1975

After spending a semester at Arizona State University, Linda Ronstadt formed the Stone Poneys with two friends and cut one hit record, "Different Drum," in 1967. The group then broke up, leaving Linda to drift around the L.A. country-rock scene until 1974, when ex-singer Peter Asher became her manager. Under Peter's direction, Linda recorded Heart Like a Wheel, the landmark album that made her one of the brightest new stars of 1975. The album, which zoomed to number one on the national charts, featured her first number-one single, "You're No Good," as well as another million seller, "When Will I Be Loved." A few months later, there was "Heat Wave" and "Love Is a Rose," and after that there was no stopping the young lady from Tuscon. For the rest of the decade, Linda specialized in rock 'n' roll remakes, making old hits her own in much the same way as Johnny Rivers had a decade earlier. "That'll Be the Day," "Blue Bayou," "It's So Easy," "Back in the U.S.A.," "Ooh Baby Baby" and "Hurt So Bad" all made the Top 20 over the next five years.

 

New Jersey born-Bruce Springsteen began his recording career in 1973, but didn't gain much more than local fame until two years later when Rolling Stone magazine discovered him and began hyping him as "the future of rock'n'roll" (by an odd coincidence, Bruce's original producer had just been replaced by Rolling Stone writer Jon Landau). Columbia Records fanned the flames with an all-out publicity campaign that resulted ­ incredibly ­ in Time and Newsweek cover stories the same week on the "new Dylan." Hysteria mounted until the release of Born To Run as an album and as a single ­ and then everything backfired. The album, according to critics, failed to capture Springsteen's live excitement, while the single fizzled out without even making the Top 20. Contract disputes kept Bruce out of the studios and away from the public for the next three years. In 1978, he began a comeback with the album Darkness at the Edge of Town. It wasn't until 1980, though, that Springsteen finally scored with a major hit song: the Top 5 single "Hungry Heart," from his The River album.

 

Other Music Highlights of 1975:

• New albums carry four established acts to even loftier heights of popularity and respect: Bob Dylan's Blood On The Tracks, Chicago's Chicago VIII, John Lennon's Rock'N'Roll, and Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti.
• The Wiz, a contemporary version of The Wizard of Oz, opens on Broadway.
• Elton John's Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy enters the charts at number one and goes on to become his biggest all-time seller.
• While on vacation, Robert Plant, lead singer of Led Zeppelin, is involved in a serious auto crash that almost claims his life and those of his family.
• Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood and John and Christine McVie are joined by new members Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham for the new album for Reprise Records, titled Fleetwood Mac. It would become the sleeper smash of the rock era, taking 58 weeks to reach number one on the charts.
• The Captain & Tennille release their album Love Will Keep Us Together. The title song, written by Neil Sedeka, becomes the biggest hit single of the year.
• The Bee Gee's album Main Course produces the number one disco-flavored "Jive Talkin'," a song that changed the whole image and sound of the group, and foreshadowed the disco explosion they would launch two years later with the album Saturday Night Fever.
• On Thursday, October 9, John Lennon's 35th birthday, John and Yoko's son Sean is born.
• On Saturday, October 11, Saturday Night Live premiers on NBC-TV. George Carlin is the first host, and Janis Ian and Billy Preston are the first musical guests.

 

The Top 40 Singles of 1975:

1. "Love Will Keep Us Together" - Captain & Tennille (First chart appearance: 5/24/75; Highest position: #1)
2. "Rhinestone Cowboy" - Glen Campbell (6/21/75; #1)
3. "Fame" - David Bowie (8/2/75; #1)
4. "Shining Star" - Earth, Wind and Fire (3/22/75; #1)
5. "My Eyes Adored You" - Frankie Valli (1/18/75; #1)
6. "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" - John Denver (4/5/75; #1)
7. "Philadelphia Freedom" - Elton John (3/15/75; #1)
8. "One Of These Nights" - Eagles (6/14/75; #1)
9. "Pick Up The Pieces" - Average White Band (12/21/74; #1)
10. "At Seventeen" - Janis Ian (7/12/75; #3)
11. "Kung Fu Fighting" - Carl Douglas (12/21/74; #1)
12. "Boogie On Reggae Woman" - Stevie Wonder (11/30/74; #3)
13. "Laughter In The Rain" - Neil Sedaka (11/16/74; #1)
14. "Black Water" - The Doobie Brothers (1/11/75; #1)
15. "Lady Marmalade - LaBelle (2/1/75; #1)
16. "Why Can't We Be Friends" - War (6/14/75; #6)
17. "The Hustle" - Van McCoy (5/31/75; #1)
18. "Best Of My Love" - Eagles (12/28/74; #1)
19. "Wasted Days And Wasted Nights" - Freddy Fender (7/19/75; #8)
20. "Before The Next Teardrop Falls" - Freddy Fender (3/8/75; #1)
21. "Some Kind Of Wonderful" - Grand Funk (12/21/74; #3)
22. "Island Girl" - Elton John (10/18/75; #1)
23. "Lovin' You" - Minnie Ripperton (2/15/75; #1)
24. "Jive Talkin'" - Bee Gees (6/28/75; #1)
25. "Mandy" - Barry Manilow (12/7/74; #1)
26. "Please Mr. Postman" - Carpenters (12/7/74; #1)
27. "Have You Never Been Mellow" - Olivia Newton-John (2/8/75; #1)
28. "Jackie Blue" - The Ozark Mountain Daredevils (3/22/75; #3)
29. "Ballroom Blitz" - Sweet (8/2/75; #5)
30. "Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" - B.J. Thomas (3/1/75; #1)
31. "He Don't Love You" - Tony Orlando & Dawn (3/29/75; #1)
32. "Feelings" - Morris Albert (8/23/75; #6)
33. "I'm Not In Love" - 10cc (6/14/75; #2)
34. "Games People Play (They Just Can't Help It)" - Spinners (8/30/75; #5)
35. "Love Won't Let Me Wait" - Major Harris (4/19/75; #5)
36. "Angie Baby" - Helen Reddy (11/2/74; #1)
37. "I'm Sorry" - John Denver (8/30/75; #1)
38. "Fight The Power (Part 1)" - The Isley Brothers (7/12/75; #4)
39. "Lady" - Styx (1/18/75; #6)
40. "Fire" - Ohio Players (12/28/74; #1)

 
Top Albums of 1975:

AWB - Average White Band  Back Home Again - John Denver  Blood On The Tracks - Bob Dylan  Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy - Elton John  Heart Like a Wheel - Linda Ronstadt  Love Will Keep Us Together - Captain and Tennille  One Of These Nights - Eagles  Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin  Phoebe Snow  Red Octopus - The Jefferson Starship  That's The Way Of The World - Earth, Wind & Fire  Venus And Mars - Wings  Windsong - John Denver  Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

 

20 Popular Movies of 1975:

Jaws  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest  The Rocky Horror Picture Show  Shampoo  Dog Day Afternoon  Barry Lyndon  Emmanuelle  Farewell, My Lovely  Hester Street  Barry Lyndon  Breakout  The Day of the Locust  The French Connection II  The Hindenburg  The Man Who Would Be King  Nashville  Rooster Cogburn  Shining Star  Tommy  Janis: A Film

 

The Top 20 Television Shows of 1975:

All in the Family  Rich Man, Poor Man  Laverne & Shirley  Maude  The Bionic Woman  Phyllis  Sanford and Son  Rhoda  The Six Million Dollar Man  The ABC Monday Night Movie  Happy Days  One Day at a Time  The ABC Sunday Night Movie  The Waltons  M*A*S*H  Starsky and Hutch  Good Heavens  Welcome Back, Kotter  The Mary Tyler Moore Show  Kojak

 

News Highlights of 1975:

• Angola gains its independence from Portugal after centuries of foreign rule.
• John N. Mitchell, H.R. Haldeman, and John D. Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison for conspiring to obstruct justice in the Watergate investigation.
• Margaret Thatcher is the first wom