Best Songs of 1976
For these year-end lists, I like to undertake the seemingly impossibly task of creating an hours-long mix. The order you see below represents that effort, which you can listen to via Spotify and Apple Music. Sadly all 100 tracks aren't available, but you get the general idea. Track notes to come eventually or maybe never.
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Miami 2017 (I’ve Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
Billy Joel
Turnstiles
Columbia
Notes
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Rich Girl
Daryl Hall & John Oates
Bigger Than Both of Us
RCA
Notes
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Welcome Back
John Sebastian
Welcome Back
Reprise
Notes
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Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
Elton John & Kiki Dee
Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
Rocket Record Company
Notes
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Lonely Boy
Andrew Gold
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
Asylum
Notes
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Takin’ It to the Streets
The Doobie Brothers
Takin’ It to the Streets
Warner Bros.
Notes
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Midnight Lady
Rare Earth
Midnight Lady
Rare Earth
Notes
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Disco Lady
Johnnie Taylor
Eargasm
Columbia
Notes
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Don’t Leave Me This Way
Thelma Houston
Any Way You Like It
Tamla
Notes
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You Should Be Dancing
Bee Gees
Children of the World
RSO
Notes
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More, More, More
The Andrea True Connection
More, More, More
Buddah
Notes
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You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
Leo Sayer
Endless Flight
Warner Bros.
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Dancing Queen
ABBA
Arrival
Universal
Notes
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Turn the Beat Around
Vicki Sue Robinson
Never Gonna Let You Go
RCA
Notes
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Young Hearts Run Free
Candi Staton
Young Hearts Run Free
Warner Bros.
Notes
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If I Didn’t Mean You Well
Bill Withers
Naked & Warm
Columbia
Notes
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Lowdown
Boz Scaggs
Silk Degrees
Columbia
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Getaway
Earth, Wind & Fire
Spirit
Columbia
Notes
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(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty
KC & the Sunshine Band
Part 3
T.K.
Notes
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Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)
Parliament
Mothership Connection
Island
Notes
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It’s All Right Now
Eddie Harris
That Is Why You’re Overweight
Atlantic
Notes
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Aufu Oodu
Ramsey Lewis
Salongo
Capitol
Notes
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Girl, I Think the World About You
Commodores
Hot on the Tracks
Motown
Notes
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I’ll Be Good to You
The Brothers Johnson
Look Out for #1
A&M
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Everybody Loves the Sunshine
Roy Ayers Ubiquity
Everybody Loves the Sunshine
Polydor
Notes
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Summer
War
Greatest Hits
United Artists
Notes
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Shower the People
James Taylor
In the Pocket
Warner Bros.
Notes
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Amelia
Joni Mitchell
Hejira
Asylum
Notes
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Wildman
Ginny Reilly & Dave Maloney
At Last
Freckle
Notes
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Hasten Down the Wind
Linda Ronstadt
Hasten Down the Wind
Asylum
Notes
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Brand New Heartache
Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris
Sleepless Nights
A&M
Notes
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Hog of the Forsaken
Michael Hurley
Long Journey
Rounder
Notes
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When the Sun Goes Down Tomorrow
Dolly Parton
All I Can Do
RCA
Notes
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If You Don’t Like Hank Williams
Kris Kristofferson
Surreal Thing
Monument
Notes
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Long May You Run
Stills Young Band
Long May You Run
Reprise
Notes
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Spotlight
Crosby & Nash
Whistling Down the Wire
MCA
Notes
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Are You Ready for the Country
Waylon Jennings
Are You Ready for the Country
RCA
Notes
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Let Your Love Flow
The Bellamy Brothers
Bellamy Brothers
Warner Bros.
Notes
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Life in the Fast Lane
Eagles
Hotel California
Asylum
Notes
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Still the One
Orleans
Waking and Dreaming
Asylum
Notes
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Carry on Wayward Son
Kansas
Leftoverture
Krishner
Notes
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Drivin’ Wheel
Foghat
Night Shift
Bearsville
Notes
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The Boys Are Back in Town
Thin Lizzy
Jailbreak
Island
Notes
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So It Goes
Nick Lowe
So It Goes 7"
Stiff
Notes
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Body Talk
The Groundhogs
Black Diamond
United Artists
Notes
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Shake Some Action
Flamin’ Groovies
Shake Some Action
Sire
Notes
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Roadrunner
The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers
Beserkley
Notes
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Hanging on the Telephone
The Nerves
Nerves
The Nerves
Notes
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Ask the Angels
Patti Smith Group
Radio Ethiopia
Arista
Notes
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I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead
Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon
Elektra
Notes
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Crazy Feeling
Lou Reed
Coney Island Baby
RCA
Notes
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Crazy on You
Heart
Dreamboat Annie
Capitol
Notes
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Cherry Bomb
The Runaways
The Runaways
Mercury
Notes
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Judy Is a Punk
Ramones
Ramones
Sire
Notes
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Do Ya
Electric Light Orchestra
A New World Record
United Artists
Notes
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Don’t Take Me Alive
Steely Dan
The Royal Scam
MCA
Notes
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Night Moves
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
Night Moves
Capitol
Notes
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The Pretender
Jackson Browne
The Pretender
Asylum
Notes
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Year of the Cat
Al Stewart
Year of the Cat
Janus
Notes
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More Than a Feeling
Boston
Boston
Epic
Notes
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Back in the Saddle
Aerosmith
Rocks
Columbia
Notes
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Somebody to Love
Queen
A Day at the Races
Elektra
Notes
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Silly Love Songs
Wings
Wings at the Speed of Sound
Capitol
Notes
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Beautiful Girl
George Harrison
Thirty Three & 1/3
Dark Horse
Notes
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Memory Motel
The Rolling Stones
Black and Blue
Rolling Stones
Notes
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Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)
Rod Stewart
A Night on the Town
Warner Bros.
Notes
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Ooh Baby (Make Me Feel So Young)
Terry Reid
Seed of Memory
ABC
Notes
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Closer to You
Stephen Stills
Illegal Stills
Columbia
Notes
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Get It Up for Love
Ned Doheny
Hard Candy
Columbia
Notes
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Breezin’
George Benson
Breezin’
Warner Bros.
Notes
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I Want You
Marvin Gaye
I Want You
Motown
Notes
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You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine
Lou Rawls
All Things in Time
Philadelphia International
Notes
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Theme From S.W.A.T.
Rhythm Heritage
Disco-Fied
ABC
Notes
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Sir Duke
Stevie Wonder
Songs in the Key of Life
Tamla
Notes
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I’m Going Down
Rose Royce
Car Wash
MCA
Notes
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Something He Can Feel
Aretha Franklin
Sparkle
Atlantic
Notes
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Love Hangover
Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Motown
Notes
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Boogie Nights
Heatwave
Too Hot to Handle
Epic
Notes
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People of Today
The Isley Brothers
Harvest for the World
T-Neck
Notes
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Let It Shine
Al Green
Full of Fire
Right Stuff
Notes
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Get Up Offa That Thing
James Brown
Get Up Offa That Thing
Polydor
Notes
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Play That Funky Music
Wild Cherry
Wild Cherry
Epic
Notes
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The Rubberband Man
The Spinners
Happiness Is Being With the Spinners
Atlantic
Notes
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Golden Years
David Bowie
Station to Station
Virgin
Notes
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Home Is Where the Heart Is
Bobby Womack & The Brotherhood
Home Is Where the Heart Is
Columbia
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Other Side of Town
The Beckies
The Beckies
Sire
Notes
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Rock’n Me Baby
Steve Miller Band
Fly Like an Eagle
Capitol
Notes
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Blinded by the Light
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
The Roaring Silence
Warner Bros.
Notes
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A Trick of the Tail
Genesis
A Trick of the Tail
Atco
Notes
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Devil Woman
Cliff Richard
I’m Nearly Famous
EMI
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Honor Among Thieves
Artful Dodger
Honor Among Thieves
Columbia
Notes
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Hold Back the Night
Graham Parker & The Rumour
Heat Treatment
Mercury
Notes
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Man Smart, Woman Smarter
Robert Palmer
Some People Can Do What They Like
Island
Notes
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Brother John
The Wild Tchoupitoulas
The Wild Tchoupitoulas
Mardi Gras Indian Music
Notes
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Jon the Generator
Maria Muldaur
Sweet Harmony
Reprise
Notes
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Travelin’ Light
J.J. Cale
Troubadour
Shelter
Notes
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Everything That ’Cha Do (Will Come Back to You)
Wet Willie
The Wetter the Better
Capricorn
Notes
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(Don’t Fear) The Reaper
Blue Öyster Cult
Agents of Fortune
Columbia
Notes
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American Girl
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Gone Gator/MCA
Notes
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Take Me Away
Roger McGuinn
Cardiff Rose
Columbia
Notes