1975 in music

 

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Events

• January 2 - New York City U.S. District Court Judge Richard Owen rules that former Beatle John Lennon and his lawyers can have access to Department of Immigration files pertaining to his deportation case.
• January 5 - The Wiz, a new version of the classic The Wizard of Oz story, opens at Broadway's Majestic Theater in New York City.
• January 6 - Approximately 1000 Led Zeppelin fans cause an estimated $30,000 in damage to the lobby of the Boston Garden. The fans had been waiting for tickets to go on sale for Led Zeppelin's February 4 concert. The fans reportedly broke chairs and doors and caused other damage to the building. Boston Mayor Kevin White cancels the upcoming show.
• The Alice Cooper stage show for Welcome to My Nightmare becomes the largest stage spectacle of the decade.
• January 8 - Three Led Zeppelin concerts at Madison Square Garden sell out in a record four hours.
• January 12 - "The Warner Brothers Music Show" begins a nine city, 18 show tour of Europe. The tour included Warner Brothers acts Little Feat, Tower of Power, the Doobie Brothers, Bonaroo, Montrose, and Graham Central Station.
• February 21 - John Lennon releases his Rock 'n' Roll LP, featuring John singing his favorite early rock songs from the 50's. To promote the album he conducts a telephone interview with 20 rock radio stations simultaneously.
• March 2 - Los Angeles Police make a routine traffic stop that turns out to be Paul McCartney and his wife Linda. Linda McCartney is arrested for having six to eight ounces of marijuana in her pocketbook.
• March 26 - The film version of The Who's Tommy premieres in London.
• Welcome To My Nightmare, Alice cooper's first solo album is released.
• April 3 - Steve Miller is arrested and charged with setting fire to the clothes and personal effects of a friend, Benita DiOrio, and resisting arrest. DiOrio drops the charges the following day.
• April 4 - Minnie Riperton scores a #1 hit single with "Lovin' You".
• April 18 - Alice Cooper's first television special, Welcome To My Nightmare: The Making Of A Record Album airs.
• April 24 - Pete Ham, founder of the group Badfinger, is found hanged in his London garage. His death is ruled a suicide.
• April 28 - Tom Snyder interviews John Lennon on the Tomorrow Show.
• May 10 - Stevie Wonder performs before 125,000 people at the Washington Monument as part of Human Kindness Day festivities.
• August 9 - The Bee Gees begin their mid-70s comeback when Jive Talkin' reaches #1 and goes platinum with sales over 1 million.
• August 9 - Dmitri Shostakovich, the last of the great Soviet composers, dies.
• August 9 - Renato Carosone's comeback concert after 15-year retirement.
• October 30 - Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour begins
• November - The Ramones release their debut single, "Blitzkrieg Bop".
• November 6 - The Sex Pistols play their first concert at St. Martin's School of Art in London.
• November 21 - Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" goes to number one. (5 weeks 1975 + 4 weeks 1976)
• December 25 - Iron Maiden forms

Also in 1975

• Firefall forms
• Ramones sign to Sire Records
• Pere Ubu forms in August
• .38 Special forms
• Motörhead forms
• Wizzard disbands
• Ocean disbands
• John Rutter becomes Director of Music at Clare College, Cambridge
• Billy Davis, Jr. and Marilyn McCoo leave the Fifth Dimension and start solo careers
• Peter Gabriel leaves British progressive rock group Genesis.
• Camel's classic album, The Snow Goose, is realised.

Albums released

• ABBA - ABBA
• Adventures in Paradise - Minnie Riperton
• Afro-Filipino - Joe Bataan
• Alive! - Kiss
• A Night at the Opera - Queen
• Another Green World - Brian Eno
• Another Year - Leo Sayer
• Atlantic Crossing - Rod Stewart
• Bandolier - Budgie
• The Basement Tapes - Bob Dylan & The Band
• Beautiful Loser - Bob Seger
• The Best of Carly Simon - Carly Simon
• Between the Lines - Janis Ian
• Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan
• Born To Be With You - Dion DiMucci + Produced by Phil Spector
• Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
• Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy - Elton John
• Caress of Steel - Rush
• Chicago VIII - Chicago
• Chocolate City-Parliament
• Come Taste the Band - Deep Purple
• Crisis? What Crisis? - Supertramp
• Das schönste im Leben - Die Flippers
• Deluxe - Harmonia
• Desperate Straights - Slapp Happy / Henry Cow
• Diamonds & Rust - Joan Baez
• Die schönsten Volkslieder - Die Flippers
• Dreadlocks Dread - Big Youth
• Dressed to Kill - Kiss
• Ella and Oscar - Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson
• Extra Texture - George Harrison
• Face the Music - Electric Light Orchestra
• Fandango - ZZ Top
• Fool for the City - Foghat
• Have You Never Been Mellow - Olivia Newton-John
• High Voltage - AC/DC
• Hokey Pokey - Richard and Linda Thompson
• Horizon - Carpenters
• Horses - Patti Smith
• In Praise of Learning - Henry Cow
• In Trance - Scorpions
• Initiation - Todd Rundgren
• Katy Lied - Steely Dan
• The Köln Concert - Keith Jarrett
• Landed - Can
• The Last Record Album - Little Feat
• Late For The Sky - Jackson Browne
• Let's Take It To The Stage-Funkadelic
• Live! - Bob Marley and the Wailers
• Main Course - The Bee Gees
• Marcus Garvey - Burning Spear
• Minstrel in the Gallery - Jethro Tull
• Monster Planet - Steve Maxwell Von Braund
• Montreux '75 - Ella Fitzgerald
• Natty Dread - Bob Marley and the Wailers
• Neu! '75 - Neu!
• A Night at the Opera - Queen
• Nuthin' Fancy - Lynyrd Skynyrd
• One of These Nights - The Eagles
• One Size Fits All - Frank Zappa and the Mothers Of Invention
• Ommadawn - Mike Oldfield
• The Original Soundtrack - 10cc
• The Outlaws - The Outlaws
• Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
• Pieces Of The Sky - Emmylou Harris
• Playing Possum - Carly Simon
• Pour Down Like Silver - Richard and Linda Thompson
• Prisoner in Disguise- Linda Ronstadt
• Radioactivity - Kraftwerk
• Red Octopus - Jefferson Starship
• Rimmel - Francesco de Gregori
• Rock 'n' Roll - John Lennon
• Rock of the Westies - Elton John
• Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance - Ronnie Lane and Slim Chance
• Red Headed Stranger - Willie Nelson
• The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - Gil Scott-Heron
• Ripper-Various Artists
• Rudy's Rock: The Sax That Changed the World - Rudy Pompilli and The Comets
• Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard - Robert Wyatt
• Sabotage - Black Sabbath
• Shaved Fish - John Lennon
• Stampede - The Doobie Brothers
• Still Crazy After All These Years - Paul Simon
• Siren - Roxy Music
• Straight Shooter - Bad Company
• Sweet Deceiver - Kevin Ayers
• Tea Break Over, Back On Your 'Eads - IF
• The Dragon is Dancing - Jimmie Spheeris
• The Tubes - The Tubes
• The Sun Collection - Elvis Presley
• Tonight's the Night - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
• Toys in the Attic - Aerosmith
• Velvet Donkey - Ivor Cutler
• Venus and Mars - Paul McCartney & Wings
• Waves - Jade Warrior
• Welcome to My Nightmare - Alice Cooper
• The Who By Numbers - The Who
• Wind On The Water - David Crosby & Graham Nash
• Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
• Young Americans - David Bowie
• Zuma - Neil Young and Crazy Horse
• Dreamboat Annie - Heart (in Canada; released in U.S. in 1976)

Biggest hit singles

The following singles achieved the highest chart positions in 1975.

#	Artist	Title	Year	Country	Chart Entries
1	KC & The Sunshine Band	That's the Way (I Like It)	1975		UK 4 - Aug 1975, US BB 1 - Nov 1975, US BB 4 of 1975, US CashBox 49 of 1975, Canada 1 - Nov 1975, Holland 1 - Oct 1975, Germany 25 - Nov 1975, RYM 44 of 1975, POP 3 of 1975, RIAA 303, Scrobulate 44 of disco, Acclaimed 1119
2	10CC	I'm Not in Love	1975		UK 1 - May 1975, US BB 2 - Jun 1975, US CashBox 24 of 1975, Canada 2 - Jun 1975, Holland 5 - Jun 1975, Germany 09 - Aug 1975, Éire 1 - Jul 1975, Europe 25 of the 1970s, Belgium 176 of all time, RYM 7 of 1975, Scrobulate 12 of 70s, Acclaimed 421
3	Hot Chocolate	You Sexy Thing	1975		UK 2 - Nov 1975, US BB 3 - Dec 1975, US BB 17 of 1976, US CashBox 48 of 1976, Canada 8 - Dec 1975, Holland 5 - Dec 1975, Germany 399 of the 1980s, Germany 05 - Mar 1987, TOTP 29, RYM 38 of 1975, POP 17 of 1976, Scrobulate 31 of disco, Acclaimed 2440, Party 82 of 2007
4	Patti LaBelle	Lady Marmalade (Voulez-Vous Coucher Aver Moi Ce Soir?)	1975		UK 17 - Mar 1975, US BB 1 - Feb 1975, US BB 9 of 1975, US CashBox 9 of 1975, Canada 1 - Feb 1975, Holland 1 - Jan 1975, Germany 20 - Jun 1975, Rolling Stone 479, RYM 66 of 1974, POP 5 of 1975, Scrobulate 57 of disco, Acclaimed 680
5	The Sweet	Fox On the Run	1975		UK 2 - Mar 1975, US BB 5 - Nov 1975, US CashBox 63 of 1976, Canada 2 - Nov 1975, Holland 2 - Apr 1975, Australia 01 of 1975, Germany 24 of the 1970s, Germany 01 - Mar 1975, South Africa 2 of 1975, RYM 24 of 1975, Scrobulate 64 of glam rock

Chronological Table of U.S. and UK Number One Hit Singles

U.S. Number One Singles and Artist (Weeks at Number One)

UK Number One Singles and Artist (Weeks at Number One)

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" - Elton John (2) "Mandy" - Barry Manilow (1) "Please Mr Postman" - Carpenters (1) "Laughter In The Rain" - Neil Sedaka (1) "Fire" - Ohio Players (1) "You're No Good" - Linda Ronstadt (1) "Pick Up The Pieces" - Average White Band (1) "Best Of My Love" - The Eagles (1) "Have You Never Been Mellow" - Olivia Newton-John (1) "Black Water" - Doobie Brothers (1) "My Eyes Adored You" - Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons (1) "Lady Marmalade" - LaBelle (1) "Lovin' You" - Minnie Riperton (1) "Philadelphia Freedom" - Elton John (2) "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" - B. J. Thomas (1) "He Don't Love You (Like I Love You) - Tony Orlando & Dawn (3) "Shining Star" - Earth, Wind & Fire (1) "Before The Next Teardrop Falls" - Freddy Fender (1) "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" - John Denver (1) "Sister Golden Hair" - America (1) "Love Will Keep Us Together" - The Captain & Tennille (4) "Listen to What the Man Said" - Wings (1) "The Hustle" - Van McCoy (1) "One Of These Nights" - The Eagles (1) "Jive Talkin'" - Bee Gees (2) "Fallin' In Love" - Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds (1) "Rhinestone Cowboy" - Glen Campbell (2) "Fame" - David Bowie (2) "I'm Sorry" - John Denver (1) "Bad Blood" - Neil Sedaka (3) "Island Girl" - Elton John (3) "That's the Way (I Like It) - K.C. and the Sunshine Band (2) "Fly, Robin, Fly" - Silver Convention (3) "Let's Do It Again"- The Staple Singers (1)

"Lonely This Christmas" - Mud (2 weeks 1974 + 2 weeks 1975) "Down Down" - Status Quo (1) "Ms Grace" - Tymes (1) "January" - Pilot (3) "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel (2) "If" - Telly Savalas (2) "Bye Bye Baby" - Bay City Rollers (6) "Oh Boy" - Mud (2) "Stand By Your Man" - Tammy Wynette (3) "Whispering Grass" - Windsor Davies & Don Estelle (3) "I'm Not in Love" - 10cc (2) "Tears on My Pillow (I Can't Take It)" - Johnny Nash (1) "Give A Little Love" - Bay City Rollers (3) "Barbados" - Typically Tropical (1) "I Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)" - Stylistics (3) "Sailing" - Rod Stewart (4) "Hold Me Close" - David Essex (3) "I Only Have Eyes For You" - Art Garfunkel (2) "Space Oddity" - David Bowie (2) "D.I.V.O.R.C.E" - Billy Connolly (1) "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen (5 weeks 1975 + 4 weeks 1976)

note: best sellers of the year are bold

Other significant singles

• "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" - Helen Reddy
• "All My Friends Are Getting Married" - Skyhooks
• "At Seventeen" - Janis Ian
• "Autobahn" - Kraftwerk
• "Back In The Night" - Dr. Feelgood
• "Black Friday" - Steely Dan
• "Blue Guitar" - Justin Hayward and John Lodge
• "Boogie On Reggae Woman" - Stevie Wonder
• "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen
• "Bye Bye Baby" - Bay City Rollers
• "Cavalry" - Daryl Braithwaite
• "Can't Stop Myself From Lovin' You" - William Shakespeare
• "Can't Get It Out of My Head" - Electric Light Orchestra
• "The Carpet Crawlers" - Genesis
• "Could It Be Magic" - Barry Manilow
• "Curiosity Killed The Cat" - Little River Band
• "Cut The Cake" - Average White Band
• "Dance With Me" - Orleans
• "Department of Youth" - Alice Cooper
• "Dreamer" - Supertramp
• "Ego Is Not A Dirty Word" - Skyhooks
• "Fame" - David Bowie
• "Feel Like Makin' Love" - Bad Company
• "Fox on the Run" - Sweet
• "Freedom" - Sherbet
• "Get Down Tonight" - KC and the Sunshine Band
• "Golden Years" - David Bowie
• "Good Lovin' Gone Bad" - Bad Company
• "Hold Back The Night" - Trammps
• "Horror Movie" - Skyhooks
• "How Does It Feel" - Slade
• "How Long" - Ace
• "How Long (Betcha Got a Chick On the Side)" - Pointer Sisters
• "The Hustle" - Van McCoy
• "I Believe In Father Christmas" - Greg Lake
• "Imagine" - John Lennon
• "In Dulce Jubilo/On Horseback" - Mike Oldfield
• "It's a Miracle" - Barry Manilow
• "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" - Eric Clapton
• "Kometenmelodie 2" - Kraftwerk
• "Let The Music Play" - Barry White
• "Life...Is For Living" - Sherbet
• "Love Is the Drug" - Roxy Music
• "Love to Love You Baby" - Donna Summer
• "Lyin' Eyes" - The Eagles
• "Mamma Mia" - ABBA
• "Matter Of Time" - Sherbet
• "Man On The Silver Mountain" - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow
• "Midnight Blue" - Melissa Manchester
• "Million Dollar Riff" - Skyhooks
• "Miracles" - Jefferson Starship
• "Mr. Jaws" - Dickie Goodman
• "The Newcastle Song" - Bob Hudson
• "Mr. Raffles (Man It Was Mean)" - Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel
• "Nightingale" - Carole King
• "Nights On Broadway" - The Bee Gees
• "No Woman No Cry" - Bob Marley and the Wailers
• "Now I'm Here" - Queen
• "Number 9 Dream" - John Lennon
• "Once Bitten Twice Shy" - Ian Hunter (singer)
• "Only Women Bleed" - Alice Cooper
• "Only Yesterday" - Carpenters
• "Out On The Floor" - Dobie Gray
• "Pick Up The Pieces" - Average White Band
• "Please Mr. Please" - Olivia Newton-John
• "Please Mr. Postman" - Carpenters
• "Right Back Where We Started From" - Maxine Nightingale
• "Rock and Roll All Nite" - Kiss
• "Rockin' All Over the World" - John Fogerty
• "Roll Over Lay Down" - Status Quo
• "Run Joey Run" - David Geddes
• "Saturday Night Special" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
• "School's Out (EP)" - Alice Cooper
• "Send In the Clowns" - Judy Collins
• "Shame, Shame, Shame" - Shirley and Company
• "She Does It Right" - Dr. Feelgood
• "Sky High" - Jigsaw
• "The Snake" - Al Wilson
• "Squeeze Box" - The Who
• "Stand By Me" - John Lennon
• "Summer Love" - Sherbet
• "Swearin' To God" - Frankie Valli
• "Tangled Up in Blue" - Bob Dylan
• "That's the Way (I Like It)" - KC and the Sunshine Band
• "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" - Natalie Cole
• "Too Much Rock 'N' Roll" - Rabbit
• "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" - Freddy Fender
• "The Way I Want to Touch You" - Captain & Tennille
• "What Am I Gonna Do With You?" - Barry White
• "(What's The Word?) Johannesburg" - Gil Scott-Heron
• "When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease" - Roy Harper
• "When Will I Be Loved" - Linda Ronstadt
• "You Sexy Thing" - Hot Chocolate
• "Young Americans" - David Bowie
• "Paloma Blanca" - George Baker Selection

Published popular music

• "Anytime (I'll Be There)"     w.m. Paul Anka
• "At Seventeen" w.m. Janis Ian
• "Calypso"     w.m. John Denver
• "I'm Not in Love"     w.m. Graham Keith Gouldman & Eric Michael Stewart
• "I'm Sorry"     w.m. John Denver
• "The Last Farewell"     w.m. R. A. Webster & Roger Whittaker
• "Mamma Mia"     w.m. Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus
• "Love Will Keep Us Together"     w.m. Neil Sedaka & Howard Greenfield
• "Movin' On Up" w.m. Jeff Barry and Ja'Net DuBois, theme from the TV series The Jeffersons
• "New York State of Mind" w.m. Billy Joel
• "One"     w. Edward Kleban m. Marvin Hamlisch
• "Rockin' All Over the World" w.m. John C. Fogerty
• "Wasted Days Wasted Nights"     w.m. Freddy Fender & Wayne Duncan
• "The Way I Want To Touch You"     w.m. Toni Tennille
• "What I Did For Love"     w. Edward Kleban m. Marvin Hamlisch
• "You"     w.m. Tom Snow

Classical music

• Samuel Adler - Symphony No. 5, "We are the Echoes"
• Osvaldas Balakauskas - Sonata of the Mountains
• Claude Bolling and Jean Pierre Rampal - Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano
• Mario Davidovsky - Scenes from Shir ha-Shirim for soprano, two tenors, bass soli and chamber ensemble
• Theo Loevendie - Concerto for Bass Clarinet and Orchestra, "Incantations"
• Witold Lutosławski - Les Espaces du Sommeil
• Alexander Vustin - The Word
• Dmitri Shostakovich - Viola Sonata - his final work.

Opera

• John Rutter - Bang!

Musical theatre

• Chicago - Broadway production
• A Chorus Line (Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban) - Broadway production
• A Little Night Music (Stephen Sondheim) - London production
• Dance With Me - Broadway Production
• The Wiz - Broadway production
• Pacific Overtures - Broadway Production

Musical films

• Funny Lady
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Births

• January 2 - Doug Robb (Hoobastank)
• January 3 - Thomas Bangalter (Daft Punk)
• January 13 - Jason King
• January 12 - Melanie Chisholm (Sporty Spice) (Spice Girls)
• February 1 - Big Boi (OutKast)
• February 4 - Natalie Imbruglia
• February 5 - Adam Carson (AFI)
• February 6 - Tomoko Kawase
• February 7 - Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit)
• February 17 - Wish Bone
• February 20 - Brian Littrell (The Backstreet Boys)
• February 23 - Robert Lopez
• March 10 - Jerry Horton (Papa Roach)
• March 17 - Justin Hawkins (The Darkness)
• March 25 - Melanie Blatt (All Saints)
• March 25 - Stacy Ferguson (Black Eyed Peas)
• April 10 - Chris Carrabba (Dashboard Confessional)
• April 26 - Jose Pasillas (Incubus)
• April 26 - Joey Jordison (Slipknot)
• May 3 - Maksim Mrvica
• May 8 - Enrique Iglesias
• May 18 - Jack Johnson
• May 25 - Lauryn Hill (The Fugees)
• May 27 - André 3000 (OutKast)
• May 29 - Melanie Brown (Scary Spice) (Spice Girls)
• June 8 - Emm Gryner
• june 18 -Adam Freedman
• July 2 - Erik Ohlsson, (Millencolin)
• July 6 - 50 Cent
• July 9 - Jack White, The White Stripes
• July 11 - Lil' Kim
• July 18 - Daron Malakian, System of a Down
• September 8 - Richard Hughes, Keane
• September 9 - Michael Bublé
• September 11 - Brad Fischetti (LFO)
• September 16 - Shannon Noll
• September 17 - Constantine Maroulis (Pray for the Soul of Betty)
• September 22 - Mystikal
• October 9 - Sean Ono Lennon, son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono
• November 1 - Bo Bice
• November 6 - Mike Herrera (MxPx)
• November 14 - Travis Barker (blink-182)
• November 20 - Dierks Bentley
• November 20 - Davey Havok, (AFI)
• December 13 - Tom Delonge (blink-182)
• December 14 - Justin Furstenfeld (Blue October)

Deaths

• February 4 - Louis Jordan, jazz musician
• February 19 - Luigi Dallapiccola, composer
• February 22 - Lionel Tertis, viola player
• March 27 - Sir Arthur Bliss, Master of the Queen's Musick
• April 14 - Michael Flanders, lyricist, actor, partner of Donald Swann
• April 23 - Peter Ham, Badfinger, suicide
• May 18 - Leroy Anderson, U.S. composer and conductor
• June 29 - Tim Buckley, drug overdose
• July 14 - Zutty Singleton, U.S. jazz drummer
• July 19 – Lefty Frizzell, Country Music Hall of Fame singer
• August 9 - Dmitri Shostakovich, heart attack
• September 5 - Bill Sprouse Jr. The Road Home, heart attack
• October 1 - Al Jackson, drummer and songwriter
• October 30 - John Scott Trotter, U.S. arranger and conductor
• December 17 - Noble Sissle, U.S. bandleader and singer
• December 17 - Hound Dog Taylor, blues musician
• December 24 - Bernard Herrmann, composer

Awards

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1975

Country Music Association Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1975

Leeds International Piano Competition

• Dimitri Alexeev

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