Memetics: a slow starter

Memetics got off to a slow start. Few articles mentioned memes in the decade after 1976. Here are most of those that did:

• Dawkins, Richard (1976) Memes: the New Replicators.
• Dawkins, Richard (1976) Memes and the evolution of culture.
• Sullivan, Damien (1977) Review of Memes: the New Replicators.
• Greene, Penelope J. (1978) From genes to memes?
• Bohannan, Paul. (1980) The Gene Pool and the Meme Pool.
• Hofstadter, Douglas R. (1981) Reflections on Selfish Genes and Selfish Memes.
• Hull, David L. (1982) The naked meme.
• Dawkins, Richard (1982) The Extended Phenotype
• Bouissac, Paul (1984) Editorial: Memes Matter
• Ball, John A. (1984) Memes as replicators.
• Henson, H. Keith. (1985) Memes, L5 and the Religion of the Space Colonies.

These are taken from my memetics references.

Why there was so little fuss about memes in the years after "The Selfish Gene" was published seems like a bit of a mystery.