by Chuck Moyer

Created on: January 09, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

It's hard to pinpoint the exact moment. Let alone what led to it. But 1977 became my musical vinculum, both a pinnacle and a fountainhead, a dihedral of musical forces, creativity and opus. Music became a love of mine.

Even newer music and older music has traces back and forward to 1977. Its significance is not lost, it is constantly reminded. I hear the music trail either in style, sound, context or approach. But it is not a situation of being stuck in a particular time it was more of a sound seed' planted by that unknown event and nurtured to a sprawling audio flower with a full spectrum of timbre and style.

Was it when I started to play it? Music at that time became a participation activity as I learned to play keyboards. Or was it when I could retain a long enough attention span to really listen to it? You know, not the passing ambiance type of listen typical today, instead the turn out the lights, turn up the volume a little, attentive listening. Maybe I began to understand it in a maturing way; I was 15 at the time. Maybe it just taught me to dream.

It wasn't just the music that I liked; all music from that year has appeared to stay with me like a reference point. Even an objective view of staying power and influence of the albums yes they were still called that released in that year is amazing. To me it seems that 1977 still held creative freedom for music artists before the full submersion of music as a business.

Musical variation and experimentation was tolerated and expected. The pace of creation was frequent and challenged, yearly outputs were expected and anticipated. I understood this freedom and expectation as a driver to achievement of creative masterpieces for artistic and non-artistic results. I would carry it with me through the next 30 years in my educational, business and creative pursuits. This music taught me that change is best approached as a discovery and borders and status quo should be challenged.

The albums in this year, more than any I can recollect, were legacy establishments. Whether it was the artist's first album, their tenth or their last, the 1977 release was memorable and magical.

There were the timeless blockbusters; Fleetwood Mac Rumours, Eric Clapton Slowhand, Foreigner, Styx Grand Illusion, Alan Parsons Project I, Robot, Heart Little Queen, ELO Out of the Blue, Steely Dan Aja, and Kansas Point of Know Return. Many of these works are still popular to new generations.

There were starts of careers and validations of genres; Talking

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