1977 (Ash album)

Recording

In 2008 Tim Wheeler remembered:

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

Title meaning

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

Reception

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

Accolades

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

In popular culture

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

Live performances

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

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

Track listing

1. "Lose Control" (Wheeler/Hamilton) – 3:37
2. "Goldfinger" (Wheeler) – 4:31
3. "Girl from Mars" (Wheeler) – 3:30
4. "I'd Give You Anything" (Wheeler) – 4:31
5. "Gone the Dream" (Wheeler) – 3:29
6. "Kung Fu" (Wheeler) – 2:17
7. "Oh Yeah" (Wheeler) – 4:45
8. "Let It Flow" (Wheeler) – 4:42
9. "Innocent Smile" (Hamilton) – 5:52
10. "Angel Interceptor" (Wheeler/McMurray) – 4:04
11. "Lost in You" (Wheeler) – 4:19
12. "Darkside Lightside" (Wheeler) – 16:49

Hidden tracks

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

Collector's edition

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

Disc: 1

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

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

Disc: 2

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

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

Disc: 3

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

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

Singles

Personnel