1977 (Ash album)

In December 1989, schoolfriends Tim Wheeler and Mark Hamilton received instruments for Christmas, and decided to form a metal act they called Vietnam.[1][2] The rest of the line-up consisted of vocalist Gareth Hutchinson, guitarist Malcolm King, and drummer Andy McLean, who would all leave by early 1992 citing a lack of interest in the band.[3] After seeing a show by a local act, Lazer Gun Nun, Wheeler and Hamilton decided to move their sound away from metal and into Nirvana-leaning territory.[4] Around this time, Wheeler was discovering the likes of ABBA and Paul McCartney and Wings.[5] Vietnam ultimately disbanded, and Wheeler and Hamilton decided to form a punk band. Wheeler handled vocals and guitar, Hamilton the bass. They spent two weeks amassing original material in Wheeler's bedroom.[6] Drummer Rick McMurray joined the pair in June 1992;[2] Wheeler had approached him during a school play, and invited him to his house for a jam session.[7]

With the line-up finalised, they christened themselves Ash after spotting the word in a dictionary.[8] Over the course of a year, the band recorded four demos tapes: Solar Happy in June 1992, Shed in September, Home Demo in November, and Garage Girl in February 1993.[9] A friend of the band had sent one of the demos to Paddy Davis of the public relations company, Bad Moon. He played it for four months, before passing it to Steve Tavener, who had plans to start a record label. Tavener and Davis subsequently went to Belfast to watch the band perform.[10] Ash released their debut single, "Jack Names the Planets", through Tavener's La La Land Records in February 1994, by which point he had become their manager.[2][10]

In April 1994, the band travelled to London to promote it. Several major labels approached them, before they signed with Infectious Records with an advance of £12,000 and a 50–50 share of the profits with the label.[2][10][11] Ash set up the imprint Home Grown as part of Infectious with which they would put out their future releases. As Hamilton and Wheeler were 17 years old, their parents had to sign the contract on their behalf, as well as permission from their school headmaster Jack Ferris.[12] Two more singles, "Petrol" and "Uncle Pat", preceded the release of the band's mini-album Trailer in October 1994.[2][13] During this period, two-thirds of the band were focusing on their A-Levels, touring with Babes in Toyland and Elastica during their half-term holidays.[10] In February 1995, Wheeler and McMurray flew to the United States to meet with potential labels, including Reprise and Interscope Records.[14][15] They signed to the former, who was experiencing success with the stylistically similar Green Day.[16]

In preparation for their debut album, the band met with a few producers, such as Phil Vinall, who had produced the Auteurs, while Wheeler wanted Marc Waterman to produce it, having known him for his work on Nowhere (1990) by Ride.[17] Producer Owen Morris was working on A Northern Soul (1995) with the Verve at the end of 1994; Ash's manager and Infectious founder Korda Marshall suggested they record a few songs with him.[18][19] Wheeler said they wanted a "cool, young" producer and selected him upon learning that Morris was influenced by acts they liked, such as David Bowie, T. Rex and Thin Lizzy. The band opted to record one song with him to see how their working relationship would unfold.[20] They recorded "Kung Fu" and an unfinished version of "Angel Interceptor" over Christmas 1994 at Loco Studios in Usk Valley, Wales.[20][21] "Girl from Mars" was recorded in Easter 1995 at Rockfield Studios in Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales.[22]

Ash had to record some B-sides with Phil Thornalley in London, but as they were not working effectively, Thornalley walked out and Morris, who happened to be in the city, was drafted in; they then finished working on "Angel Interceptor".[23] The band worked on pre-production with Morris in December 1995, with him visiting the band at their rehearsal space, running through all of the song ideas they had.[10][24] After playing him everything they thought was worthwhile, including portions of "Lose Control" and "Oh Yeah", he inquired if they had anything else, they showed him "Goldfinger".[25][26] Wheeler considered it a B-side, until Morris exclaimed, "you idiot, that's a single!".[27] The band and Morris began recording their debut album on New Year's Day 1996, commencing with "Goldfinger".[28][29] The rest of the material that would appear on the album was recorded at Rockfield Studios at a cost of £800 per day, with Morris and the band co-producing the album.[30][31]

Though the process was planned to take only six weeks, it ended up lasting three months.[32][33] Because they had toured incessantly since leaving school, the band did not have enough time to accumulate material for an album.[34] Wheeler wrote nearly half of what would end up on the finished album in the studio.[32] As Rockfield was a residential studio, according to Wheeler, the members became "very nocturnal and very crazy". He attributed this to Morris "gradually introducing us to drugs, so we were off our heads a lot of the time".[35] Nick Brine, Sorrel Merchant and Neil Kiely acted as studio assistants.[30] Morris later mixed the recordings at Orinoco in London, except for "Girl from Mars" (Thornalley) and "Angel Interceptor" (Mark "Spike" Stent).[30] Thornalley mixed "Girl on Mars" as the band's label and manager felt the track was incomplete, much to the annoyance of Morris.[7][36]

"Kung Fu" was released as the lead single from 1977 on 20 March 1995, with "Day of the Triffids" and "Luther Ingo's Star Cruiser" as the B-sides.[13] While Wheeler was studying the last six months of his A-Levels, he would be interrupted by having to do multiple interviews.[82] "Girl from Mars" was released as the album's second single on 31 July 1995, with "Astral Conversations with Toulouse Lautrec" and a cover of "Cantina Band" by John Williams as the B-sides.[13] The music video for "Girl from Mars", which was directed Peter Christopherson of Throbbing Gristle, was shot on the beach at Camber Sands following the band's debut tour in mainland Europe.[83] The band promoted the song with an appearance on Top of the Pops.[84] Around this, the band had finished school, which then allowed them to tour more and do promotional events, gigging until the end of the year.[85] "Angel Interceptor" followed as the third single on 9 October 1995, with "5 a.m. Eternal" and a cover of "Gimme Some Truth" (1971) by John Lennon as the B-sides.[13] The following month, the band went on a short US tour with China Drum.[86][87][88] Coinciding with this, "Kung Fu" was released as a single to modern rock radio stations in the US.[89]

"Goldfinger" was released as the fourth single from 1977 on 15 April 1996, with "I Need Somebody", "Sneaker", and a cover of the Smokey Robinson track "Get Ready" as the B-sides.[13] "Goldfinger" was sent to US modern rock radio stations the following month.[90] Ash went on a United Kingdom tour with 60ft Dolls, Bis, and Jocasta.[91] Infectious and Home Grown released 1977 in the UK on 6 May, while the US release by Reprise appeared on 11 June 1996. The first 50,000 copies of the UK version included "Jack Names the Planets" and "Don't Know" as hidden tracks.[13] Morris, who had taken an interest in various bands' artwork, suggested Ash collaborate with Brian Cannon of design company Microdot.[92] Ed van der Elsken took the photograph that would appear on the front cover of 1977; Cannon said clearing the rights for the image nearly delayed the album's release as he had died, and the band were unable to contact his widow.[30][93] The cassette edition was sold by the label at 1977 prices, £4.99.[94]

Following the album's release, Ash embarked on a European tour, and appeared on Later... with Jools Holland.[91] "Oh Yeah" was released as the album's fifth single on 24 June 1996, with "T. Rex", "Everywhere Is All Around", and the ABBA cover "Does Your Mother Know" as the B-sides.[13] The "Oh Yeah" music video sees Hamilton making out with an actress, interspersed with footage of the band performing at a carnival.[95] In July and August 1996, the band toured the US with Muzzle,[96] and performed at the Reading Festival in the UK.[91] Around this time, their label discussed releasing "Lost in You" as a single; however, the band felt they had released enough tracks from it by this point.[97] In September and October 1996, Ash toured Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, before returning to the US with Stabbing Westward, I Mother Earth and Drill in October and November.[91][98]

During the US leg of the tour, Ash met with the head programmer at MTV, to discuss getting coverage on the channel, however, Wheeler turned up late and drunk. The following day, the band had an interview on the channel; Wheeler arrived late again and vomited during it. The band's label was angry with them, and Wheeler later theorised that these incidents cost the band any major success in the US.[99] One show of this leg, namely in Boulder, Colorado, had low ticket sales; as an incentive, Ash opted to perform 1977 in its entirety.[100] They then supported Weezer on their US headlining tour through to December, before returning to Ireland for a one-off show to close the year.[91]

Ash released their first live album, Live at the Wireless, in February 1997. Recorded in Australia, it was sold in the UK and mainland Europe.[13] Some European copies of 1977 were then packaged with Live at the Wireless as a second disc in collaboration between Home Grown, Infectious, Death Star, and Facedown Records.[101] In the same month, the band embarked on a European tour with 60 ft Dolls and Seesaw, leading up to five consecutive shows at the London Astoria.[102] Fan club members attending the Astoria shows were given a free 7" vinyl, which consisted of "I Only Want to Be with You", "Devil's Haircut", and a live version of "Kung Fu".[13] In June 1997, the band played a handful of UK shows with Silver Sun, before appearing at Glastonbury Festival.[102]

Original release

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[42]
Alternative Press	3/5[110]
The Guardian	[111]
NME	7/10[74]
The Philadelphia Inquirer	[112]
Q	[113]

1977 was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that, by "sticking to the rigid rules of American punk-pop", Ash opted for a "cinematic approach to their songs", resulting in 1977 being a "melting pot of pop styles". He added their use of "loud guitars" offers a "distinctive, melodic, and energetic sound that's equal parts heavy grunge and light pop".[42] Ox-Fanzine's Joachim Hiller wrote that if the listener was "the missing link between Oasis and Elastica, [they] should find it here," adding that the band's "mixture of girl seductive sugar pop and evil grater guitars with seventies rock quotes" is everywhere, and is "very catchy and somehow as tasty as French fries".[114] Porter said that while it was not a "perfect album, by any means, [... it was] more intelligent, more alive than the slightly condescending tone of the reviews suggest".[115]

Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post wrote that if he were to "judge only from the guitar squall" opening the album, it would appear that "the band prefers noise to melody" as previously shown on Trailer; however, he felt the "balance has shifted on this disc", with it showcasing "classic tunefulness over raw aggression".[75] Q reviewer Andrew Collins said the album "benefits from having its raw power harnessed" by Morris and was "pulled off with 100 per cent enthusiasm; hey, these boys make pointless distorted introductions [to some songs] sound like fun."[113] NME's Johnny Cigarettes wrote that with "a single listen", he was certain the band had "cured themselves" of becoming generic, as he had noted with their early singles. He added that "[w]hat invariably saves them from mature-rock-band hell, just as it has saved them from generic-indie-band hell are those simple, honest, priceless standbys - top-hole tunes".[74]

Tim Hulsizer of Consumable Online wrote that 1977 was "every bit as fun and catchy" as Trailer, going on to call it a "very cohesive, fluid album".[116] MTV writer Michael Krugman said that the album saw the band "teetering on the brink of maturity--only they're plainly fighting it by throwing their weight in the other direction". He mentions the album "occasionally trips over its own giant steps", noting a couple of generic and underdeveloped tracks, before citing the album's "real flaw...lies in the hands of someone who should have known better", criticising Morris' "excessively noisy and often quite murky" production, stating the "punk rock gets muddied, while experimental bits...are strangely obscured".[44] Victoria Segal of Melody Maker was dismissive of the album, stating that it "never aspires to be anything beyond My Guy indie, boys-next-door making music for girls-next-door".[54]

Retrospective reviews

Retrospective reviews

Review scores
Source	Rating
Alternative Rock	7/10[117]
Drowned in Sound	8/10[53]
The Irish Times	[43]
Mojo	[118]

Drowned in Sound reviewer Joss Albert called 1977 an "album by the young for the young". He said that while it was not "perfect or complete, the severe hooks of the best of the Brut smothered tunes will always get 1977's name mentioned".[53] Spectrum Culture contributor John L. Murphy noted that in spite of the "clear influences and the passage of time, 1977 still sounds fresh", with "fast pop dominat[ing]" after the initial listen. Only "repeated airings reveal craft in softer songs", their "cinematic" scope, and "sentimental" lyrics.[119] BBC Music's Mike Diver wrote that the album was likely "remembered by those who shared in its sentiments – written by a trio of teenagers, for an audience of the same, it preoccupied itself with chugging alcohol, chasing after girls and messing about with martial arts".[120] Thompson praised the band for "pull[ing] their disparate styles together by gluing the joins with a coat of indie rock – which amazingly does the trick."[117]

The Irish Times writer Brian Boyd said the band "come racing out of the traps with a giddy pop sound", though he was "not sure why the band feel the need to release [a triple disc edition] ... as this will surely only appeal to their fanbase. But maybe's that the point."[43] Record Collector reviewer Emmy Watts described the album as a "grungy slice of Britpop" that "has not aged well". She noted that at the time, the "rough spontaneity" of Wheeler's "flat vocals" and McMurray's "muffled drumming" aided their inexperience, however, "the original format just highlights the recording's poor quality".[37] "Sick Party" was included on Pitchfork's 2010 list of "ten unusual CD-era gimmicks".[121]

1977 peaked at number one in the UK;[122] while Porter said it sold 165,000 copies in its first week, Bowler and Dray estimated the opening sales to be around 122,000 copies.[115][123] It became the first album from an Irish group to debut at number one in the UK.[124] It also reached number five in Scotland,[125] number 14 in New Zealand,[126] number 18 in Australia,[127] number 26 in Finland and Norway,[128][129] number 40 in Switzerland,[130] number 44 in Sweden,[131] number 65 in Germany,[132] and number 75 in the Netherlands.[133] The album was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry in the UK.[134]

"Kung Fu" charted at number 57 in the UK.[135] "Girl from Mars" charted at number 11 in the UK.[135] "Angel Interceptor" charted at number 14 in the UK,[135] and "Goldfinger" charted at number five in the UK,[135] and number 50 in Australia.[136] "Oh Yeah" charted at number six in the UK.[135]

1977 is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die;[137] it is ranked at 417 on the NME poll of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[138]

Writing credits per booklet. All recordings produced by Owen Morris and Ash.[30]

Personnel per deluxe booklet.[30]

Citations

Sources

• 1977 at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)
• Press release at Reprise Records