Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. It was also the 1976th year of the Common Era, the 976th year of the 2nd millennium, the 76th year of the 20th century, and the 7th year of the 1970s. In Europe the summer of this year was particularly long, warm and dry.
Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums. She has been noted for her ethereal visual style and symbolic lyrics. Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac on December 31, 1974, along with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham. Fleetwood Mac's second album after the incorporation of Nicks and Buckingham, 1977's Rumours, produced four US Top 10 singles (including Nicks's song "Dreams", which was the band's first and only US number one) and remained at No.1 on the American albums chart for 31 weeks, as well as reaching the top spot in various countries around the world. To date the album has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the eighth best-selling album of all time.
Nicks began her solo career in 1981 with the 8 million selling album Bella Donna, and she has produced six more solo studio albums to date. Her seventh solo studio album entitled In Your Dreams, and her first in ten years, was produced largely by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame and Glen Ballard and was released on May 3, 2011. After the release of her first solo album, Rolling Stone deemed her "The Reigning Queen of Rock and Roll". Having overcome cocaine addiction, and dependency on tranquilizers, Nicks remains a popular solo performer. As a solo artist, she has garnered eight Grammy Award nominations and, with Fleetwood Mac, a further five, of which one was the 1978 award for Album of the Year for Rumours, which they won. As a member of Fleetwood Mac, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Nicks is known for her distintive voice, mystical visual style and symbolic lyrics as well as the famous (sometimes tense) chemistry between herself and former boyfriend and guitarist/vocalist in Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham.
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (born February 22, 1949 in Vienna) is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver and three-time F1 World Champion. More recently an aviation entrepreneur, he has founded and run two airlines and was manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years.
Lauda was born in Vienna, Austria, to a wealthy family. His paternal grandfather was the Viennese-born businessman Hans Lauda.
Lauda became a racing driver despite his family's disapproval. After starting out with a Mini, Lauda moved on into Formula Vee, as was normal in Central Europe, but rapidly moved up to drive in private Porsche and Chevron sports cars. His career seemed to be going nowhere in particular until he took out a large bank loan, secured by a life insurance policy, to buy his way into the fledgling March team as a Formula 2 (F2) driver in 1971. He was quickly promoted to the F1 team and drove for March in both F1 and F2 in 1972. Although the F2 cars were good (and Lauda's test-driving skills impressed March principal Robin Herd), March's 1972 F1 season was catastrophic and Lauda, in despair and deep debt, briefly contemplated suicide but finally took out yet another bank loan to buy his way into the BRM team in 1973. Lauda was instantly quick but the team was in decline; his big break came when his BRM team-mate Clay Regazzoni rejoined Ferrari in 1974 and team owner Enzo Ferrari asked him what he thought of Lauda. Regazzoni spoke favourably of Lauda, so Ferrari promptly went and signed him, paying Niki enough to clear his debts.
George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, actor and writer/author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums.
Carlin was noted for his black humor as well as his thoughts on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and various taboo subjects. Carlin and his "Seven Dirty Words" comedy routine were central to the 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, in which a narrow 5–4 decision by the justices affirmed the government's power to regulate indecent material on the public airwaves.
The first of his fourteen stand-up comedy specials for HBO was filmed in 1977. In 1988, the 1990s and 2000s, Carlin's routines focused on socio-cultural criticism of modern American society. He often commented on contemporary political issues in the United States and satirized the excesses of American culture. His final HBO special, It's Bad for Ya, was filmed less than four months before his death.
Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou, 21 July 1948), commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam.
His early 1970s record albums Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat were both certified triple platinum in the United States by the RIAA. His 1972 album Catch Bull at Four sold half a million copies in the first two weeks of release alone and was Billboard's number-one LP for three consecutive weeks. He has also earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in consecutive years for "The First Cut Is the Deepest", which has been a hit single for four different artists.
Stevens converted to Islam in December 1977 and adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year. In 1979, he auctioned all his guitars for charity and left his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. He has been given several awards for his work in promoting peace in the world, including the 2003 World Award, the 2004 Man for Peace Award, and the 2007 Mediterranean Prize for Peace. In 2006, he returned to pop music with his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled An Other Cup. He now goes professionally by the single name Yusuf. His most recent album, Roadsinger, was released on 5 May 2009.
Rockie burned up the movie screen and I was turnin seventeen
Tie-dyed shirts and Levis jean, lookin cool at the Dairy Queen
Tryin to impress a young woman in her Sunday dress
And that was 1976, didnt know who I was yet
A pretty little blonde haired girl stole my heart and changed my world
Two kids and a moonlit sky, a little love on a Friday night
Built a fire that just wont quit, that was 1976
My high school days I packed away, set my sights on a bigger stage
Jimmy Carter moved to DC, a Georgia boy just like me, life seemed easy
Nothin much that we needed
That was 1976, didnt know who I was yet
A pretty little blonde haired girl stole my heart and changed my world
Two kids and a moonlit sky, a little love on a Friday night
Built a fire that just wont quit, that was 1976
[Instrumental Interlude]
Eight track tapes were still in style and Elvis was still alive
Wonder Woman sure looked fine, Bionic Man was still Prime Time
And that girl I liked, we kept on tryin till we got it right
And that was 1976, didnt know who I was yet
A pretty little blonde haired girl stole my heart and changed my world
Two kids and a moonlit sky, a little love on a Friday night
Built a fire that just wont quit, that was 1976
Yeah, that was 1976, didnt know who we were yet
Built a fire that just wont quit and that was 1976
Hey ...
Ohhhh ...
Oh, happy birthday america.
Lord knows you ain't no sweet sixteen.
But, we love you 'cause you're beautiful america.
We still beleive in the american dream.
We better all keep remembering this land now.
This land full of people been' gettin' their kicks lord, lord.
I think we all better pick up the sticks.
In 1976.
God put man on this planet.
But man forgot that he was heaven sent.
Man takes the planet for granted.
I thought american people would 'a had more sense.
We better keep all remembering this land now.
This land full of people bent on gettin' their kicks lord, lord.
I think we all better pick up the sticks.
In 1976.
Hey ...
We better keep all remembering this land now.
This land full of people bent on gettin' their kicks lord, lord.
I think we all better pick up the sticks.
Feels so good to see you here
Nothing ever seems to happen in this place, now
Tomorrow's bright, or so they say
Forget the days of future past, because now it's 1976
Hey there baby, say, what's your sign
I could tell it was the same as mine
Tube top momma nearly six feet tall
She is the fox of the shopping mall
This is the era, this is the time
You know you've got to boogie 'cuz your platforms are fine
Feels so good to see you here
Nothing ever seems to happen in this place, now
Tomorrow's bright, or so they say
Forget the days of future past, because now it's 1976
Afros and apple pie
Camaro sports cars, gasoline lines
Everything is red, white and blue
We hate it here 'cuz there's nothing to do
Until some friends on a space trip
Flew in on the free bird, now can you dig
Feels so good to see you here
Nothing ever seems to happen in this place, now
Tomorrow's bright, or so they say
Forget the days of future past, because now it's 1976
Baby can't you hear it
Baby can't you feel it
Baby got the spirit
Baby can't you hear it
Baby can't you feel it
Baby got the spirit
Feels so good to see you here
Feels so good to see you here
Feels so good to see you here
1976
Feels so good to see you here (Feels so good)
Feels so good to see you here (Just to see you here)
Feels so good to see you here
1976
Feels so good to see you here (I feel good)
Feels so good to see you here
Feels so good to see you here