew up with that band. I just loved the energy and I know I could have done it and made it work. Denied the chance to play with one set of childhood heroes, here's Robert Plant offering me another".

You'll find out soon enough why I chose to leave off the bit regarding John Bonham's death.

Not much to say about Neil Young or Tom Petty; the former will have his personal life affected when Ben is born this November, while the latter carries on like normal, except he and his band don't go into the legal dispute with MCA Records like they did in OTL.

Thanks to danielmartin273 for helping in writing the Genesis/Who portion of this chapter out, mainly suggesting ideas on what should happen.

Chapter 57: Wish You Were Here (October 1977 - September 1978)

28 October 1977 - June 1978

Pink Floyd pictured with Syd Barret (front-most member), 1967.

NICK MASON: "When we got the word that Syd Barrett had died after a bus accident in Germany, David, Rick and I spent a lot of time at home to reflect on him. Roger had just left Pink Floyd and now his best friend from his youth was no longer with us. I think Roger took it the hardest, though we were no less upset about what had happened. 1977 just seemed to be an annus horribilis for Pink Floyd. First there was the In the Flesh Tour, then Roger leaving the band due to stress, and now there was Syd dying." (2007)

Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Rick Wright had taken a two month hiatus from the public eye following the tragic and unexpected death of Syd Barret, also a founding member of Hunky Dory, following the flipping of the band's tour bus in West Berlin, Germany. Pink Floyd was now in a difficult situation when Waters announced that he was leaving the band, and it was barely a week when he received a call from Rosemary Barrett about Syd's death. By the time he had re-appeared in the public eye again, Waters looked as though he had aged a few years, and he had grown out his facial hair.

The other members of Hunky Dory, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt had also taken time out of the spotlight following Syd's death. No one was planning to put out any solo works by the time of the event (although Pop had since put out Lust for Life and Bowie had composed various tracks waiting to be recorded), which gave them a lot of time to reflect on what they should do for the foreseeable future.

Lou Reed, 1977.

On 28 October, two months since Barrett's passing, it was Lou Reed who finally said something. He stood up and said the other surviving members, "I'm sorry, I love you guys, but without Syd, what's the point? He was very much the reason we got together in the first place, and if we recorded an album without him, it just wouldn't be the same."

"Well, we hear you, Lou," said Kevin, "but maybe Ollie could..."

"No." The tone of Lou's voice was a bit more blunt than he had intended, but it did get Kevin to stop with his suggestion of bringing in Ollie Halsall, a sideman to Ayers' own solo works and occasional producer to Hunky Dory, as a full time member. Lou didn't need to say anymore, but Kevin quickly understood the implication of his tone.

"How do you think Nick and the others are feeling about Syd's demise?" asked Robert. "He hasn't really been part of Pink Floyd since '72, but he was part of the band's history, even in the early days."

"Rob's got a point there, Lou," said David. "Perhaps one of us should call him or any of the others to see if we could do something to honor Syd and keep his legacy alive?"

IGGY POP: "I remember it was David who called up Nick about Syd. They talked for a bit, reflecting on the times they worked with him, even if he could be a bit of a pain in the ass for Roger and the others. David suggested that we hold a joint concert in Berlin to honor Syd and even donate the proceedings to a charity." (2017)

DAVID GILMOUR: "It was easy to get the rest of Hunky Dory to agree to this charity performance, but Roger was a lot harder to convince. It was Nick who got through to him, however, and assured him that this would be a one-time thing." (1994)

Roger Waters playing live at The Concert for Syd in West Berlin, Germany, 1 December 1977. It had been over three months since Syd Barrett's passing on 28 August 1977.

After some arranging and negotiating, the one-off joint concert between Pink Floyd, Roger Waters and Hunky Dory took place on 1 December in West Berlin, Germany. Titled The Concert for Syd, it consisted of songs performed during Barrett's time with Pink Floyd such as "See Emily Play" (with David Bowie on lead vocals), "Matilda Mother", "Apples and Oranges" and "Jugband Blues", as well as various selections from Hunky Dory's discography such as "Velvet Goldmine", "Speed of Life" and "Raw Power". All proceedings were donated to charity.

ROGER WATERS: "Doing the concert was quite enjoyable, and it really helped us to cope with the aftermath of Syd's death. Before we did the show, I'd been working on some lyrics to a song that became 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' and showed it to the rest of the guys. Then starting with David Bowie, everyone contributed some songs that they had leftover, and that resulted in a collaboration between Pink Floyd and Hunky Dory." (2015)

KEVIN AYERS: "I dunno if we were credited individually or as the Hunky Pink Sound, but either way, David [Bowie] really pulled us through, even though Roger and Lou got into a lot of petty arguing due to their clashing egos. It was pretty stupid if you ask me, but thank goodness Dave managed to keep the glue together." (2007)

The recording for the next album by Pink Floyd and Hunky Dory, jointly credited as The Hunky Pink Sound, would last beginning in January all the way into June of 1978, with all nine men bringing something to the table. Even Syd Barrett got a posthumous contribution with "Swan Lee (Silas Lang)", a song he had recorded towards the end of the Scream Thy Last Scream sessions, but it was left without 70s overdubs out of respect to his legacy. "He always liked his solo recordings raw," Nick Mason was heard to have said.

9 June 1978

The Rolling Stones - Some Girls

Released: 9 June 1978

Recorded: 10 October 1977 - 2 March 1978

Producer: The Glimmer Twins

Track listing[1]

Side A

Miss You
When the Whip Comes Down
We All Get Old
Some Girls
Lies

Side B

Far Away Eyes
Respectable
Before They Make Me Run
Beast of Burden
Shattered

The rest of 1976 and 1977 were mostly uneventful for the Rolling Stones following the departure of David Bowie. Controversy surrounding the Thin White Duke notwithstanding, Bowie had been feeling restricted by the confines of being part of a band, as if they weren't experimental enough for his liking. They had brought in Ronnie Wood on guitar hoping that he'd shake things up a bit. While Wood was a welcome addition, briefly making the Stones a sextet, Bowie that that he himself didn't add anything to the band anymore, becoming another factor that he decided to leave to pursue a solo career full time, though it was delayed due to the death of Syd Barrett and the subsequent project with Pink Floyd and the remaining members of Hunky Dory.

MICK JAGGER: "We knew it was nothing personal when David left the band. He wanted to explore new kinds of music, but we didn't. I suppose we were pretty conservative at the time about how we want to sound. *chuckles* Still, we parted on good terms, though it was years later when it was exposed to the public that me and Dave got a little too cozy with one another in bed." (2013)

The Rolling Stones, 1978. Save for Bill Wyman's departure in 1993, this lineup has remained unchanged since 1976.

Despite Bowie's departure, personal relationships outside of the band falling apart and the occasional bust and subsequent trial for drug possession, especially concerning Keith Richards on the latter point, the Rolling Stones were able to put out their live album Love You Live that September, and Mick Jagger was filmed for a cameo role in a Beatles parody film conceived by Eric Idle. This film, titled All You Need is Cash, would also feature Mick's wife Bianca as well as Ronnie Wood in other roles. The Stones were reunited in the studio that October to begin work on their next album, for which the sessions would last up to March the next year.

The Rolling Stones' sixteenth album (eighteenth according to the American discography) Some Girls reached #1 in America but stalled out at #2 in their native England. It was preceded that May with the single "Miss You"/"Far Away Eyes", which also hit #1 in America, but reached no higher than #3 in the United Kingdom. The follow-up single, "Beast of Burden"/"Respectable" (#23 UK, #8 US), was released that September.

Some Girls marked a return to form for the Rolling Stones following the controversial tour for Red and Black Blues, even being hailed as their greatest album since Ziggy Stardust. For the first time since Lazarus of England ten years ago, the songwriting was dominated by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, although Ronnie Wood would contribute one song to the album, "We All Get Old". The punk vibes on the album, as well as some disco influence, helped to reinvigorate the Stones' success and showed that they could still be a force to be reckoned with despite the departure of David Bowie.

CHARLIE WATTS: "The sessions were so productive during that time; we must've done about fifty songs and we could've easily done a double album with the material we had leftover. We decided to use some of the songs we had leftover to make another album out them. We were once again on a creative streak as the 70s drew to a close." (2006)

1 September 1978

The Hunky Pink Sound - Wish You Were Here

Released: 1 September 1978

Recorded: 28 May 1968, January - June 1978

Producer: Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, Hunky Dory and Brian Eno

Track listing[2]

Side A

Four Notes [The Hunky Pink Sound]
"Heroes" [David Bowie]
China Girl [Iggy Pop]

Side B

Shine On, You Crazy Diamond [Roger Waters]
Once Upon an Ocean [Kevin Ayers]
Coney Island Baby [Lou Reed]

Side C

Swan Lee (Silas Lang) [Syd Barrett]
Art Decade [David Bowie, Rick Wright]
Memories Membrane [Robert Wyatt, Nick Mason]

Side D

Subterraneans [David Bowie]
Wish You Were Here [David Gilmour]
The Farewell March [The Hunky Pink Sound]

Wish You Were Here marked not only Pink Floyd's eleventh album, but also Hunky Dory's eighth and final album as well (though still jointly credited to The Hunky Pink Sound). It reached #1 in both the United States and the United Kingdom and was released on both Highway 61 Records (North America) and Harvest Records (Europe). All profits made off of Wish You Were Here (including re-issues) would go to charity for mental illness research. The album received wildly positive reviews from critics and fans alike, the general consensus being that in the wake of Syd Barrett's untimely demise, Hunky Dory had gone out on a high note.

DAVID BOWIE: "It was fun while it lasted, but without Syd, it was for the best that we split up. We still have contact with each other and catch up on things, but will Hunky Dory ever reunite? Maybe we will, maybe we won't. Right now, it's very unlikely, but who knows what the future may hold? As Ringo Starr once said, tomorrow never knows." (1979)

So where did the members of Hunky Dory go from there? David Bowie stayed on Apple Records, continuing to put out solo albums, finally making a name for himself as a solo artist in 1979. Both Kevin Ayers and Iggy Pop would transfer to Swan Song Records, with the former putting out Rainbow Takeaway by the end of 1978, and the latter releasing New Values in 1979. But after 1980, Ayers would leave Swan Song Records and keep hopping between labels, putting out new albums "whenever [he] felt like it", with his last album, The Unfairground, coming out on LO-MAX Records in 2007. He died while sleeping in France on 18 February 2013 at the age of 68.

By contrast, Lou Reed stayed with Highway 61 Records, putting out Street Hassle shortly after the sessions for Wish You Were Here, and every once in a while releasing music that baffled fans and critics, culminating with Lulu, a collaboration with Metallica in 2011. Reed died two years later at the age of 71.

David Gilmour and Rick Wills on the latter's wedding day, 1972. Both men were members of Cambridge-based rock band Joker's Wild in the mid-1960s. Wills also recorded with Cochise (1970-1972), Peter Frampton (1972-1974) as well as on Kevin Ayers' 1976 album Yes We Have No Mañanas (So Get Your Mañanas Today). He played with the reformed Small Faces for Playmates (1977) and 78 in the Shade (1978) before they broke up for good due to poor reviews and sales.

As for Robert Wyatt, due to his friendship with Nick Mason and having nothing better to do in the meantime, he would leave Highway 61 Records at the start of 1979 to become a full-time member of Pink Floyd. Since Roger Waters would continue to pursue a solo career around that time, he was replaced in Pink Floyd by Rick Wills on bass guitar, an old friend of David Gilmour from the days of Joker's Wild in the mid-1960s, and they were also jointed by Snowy White, who served as backing guitarist during the In the Flesh Tour.

With the current lineup consisting of Rick Wright, Nick Mason, David Gilmour, Rick Wills, Snowy White and Robert Wyatt, what was going to happen next for the newest phase of Pink Floyd, now a sextet? And what about Roger Waters? Well, at the time, only we could think and wonder if time would tell heaven from hell...

Footnotes

1. All tracks are sourced from Some Girls, excluding "We All Get Old", sourced from Ronnie Wood's Gimme Some Neck. Wood had begun recording his album as early as January 1978, around the time of the final sessions for Some Girls.
2. Tracks are sourced from the following:
1. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" parts one through three from Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here.
2. David Bowie's "Heroes".
3. Iggy Pop's The Idiot.
4. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" parts four through seven from Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here.
5. Kevin Ayers' Sweet Deceiver.
6. Lou Reed's Coney Island Baby.
7. Syd Barrett's Opel.
8. David Bowie's Low.
9. Custom mix by Rusty Shackleford.
10. David Bowie's Low.
11. Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, but fades out earlier.
12. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" parts eight and nine from Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here.

Author's Comments

Yep, this is pretty much the last chapter where I take influence from Auran's Gummaumma timeline, as well as the last time we see Iggy Pop, Lou Reed and Kevin Ayers in the story. But the stories for Pink Floyd, Robert Wyatt, Roger Waters and David Bowie are far from over! We'll be seeing more from them in the future, and I've thought of taking influence from Mass' So You Think You Can Tell timeline in which Roger Waters does leave Pink Floyd for real, with the major obvious difference being that Syd Barrett is no longer around. There's pretty much enough material from David Gilmour and Rick Wright, as well as Nick Mason, Robert Wyatt and maybe Snowy White and/or Rick Wills (depending on what material they had at the time would fit) for three albums, maybe even four or five! Roger Waters' solo career will include The Wall and The Final Cut, as well as the cancelled Spare Bricks project, but after 1985, his solo career carries on like in OTL.

Also, and I wasn't planning on it, but I think there's about enough material for the Rolling Stones to put out a 1979 album with the leftover material they had from Some Girls. This may end up having an effect on Emotional Rescue, their 1980 album, and if that's the case, I'll have created three albums from the 1979-1981 period! Since some tracks ended up on Tattoo You, and since I've some leftover material from Ronnie's Gimme Some Neck album, it'll be interesting to see what I can come up with.

Chapter 56: New Rose (January 1976 - December 1977)

General Affairs for Apple Corps Ltd.

Margot Kidder as Lois Lane and Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent during the filming for Superman: The Movie, July 1977. The New York Daily News building would serve as the setting for the Daily Planet offices where Kent and Lane work in the film.

When Apple Corps Ltd. was first formed in 1968, people had no idea that one day, it would gradually boom into the company that shook up the world. In the past decade, it had morphed from starting out as a vanity label by the Beatles into a powerhouse company that handled not just music, but movies and television as well. Music released by the Beatles, the Ladders, and Paul McCartney & Smile were all originally distributed by EMI until January 1976, when Apple had decided to switch distributors to Warner Brothers instead, the company that also distributed Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, both from 1974. To this day, Apple has remained attached to Warner Brothers, although Apple still operated as an independent company.

Speaking of Brooks, his next two films under Apple Films, Silent Movie (June 17, 1976) and High Anxiety (December 25, 1977) were both critical and commercial successes, the latter film of which being his third collaboration with Madeline Kahn, who was credited for the first time as Maddy Lennon (the nickname had been given to her by her husband John).

Alongside with the production of the Bee Gees' Odessa film, planned for a summer 1978 release, there was great anticipation for a film adaptation of DC Comics' most famous character, Superman, being directed by Richard Donner. An up-and-coming actor by the name of Christopher Reeve had been cast as the titular Man of Steel himself, with Canadian actress Margot Kidder set to portray his love interest, Lois Lane, Marlon Brando as his biological father on Krypton, Jor-El, and Gene Hackman as his archenemy, Lex Luthor. A second movie was being filmed alongside the first and was planned for a 1979 release, featuring Terence Stamp as General Zod, who would also appear in the first movie. Behind the scenes, negotiations were being made that if both Superman films were successful, then Apple Films would co-produce other films based upon other DC properties, including the likes of  Batman and Wonder Woman. This would eventually pave the way for what many would refer to either as the "Donnerverse" or the "Appleverse".[1]

The Band performing for the film The Last Waltz, directed by Martin Scorsese, November 25, 1976.

On November 25, 1976, Thanksgiving Day in the United States, the Band had made their final live performance on stage, having decided to retire from touring. Richard Manuel had suffered a severe neck injury in a boating accident in Texas, resulting in several tour dates being cancelled in order to allow Manuel to recover. The performance was to be filmed and recorded for release, and would include several guest performers, including Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Muddy Waters, Bobby Charles, Ronnie Hawkins, and most famously, Bob Dylan.

Dylan was hesitant about being filmed, concerned that it would interfere with his own film project, Renaldo and Clara. Warner Brothers was intending to fund the project with the knowledge that Dylan would appear both in the film and its accompanying soundtrack; if he refused, then the label would pull out. George Harrison received a phone call from Robbie Robertson about the situation, and so Harrison offered to guarantee funding for the film following a meeting with Brian Epstein and Denis O'Brien. The Last Waltz would end up becoming an official Apple Films project, with filmmaker Martin Scorsese contracted to direct. (This would not be the last time that he would end up directing a film for Apple.)

George Harrison would appear on stage with the Band for their performance on "This Wheel's on Fire", and then he and Ringo Starr were among the guests for the celebrity finale of "I Shall Be Released". Harrison had also convinced Dylan backstage to allow his songs to be filmed and recorded, which ended up helping the success of The Last Waltz, later hailed as one of the greatest documentary concert films ever made. It was later selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for cultural and historical significance in 2019.

Apple Corps Executives, December 1977

Managing Director and Chairman of the Board: Brian Epstein

Vice Presidents: Peter Brown, Lord Beeching

Director Communications: Derek Taylor
General Counsels: Lee and John Eastman

Apple Records

President: Ron Kass

Vice President: Jack Oliver

Director of A&R: Jake Riviera

Director of Promotion and Marketing: Tony Bramwell

Director of Design: Josh Kosh

Studio Manager, Apple Studios: Geoff Emerick

Other Notable Figures: Mal Evans, Roy Thomas Baker

Apple Films and Apple Television

President: Denis O'Brien

Other Notable Figures: Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Mel Brooks, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Richard Donner

Apple Management

Director: Neil Aspinall

Associate Director: Mal Evans

Apple Publishing

Director: Alistair Taylor

Highway 61 Records

President: Jack Oliver

Vice President: Chris O'Dell

Directors of A&R: Pete Ham, Dennis Wilson

Swan Song Records

President: Peter Grant

Vice President: Alan Callan

Director of A&R: Dave Edmunds

The Artists of Apple Records

Old Signings

Kiki Dee and Elton John during the recording sessions for "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", 1976.

By the end of 1975, the roster for Apple Records was growing stagnant. Part of the blame fell onto Roy Thomas Baker due to prioritizing producing with Nazareth, Paul McCartney & Smile and Freddie Mercury, and so he voluntarily stepped aside from his position as A&R director with Mal Evans serving the role temporarily until a more permanent replacement could be found.

The artists who had stuck around since the late 60s/early 70s had varied success alongside the Beatles and their side careers, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the Rolling Stones and Electric Light Orchestra. The most successful artists of the 1976-77 period were Fleetwood Mac with Rumours (along with singles such as "Go Your Own Way" and "Don't Stop") and Elton John with the duet "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with Highway 61 artist Kiki Dee. In fact, Rumours would become Apple's biggest selling album of 1977.

On the flip-side of things, Billy Preston did not achieve Top 10 success with either of his 1976 eponymous album or 1977's A Whole New Thing. He later left Apple Records by the end of 1977, having fulfilled his contract, although he would still occasionally perform with the Beatles either individually or as a whole unit until his death in 2006. Following In the Pocket and the lead single "Shower the People", James Taylor would transfer to Highway 61 Records beginning with JT and its singles "Handy Man" and "Your Smiling Face".

Left to right: Michael Jackson as Scarecrow, Nipsey Russell as Tin Man, Diana Ross as Dorothy Gale and Ted Ross as Cowardly Lion in a promotional photo for The Wiz, released 1978. Despite being a critical and commercial failure, it has since become a cult classic among black audiences, Jackson's fanbase and enthusiasts of Oz.

Eric Clapton had modest success with No Reason to Cry, as did Splinter with Two Man Band, but only in the UK in the latter's case. Michael Jackson did not release anything during this period, as he was filming for The Wiz, an adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, with a screenplay by Joel Schumacher, in which Jackson played the Scarecrow alongside Diana Ross as Dorothy Gale. The film would come out in 1978 as a joint production between Motown Productions and Apple Films, but it would not be a critical or financial success upon release.

Vangelis continued working on his own projects alongside his work with the Dark Horses, but as for Jimmy McCulloch, despite "Medicine Jar" not being a Top 10 hit in either America or the United Kingdom, he formed White Line with his brother Jack on drums and Dave Clarke on bass, keyboards and vocals. They released one other single in 1976, "Call My Name"/"Too Many Miles", and put out the album Too Many Miles that same year. The group would split up in 1977, with McCulloch also departing to join the reformed Small Faces. McCulloch died on 27 September 1979 from heart failure due to morphine and alcohol poisoning at 26 years old.

Despite the successes from that period, this would not have been a sustainable model for Apple Records, especially considering that its sister label Highway 61 was thriving due to an influx of new, young artists signed in by Pete Ham and Dennis Wilson. Ham was soon called home to his native England by Peter Brown to see if he could repeat the success that was had with Highway 61.

New Signings

Jake Riviera, the new A&R director of Apple Records beginning in 1976. The date of the picture is unknown, but is estimated to be around the mid-to-late 70s.

Upon arrival in London, Ham went to various clubs and bars to find young, up-and-coming acts, and made the discovery of a new musical movement similar to what he had initially heard in New York. This new sound was more back-to-basics compared to progressive rock bands such as Genesis, the Yardbirds and Pink Floyd, but it would gradually spawn punk, pub rock and new wave music, and Pete Ham figured that this would be the sound of the future. He met with singer-songwriter Nick Lowe in a London club and then Lowe's manager Jake Riviera.

Riviera also managed several other up-and-coming artists and was able to easily impress Ham with his knowledge of the rising punk scene. A week later, Riviera informed Ham that he was thinking of starting an independent label that would focus on the punk scene. Ham then informed Riviera about Apple looking for an A&R director and figured that he could help in refocusing the label on that scene. After meeting with several Apple executives such as Peter Brown, Ron Kass, and even Paul McCartney, Riviera was hired as the new A&R director for Apple Records.

Brian Epstein was left feeling very skeptical about bringing in some punk bands to Apple, but Paul McCartney convinced him that it was no different to Epstein himself first discovering the Beatles fifteen years prior during the beat movement. Just... newer. Epstein, still skeptical, agreed to give Riviera's new signings the benefit of the doubt.

The Damned, 1976.

With Pete Ham's help - who would later leave in June to resume his duties at Highway 61 Records - Jake Riviera had signed up a host of new artists to Apple from London's underground scene. These artists included the Jam, Motörhead, the Damned, the Clash, Wreckless Eric, Elvis Costello and the Sex Pistols. Nick Lowe had also been signed up not only to record music, but to serve as producer to some of the other artists as well, as was Dave Edmunds, another Highway 61 Records artist.

The first release from any of the new Apple signings came out on 18 October with the Damned's single "New Rose", backed with a cover version of "Help!". Epstein's skepticism seemed to be confirmed when the single only managed to reach #81 in the United Kingdom, worrying that this would mean the end of Apple Corps altogether by the end of the 70s. In later years, "New Rose" would become a cult classic and be acknowledged as the first punk single released in the United Kingdom.

Fortunately, Epstein's fears would be dissuaded the following year when releases such as Elvis Costello's "Less Than Zero" (#17), the Jam's "In the City" (#40), Wreckless Eric's "Whole Wide World" (#20) and the Clash's "Remote Control" (#17) would become Top 40 hits in their own right, as did their debut records. The fact that they were on the same label as the members of the Beatles certainly got people talking about them, as well as raising concerns from overprotective parents about the music being a dangerous influence on their children, much like they had over the behavior of the Rolling Stones in the 60s and the rock 'n' roll tone of the music of Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley in the 50s.

The Sex Pistols were perhaps the most infamous of the new signings, due to the behavior of the members throughout 1976 and 1977, such as swearing on the Today program, hosted by Bill Grundy, due to being last-minute replacements for Freddie Mercury due to a dental appointment. This made headlines on the Daily Mirror, as did their controversial single "God Save the Queen", coming out the same year as Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee. It reached #2 in the United Kingdom, being left off of the top spot by Rod Stewart's double A-side "The First Cut is the Deepest"/"I Don't Want to Talk About It", resulting in accusations that the chart positions were rigged.[2]

The Artists of Highway 61 and Swan Song Records

Old Signings (Highway 61 Records)

Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1977.

Once his business in England was completed, Pete Ham returned to Los Angeles to resume his duties at Highway 61 Records. Dennis Wilson and the rest of the team had managed very well in his absence, as a hands-off model had been set up by Apple, allowing artists to record on their own without label interference, often outside of Los Angeles, which was necessary for many of the bands based in New York. Pete Ham, Dennis Wilson, Peter Tork and Dave Edmunds (the latter of whom was also busy at Swan Song Records) were often kept busy producing for and with the likes of Kiki Dee, Harry Nilsson, Cliff Richard and Supertramp, often putting out Top 40 hits.

Ham was generally keeping busy working with up-and-coming acts such as Patti Smith and the Ramones, the latter of whom put out "Blitzkrieg Bop", which would later become their signature song. He also helped to produce Blondie's eponymous debut album, released towards the end of the year. Dennis Wilson, meanwhile, worked with Blue Öyster Cult on Agents of Fortune, which produced the big hit "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". The following year, BÖC would transfer to Swan Song Records along with Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Blondie and Dr. John, although they would continue to record future hits there as well.

Spotlight mainstays Bob Dylan (Desire) and Rod Stewart (A Night on the Town, Foot Loose & Fancy Free) each put out an album that was a Top 10 hit while Tina Turner took on a recording hiatus due to an ongoing divorce with her husband Ike, whom she accused of being abusive in the past. Boxer put out their third album Absolutely before dissolving in 1978 due to Mike Patto's health. Among the other departures included L.A. Express, Neil Sedaka, Stackridge, Tom Scott, Nigel Olsson and Solution. Lynyrd Skynyrd would also leave Highway 61 Records following a tragic plane crash on October 20, 1977, which killed lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant and the Gaines siblings Steve and Cassie as well as road manager Dean Kilpatrick and pilots Walter McCreary and William Gray. Ironically, it was three days following the release of Street Survivors. The surviving members went their own separate ways.

New Signings (Highway 61/Swan Song Records)

The Jacksons in Los Angeles, 1976.

Following the end of their contract with Motown, the Jackson 5, now called the Jacksons, were signed onto Highway 61 Records at the start of 1976, and both The Jacksons and Goin' Places (released 1977) were Top 10 hits on the Billboard R&B Charts. That same year, American-based rock bands Attitudes (Los Angeles), the Talking Heads (New York) and Cheap Trick (Rockford, Illinois) would be signed onto Highway 61 Records by Pete Ham, with the latter two putting out albums the following year and later obtaining chart success. Attitudes would later split up at the start of 1978.

In 1968, a Scottish pop rock band called Marmalade, formerly Dean Ford and the Gaylords, had covered the Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" and it reached #1 in the United Kingdom, becoming the first Scottish act to do so. Eight years later, former Marmalade member Junior Campbell would be signed onto Highway 61 Records and put out a few singles. Although Campbell would not put out new singles after 1978, he would still remain attached to Apple and formed a partnership with bass guitarist Mike O'Donnell, which would become even stronger when it came to working on a certain children's show based upon a series of books by a clergyman...

Kate Bush, one of Swan Song Records' most successful artists, 1977.

Meanwhile, Swan Song Records had gained a few new artists itself, those being transferred from Highway 61 notwithstanding. These included a Scottish pop rock band called Blue, Anglo-American band Detective, Swindon-based band XTC, and a young singer by the name of Kate Bush. Despite being at the young age of sixteen (later seventeen) in 1975, Bush had written over fifty songs and her family produced a demo tape based on the compositions. David Gilmour had taken interest in the recordings after receiving the demo from mutual friend Ricky Hopper, and helped get Bush signed onto EMI.

However, Bush was put on retainer until she was nineteen years old, meaning that she wouldn't be able to record her own material until August 1977. Pete Ham had heard of Bush's talents and brought this up to Jack Oliver and Dennis Wilson, feeling that young Kate had great potential as a singer/songwriter, possibly being someone who could almost rival the Beatles in their youth when their songwriting developed. There was a bit of dispute between EMI and Apple over who should have the rights to have Bush's contract, but in the end, she was transferred over onto Swan Song Records and with her backing band Del Palmer, Brian Bath and Vic King, Kate began to record her first album in August 1977. David Gilmour was less than pleased with the development, but he couldn't think too much about it due to other matters at hand.

The only new artist signed onto Highway 61 Records in 1977 was Los Angeles-based band Toto, signed up by Dennis Wilson. While initially named for the dog Toto from The Wizard of Oz, in Latin, the words "in toto" translated to "all-encompassing". Band members Bobby Kimball, Steve Lukather, David Hungate, Steve Porcaro, David Paich and Jeff Porcaro had all played on so many records up to 1977 as well as many varied musical genres, and so the name "Toto" seemed appropriate for the band, who would go on to be one of the label's most successful artists.

Apple Records discography, January 1976 - December 1977

Albums

• Red and Black Blues by The Rolling Stones - 23 January 1976 (#2 UK, #1 US)
• Rock 'n' Roll by The Beatles - 30 January 1976 (#1 UK and US) [EMI]
• Wind on the Water by Crosby & Nash - 30 January 1976 (#16 US)
• Stone Alone by Bill Wyman - 27 February 1976 (#166 US)
• In the Pocket by James Taylor - 18 June 1976 (#14 US)
• Long May You Run by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 6 August 1976 (#12 UK, #26 US)
• No Reason to Cry by Eric Clapton - 27 August 1976 (#5 UK, #12 US)
• Between the Ladders by The Ladders - 17 September 1976 (#6 UK, #1 US)
• A New World Record by Electric Light Orchestra - 24 September 1976 (#6 UK, #5 US)
• Too Many Miles by Jimmy McCulloch and White Line - 15 October 1976 (#29 UK)
• Blue Moves by Elton John - 22 October 1976 (#3 UK and US)
• Billy Preston by Billy Preston - 19 November 1976 (#17 UK, #22 US)
• Silly Love Songs by Paul McCartney & Smile - 26 November 1976 (#2 UK, #1 US)
• Albedo 0.39 by Vangelis - 3 December 1976 (#18 UK)
• Somebody to Love by Freddie Mercury - 10 December 1976 (#1 UK) [extended play]
• Rumours by Fleetwood Mac - 4 February 1977 (#1 UK and US)
• Damned Damned Damned by The Damned - 18 February 1977 (#36 UK)
• The Clash by The Clash - 8 April 1977 (#10 UK, #97 US)
• In the City by The Jam - 20 May 1977 (#17 UK)
• Yacht Folks by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 17 June 1977 (#23 UK, #2 US)
• A Whole New Thing by Billy Preston - 1 July 1977 (#30 US)
• Thirty-Three & 1/3 by The Dark Horses - 15 July 1977 (#20 UK, #2 US)
• Sound and Vision by David Bowie and Iggy Pop - 15 July 1977 (#2 UK, #11 US)
• My Aim is True by Elvis Costello - 22 July 1977 (#12 UK, #20 US)
• Motörhead by Motörhead - 19 August 1977 (#31 UK)
• Two Man Band by Splinter - 26 August 1977 (#19 UK)
• Concerto for a Rainy Day by Electric Light Orchestra - 23 September 1977 (#4 UK and US)
• Champions of the World by Freddie Mercury - 7 October 1977 (#1 UK, #3 US)
• Water Works by Paul McCartney & Smile - 28 October 1977 (#3 UK, #2 US)
• Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols by The Sex Pistols - 28 October 1977 (#1 UK, #106 US)
• Music for Pleasure by The Damned - 18 November 1977 (#65 UK)
• This is the Modern World by The Jam - 18 November 1977 (#20 UK, #198 US)
• Spiral by Vangelis - 2 December 1977 (#76 UK)

Notable Singles

• "Prison Song" / "Through My Sails" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 5 January 1976 (#38 UK, #15 US)
• "Grow Some Funk of Your Own" / "I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford)" by Elton John - 12 January 1976 (#10 US)
• "Station to Station" /  "Crazy Mama" by The Rolling Stones - 19 January 1976 (#26 UK, #33 US)
• "Rhiannon" / "Sugar Daddy" by Fleetwood Mac - 4 February 1976 (#30 UK, #7 US)
• "Take the Money and Run" / "Out of the Darkness" by Crosby & Nash - 9 February 1976 (#52 US)
• "Medicine Jar" / "Wino Junko" by Jimmy McCulloch and White Line - 23 February 1976 (#35 US)
• "Pinball Wizard" / "Harmony" by Elton John - 12 March 1976 (#5 UK)
• "You're Sixteen" / "Stand By Me" by The Beatles - 15 March 1976 (#1 UK and US) [EMI]
• "Hot Stuff" / "Golden Years" by The Rolling Stones - 12 April 1976 (#8 UK, #10 US)
• "Say You Love Me" / "Monday Morning" by Fleetwood Mac - 31 May 1976 (#28 UK, #10 US)
• "Shower the People" / "I Can Dream of You" by James Taylor - 7 June 1976 (#16 US)
• "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" / "Snow Queen" by Elton John and Kiki Dee - 21 June 1976 (#1 UK and US)
• "Long May You Run" / "Time After Time" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 9 August 1976 (#71 UK, #24 US)
• "#9 Dream" / "This Song" by The Ladders - 23 August 1976 (#23 UK, #9 US)
• "Call My Name" / "Too Many Miles" by Jimmy McCulloch and White Line - 6 September 1976 (#45 UK, #58 US)
• "Silly Love Songs" / "Tie Your Mother Down" by Paul McCartney & Smile - 27 September 1976 (#1 UK and US)
• "Livin' Thing" / "Rockaria!" by Electric Light Orchestra - 4 October 1976 (#4 UK, #13 US)
• "New Rose" / "Help!" by The Damned - 18 October 1976 (#81 UK)
• "Hello Old Friend" / "All Our Past Times" by Eric Clapton - 25 October 1976 (#22 US)
• "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" / "Shoulder Holster" by Elton John - 1 November 1976 (#8 UK, #2 US)
• "Taken at All" / "Black Coral" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 1 November 1976 (#39 US)
• "Somebody to Love" / "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy" by Freddie Mercury - 15 November 1976 (#1 UK, #9 US)
• "Crackerbox Palace" / "Move Over Miss L" by The Ladders - 15 November 1976 (#19 UK, #7 US)
• "I've Got the Spirit" / "Girl" by Billy Preston - 22 November 1976 (#39 US)
• "Anarchy in the U.K." / "I Wanna Be Me" by The Sex Pistols - 29 November 1976 (#38 UK)
• "Long Away" / "Let 'Em In" by Paul McCartney & Smile - 6 December 1976 (#10 UK, #2 US)
• "Go Your Own Way" / "Silver Springs" by Fleetwood Mac - 20 December 1976 (#22 UK, #4 US)
• "Leaving Here" / "White Line Fever" by Motörhead - 5 January 1977
• "Carnival" / "Hungry" by Eric Clapton - 24 January 1977
• "Crazy Water" / "Chameleon" by Elton John - 31 January 1977 (#20 UK)
• "Time to Hide" / "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)" by Paul McCartney & Smile - 7 February 1977 (#5 UK, #8 US)
• "Telephone Line" / "Do Ya" by Electric Light Orchestra - 14 February 1977 (#8 UK, #7 US)
• "So It Goes" / "Heart of the City" by Nick Lowe - 14 February 1977 (#70 UK)
• "Neat Neat Neat" / "Stab Your Back" by The Damned - 28 February 1977 (#74 UK)
• "Less Than Zero" / "Radio Sweetheart" by Elvis Costello - 10 March 1977 (#17 UK)
• "White Riot" / "1977" by The Clash - 17 March 1977 (#38 UK)
• "Dreams" / "Songbird" by Fleetwood Mac - 24 March 1977 (#10 UK, #1 US)
• "Wide Stride" / "Whole New Thing" by Billy Preston - 24 March 1977 (#29 US)
• "Don't Stop" / "Gold Dust Woman" by Fleetwood Mac - 14 April 1977 (#4 UK, #1 US)
• "The Goaldiggers Song" / "Brian, Jimmy, Elton and Eric" by Elton John - 21 April 1977
• "In the City" / "Takin' My Love" by The Jam - 28 April 1977 (#40 UK)
• "Remote Control" / "London's Burning" by The Clash - 13 May 1977 (#17 UK)
• "Alison" / "Welcome to the Working Week" by Elvis Costello - 21 May 1977 (#38 UK)
• "God Save the Queen" / "No Feeling" by The Sex Pistols - 27 May 1977 (#2 UK)
• "Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance!)" / "Out of the Blue" by Elton John - 3 June 1977 (#24 UK, #17 US)
• "Motorhead" / "City Kids" by Motörhead - 7 June 1977 (#19 UK)
• "Just a Song Before I Go" / "Run from Tears" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 14 June 1977 (#57 UK, #4 US)
• "You Make Loving Fun" / "Never Going Back Again" by Fleetwood Mac - 21 June 1977 (#26 UK, #8 US)
• "Pretty Vacant" / "No Fun" by The Sex Pistols - 28 June 1977 (#6 UK)
• "Stretcher Case Baby" / "Sick of Being Sick" by The Damned - 3 July 1977 (#58 UK)
• "Wonderful Tonight" / "Pure Smokey" by The Dark Horses - 11 July 1977 (#29 UK, #3 US)
• "Sound and Vision" / "Nightclubbing" by David Bowie and Iggy Pop - 18 July 1977 (#1 UK, #26 US)
• "All Around the World" / "Carnaby Street" by The Jam - 18 July 1977 (#11 UK)
• "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" / "Mystery Dance" by Elvis Costello - 29 July 1977 (#26 UK)
• "It's What You Value" / "Next Time You See Her" by The Dark Horses - 8 August 1977 (#16 US)
• "Whole Wide World" / "Semaphore Signals" by Wreckless Eric - 15 August 1977 (#20 UK)
• "Round & Round" / "I'll Bend for You" by Splinter - September 1977 (#26 UK)
• "Complete Control" / "City of the Dead" by The Clash - 23 September 1977 (#24 UK)
• "Problem Child" / "You Take My Money" by The Damned - 28 September 1977 (#35 UK)
• "Fair Game" / "In My Dreams" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 30 September 1977 (#30 US)
• "We Are the Champions" / "Spread Your Wings" by Freddie Mercury - 3 October 1977 (#2 UK, #4 US)
• "Watching the Detectives" / "Blame it on Cain" by Elvis Costello - 10 October 1977 (#15 UK)
• "Holidays in the Sun" / "Satellite" by The Sex Pistols - 17 October 1977 (#8 UK)
• "Turn to Stone" / "Wild West Hero" by Electric Light Orchestra - 17 October 1977 (#6 UK, #13 US)
• "The Modern World" / "Bricks and Mortar" by The Jam - 31 October 1977 (#30 UK)
• "I'll Still Love You" / "Lay Down Sally" by The Dark Horses - 7 November 1977 (#28 UK)
• "Mull of Kintyre" / "We Will Rock You" by Paul McCartney & Smile - 11 November 1977 (#1 UK, B-side #4 US)
• "Don't Cry Wolf" / "One Way Love" by The Damned - 5 December 1977 (#47 UK)
• "Mr. Blue Sky" / "The Whale" by Electric Light Orchestra - 12 December 1977 (#2 UK, #10 US)

Highway 61 Records discography, January 1976 - December 1977

Albums

• Desire by Bob Dylan - 5 January 1976 (#3 UK, #1 US)
• Below the Belt by Boxer - 9 January 1976 (#127 UK)
• Raw Power by Hunky Dory - 16 January 1976 (#7 UK, #20 US)
• Sandman by Harry Nilsson - 30 January 1976 (#96 US)
• A Trick of the Tail by Genesis - 2 February 1976 (#2 UK, #25 US)
• Gimme Back My Bullets by Lynyrd Skynyrd - 2 February 1976 (#30 UK, #18 US)
• Ravi Shankar's Music Festival from India by Ravi Shankar - 6 February 1976
• Mr. Mick by Stackridge - 1 March 1976 (#66 UK)
• Steppin' Out by Neil Sedaka - 22 March 1976 (#35 US)
• Attitudes by Attitudes - 9 April 1976 (#117 US)
• Ramones by Ramones - 23 April 1976 (#99 US)
• I'm Nearly Famous by Cliff Richard - 7 May 1976 (#3 UK, #61 US)
• Rocks by Aerosmith - 14 May 1976 (#2 US)
• Agents of Fortune by Blue Öyster Cult - 21 May 1976 (#19 UK, #6 US)
• Illegal Stills by Stephen Stills - 21 May 1976 (#49 UK, #27 US)
• ...That's the Way It Is by Harry Nilsson - 4 June 1976 (#106 US)
• A Night on the Town by Rod Stewart - 18 June 1976 (#1 UK, #2 US)
• Yes We Have No Mañanas (So Get Your Mañanas Today) by Kevin Ayers - 18 June 1976 (#82 US)
• Alice Cooper Goes to Hell by Alice Cooper - 25 June 1976 (#17 UK, #19 US)
• Bloodletting by Boxer - 20 August 1976 (#93 UK)
• Hard Rain by Bob Dylan - 13 September 1976 (#3 UK, #17 US) [live album]
• One More from the Road by Lynyrd Skynyrd - 13 September 1976 (#8 US) [live album]
• Zuma by Neil Young and Crazy Horse - 8 October 1976 (#44 UK, #25 US)
• Rock and Roll Heart by Lou Reed - 8 October 1976 (#40 UK, #49 US)
• Radio Ethiopia by Patti Smith - 22 October 1976 (#63 US)
• The Jacksons by The Jacksons - 5 November 1976 (#45 UK, #20 US)
• American Girl by Tom Petty & Mudcrutch - 6 November 1976 (#20 UK, #36 US)
• Blondie by Blondie - 3 December 1976 (#68 UK)
• Wind & Wuthering by Genesis - 17 December 1976 (#4 UK, #13 US)
• Leave Home by Ramones - 10 January 1977 (#32 UK, #75 US)
• Kicks by Hunky Dory - 14 January 1977 (#11 UK, #23 US)
• Cheap Trick by Cheap Trick - 11 February 1977 (#193)
• Blow it Out by Tom Scott - 11 March 1977 (#82 US)
• Every Face Tells a Story by Cliff Richard - 18 March 1977 (#6 UK, #47 US)
• Good News by Attitudes - 25 March 1977
• Even in the Quietest Moments... by Supertramp - 10 April 1977 (#7 UK, #10 US)
• Kiki Dee by Kiki Dee - 24 April 1977 (#20 UK)
• Little Queen by Heart - 6 May 1977 (#21 UK, #4 US)
• Fully Interlocking by Solution - 10 June 1977 (#105 US)
• JT by James Taylor - 22 June 1977 (#2 US)
• Chrome Dreams by Neil Young - 1 July 1977 (#10 UK, #15 US)
• Knnillssonn by Harry Nilsson - 22 July 1977 (#99 US)
• The Idiot by Hunky Dory - 5 August 1977 (#6 UK, #38 US)
• Absolutely by Boxer - 12 August 1977 (#68 UK, #143 US)
• Pacific Ocean Blue by Dennis Wilson - 19 August 1977 (#96 US)
• Lust for Life by Iggy Pop - 29 August 1977 (#19 UK, #70 US)
• In Color by Cheap Trick - 12 September 1977 (#50 US)
• Talking Heads: 77 by Talking Heads - 16 September 1977 (#57 UK, #89 US)
• Street Survivors by Lynyrd Skynyrd - 17 October 1977 (#7 UK, #5 US)
• Goin' Places by The Jacksons - 18 October 1977 (#22 UK, #10 US)
• Seconds Out by Genesis - 21 October 1977 (#1 UK, #18 US) [live album]
• Foot Loose & Fancy Free by Rod Stewart - 4 November 1977 (#3 UK, #2 US)
• Rocket to Russia by Ramones - 4 November 1977 (#24 UK, #31 US)
• Without You by Heart - 2 December 1977 (#17 US) [extended play]

Notable Singles

• "Acid Queen" / "Let's Spend the Night Together" by Tina Turner - 19 January 1976 (#78 UK)
• "Ain't Love Enough" / "The Whole World's Crazy" by Attitudes - 19 January 1976
• "Entangled" / "A Trick of the Tail" by Genesis - 2 February 1976 (#29 UK, #36 US)
• "Double Trouble" / "Gimme Back My Bullets" by Lynyrd Skynyrd - 9 February 1976 (#62 US)
• "Mozambique" / "Oh, Sister" by Bob Dylan - 16 February 1976 (#41 US)
• "Blitzkrieg Bop" / "Havana Affair" by Ramones - 16 February 1976 (#85 US)
• "Gloria" / "My Generation" by Patti Smith - 8 March 1976
• "Love in the Shadows" / "Don't Let It Mess Your Mind" by Neil Sedaka - 8 April 1976 (#16 US)
• "Sail Away" / "Moonshine Bandit" by Harry Nilsson - 15 April 1976
• "Devil Woman" / "Love On (Shine On)" by Cliff Richard - 22 April 1976 (#5 UK, #2 US)
• "Carabino Lady" / "Southern Man" by Junior Campbell - 22 April 1976
• "Get It up for Love" / "Girl We've Got to Keep On" by Nigel Olsson - 23 May 1976
• "Last Child" / "Combination" by Aerosmith - 27 May 1976 (#10 US)
• "Honey Don't Leave L.A." / "Lend a Hand" by Attitudes - 3 June 1976 (#76 US)
• "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" / "Tattoo Vampire" by Blue Öyster Cult - 5 July 1976 (#10 UK, #4 US)
• "I Never Cry" / "Go to Hell" by Alice Cooper - 12 July 1976 (#8 US)
• "Heartless" / "Just the Wine" by Heart - 19 July 1976 (#11 US)
• "I Can't Ask for Anymore Than You" / "Junior Cowboy" by Cliff Richard - 23 July 1976 (#10 UK, #37 US)
• "Here Comes the Band" / "Pick Up" by Junior Campbell - 6 August 1976
• "Sweet Summer Music" / "If We Want To" by Attitudes - 20 August 1976 (#99 US)
• "Home Tonight" / "Pandora's Box" by Aerosmith - 27 August 1976 (#26 US)
• "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright" / "The Ball Trap" by Rod Stewart - 3 September 1976 (#5 UK, #1 US)
• "Gimme Three Steps (Live)" / "Free Bird (Live)" by Lynyrd Skynyrd - 10 September 1976 (#38 US)
• "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" / "California Sun" by Ramones - 10 September 1976
• "This Ain't the Summer of Love" / "Debbie Denise" by Blue Öyster Cult - 24 September 1976 (#57 US)
• "Pissing in a River" / "Ask the Angels" by Patti Smith - 24 September 1976 (#47 US)
• "Lookin' for a Love" / "Drive Back" by Neil Young - 8 October 1976
• "American Girl" / "The Wild One, Forever" by Tom Petty & Mudcrutch - 22 October 1976 (#30 UK, #14 US)
• "Enjoy Yourself" / "Style of Life" by The Jacksons - 29 October 1976 (#42 UK, #6 US)
• "Without You" / "Devil Delight" by Heart - 1 November 1976 (#59 UK, #18 US)
• "Back in the Saddle" / "Nobody's Fault" by Aerosmith - 5 November 1976 (#21 US)
• "Hey Mr. Dream Maker" / "No One Waits" by Cliff Richard - 6 November 1976 (#19 UK)
• "Loving and Free" / "Amoureuse" by Kiki Dee - 20 November 1976 (#13 UK)
• "The Killing of Georgie" / "Fool for You" by Rod Stewart" - 6 December 1976 (#2 UK, #26 US)
• "Pumping (My Heart)" / "Distant Fingers" by Patti Smith - 6 December 1976 (#54 US)
• "Show You the Way to Go" / "Blues Away" by The Jacksons - 6 January 1977 (#1 UK, #15 US)
• "I Remember You" / "I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You" by Ramones - 10 January 1977
• "Breakdown" / "Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll" by Tom Petty & Mudcrutch - 17 January 1977 (#38 US)
• "Baby Hold On" / "Long Long Road" by Junior Campbell - 31 January 1977
• "The First Cut is the Deepest" / "I Don't Want to Talk About It" by Rod Stewart - 11 February 1977 (#1 UK, #21 US)
• "Your Own Special Way" / "It's Yourself" by Genesis - 18 February 1977 (#11 UK, #15 US)
• "My Kinda Life" / "Nothing Left for Me to Say" by Rod Stewart - 25 February 1977 (#12 UK)
• "Love Goes to Building on Fire" / "New Feeling" by Talking Heads - 25 February 1977
• "Swallow My Pride" / "Pinhead" by Ramones - 18 March 1977 (#31 US)
• "In a Stranger's Arms" / "Good News" by Attitudes - 25 March 1977
• "First Thing in the Morning" / "Night Hours" by Kiki Dee - 7 April 1977 (#25 UK)
• "Oh, Candy" / "Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School" by Cheap Trick - 21 April 1977
• "Barracuda" / "Kick It Out" by Heart - 9 May 1977 (#47 UK, #5 US)
• "Give a Little Bit" / "Downstream" by Supertramp - 16 May 1977 (#20 UK, #6 US)
• "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" / "I Don't Care" by Ramones - 23 May 1977 (#13 UK, #8 US)
• "Nightbird" / "Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers" by Genesis - 6 June 1977 (#14 UK, #6 US)
• "All I Think About Is You" / "Who Done It?" by Harry Nilsson - 13 June 1977 (#43 UK)
• "When Two Worlds Drift Apart" / "That's Why I Love You" by Cliff Richard - 13 June 1977 (#39 UK)
• "Handy Man" / "Bartender's Blues" by James Taylor - 20 June 1977 (#4 US)
• "Give Me Some More" / "Empty Faces" by Solution - 20 June 1977
• "Little Queen" / "Treat Me Well" by Heart - 25 July 1977 (#16 US)
• "Your Smiling Face" / "If I Keep My Heart Out of Sight" by James Taylor - 12 September 1977 (#19 US)
• "I Want You to Want Me" / "Oh Boy" by Cheap Trick - 12 September 1977 (#61 US)
• "What's Your Name?" / "That Smell" by Lynyrd Skynyrd - 3 October 1977 (#5 US)
• "You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)" / "You Got a Nerve" by Rod Stewart - 7 October 1977 (#3 UK, #4 US)
• "Chicago" / "Stay With Me Baby" by Kiki Dee - 14 October 1977 (#23 UK)
• "Goin' Places" / "Do What You Wanna" by The Jacksons - 21 October 1977 (#19 UK, #32 US)
• "Rockaway Beach" / "Locket Love" by Ramones - 31 October 1977 (#5 UK)
• "Babaji" / "From Now On" by Supertramp - 14 November 1977 (#40 UK)
• "You Got That Right" / "I Know a Little" by Lynyrd Skynyrd - 5 December 1977 (#41 US)
• "Psycho Killer" / "I Wish You Wouldn't Say That" by Talking Heads - 5 December 1977 (#74 US)
• "Southern Girls" / "You're All Talk" by Cheap Trick - 19 December 1977

Swan Song Records discography, post-Apple takeover, January - December 1977

Albums

• The Night Tripper by Dr. John - 11 February 1977
• Burnin' Sky by Bad Company - 4 March 1977 (#15 US)
• Detective by Detective - 8 April 1977 (#135 US)
• Lace and Whiskey by Alice Cooper - 29 April 1977 (#25 UK, #29 US)
• Get It by Dave Edmunds - 29 April 1977 (#209 US)
• Another Night Time Flight by Blue - 15 July 1977 (#51 UK)
• Fanx Ta-Ra by Sad Café - 9 September 1977 (#39 UK)
• Malcolm Rebenneck by Dr. John - 7 October 1977
• Spectres by Blue Öyster Cult - 18 November 1977 (#32 UK, #15 US)
• Draw the Line by Aerosmith - 9 December 1977 (#8 US)

Notable Singles

• "You and Me" / "It's Hot Tonight" by Alice Cooper - 11 April 1977 (#9 US)
• "Juju Man" / "What Did I Do Last Night" by Dave Edmunds - 25 April 1977
• "Burnin' Sky" / "Everything I Need" by Bad Company - 21 May 1977 (#78 US)
• "(No More) Love at Your Convenience" / "I Never Wrote Those Songs" by Alice Cooper - 13 June 1977 (#35 UK)
• "I Knew the Bride" / "Little Darlin'" by Dave Edmunds - 27 June 1977
• "Recognition" / "Grim Reaper" by Detective - 4 July 1977
• "Gonna Capture Your Heart" / "Bring Back the Love" by Blue - 18 July 1977 (#10 UK, #75 US)
• "Get Out of Denver" / "Worn Out Pockets, Brand New Suits" by Dave Edmunds - 22 August 1977
• "Black Rose" / "Immortal" by Sad Café - 12 September 1977 (#46 UK)
• "Draw the Line" / "Bright Light Fright" by Aerosmith - 7 October 1977 (#30 US)
• "Science Fiction" / "Dance Band" by XTC - 7 October 1977 (#37 UK)
• "Godzilla" / "I Love the Night" by Blue Öyster Cult - 28 October 1977 (#23 US)

Apple Artists, as of December 1977

• The Beatles (since 1968; contracted to EMI from 1968-1976)
• George Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr as The Ladders (1970-1976)
• George Harrison and Ringo Starr as The Dark Horses (since 1977)
• Paul McCartney (since 1971; affiliated with Smile since 1972)
• David Bowie (since 1971; member of The Rolling Stones 1969-1976)
• Eric Clapton (since 1968; member of Cream 1968-1971, member of the Dark Horses since 1977)
• The Clash (since 1976)
• Elvis Costello (since 1976)
• Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (since 1968)
• Stephen Stills & Manassas (1971-1973; solo albums released on Highway 61 Records 1975-1976)
• Neil Young (1971; solo works released on Highway 61 Records since 1973)
• David Crosby and Graham Nash as Crosby & Nash (1972-1976)
• The Damned (since 1976)
• Electric Light Orchestra (since 1970)
• Fleetwood Mac (since 1968)
• Michael Jackson (since 1971; contracted to Motown from 1971-1975)
• The Jam (since 1976)
• Elton John (since 1969)
• Nick Lowe (since 1976)
• Freddie Mercury (since 1973)
• Motörhead (since 1976)
• The Rolling Stones (since 1970)
• Bill Wyman (1974, 1976)
• Sex Pistols (since 1976)
• Smile (since 1969; affiliated with Paul McCartney since 1972)
• Splinter (since 1973)
• Vangelis (since 1972; member of Aphrodite's Child 1967-1972, member of the Dark Horses since 1977)
• Wreckless Eric (since 1976)

Departed Apple Artists

• Aphrodite's Child (1970-1972)
• Badfinger (1968-1975)
• Brute Force (1969)
• Delaney & Bonnie (1969-1972)
• Cream (1968-1971)
• Chris Hodge (1972-1973)
• Mary Hopkin (1968-1972)
• Hot Chocolate (1969)
• Radha Krishna Temple (1969)
• Jackie Lomax (1968-1975)
• Jimmy McCulloch and White Line (1975-1977)
• Nazareth (1972-1975)
• Yoko Ono (1969-1973)
• Billy Preston (1969-1977)
• Ronnie Spector (1971-1972)
• The Sundown Playboys (1972)
• White Trash (1969)
• Doris Troy (1969-1971)
• Lon and Derrek Van Eaton (1972-1973)

Highway 61 Artists, as of December 1977

• Attitudes (since 1976)
• Boxer (since 1975)
• Junior Campbell (since 1976)
• Cheap Trick (since 1976)
• Kiki Dee (since 1973)
• Bob Dylan (since 1973)
• Dave Edmunds (since 1973; also contracted to Swan Song Records)
• Heart (since 1975)
• Hunky Dory (since 1976)
• Kevin Ayers
• Iggy Pop
• Lou Reed
• Robert Wyatt
• The Jacksons (since 1976)
• Harry Nilsson (since 1975)
• Tom Petty & Mudcrutch (since 1974)
• Ramones (since 1975)
• Cliff Richard (since 1973)
• Ravi Shankar (since 1973)
• Patti Smith (since 1975)
• Rod Stewart (since 1975)
• Stephen Stills (since 1975; also contracted to Apple Records)
• Supertramp (since 1974)
• Talking Heads (since 1976)
• James Taylor (since 1976; part of Apple Records 1968-1976)
• Peter Tork (since 1973)
• Toto (since 1977)
• Tina Turner (since 1974)
• Dennis Wilson (since 1975)
• Ronnie Wood (since 1974; member of the Rolling Stones since 1975; member of the Dark Horses since 1977)
• Neil Young (since 1973; also contracted to Apple Records)

Departed Highway 61 Artists

• L.A. Express (1973-1976)
• Lynyrd Skynyrd (1973-1977)
• Nigel Olsson (1974-1977)
• Tom Scott (1973-1977)
• Neil Sedaka (1974-1976)
• Solution (1974-1977)
• Stackridge (1973-1976)

Swan Song Artists, as of December 1977

• Aerosmith (since 1977; part of Highway 61 Records 1973-1976)
• Bad Company (since 1974)
• Blondie (since 1977; part of Highway 61 Records 1976)
• Blue (since 1977)
• Blue Öyster Cult (since 1977; part of Highway 61 Records 1975-1976)
• Kate Bush (since 1977)
• Alice Cooper (since 1977; part of Highway 61 Records 1974-1976)
• Detective (since 1977)
• Dave Edmunds (since 1977; also contracted to Highway 61 Records)
• Dr. John (since 1977; part of Highway 61 Records 1975-1976)
• Genesis (since 1977; part of Highway 61 Records 1975-1976)
• Sad Café (since 1976)
• XTC (since 1977)
• The Yardbirds (since 1974)

Departed Swan Song Artists

• Maggie Bell (1974-1976)
• The Pretty Things (1974-1976)

Various Artists - The Best of Apple Records Vol. 5: 1976-1977

Released: 21 August 2009

Recorded: 1975-1977

Producer: Various

Track listing

Medicine Jar [Jimmy McCullloch]
You're Sixteen [The Beatles]
Hot Stuff [The Rolling Stones]
Shower the People [James Taylor]
Don't Go Breaking My Heart [Elton John and Kiki Dee]
Silly Love Songs [Paul McCartney & Smile]
New Rose [The Damned]
Somebody to Love [Freddie Mercury]
So It Goes [Nick Lowe]
Less Than Zero [Elvis Costello]
Don't Stop [Fleetwood Mac]
In the City [The Jam]
Remote Control [The Clash]
God Save the Queen [Sex Pistols]
Motorhead [Motörhead]
Just a Song Before I Go [Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young]
Wonderful Tonight [The Dark Horses]
Whole Wide World [Wreckless Eric]
Round and Round [Splinter]
Mr. Blue Sky [Electric Light Orchestra]

The fifth Best of Apple Records compilation (#5 UK, #2 US) was seen by many as even better than the fourth, perfectly showcasing how much the label had evolved in the past decade. The new artists signed onto the label at the time would later be called the first of Apple's Generation 2 artists, which spanned from 1976 to 1984, while the Generation 1 artists consisted of those signed onto the label between 1968 and 1975.

Footnotes

1. The "Donnerverse" refers to the four Superman movies released between 1978 and 1987, as well as the related spin-off film from 1984, Supergirl. 2006's Superman Returns was not included despite director Bryan Singer taking a lot of cues from the older films. Other universes based upon DC properties have also been given their own fan nicknames; for example, the DC Animated Universe from 1992 to 2006 has often been referred to as the "Timmverse" or the "Diniverse", referring to Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, respectively, who first worked together on Batman: The Animated Series and together created the character of Harley Quinn.
2. In TTL, Glen Matlock never left the Sex Pistols, with the band having never gotten Malcolm McLaren as their manager. As a result, Sid Vicious never joined the band to replace Matlock. The Sex Pistols will put out at least one other album at some point during 1978-1979, but we will also hear from Sid Vicious in the near future.

Author's Comments

Has it been six months since I last did an Apple Corps update? Holy cow! But at long last, I've finally got the 1976-1977 update completed! From this update onward, there won't be much to discuss regarding every artist individually (barring those that have already had story arcs taking place), but I think that the discographies featured should give you an idea on how well they fared.

And what a variety of artists I've featured! I should note that many of the artists I've had signed onto Apple, Highway 61 or even Swan Song were associated with the members of the Beatles at various points in history. For example, Steve Lukather has played on some of Ringo's albums and Elvis Costello co-wrote an album's worth of songs with Paul McCartney. Splinter was even signed onto Dark Horse Records in OTL, but now they're proper Apple artists.

And yes, there was a bit of intentional foreshadowing to a certain 80s project that Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell have worked on. That will also happen in TTL, and it'll become an Apple Television project. ;)