Some years pass by pretty normally, but 1977 was a different beast, and it gave us things like Star Wars, disco, punk, spaceships, and Elvis, all in the same year.
A bigger screen
Going to the movies was already popular before 1977. But Star Wars made it a real event. Yes, people lined up around blocks to get tickets, and some theaters stayed open around the clock. There was that much demand.Â
People went back to watch it again and again. The movie was released on May 25. It became the biggest film in the world that year, and a lot of that has to do with the movie’s magic.
Three boxes on desks
Home computers stopped being just for engineers in 1977. It was the year the machines made their way into people’s homes, without needing an entire room full of equipment. The Apple II came out in 1977. So did the Commodore PET. It was the same for the TRS-80.
They became known as the ‘1977 trinity’ soon enough. Sure, they look primitive to those today, but back then, having a computer on your desk at all felt futuristic. You could even use your TV as a monitor.
A joystick in the living room
The Atari 2600 arrived in 1977. It made people realize that the arcade could come home. Before then, video games were something you did somewhere else. You needed pockets of quarters. But now you could play them at home, under the family TV, with your family.
Kids spent weekends playing Combat. They played Air-Sea Battle, too. Their parents pretended they weren’t interested, but really, they’d grab the joystick eventually. It feels so normal today. But it wasn’t back then.
Feelings on vinyl
Fleetwood Mac turned relationship drama into one of the best albums ever made. Yes, their album ‘Rumours’ came out in February 1977. The band was barely holding things together personally. But they made a record that still holds up today.
The album had hits like ‘Dreams,’ ‘Go Your Own Way,’ and ‘The Chain.’ It sold millions of copies. It also spent 31 weeks at the top spot on the U.S. charts. While most breakup albums sound bitter, there’s something so raw and emotional about this one.
One glittery floor
Disco had been around for years. But 1977 was when it became impossible to escape. That was the year the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack came out, and the Bee Gees were everywhere. It was all white suits and flashing dance floors. Let’s not forget the platform shoes.
Some people claimed to hate disco, but they still knew the songs. The soundtrack sold over 15 million copies. Now, disco had become the genre for nightlife, commercials, radio stations, and roller rinks. It was the soundtrack for half the country.
Noise at the door
At the same time, punk showed up. It was pretty different from disco’s shiny polish. In April, The Clash released their debut record, and the Sex Pistols dropped Never Mind the Bollocks later that year. Punk wasn’t perfect. That was the point.
The songs were shorter, and they were louder. They were messier. They were sarcastic. Even the way punk artists looked was different, all safety pins and ripped shirts. 1977 felt like such an incredible musical year.
Two machines leaving Earth
Something else happened in 1977. It was the year that NASA launched two spacecraft that are still going through space today. Ironically, Voyager 2 launched first in August, followed by Voyager 1 in September. Their goal? To study Jupiter and Saturn.
Nobody could predict that the missions would keep going. Voyager 1 later became the first manmade object to enter interstellar space. While people were dancing to the Bee Gees, two small machines were on their way to make space history.Â
A velvet rope
New York nightlife in 1977 was something else. Studio 54 was at the heart of it. The nightclub opened in April, and pretty soon after, it became famous for its impossible guest lists and celebrity sightings. It also had dancers hanging from ceilings.
Regular people literally stood outside. They were desperate to see who got in. On her birthday, Bianca Jagger rode a horse into the club. Studio 54 was only around for a few years, but 1977 was its real moment.Â
A cheaper fill-up
It sounds almost fake now. But gas was still under a dollar in 1977, with the average being around 62 cents per gallon. You could drive anywhere without thinking about it. Everyone did it. Yes, teenagers could cruise at night, while families piled into station wagons for road trips.
Filling up a huge car was a lot easier. A trip to the gas station was way less stressful than it is today.Â
The king was still here
Elvis Presley was alive for the majority of 1977. He died on August 16. That makes 1977 the last year that he was an active celebrity, instead of being a legend that people talked about later. You could still see him performing concerts.
You could still see him on TV, and it wasn’t archival footage yet. Once he died, though, the 1950s rock-and-roll era started to end. 1977 was the last hurrah.
Fewer little worlds
People lived in the same culture together in 1977. A song became popular because basically everyone had heard it, and a movie was a hit because everyone was talking about it. Cable television hadn’t taken over yet. Most Americans were watching the same three TV networks.
There were no algorithms. There were no phones buzzing every few seconds. Even VCRs were only just about appearing in North America, meaning that entertainment still felt shared. It wasn’t as personal. You lived in it altogether.
New York at Mach 2
The future looked really cool in 1977. It was when Concorde flights to New York officially became regular, and people could fly across the Atlantic faster than the speed of sound. The plane looked ridiculous, too.
It looked more like a rocket than a real airliner. But it wasn’t for everyone, as only the rich could afford flights. They’d drink champagne while moving at Mach 2 over the ocean. London to New York in 3.5 hours? That was the life.
A strange first scan
1977 was when the first full-body MRI scan on a human happened. Doctors used a machine called ‘Indomitable.’ However, the scan took hours instead of minutes, and the images were way grainier than what we get today.
But it mattered. Medical professionals now had a way to look inside the human body without needing to cut it open. It was a huge step forward for medicine.Â
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
