What's the greatest year of all time for wild rock n' roll?

[Manu]

As for great wines, there are better and worse years, some exceptional too.

So, what's your year... and why?

[Gringo Starr]

1966!

Revolver - Beatles
Pet Sounds - Beach Boys
Blonde on Blonde - Dylan
Aftermath - Stones
Freak Out - Zappa
Black Monk Time - Monks
Face to Face - Kinks
Psychedelic Sounds - 13th Floor Elevators
A Quick One - The Who
Fresh Cream - Cream
Fifth Dimension - Byrds
Love - Love
Animalism - The Animals
Boom - The Sonics
The Seeds - The Seeds
96 Tears - ? & The Mysterians
Web of Sound - The Seeds
Psychotic Reaction - The Count V
Turn On - The Music Machine
Jacques Dutronc - Jacques Dutronc
The Remains - The Remains
Small Faces - Small Faces

Another year that was equally remarkable was 1977!

[Gringo Starr]

1977

Marquee Moon - Television
Never Mind the Bullocks - Sex Pistols
The Clash - The Clash
My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello
Rocket To Russia - Ramones
Lust For Life - Iggy Pop
Suicide - Suicide
The Idiot - Iggy Pop
Damned Damned Damned - The Damned
Leave Home - Ramones
In The City - The Jam
Blank Generation - Richard Hell & The Voidoids
(I'm) Stranded - The Saints
Young Loud and Snotty - The Dead Boys
Germacide - The Germs

[Manu]

I tend to agree on those two "millesimes", even if I would add 1973 with Raw Power and the 1st NY Dolls album. 1973, a raw and wild year announcing the end of f*** prog rock and the explosion of US punk! The Ramones would start just 1 year later (see the 1974 video on Youtube)... 

Gringo Starr said:

1977

Marquee Moon - Television
Never Mind the Bullocks - Sex Pistols
The Clash - The Clash
My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello
Rocket To Russia - Ramones
Lust For Life - Iggy Pop
Suicide - Suicide
The Idiot - Iggy Pop
Damned Damned Damned - The Damned
Leave Home - Ramones
In The City - The Jam
Blank Generation - Richard Hell & The Voidoids
(I'm) Stranded - The Saints
Young Loud and Snotty - The Dead Boys
Germacide - The Germs

[Alison]

1977! The year I was born, and my favorite year in music.  I will add these albums to your list:

Pink Flag - Wire

Talking Heads: 77

Cheap Trick, In Color - Cheap Trick

This is the Modern World - The Jam

Exodus - Bob Marley & The Wailers

Pure Mania - The Vibrators

The Boys - The Boys

Trans-Europe Express - Kraftwerk

Radios Appear - Radio Birdman

Spiral Scratch - Buzzcocks

L.A.M.F - The Heartbreakers

Life on the Line - Eddie & the Hot Rods

Gringo Starr said:

1977

Marquee Moon - Television
Never Mind the Bullocks - Sex Pistols
The Clash - The Clash
My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello
Rocket To Russia - Ramones
Lust For Life - Iggy Pop
Suicide - Suicide
The Idiot - Iggy Pop
Damned Damned Damned - The Damned
Leave Home - Ramones
In The City - The Jam
Blank Generation - Richard Hell & The Voidoids
(I'm) Stranded - The Saints
Young Loud and Snotty - The Dead Boys
Germacide - The Germs

[Hamster]

1981 - Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield

 

 

 

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[sideshow Barty]

hey hamster,i thought that was funny.

[John Battles]

Just "Jessie's Girl"? Did'nt Aldo Nova and Donny Iris break big in that year , too?

KIDDING ASIDE , It's so hard to nail it down to one year , but , someone said these things happened in 10 year intervals -  

1956 - Rock'n'Roll (Though hardly new.) is at it's peak.

1966 - Garage Punk and early Psych peaks.

1976 - US and UK Punk BUSTS OPEN WIDE , with Western Europe , Canada , Australia , etc. right at their heels.

That's not to discount the importance of the years '54 , '55 , '64 , '65 ,  OR '77 , or The Postwar Blues and R'n'B , some of which we might as well call Rock'n'Roll (Wynonie Harris , Big Joe Turner , Amos Milburn , The Treniers , Louis Jordan , Johnny Otis and Louis Prima.), because Rockin is Fuckin'.   

[Manu]

That's quite a good thumb rule for the 50's to 70's, fully agree! And I heard that 1960 was the worst one, trapped in between 56-58 birth and early British bommers by 62... Now, if we turn ourselves to more recent period, I guess the most exciting one probably was around 80-81 with the Songs the Lord Taught Us by the Cramps, the Fire of Love by Gun Club and all the "garage revivalist" wave coming up...

[John Battles]

EARLY TO MID 80'S WERE A GOOD TIME , ON MANY LEVELS . THERE WAS  A NEW BAND , EVERY WEEK. BUT MOST PEOPLE ONLY CHOOSE TO REMEMBER THE STUFF THAT WAS'NT EVEN GOOD , IN THE FIRST PLACE.   YOU CAN WATCH "URGH" , AND MAYBE NOT AGREE TO LIKING EVERY BAND , BUT , THE IDEA THAT THIS WAS ALL HAPPENING AT THE SAME TIME , AND THEY MADE A FILM ABOUT IT. IT WAS VERY EXCITING , STILL IS.

LIKE YOUR PIC OF THE DETROIT/NYC "SUPERGROUP" RAMONICS RENDEZSTOOGE BAND.

[dave]

My vote goes to '66! None More Hip!

[John Battles]

'66 , THE YEAR OF OUR LORD , THE BATMAN , IS HARD TO DISPUTE.

I played at this big Punk festival (Actually , I played at the after - party.) , commemorating the 30th Anniversary of Punk , in 2006.  I told the remaining few that 1966 was The Year Punk Broke.

[MikeL]

2004 was my best year ever for rock'n'roll. I discovered a cool new band that year (the Charms); a band that I discovered the previous year (Manda and the Marbles) played here in Pittsburgh a couple of times, and they had a CD release party in their hometown of Columbus, OH, which I attended; a new local band at the time (the Breakup Society) released a cool debut CD; the Cynics played a couple of local gigs; a couple of bands that I discovered a few years earlier (Cobra Verde and the Paybacks) played here at the 31st Street Pub; a favorite local punk band that broke up a few years before (the Ultimatics) did a one off reunion show at the Pub; I saw both the Darkness and David Bowie in concert; I attended LSUG's Battle of the Bands and the festival at Randall's Island in NYC; I saw the Gore Gore Girls a couple of times here in Pittsburgh when they had that really cute bass player Jen "Deuce" Pirch; I saw the Ramones' documentary "End of the Century." And that's pretty much it. I guess all the stars lined up perfectly that year, and I'll probably never have another year like that again, which saddens me.