50 years later: A look at 11 classic albums that hit No. 1 in 1976

In 1976, record shoppers knew what they liked — the Eagles and Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder and Bob Dylan — and they bought it in droves.

Only 11 different albums reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart that year, with Peter Frampton and George Benson sneaking to the top between the better-known likes of Wings, Led Zeppelin, Earth, Wind & Fire, and a few other familiar acts.

The singles chart, meanwhile, was all over the place, with radio stations in transition and not sure where to land. Wings’ “Silly Love Songs” was the overall top single of ’76, and Rod Stewart’s “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)” wasn’t far behind.

Disco was starting to make inroads on the airwaves with No. 1 hits such as Johnny Taylor’s “Disco Lady” and “Walter Murphy’s “A Fifth of Beethoven.” Soul and funk showed up strongly with Ohio Players’ “Love Rollercoaster” and Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music.”

And ’70s soft rock was hanging around too, with Barry Manilow ‘s “I Write the Songs,” Chicago ‘s “If You Leave Me Now,” and, um, the Starland Vocal Band’s “Afternoon Delight.”

But we’re here for the albums, and now let’s get to ‘em!

Weeks at No. 1: 1

Noteworthy: Dylan, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Rush all released live albums, “Hard Rain,” “One More From the Road,” and “All the World’s a Stage,” respectively. Funkadelic released “Tales of Kidd Funkenstein,” which opened with a track titled “Butt-to-Butresuscitation” and closed out side 1 with “Take Your Dead Ass Home!” Joan Armatrading and Tom Waits released two different takes on singer-songwriter albums, with hers self-titled and his titled “Small Change.”

Weeks at No. 1: 2

Chicago, which finished 1975 with three weeks at No. 1, held onto the spot for two more weeks to open 1976 on the Billboard 200 album chart. This album is so stacked with hits that you can drop the needle anywhere and land on a huge hit song, from “Saturday in the Park” to “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day” to “Make Me Smile” to “Wishing You Were Here.” Yet somehow it didn’t chart in the United Kingdom.

Noteworthy: Perry Como’s “40 Greatest Hits” was No. 1 on the U.K. album charts, proof that the Sex Pistols couldn’t show up soon enough.

Weeks at No. 1: 2

Noteworthy: Speaking of hard rock, Aerosmith released “Rocks” during “Presence’s two weeks at No. 1. Soul-jazzer Roy Ayers put out “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” the title track of which would make a few hundred hip-hop samplers happy in future decades. And the Southern California all-female rock band the Runaways released their self-titled debut, giving the world its first glimpse of future solo star Joan Jett.

Weeks at No. 1: 2

The jazz-soul guitarist broke out of the genre to score a hat trick of No. 1s on the pop, R&B and jazz charts. It’s a smooth record with a pair of acclaimed and enduring hits. The single “This Masquerade,” a cover of Leon Russell’s song, went on to win the Grammy for record of the year in 1977, while the title track earned the Grammy for best pop instrumental performance.

Noteworthy: New releases were a bit thin during Benson’s two weeks at the top, but we did get Merle Haggard’s “My Love Affair With Trains.” Remarkably, this was Merle’s second train-based album, after the Jimmy Rodgers tribute “Same Train, A Different Time.”

Weeks at No. 1: 3

Noteworthy: The Thin White Duke reached record stores when David Bowie released “Station to Station,” an album that spun off the singles “Golden Years” and “TVC15.” Diana Ross’ self-titled album included the disco classic “Love Hangover,” and Lynyrd Skynyrd requested that you “Gimme Back My Bullets.”

Weeks at No. 1: 4

As with Led Zeppelin and “Presence,” the Stones’ album wasn’t praised as much at the time, but then saw its reputation grow as the years passed. The Stones didn’t technically have a lead guitarist when the album was recorded — Mick Taylor quit the band two years earlier, and though Ronnie Wood plays on some of the tracks, he wasn’t officially invited to join until it was time to tour. “Fool to Cry” and “Memory Motel” are the songs you remember most.

Notable: Warren Zevon’s self-titled major-label debut didn’t sell a lot, but he still made bank thanks to Linda Ronstadt’s covers of “Carmelita,” “Poor Poor Pitiful Me,” and “Hasten Down the Wind.” Billy Joel’s “Turnstiles” produced a pair of his standards, “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” and “New York State of Mind.” David Bowie added another terrific compilation with “Changesonebowie.”

Weeks at No. 1: 5

Noteworthy: Phil Collins replaced Peter Gabriel as vocalist for Genesis’s “A Trick of the Tail.” Captain and Tennille released “Song of Joy,” and finally muskrats had something to dance to at the prom. Be-Bop Deluxe released “Sunburst Finish.”

Weeks at No. 1: 5

For decades, this was the one Eagles album that many had on vinyl or CD. For good reason, too, because it had nothing but massive hits: “Take It Easy,” “Desperado,” “Tequila Sunrise,” “Lyin’ Eyes.” More than 38 million copies were sold in the U.S. alone, making it the No. 1 selling album of the 20th century.

Noteworthy: Kiss released “Destroyer” with singles such as “Shout It Out Loud” and “Detroit Rock City.” Marvin Gaye sang “I Want You,” one of his sexiest songs ever, and the Doobie Brothers were “Takin’ It to the Streets,” with Michael McDonald on vocals for the first time.

Weeks at No. 1: 7

Noteworthy: Rod Stewart’s “A Night on the Town” included “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright),” which got banned by the BBC for being too sexy, and his classic Cat Stevens cover, “The First Cut Is the Deepest.” The title track of Maxine Nightingale’s “Right Back Where We Started From” was a delightful pop hit. The Beach Boys ' “15 Big Ones” was a good latter-day album. Reggae singer Peter Tosh made his debut with “Legalize It,” and Graham Parker and the Rumour’s “Howlin’ Wind” signaled the shift of British pub rock toward new wave.

Weeks at No. 1: 10

Frampton ‘s double live album debuted at No. 1 for a single week in April at first, but came back for another week in July, three more in August and five in September and October. It was powered by the singles “Show Me the Way,” “Baby, I Love Your Way,” and “Do You Feel Like We Do” — and that rad talk-box that had many teenage boys trying to imitate it as they drove aimlessly around their small towns looking to meet girls.

Noteworthy: Boston released its self-titled debut as did that city’s Modern Lovers. Hall & Oates delivered “Bigger Than Both of Us,” which spun off the single “Rich Girl.” And Lee “Scratch” Perry and the Upsetters’ released the dub classic “Super Ape.”

Weeks at No. 1: 11