Six incredibly fantastic debut albums from the 1970s

Police - Outlandos d’Amour

The Police released Outlandos d’Amour as their debut album in November 1978.  They’d borrowed £1,500 from their manager to pay for it and took six months to record it. The time span was more about short visits to the studio when it was available at a low cost. 

It may have started small, but the album was a great launch pad for The Police. From such a small beginning there followed many great hits and albums before they fell out and disbanded in 1986. After regrouping again in 2007 they had the highest grossing tour worldwide that year.  

Back to the debut album though, Outlandos d’Amour hit No. 6 on the U.K. charts and got to 23 on the Billboard 200, spending 63 weeks there. “Roxanne” was a huge hit single from it. With that amazing reggae sound and Sting’s vocals, it brought the band and their new album very much to the public attention. 

“So Lonely” was also a hit single and continued that reggae sound. Sting has said he based it on Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry”.  Not a bad inspiration for a great song. “Can’t Stand Losing You” was a further hit single from the album. 

I absolutely loved this album when it came out.  From the pop art style album cover to the brilliant music, which just fitted that late 70s period so well. It is still one of my favorite albums. And look at what they went on to achieve with their follow-up albums too.