October 1977

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  1
Elton John becomes the first rock & roller to be honored in New York City's Madison Square Garden Hall of Fame.
2
Over a month following what appeared to be an attempt to steal Elvis Presley's body from the Forest Hill Cemetery, both Presley's and his mother Gladys' bodies are moved to Graceland. There they are buried behind the mansion in the Meditation Garden.
 3
Stiff Records puts together an old-fashioned package tour to promote its small, eclectic roster, with Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Ian Dury and the Blockheads and Wreckless Eric among them. The low-budget Life Stiffs tour of the British Isles kicks off in London.
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On the heels of similar litigation initiated by the common-law partners of Lee Marvin and Alice Cooper, it is reported that Britt Ekland has slapped Rod Stewart with a $15-million palimony suit.

A jury in Miami convicts 15-year-old Ronald Zamora of the first-degree murder of 82-year- old Elinor Haggart in the first ever televised trial. Zamora confesses to the crime and claims TV made him do it.
 7
After seven years with Genesis and a 1975 solo album to his credit, guitarist Steve Hackett leaves the group to concentrate on a solo career. Genesis will carry on as a trio (drummer and vocalist Phil Collins, keyboardist Tony Banks and bassist Michael Rutherford), titling their next album And Then There Were Three... Hackett's first album after leaving the group, Please Don't Touch, will be out within a year.

RCA releases David Bowie's "Heroes," his second album recorded in Berlin and produced by Brian Eno. Bowie will soon release German and French versions of the title track in addition to the original English recording.
 8
The Emotions' (the three Hutchinson sisters -- Wanda, Sheila and Jeanette) "Don't Ask My Neighbors" charts as the followup to their huge #1 pop/R&B hit, "Best of My Love." It will only rise to #44 on the pop chart and #7 on the R&B chart, and is the 17th of 30 R&B hits The Emotions will have between 1969 and 1984.

An outdoor music festival in East Germany leads to a violent confontation between police and concertgoers, the largest outbreak of unrest in that country in several years.
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The U.K.-based human rights agency Amnesty International receives the Nobel Peace Prize.

Due to an apparent lack of consistent policy direction, President Carter's popularity dips below the 50% level, according to a Harris survey.
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The Senate approves a Department of Transportation mandate that will make automatic seat belts and air bags standard equipment for all new cars sold in the U.S. by 1984.
 13
Shirley Brickley, a member of one the hottest dance music groups of the early '60s, The Orlons, is shot to death. Brickley was a member through all nine of their Top 100 hits. She was only 32.
 14
At the request of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Linda Ronstadt sings the national anthem at Dodgers Stadium to open the third game of the World Series. The New York Yankees go on to win the game.

After completing a round of golf, Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby suffers a heart attack and dies.
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New York Yankees outfielder Reggie Jackson makes baseball history, earning the nickname "Mr. October" by hitting four home runs in four consecutive swings during the World Series and helping the Yankees beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.
 19
One of the most popular black rock & roll acts in 1977 is the Brothers Johnson (George and Louis). Their "Strawberry Letter 23" is certified gold on this date, having recently hit Number One on the R&B chart and #5 on the pop chart. The song was written by Shuggie Otis and produced by Quincy Jones.

After having been the focus of lengthy legal battles, the supersonic jet airliner Concorde lands for the first time on American soil, crossing the Atlantic from France in less than four hours.
 20
Three days after the release of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Street Survivors, an album whose cover depicts the band standing amid flames, Lynyrd Skynyrd vocalist Ronnie Van Zandt, guitarist Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines, Steve's sister and a freelance singer touring with the band, are killed when their rented single-engine plane crashes in the swamps of Gillsburg, Miss., after the pilot accidentally dumps his fuel. The musicians were en route to Baton Rouge, La. Van Zant was an original member of the band, formed in Jacksonville, Fla., in the late Sixties; Gaines had joined little over a year ago. The deaths will mean the end of Lynyrd Skynyrd, whose "Free Bird" and "Sweet Home Alabama" were pop Top Twenty singles, although all of the survivors, except for Artimus Pyle, will go on to form the Rossington-Collins Band. In 1991, Lynyrd Skynyrd (with varying drummers) began recording and touring again with guitarist Randall Hall and Ronnie's younger brother, Johnny Van Zandt, on vocals, carrying on the band's musical tradition.

Rolling Stone reports that Kiss bassist Gene Simmons lost two inches of hair and scorched the right side of his neck during the fire-breathing segment of his performance in Los Angeles.
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The Exorcist actress Linda Blair is arrested for cocaine possession with intent to sell.
 25
A $576-million- plus deal is signed between the NFL and all three major TV networks in the most lucrative broadcast agreement to date.
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Warner Bros. releases the Sex Pistols' first album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, in the U.S., jumping the gun of Virgin Records, which releases the album in the U.K. four days later. With "Anarchy in the U.K.," "God Save the Queen," "Pretty Vacant" and "Holidays in the Sun" -- all British hit singles (and all included on the album) -- the Sex Pistols have already created a big noise in their homeland. In America, however, the seminal punk group will be scarcely noticed (the album will peak at #106 on the chart) until they make their first appearances in person in January 1978.
 29
Disco music gets a refreshing shot of wit and sophistication when Chic's debut single, "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)," enters the R&B chart. The New York City quartet is led by bassist Bernard Edwards and guitarist Nile Rodgers, who will soon become the most influential figures in dance music of the late Seventies and early Eighties, working as songwriters, musicians and producers with Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, Debbie Harry, David Bowie and others. Their springy rhythms and stripped-down arrangements are introduced on "Dance, Dance, Dance," a record that will sell over 1 million copies, reaching #6 on both the R&B and pop charts.

The Consumer Products Safety Board predicts at least 375,000 skateboard-related injuries for 1977, doubling the previous year's total.
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