Mike Roe started the band under the name Scratch Band in Sacramento, California, in the late 1970s. Accompanying him were Mark Tootle on guitar and keyboards, Jan Eric Volz on bass guitar, and Mark Proctor on drums. They were occasionally joined by singer Sharon McCall and guitarist Jimmy A. Their repertoire included songs by English poetSteve Scott. The name of the band was changed to The 77s before the release of the first album, Ping Pong over the Abyss. When Proctor left the band, he was replaced by Aaron Smith, who appeared on the album All Fall Down and remained with the band until the 1990s. Tootle and Volz left the band in 1988. In 1989, The 77s signed with Island Records. David Leonhardt joined in the early 1990s. A live album and a compilation were released. Pray Naked was released in 1992 but the title was changed by the label, Word Records, to The Seventy Sevens. This was followed by Drowning with Land in Sight in 1994. Leonhardt and Smith left the band soon after, and Smith was replaced by Bruce Spencer of Vector. Scott Reams sometimes played in the band during concerts. At the end of the 1990s, The 77s started the label Fools of the World and reissued some of its albums. In 2010, The 77's participated in the tribute albumMister Bolin's Late Night Revival, a compilation of 17 unreleased tracks written by Tommy Bolin.
Discography
1982 Ping Pong over the Abyss
1984 All Fall Down
1987 The 77s
1990 Sticks and Stones
1991 88
1992 Pray Naked
1994 Drowning with Land in Sight
1995 Tom Tom Blues
1996 Echos o' Faith
1999 EP
2000 Late
2000 88/When Numbers Get Serious, re-release of 88 w/bonus disc containing various live tracks
Members of The 77s have used the moniker 7&7is to release projects that they do not see as fitting under their regular band name. The name comes from the title of a classic song by the 60s music group Love, called "7 and 7 Is." The name was first used for Alternative Records' 1989 collection of rarities and outtakes. The name was revived in 2004 for Fun with Sound, a collaboration between lead singer Michael Roe and bassist Mark Harmon. Harmon and Roe also toured that year under the name.
