Andrew Gold

Released in November 1976, the self-titled debut by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers introduced a new American rock band whose combination of jangling guitars, sharp songwriting and British Invasion influences would eventually produce two of the most enduring songs in the group's catalogue, 'Breakdown' and 'American Girl'.

Fifty years ago, the Jackson brothers left Motown, replaced Jermaine with Randy and began a new chapter with Epic Records. Their self-titled debut introduced Michael Jackson as a songwriter, gave the group unprecedented creative freedom and established the foundations for the music that would follow on Destiny and beyond.

Recorded in Nashville with producer John Farrar, Olivia Newton-John's 1976 album Don't Stop Believin' strengthened her position across pop, country and adult contemporary, producing three singles and a major Japanese chart success.

Graham Parker's second album was one of the most critically acclaimed British rock records of 1976, finishing second in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Five decades later, Parker's own reservations about the rushed sessions, his vocals and the production of Robert John "Mutt" Lange give the album a more complicated place in his catalogue.

Half a century after its release, ELO's sixth album remains the moment Jeff Lynne's songs finally clicked on both sides of the Atlantic and delivered the band's first real commercial lift-off in the UK.

ABBA's fourth album was the record that turned a successful Swedish group into a global pop force, and 50 years later its significance has been formally recognised by the US Library of Congress.

Bryan Ferry's 1976 solo album Let's Stick Together captured a pivotal moment between Roxy Music's first era and Ferry's emerging identity as a solo artist.