Best Music Movies of 1977

An egotistical saxophone player and a young singer meet on V-J Day and embark upon a strained and rocky romance, even as their careers begin a long uphill climb.

A psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep.

A poor otter family risks everything for the chance to win the cash prize of a talent contest for Christmas.

In 1977, Bette Midler's first television special premiered, featuring guest stars Dustin Hoffman and Emmett Kelly. It went on to win Bette her first Emmy Award for Outstanding Special — Comedy-Variety or Music. To make the show palatable to home viewers, the special featured heavily cleaned up versions of the material Midler was performing at that time on stage. The title of the show, Ol' Red Hair is Back, was a takeoff on the title of Frank Sinatra's recent album Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back.

The majestic Neil Diamond live! Prepare to melt.

The Nutcracker is Mikhail Baryshnikov's breathtaking and critcally acclaimed Emmy nominated production. The thisspectacular performance is danced by the magnificent team of Baryshnikov, one of the greatest classical dancers of the century, and Gelsey Kirkland, both chowcased at the peak of the their careers, with members of the American Ballet Theatre.

Unparalleled as a live act, Bob Marley and the Wailers perform their world-famous reggae hits in this 1977 concert from London's Rainbow Theatre. The show was filmed during the band's tour to promote their "Exodus" album. Thirteen tracks include favorites such as "No Woman, No Cry," "I Shot the Sheriff," "Lively Up Yourself" and "Get Up, Stand Up." Also featured are interviews with Marley's wife, Rita, and his mother, Cedella Booker.

A radio DJ in pursuit of an exclusive interview follows ABBA during their mega-successful tour of Australia.

The Beatles at Shea Stadium is a fifty-minute-long documentary of the Beatles' 1965 concert at Shea Stadium in New York, the highlight of the group's 1965 tour.

Released in 1977 and directed by Jerry Garcia, is a film that captures performances from the Grateful Dead's October 1974 five-night stand at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. This end-of-tour run marked the beginning of an extended hiatus for the band, with no shows planned for 1975. The movie also faithfully portrays the burgeoning Deadhead scene. The film features the "Wall of Sound" concert sound system that the Dead used for all of 1974.

When the sour-sweet wind starts blowing again, the Whos retreat to their homes because they know the Grinch will soon be a'prowlin. Young Eukariah Who has to make a trip to the Euphemism (outhouse), when the wind blows him away to a confrontation with the gruesome Grinch. Eukariah decides that the Grinch must be stopped, so he faces his fears and confronts the Grinch and his spooks.

Bing Crosby and his family spend Christmas at the estate of a distant relative in England.

Elvis In Concert is a posthumous 1977 TV special starring Elvis Presley. It was Elvis' third and final TV special, following Elvis (aka The '68 Comeback Special) and Aloha From Hawaii. It was filmed during Presley's final tour in the cities of Omaha, Nebraska, on June 19, 1977, and Rapid City, South Dakota, on June 21, 1977. It was shown on CBS on October 3, 1977, two months after Presley died. It is one of the few videos of Elvis which remain unlikely to ever be released for home viewing and is only available in bootleg form.

The adventures of The Wombles, strange creatures who live on Wimbledon Common and pick up the litter left by the humans. There's always time for a nice song and dance as well. This was a film version of the popular childrens TV show.

Raggedy Ann and Andy leave their playroom to rescue Babette, a beautiful French doll kidnapped by a pirate.

A visual record of London punk life in the late '70s, filled with never-before-seen live concert footage and commentary from the Clash, the Jam, X-Ray Spex and the Electric Chairs.

Genesis In Concert, filmed in 1976 during the band's tour supporting the album A Trick Of The Tail, was the first long-form concert video featuring Phil Collins as lead vocalist, taking over from Peter Gabriel who had left the previous year. Supplementing Collins at percussion during this tour was Yes & King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford, whom Collins was a fan of and who volunteered for the job until a permanent touring drummer could be found. The movie combines film of two shows: one at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland on July 9, 1976, and one at Bingley Hall in Staffordshire, England on July 10, 1976. Long out of print on VHS and laserdisc, the film resurfaced as an extra on the band's 2007 CD+DVD reissue of A Trick Of The Tail. Setlist: I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) • Fly on a Windshield [abbreviated] • The Carpet Crawlers • The Cinema Show [abbreviated] • Entangled • Supper's Ready [excerpt] • Los Endos

The Bob Hope All Star Christmas Comedy Special was a network Christmas special hosted by Bob Hope, which aired on December 19, 1977, on NBC. Guest stars featured in the special included Olivia Newton-John, Perry Como, Mark Hamill, and the Muppets.

The life story of Scott Joplin and how he became the greatest ragtime composer of all time.

Fredrik Egerman is very happy in his marriage to a seventeen-year-old virgin, Anne. Only she's been a virgin for the whole eleven months of the marriage, and being a bit restless, Fredrik goes to see an old flame, the famous actress Desiree Armfeldt. Desiree is getting tired of her life, and is thinkin of settling down, and sets her sights on Fredrik, despite his marriage, and her own married lover Count Carl-Magnus. She gets her mother to invite the Egermans to her country estate for the weekend. But when Carl-Magnus and his wife Charlotte appear, too, things begin to get farcical (Send in the Clowns), and the night must smile for the third time before all the lovers are united.

A hard-hitting drama about the pressures facing a young Chicano couple and their struggles to balance work, college and marriage, pitting the husband's machismo and self-sacrifice against the wife's desire for agency and companionship.

Fast-paced, almost plotless rock and roll film musical set during a crazy night in the lives of a dozen or more teenagers.

A young woman who works in a beauty parlor discovers that she has a unique and special talent, which causes her no end of trouble.

In this musical salute to Spring, Mitzi Gaynor is joined by country music star Roy Clark (Hee Haw), actor Wayne Rogers (MASH) and the US Olympic Gymnastics Team for a colorful tribute in song, dance and comedy sketches to the earth's season of renewal. Songs include "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," "Isn't it Romantic," and "Yankee Doodle Dandy."

A young man moves to New York to strike it big in the music business.

Diana Ross performs her one-woman show in Los Angeles.

A christmas special with Harvey Korman and other guests.

A thoroughly researched biopic of Charles Ives, America's greatest and most innovative composer (and insurance man). Includes narration taken directly from Ives's own writings, and reminiscence from those who knew him.

Neil Diamond gives a powerful and memorable performance at the packed Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in 1976, perhaps one of Neil’s great years. The show takes us back to a memorable time in pop music and in Neil Diamond’s career - while also giving us music that is as fresh and timeless today as it was then. The early hits are here, in rousing and intimate interpretations: ‘Cherry, Cherry,’ ‘Song Sung Blue,’ ‘Sweet Caroline,’ ‘I Am...I Said,’ ‘Cracklin’ Rosie,’ and more. But Neil also introduces songs from what was then his new album - and is now considered a classic - the benchmark ‘Beautiful Noise,’ produced by rocker Robbie Robertson. And Neil gets across the footlights, bringing the big audience to its feet, inciting clapping and singing along, and pulling two of the best-known stars of the era, singer Helen Reddy and the actor Henry Winkler (then an icon as TV’s ‘Fonzie’) up on stage to sing with him. An amazing trip back in time with one of our most enduring singers.

The Eurovision Song Contest 1977 was the 22nd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in London, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the contest was held at the Wembley Conference Centre on Saturday 7 May 1977, marking the first time the event took place in the month of May since the first contest in 1956. The live show was hosted by English journalist Angela Rippon.

The animals decide they must send a representative after the three wise men begin following the star of Bethlehem. Uno, the Lion, arrogantly decides he should be the one to go, and that he does not need any help. Feathers, who brought Jesus's birth to the attention of the animals, insists on traveling with him, and soon he is followed by a beaver, a rabbit, and a turtle.

While traveling to meet with the Hessian King, the famed Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, travel through an enchanted forest where they find themselves trapped in the world of their fairy tales.

'Roots Rock Reggae' depicts an unforgettable moment in Jamaica's history when music defined the island's struggles and immortalized its heroes. Director Jeremy Marre films Bob Marley and the Wailers, and Lee 'Scratch' Perry record in his legendary Black Ark studio with The Upsetters. Jimmy Cliff rehearses with Sly and Robbie, while Inner Circle's historic live gig is recorded on the violent Kingston streets. The legendary Abyssinians harmonize their haunting Rastafarian songs; Joe Higgs (formerly Bob Marley's teacher) plays and talks; majestic toaster U Roy raps alongside The Mighty Diamonds, and Third World record in a Kingston studio. There is also early archive footage of Toots and the Maytals, and Haile Selessie's royal visit to Jamaica while police and thieves battle it out on the streets, and the ghettos erupt in violence. 1977: An extraordinary year for Reggae music.

Train wreck, some might call it a TV special, proving that not everything was better in the good old days. That includes Rolling Stone Magazine.

Johnny Cash's second Christmas special includes an all-star tribute to Elvis Presley, who died in August 1977, two months before this program was taped for CBS television. Fellow rockabilly pioneers Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison join Cash on "This Train is Bound For Glory" in memory of Presley, whose affinity for such sacred music was well-known. The 1977 special also includes holiday guest performances as Johnny takes the stage with Roy Clark for a spirited rendition of "Frosty The Snow Man" as well as the Statler Brothers with the yuletide classic "Blue Christmas."

Since its debut in 1934 the Glyndebourne Festival has put a focus on Mozart operas and developed a great competence in staging them. Mozart s operas seem to be made for the small but fine opera house in Glyndebourne and it's not surprising that the 1977 Don Giovanni, one of Mozart's great masterpieces, was a huge success. This production is conducted by Bernard Haitink, who holds the opinion, that no other composer had more opera in his blood than Mozart. It has been proven, for example, that Mozart had no overture for Don Giovanni until the evening before the premiere in Prague and wrote it down in just one night. Like the premiere's success of the opera in Prague in 1787 the Glyndebourne's version staged by Peter Hall was praised by audience and critics alike: We witness a lively and wide-awake ensemble piece that has easily survived all these decades, and still manages to teach many directors the art of playing theatre.

Paul Simon just wants to perform his songs although an arrogant director keeps on interrupting him with crazy ideas.

A portrait of a young man, Michael, so obsessed with death that he decorates his room with a life-size Grim Reaper. One night Michael's closest buddy, Louis, joins him for an adventure in Hollywood on Christmas Eve.

This documentary film is mostly about the New York Pop Festival, which began on July 17, 1970 at Randall's Island, NY, and lasted for three days

Trucker Tom has problems. When he’s not on the road with his pal Jack, he’s at home with his perpetually horny reporter wife, Sue, who berates him for his lackluster sexual performance. What Sue doesn’t know if that Tom’s aggression is saved up for the road, where his alter ego “Big Bear” rules...

Legendary documentary of the 1977 package tour arranged by David Robinson and Andrew Jakeman ("Kake Riviera") after they founded Stiff Records in London, England for five of their artists, and the bands that they concocted for the tour.

Roger Glover puts on a star-studded concert at the Royal Albert Hall for his concept album "The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast".

Recorded at London's Kilburn State Theater, Rod Stewart takes the stage along with guitarist Ron Wood, drummer Kenney Jones and the rest of the Faces for this electric farewell concert. In this classic live performance, the Faces are joined by the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards -- and their unique pub sound is complimented with a full-string orchestra. A set list of memorable hits includes "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything" and "Sweet Little Rock and Roller."

This DVD on the net called Rare Videos - Live at Granada Studios 1972/Live At East Germany Television 1977. As the Live At Granada Studios 1972 is exactly the same as the Slade Alive The DVD contains 16 tracks taped in the the East German town of Erfurt as well as some short clips of the boys goofing around in town and separate interviews with them. Most of the songs are hits like "Cum On Feel The Noize", "'Coz I Luv You" and "Far Far Away", but also songs like "Gypsy Roadhog", "When The Lights Are Out" and "My Baby Left Me"

Recorded live during the sold out Love Gun tour this show at Houston's Summit has it all... The complete Love Gun stage set ... The complete Love Gun set list ... And amazing show KISS put up at the height of their popularity in the USA with all special effects you expect to find in a KISS show ...

A tribute concert honoring the life of legendary folksinger Phil Ochs recorded at the Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum in 1976.

Recorded live during the sold out Love Gun tour this show at Houston's Summit has it all... The complete Love Gun stage set ... The complete Love Gun set list ... And amazing show KISS put up at the height of their popularity in the USA with all special effects you expect to find in a KISS show ...

Excellent quality recording of Tom Waits, live at WDR Studios, in Koln, Germany on April 18th, 1977. This is early jazz-quartet style Tom Waits as opposed to the more ragged and loose Waits he turned into after Swordfish Trombones and Rain Dogs.

With three sold out nights at Detroit's Cobo Hall KISS repeated a three night stand from a year earlier, this time on the ROCK AND ROLL OVER Tour. Recorded live at Cobo Hall, Detroit, MI, January 29, 1977 - the third night.