The 77s
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The 77s are an American Rock_band band consisting of Michael Roe on lead guitar, Mark Harmon on bass and Bruce Spencer on drums. In the mid 1980's, Aaron Smith played drums for the band.
The band, originally called The Scratch Band, was formed in the late 1970s in Sacramento, California by Roe, and keyboardist Mark Tootle, bassist Jan Eric Volz and drummer Mark Proctor. Guitarist Jimmy A and singer Sharon McCall also performed with the band from time to time.
The band changed their name to the 77s with the release of their first album, Ping Pong over the Abyss, in 1982. Ping Pong was more of a Scratch Band recording than an actual 77s recording however. One song from that album, "Renaissance Man", was later recorded by The Ocean Blue. Proctor left the band and was replaced by former drummer for The Temptations, Aaron Smith. The band's biggest hit single was "The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes and the Pride of Life" from their 1987 Island Records release, The 77s. (Years later, the band 311 would even borrow a few lines from the song for one of their own singles). Tootle and Volz left the band in the late 80's. A live album 88 and a collection of b-sides and alternate recordings called Sticks and Stones were released in 1990.
The band's song "MT" was featured a number of times on the popular television series Melrose Place.
In the early 1990s, Roe reformed the band with Smith, adding bassist Mark Harmon and guitarist David Leonhardt, both formerly of The Strawmen. This version of the band released a pair of albums for Word Records: "The Seventy-Sevens" 1992 (a.k.a. Pray Naked - this title was dropped by the record label) and the critically acclaimed "Drowning with Land in Sight"1994. Leonhardt and Smith would leave the band afterward. Drummer Bruce Spencer, formerly of Vector was brought on board to fill Smith's vacancy.
By the end of the 1990s, the 77s formed their own record label, Fools of the World and re-issued many of their older albums. As of 2002 the 77s continue to record and tour heavily.
Discography
- Ping Pong Over the Abyss, 1983 album, produced by Steven Soles
- All Fall Down, 1984 album, produced by Charlie Peacock
- The 77s, 1987 album
- Sticks and Stones, 1990 album
- 88, 1991 live album
- Pray Naked, 1992 album
- Drowning with Land in Sight, 1994 album
- 1 2 3, 1995 re-release of first three albums
- Tom Tom Blues, 1995 album
- Echoes o' Faith, 1996 live album
- EP, 1999 ep
- 88/When Numbers Get Serious 2000 re-release w/ 2nd disc
- Late, 2000 album
- A Golden Field of Radioactive Crows, 2001 album
- Happy Chrimbo!, 2001 fan club Christmas album
- Direct, 2002 ep
- Guilty Pleasures, 2003 fan club album