What’s the month Sadie?
The Chart
It’s three weeks at the top for “He Don’t Love You” by Tony Orlando & Dawn, a week for Earth Wind & Fire’s “Shining Star” and then for “Before The Next Teardrop Falls” by Freddy Fender.
- “Another Somebody Done Somebody” – B.J. Thomas
- “Autobahn” – Kraftwerk
- [new] “Bad Luck” – Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
- “Bad Time” – Grand Funk
- “Before The Next Teardrop Falls” – Freddy Fender
- “Bertha Butt Boogie” – Jimmy Castor Bunch
- “Chevy Van” – Sammy Johns
- [new] “Cut The Cake” – Average White Band
- [new] “Don’t Tell Me Goodnight” – Lobo
- “Emma” – Hot Chocolate
- [new] “Get Down Get Down” – Joe Simon
- “He Don’t Love You” – Tony Orlando & Dawn
- [new] “Hijack” – Herbie Mann
- “How Long” – Ace
- “I Don’t Like To Sleep Alone” – Paul Anka
- [new] “I Wanna Dance Wit Choo” – Disco Tex & The Sex-O-Lettes
- [new] “I’ll Play For You” – Seals & Crofts
- [new] “I’m Not Lisa” – Jessi Colter
- “It’s A Miracle” – Barry Manilow
- “Jackie Blue” – Ozark Mountain Daredevils
- “Killer Queen” – Queen
- “L.O.V.E.” – Al Green
- “Long Tall Glasses” – Leo Sayer
- [new] “Love Will Keep Us Together” – Captain & Tennille
- [new] “Love Won’t Let Me Wait” – Major Harris
- “Lovin’ You” – Minnie Riperton
- [new] “Magic” – Pilot
- [new] “Old Days” – Chicago
- [new] “Only Women Bleed” – Alice Cooper
- “Only Yesterday” – Carpenters
- “Philadelphia Freedom” – Elton John Band
- [new] “Rainy Day People” – Gordon Lightfoot
- [new] “Remember What I Told You To Forget / My Ship” – Tavares
- [new] “Shakey Ground” – Temptations
- “Shaving Cream” – Benny Bell
- “Shining Star” – Earth Wind & Fire
- “Shoeshine Boy” – Eddie Kendricks
- [new] “Sister Golden Hair” – America
- “Stand By Me” – John Lennon
- “Supernatural Thing” – Ben E. King
- [new] “Take Me In Your Arms” – Doobie Brothers
- “Thank God I’m A Country Boy” – John Denver
- [new] “The Immigrant” – Neil Sedaka
- [new] “The Last Farewell” – Roger Whittaker
- “Walking In Rhythm” – Blackbyrds
- “What Am I Gonna Do With You” – Barry White
- [new] “When Will I Be Loved / It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” – Linda Ronstadt
- [new] “Wildfire” – Michael Murphey
- “Young Americans” – David Bowie
[new] = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
The Times
On May 10, 1975, the home entertainment landscape shifted forever when Sony officially introduced the Betamax videocassette recorder, releasing the LV-1901 console in Japan. Complete with a built-in 19-inch color television, the unit allowed everyday viewers to record live broadcasts and watch them at their convenience, introducing the world to the concept of time-shifting. Retailing at a luxury price equivalent to several thousand dollars today, this launch fired the opening shot of the historic 1970s and 80s videotape format war against VHS, radically transforming the film distribution industry and laying the groundwork for modern home cinema culture.
From May 17 to May 25, 1975, the stadium rock era reached a fever pitch as English rock icons Led Zeppelin returned to the United Kingdom to play five legendary, sold-out nights at London’s Earls Court Arena. Riding high on the massive success of their double album Physical Graffiti, the band performed sprawling, three-hour sets under a massive, state-of-the-art laser and video projection system that was unprecedented for the time. Captivating over 85,000 ecstatic fans across the week with definitive, thunderous live renditions of tracks like “Trampled Under Foot” and “Dazed and Confused,” these historic shows marked the zenith of the band’s mid-70s live prowess and defined the scale of the modern arena spectacle.
Then on May 26, 1975, the future of cinematic storytelling was reshaped in secrecy when visionary filmmaker George Lucas officially founded Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). Faced with the reality that 20th Century Fox had shut down its internal special effects department to cut costs, Lucas rented a modest, empty warehouse in Van Nuys, California, and assembled an crew of young college students, engineers, and artists led by John Dykstra. Tasked with inventing entirely new visual effects technologies for a high-risk space opera then known as “The Star Wars”, the team engineered the Dykstraflex—the first computer-controlled motion camera system. By merging mechanical engineering with photographic illusion, this workshop didn’t just rescue a struggling movie production; it triggered a multi-decade digital revolution that permanently transformed Hollywood blockbusters.
The Take
Not something Sadie has noticed (phew!) but Major Harris’ single “Love Won’t Let Me Wait” hits the chart this month with some adults-only “sound effects”, or as wikipedia puts it,
This ballad is noted for the sound of a woman in the throes of sexual pleasure, heard during the instrumental sections of the song.
A not too uncommon occurence in songs of later decades we did wonder if this was the first instance of it on a popular record, but apparently it was early but not the first. Unsurprisingly, this being the net, someone has explored this indepth!
Popular in the house this week was Mollie Riperton’s “Lovin’ You” which features her signature “whistler register” pitch. Sadly this beautiful tune was the pinnacle of a career that would cut short by her death to cancer only a few years later.
And lastly, I don’t think i’d knowingly heard a Harold Melvin song, but the name lived rent-free in my head ever since it was used as a diss in a Snoop Dogg song in 1994,
“you without me is like Harold Melvin without the Bluenotes; You’ll never go platinum”
I was thus pleased to hear that Harold Melvin, with the Blue Notes anyway, was a lot of fun. Another live performance below:
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.