On this day in music history - The Grand Illusion, by Styx (1977):

The Grand Illusion

Album by Styx,

released July 7, 1977.

Track list:

The Grand Illusion; Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man); Superstars; Come Sail Away; Miss America; Man in the Wilderness; Castle Walls; The Grand Finale.

Born on this day – Jeff Baena:

Jeff Baena

Writer

Producer

Director

Actor

June 29, 1977 – January 3, 2025

Credits:

Cast Away (2000); Cinema Toast (2021); Criterion: Closet Picks (2017); Digging for Fire (2015); Duck Butter (2018); Emily the Criminal (2022); Horse Girl (2020); I Heart Huckabees (2004); Joshy (2016); Lennon or McCartney (2014); Life After Beth (2014); Made in Hollywood (2014–2017); Madeline's Madeline (2018); Meet the Fockers (2004); MSN Exclusives (2012); Spin Me Round (2022); The End of Love (2012); The Little Hours (2017); What Lies Beneath (2000); WTF with Marc Maron (2017).

On this day in movie history - Sorcerer (1977):

Sorcerer

directed by William Friedkin,

written by Walon Green,

based on the novel Le Salaire de la peur (The Salary of Fear) by Georges Arnaud,

was released in the United States on June 24, 1977.

Music by Tangerine Dream.

Cast:

Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, Amidou, Ramon Bieri, Peter Capell, Karl John, Friedrich von Ledebur, Chico Martínez, Joe Spinell, Rosario Almontes, Richard Holley, Anne-Marie Deschodt, Jean-Luc Bideau, Jacques François, André Falcon, Gerard Murphy, Desmond Crofton, Henry Diamond, Ray Dittrich, Frank Gio, Randy Jurgensen, Cosmo Allegretti, Nick Discenza, Frank Pesce, Tom Signorelli.

Recommended reading - The Shining, by Stephen King (1977):

The Shining

By Stephen King.

Filmed as:

The Shining (1980), movie directed by Stanley Kubrick.

The Shining (1997), TV miniseries directed by Mick Garris.

Published by Hodder.

First published 1977.

ISBN 13: 9780340920930

ISBN 10: 0340920939

ASIN: 0340920939

Paperback.

Description:

Danny is only five years old, but he is a 'shiner', aglow with psychic voltage. When his father becomes caretaker of an old hotel, his visions grow out of control. Cut off by blizzards, the hotel seems to develop an evil force, and who are the mysterious guests in the supposedly empty hotel?

Somewhere, somehow there is an evil force in the hotel and that too has begun to shine...

On this day in music history - Little Queen, by Heart (1977):

Little Queen

Album by Heart,

released May 14, 1977.

Track list:

Barracuda; Love Alive; Sylvan Song; Dream Of The Archer; Kick It Out; Little Queen; Treat Me Well; Say Hello; Cry To Me; Go On Cry; Too Long A Time; Stairway to Heaven.

Recommended reading - Q&A, by Edwin Torres (1977):

Q&A

By Edwin Torres.

Filmed as Q&A (1990), directed by Sidney Lumet.

Published by Avon Books.

First published 1977.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0380018624

ISBN-13: 978-0380018628

Description:

The basis for the hit film "Q & A" directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Nick Nolte. Written by Edwin Torres, the author of After Hours which was the basis for the hit film "Carlito's Way" starring Al Pacino and Sean Penn.

The minute he steps down the alleyway, Tony Roman knows it’s a setup. The first bullet tears through his cheekbone; the second pierces his brain. The big man is dead before he hits the ground. When the crowd pours out of the nightclub to see what happened, the killer flashes a badge. He’s the NYPD’s Lt. Brennan, and he plans to get away with murder.

Assistant District Attorney Al Reilly is called in to investigate the shooting. Everyone in the department expects Reilly, an ex-cop whose father was killed in the line of duty, to support Brennan’s claim of self-defense. But the evidence doesn’t add up. As Reilly digs deeper into the events of that snowy night in the darkened alley, he finds that in the NYPD, there is no crime worse than investigating a crooked cop.

On this day in music history - Magazine, by Heart (1977):

Magazine

Album by Heart,
released April 19, 1977.

Track list:

Heartless; Devil Delight; Just The Wine; Without You; Magazine; Here Song; Mother Earth Blues; I've Got The Music In Me.

Recommended reading - The Star Trek Reader III, by James Blish (1977):

The Star Trek Reader III

By James Blish.

Published by E P Dutton.

Published 1977.

First Edition.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0525209611

ISBN-13: 978-0525209614

Description:

Nineteen episodes from the now-defunct but still-popular television series follow James Kirk, Mr. Spock, and the crew of the Enterprise to strange worlds and distant adventures.

Born on this day – Annie Wersching:

Annie Wersching

Actress

Below as the Borg Queen in Star Trek: Picard

March 28, 1977 – January 29, 2023

Credits:

24 (2009–2010); 24 in 24 (2009); Angel (2003); Anthem (2019); Below the Beltway (2010); Birds of Prey (2002); Blue Bloods (2014); Blue-Eyed Butcher (2012); Body of Proof (2013); Bosch (2014–2021); Boston Legal (2006); Bruce Almighty (2003); Castle (2013–2015); Charmed (2004); Code Black (2016); Cold Case (2006); Company Man (2007); CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2010); Dallas (2013); Doubt (2017); E-Ring (2005); Extant (2014); Frasier (2003); General Hospital (2007); Grounded: Making the Last of Us (2013); Harry's Law (2012); Hawaii Five-0 (2011); Hell's Kitchen (2018); Intelligence (2014); Journeyman (2007); Killer Instinct (2005); Lopez Tonight (2010); Major Crimes (2016); NCIS (2010); No Ordinary Family (2011); Out of Practice (2005); Partners (2011); Revolution (2013); Rizzoli & Isles (2011); Runaways (2017–2019); Star Trek: Enterprise (2002); Star Trek: Picard (2020); Supernatural (2007); That Guy... Who Was In That Thing 3: Trek Stars (2019); The 34th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2007); The Bonnie Hunt Show (2010); The Catch (2016); The Last of Us - The Definitive Playthrough (2019); The Last of Us (2013); The Last of Us: One Night Live (2014); The Other Mother (2017); The Ready Room (2022); The Rookie (2019–2022); The Showdown (2006); The Surrogate (2013); The Vampire Diaries (2015–2016); Timeless (2017–2018); Touch (2013).

Recommended reading - The Star Trek Reader II, by James Blish (1977):

The Star Trek Reader II

By James Blish.

Published by E P Dutton.

Published 1977.

First Edition.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0525209603

ISBN-13: 978-0525209607

Description:

Here for the first time in hardcover are 19 of the most exciting episodes that ever appeared on the award-winning Star Trek television series. Novelized by the renowned science fiction writer James Blish, each of these stories is a little gem with a permanent sparkle, and their combination a collector's item.

Recommended reading - Unknown Man #89, by Elmore Leonard (1977):

Unknown Man #89

By Elmore Leonard.

Published by Mariner Books.

First published 1977.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 006218928X

ISBN-13: 978-0062189288

Description:

“The greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever!” – The New York Times Book Review.

“An absolute master.” – The Detroit News.

“No one is Leonard’s equal,” declares the Chicago Tribune – and anyone who might doubt it would only have to read Elmore Leonard’s riveting noir classic, Unknown Man #89, to become a true believer.

Detroit process server Jack Ryan has a reputation for being the best in the business at finding people who don't want to be found. Now he's looking for a missing stockholder known only as "Unknown Man No. 89." But his missing man isn't "unknown" to everyone: a pretty blonde hates his guts and a very nasty dude named Royal wants him dead in the worst way. Which is very unfortunate for Jack Ryan, who is suddenly caught in the crossfire of a lethal triple-cross and as much a target as his nameless prey.

The twisty tale of a Detroit process server whose search for a missing stockholder leads him into more serious peril than he ever imagined possible, Unknown Man #89 is a gourmet stew of mystery, suspense, and double and triple cross, peppered with the razor-sharp dialogue for which Grand Master Leonard is justifiably famous.

Exhilarating old-school crime fiction that the late, great John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Robert Parker would have been proud to call their own, Unknown Man #89 is a gem – nothing less than we’d expect from the man who created the incomparable U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens of the hit TV series Justified.

On this day in movie history - Slap Shot (1977):

Slap Shot

directed by George Roy Hill,

written by Nancy Dowd,

was released in the United States on February 25, 1977.

Music by Elmer Bernstein.

Cast:

Paul Newman, Strother Martin, Michael Ontkean, Jennifer Warren, Lindsay Crouse, Jerry Houser, Andrew Duncan, Jeff Carlson, Steve Carlson, David Hanson, Yvon Barrette, Allan Nicholls, Brad Sullivan, Stephen Mendillo, Yvan Ponton, Matthew Cowles, Kathryn Walker, Melinda Dillon, M. Emmet Walsh, Swoosie Kurtz, Paul D'Amato, Ronald L. Docken, Guido Tenesi, Jean Rosario Tetreault, Christopher Murney, Blake Ball, Ned Dowd, Nancy N. Dowd, Barbara L. Shorts, Larry Block, Paul Dooley, Dan Belisle, Jr., Rod Bloomfield, Bruce Boudreau, Galen Head, Susan Kendall, Connie Madigan, Mark Bousquet, John Gofton, Rod Masters, Joe Nolan, Dick Roberge, Ray Schultz, Carol Shelton, Ross Smith, Steve Stirling, Cliff Thompson.