Category: Monthly

It might be just under 45 years before Sadie’s birth year in our journey through pop music history, but its also her Birthday week back here in 2026 – happy 6th birthday darling! Which also means this project is nearly 6 years in to…wow!

The Chart

Elton John’s “Island Girl” tops the charts for 3 weeks before “That’s The Way I Like It” by K.C. And The Sunshine Band, then “Fly Robin Fly” by Silver Convention each rule the roost for a week.

• “Bad Blood” – Neil Sedaka
• [new] “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” – Willie Nelson
• “Born To Run” – Bruce Springsteen
• “Brazil” – Ritchie Family
• “Calypso / I’m Sorry” – John Denver
• [new] “Calypso” – John Denver
• “Dance With Me” – Orleans
• “Do It Any Way You Wanna” – Peoples Choice
• [new] “Eighteen With A Bullet” – Pete Wingfield
• “Feelings” – Morris Albert
• [new] “Fly Robin Fly” – Silver Convention
• [new] “Fox On The Run” – Sweet
• “Games People Play” – Spinners
• “Heatwave / Love Is A Rose” – Linda Ronstadt
• “Heatwave” – Linda Ronstadt
• [new] “I Love Music” – O’jays
• “I Only Have Eyes For You” – Art Garfunkel
• [new] “I Want A Do Something Freaky To You” – Leon Haywood
• [new] “I Write The Songs” – Barry Manilow
• [new] “I’m On Fire” – 5000 Volts
• “Island Girl” – Elton John
• “It Only Takes A Minute” – Tavares
• [new] “Just Too Many People” – Melissa Manchester
• “Lady Blue” – Leon Russell
• [new] “Let’s Do It Again” – Staple Singers
• [new] “Love Rollercoaster” – Ohio Players
• “Low Rider” – War
• “Lyin’ Eyes” – Eagles
• “Miracles” – Jefferson Starship
• [new] “My Little Town” – Simon & Garfunkel
• “Nights On Broadway” – Bee Gees
• [new] “Operator” – Manhattan Transfer
• [new] “Our Day Will Come” – Frankie Valli
• “Rockin’ All Over The World” – John Fogerty
• “S.O.S.” – Abba
• [new] “Saturday Night” – Bay City Rollers
• [new] “Secret Love” – Freddy Fender
• “Sky High” – Jigsaw
• “Something Better To Do” – Olivia Newton-John
• [new] “That’s The Way I Like It” – K.C. And The Sunshine Band
• [new] “The Last Game Of The Season” – David Geddes
• “The Way I Want To Touch You” – Captain & Tennille
• “This Will Be” – Natalie Cole
• [new] “Venus And Mars Rock Show” – Paul Mccartney & Wings
• “What A Difference A Day Made” – Esther Phillips
• [new] “What A Difference A Day Makes” – Esther Phillips
• “Who Loves You” – Four Seasons
• “You” – George Harrison

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

The Times

On November 19, 1975 Miloš Forman’s psychological drama “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” premiered in New York and Los Angeles. Adapted from Ken Kesey’s acclaimed 1962 novel and starring Jack Nicholson as the rebellious Randle P. McMurphy alongside Louise Fletcher as the chillingly authoritarian Nurse Ratched, the film explored rebellion, institutional power, and individuality within an Oregon psychiatric ward. The film captivated both critics and audiences, becoming a box office sensation and sweeping the “Big Five” Academy Awards—Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay—a monumental sweep that had not occurred in Hollywood for over four decades.

And then British musical counterculture was ignited on November 6, 1975, when the Sex Pistols played their very first public gig at London’s Saint Martin’s School of Art, supporting pub-rock band Bazooka Joe. Fronted by John Lydon (performing as Johnny Rotten) alongside Steve Jones, Glen Matlock, and Paul Cook, the band tore through an anarchic, chaotic 20-minute set before their amplifiers were unplugged by the headlining act. The abrasive, high-energy performance sent shockwaves through the UK underground scene, introducing the raw visual and sonic ethos of punk rock to London and setting off a disruptive youth movement that would play a huge role in late-70s youth culture.

On November 7, 1975, superhero television received a landmark transformation when ABC premiered “The New Original Wonder Woman” starring Lynda Carter as the Amazonian princess Diana Prince. Ditching previous campy or modernized attempts, the 90-minute TV movie paid direct homage to the original 1940s DC Comics source material, setting the action during World War II with period-accurate aesthetics and Carter’s signature bullet-deflecting bracelets and golden lasso… Which was news to me, as I had thought the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman was set in the ’70s…and in fact it was, for series 2 and 3. The whole story is fascinating and includes a 1974 attempt at making a TV series which is apparently why this was called the convoluted “The New Original…”. But the 40’s vs 70’s…

Despite good ratings for the series, ABC stalled on picking up the show for a second season. This was because Wonder Woman was a period piece, being set in the 1940s, which made the set, clothing, automobiles, etc. more expensive to produce. While ABC had not yet committed, the show’s production company Warner Bros. listened to an offer from rival network CBS. While ABC continued to make up its mind, CBS agreed to pick up the series on condition that the setting be changed from World War II (the 1940s) to the modern day (the 1970s). Changing the title to The New Adventures of Wonder Woman, the series was moved away from international intrigue to a more conventional police/detective action-type show that was more common in the 1970s.

The Take

Some great music videos and live performances for new tracks this month, let’s start with “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” by Willie Nelson.

Then there’s the Ohio Players with “Love Rollercoaster”.

And “Saturday Night” by Bay City Rollers.

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

It’s…

The Chart

It’s a week at the top this month for Bowie’s “Fame” before Neil Sedaka’s “Bad Blood” rules the roost for the next three.

• “Ain’t No Way To Treat A Lady” – Helen Reddy
• “At Seventeen” – Janis Ian
• “Bad Blood” – Neil Sedaka
• “Ballroom Blitz” – Sweet
• [new] “Born To Run” – Bruce Springsteen
• “Brazil” – Ritchie Family
• “Calypso / I’m Sorry” – John Denver
• [new] “Carolina In The Pines” – Michael Murphey
• “Could It Be Magic” – Barry Manilow
• “Dance With Me” – Orleans
• [new] “Do It Any Way You Wanna” – Peoples’ Choice
• “Fallin’ In Love” – “Hamilton Joe Frank & Reynolds”
• “Fame” – David Bowie
• “Feel Like Makin’ Love” – Bad Company
• “Feelings” – Morris Albert
• “Fight The Power” – Isley Brothers
• “Games People Play” – Spinners
• “Gone At Last” – Paul Simon & Phoebe Snow
• [new] “Heatwave” – Linda Ronstadt
• “How Long” – Pointer Sisters
• “I Believe There’s Nothing Stronger Than Our Love” – Paul Anka & Odia Coates
• [new] “I Only Have Eyes For You” – Art Garfunkel
• [new] “Island Girl” – Elton John
• “It Only Takes A Minute” – Tavares
• “Lady Blue” – Leon Russell
• [new] “Low Rider” – War
• [new] “Lyin’ Eyes” – Eagles
• “Miracles” – Jefferson Starship
• “Mr. Jaws” – Dickie Goodman
• [new] “Nights On Broadway” – Bee Gees
• “Rhinestone Cowboy” – Glen Campbell
• [new] “Rockin’ All Over The World” – John Fogerty
• “Rocky” – Austin Roberts
• “Run Joey Run” – David Geddes
• [new] “S.O.S.” – Abba
• [new] “Sky High” – Jigsaw
• [new] “Something Better To Do” – Olivia Newton-John
• [new] “Sos” – Abba
• “That’s The Way Of The World” – Earth Wind & Fire
• [new] “The Way I Want To Touch You” – Captain & Tennille
• [new] “This Will Be” – Natalie Cole
• “Wasted Days And Wasted Nights” – Freddy Fender
• [new] “What A Difference A Day Made” – Esther Phillips
• “Who Loves You” – Four Seasons
• [new] “You” – George Harrison

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

The Times

On October 1, 1975, the sports world witnessed an epic, brutal showdown when Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier met in the Philippines for their legendary third and final heavyweight title bout, dubbed the “Thrilla in Manila.” Fought in sweltering heat, the relentless 14-round battle pushed both men to their absolute physical limits before Frazier’s trainer halted the fight prior to the final bell, granting Ali the TKO victory. Beyond its athletic legacy, the event marked a historic milestone for modern television: it was the first major sports broadcast beamed around the globe live via satellite, establishing HBO and pay-cable television as high-stakes forces in media entertainment.

Late-night television was then transformed on October 11, 1975, when NBC premiered a groundbreaking, live variety show titled NBC’s Saturday Night (later renamed Saturday Night Live). Hosted by comedian George Carlin and created by producer Lorne Michaels, the show introduced an irreverent ensemble cast of young comedic talent dubbed the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players”—including Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, and Dan Aykroyd. Blending sharp political satire, unpredictable live sketch comedy, and avant-garde musical guests, the broadcast radically disrupted traditional TV formats and launched a multi-decade American comedy institution. This interview with the cast shortly before it went live is a great watch.

And live stadium spectacle hit a glamorous peak on October 25, 1975, when Elton John kicked off a pair of historic, sold-out concerts before 110,000 screaming fans at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium. As the first musical act to headline the stadium since The Beatles nine years prior, Elton John delivered a high-octane performance at the absolute height of “Eltonmania.” Taking the stage in a custom, bedazzled sequined Dodgers baseball uniform designed by Bob Mackie, the shows were filmed and broadcast globally, capturing the definitive visual excess, theatrical flair, and massive scale of mid-70s stadium rock.

The Take

In late 1973, on the road in Tennessee, Bruce Springsteen awoke with the title “Born to Run”, which he wrote down. According to him, it was the first spark of the later song.

Written in the first person, the song is a love letter to a girl named Wendy, for whom the hot rod-riding protagonist seems to possess the passion to love, just not the patience. However, Springsteen has noted that it has a much simpler core: getting out of Freehold. U.S. Route 9, a highway passing through Freehold, is mentioned from the lyric “sprung from cages out on Highway 9”.

At the time of the single release, Billboard described “Born to Run” as “one of the best rock anthems to individual freedom ever created,” describing it as “a monster song with a piledriver arrangement” that could become Springsteen’s biggest hit yet. Cash Box said that “Springsteen sounds like a cross between Roger McGuinn (from his Byrds days) and nobody else we’ve ever heard.”

And then in other notable, and oft since-sampled songs, we have War’s “Low Ride”. AllMusic says of the song: “the lyric takes the cool, laidback image of the lowrider— the Chicano culture practice of hydraulically hot-rodding classic cars— and using innuendo, extends the image to a lifestyle”. Plus, there’s those sax riffs!

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

Woops, we skipped a week of posting* (but never listening!) so here is August, 1975 for those who want to check it out before listening to the sounds of September…

*for very good reason, the wonderful Emily’s 40th birthday – happy birthday darling!

The Chart

Two weeks at the top for Glen Campbell and “Rhinestone Cowboy” before Bowie’s “Fame” takes the gold, then “Calypso / I’m Sorry” by John Denver rounds out the month.

• [new] “Ain’t No Way To Treat A Lady” – Helen Reddy
• “At Seventeen” – Janis Ian
• [new] “Bad Blood” – Neil Sedaka
• “Ballroom Blitz” – Sweet
• “Black Superman” – Johnny Wakelin
• [new] “Brazil” – Ritchie Family
• “Calypso / I’m Sorry” – John Denver
• “Could It Be Magic” – Barry Manilow
• “Daisy Jane” – America
• “Dance With Me” – Orleans
• “Fallin’ In Love” – “Hamilton Joe Frank & Reynolds”
• “Fame” – David Bowie
• “Feel Like Makin’ Love” – Bad Company
• “Feelings” – Morris Albert
• “Fight The Power” – Isley Brothers
• [new] “Games People Play” – Spinners
• [new] “Get Down Tonight” – K.C. & The Sunshine Band
• [new] “Gone At Last” – Paul Simon & Phoebe Snow
• “Holdin’ On To Yesterday” – Ambrosia
• [new] “How Long” – Pointer Sisters
• “How Sweet It Is” – James Taylor
• “I Believe There’s Nothing Stronger Than Our Love” – Paul Anka & Odia Coates
• [new] “I’m Sorry / Calypso” – John Denver
• [new] “It Only Takes A Minute” – Tavares
• “Jive Talkin’” – Bee Gees
• [new] “Lady Blue” – Leon Russell
• [new] “Miracles” – Jefferson Starship
• [new] “Mr. Jaws” – Dickie Goodman
• “One Of These Nights” – Eagles
• “Rhinestone Cowboy” – Glen Campbell
• [new] “Rocky” – Austin Roberts
• “Run Joey Run” – David Geddes
• “Solitaire” – Carpenters
• “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” – Elton John
• “That’s The Way Of The World” – Earth Wind & Fire
• “The Proud One” – Osmonds
• [new] “They Just Can’t Stop It” – Spinners
• “Third Rate Romance” – Amazing Rhythm Aces
• “Tush” – Zz Top
• “Wasted Days And Wasted Nights” – Freddy Fender
• [new] “Who Loves You” – Four Seasons
• “Why Can’t We Be Friends” – War

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

The Times

Classic game show The Price Is Right aired its first-ever late-night 60-minute episode on CBS. Hosted by Bob Barker, the daytime favorite expanded from its original half-hour format to test an expanded hour-long structure, officially introducing the iconic “Showcase Showdown” wheel. To qualify for the final Showcase, contestants were required to spin the massive, multi-colored wheel and score as close to $1.00 as possible without going over. The hour-long format proved so massively popular with viewers and advertisers alike that CBS permanently adopted the 60-minute runtime two months later. And decades later it gives us a great peek into the ’70s…

Cult cinema and midnight movie culture reached a sensational milestone on September 26, 1975, when The Rocky Horror Picture Show made its official US theatrical debut at the Westwood Theatre in Los Angeles. Adapted from Richard O’Brien’s hit British stage musical and starring Tim Curry in his star-making role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the musical comedy-horror film gleefully parodied B-movie science fiction and horror tropes. While initially met with lukewarm commercial business during its standard daytime runs, its transfer to late-night midnight screenings sparked an unprecedented global subculture complete with audience callback scripts, shadow casts, and prop-throwing, establishing the film as the ultimate, longest-running cult classic in cinema history.

Science fiction television received a high-budget, cinematic overhaul on September 4, 1975, when Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s live-action series Space: 1999 premiered on UK television, quickly followed by international syndication. Starring real-life husband and wife Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, the show centered on the personnel of Moonbase Alpha after a massive nuclear waste explosion knocks the Moon out of Earth’s orbit, sending them hurtling through deep space. Boasting g special effects designed by Brian Johnson—who would go on to win an Academy Award for Alien—along with sleek futuristic costume designs and detailed miniature spacecraft, Space: 1999 was the most expensive British television series ever produced at the time, setting a new visual benchmark for mid-70s sci-fi broadcasting. And becoming a personal childhood favourite of Thomas’!

The Take

The song that received most of the family chatter this week was so much as song as a piece of comedy, “Mr. Jaws” by Dickie Goodman. A parody of the 1975 summer blockbuster film Jaws, with Goodman interviewing the shark (whom he calls “Mr. Jaws”), as well as the film’s main characters, Brody, Hooper, and Quint.

Goodman makes full use of his practice of “break-in” music sampling, in which all of the interview answers are lyrics from popular songs from that year. He’s been in our charts with this technique since 1956 with “The Flying Saucer”.

I had thought the ability to do this commercially might have been due to it preceding sampling law, but apparently some licensing rights were involved. As originally, the songs were “sampled”; but when the record became a hit, the songs were replaced on later pressings by sound-alike recordings.

The infectious rhythm of the “betcha got a chick…” chorus in “How Long” by the Pointer Sisters got us actually singing along. A great live video here.

And an adorable moment when Sadie and I belted out the chorus to “Rhinestone Cowboy” by Glen Campbell and pointed at each other dramatically. Another great slice-of-the-70s video below:

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

It’s exactly 45 years before Sadie is born in our journey through time, let’s hear her introduce us to the sounds of August, 1975…

The Chart

It’s a week at the top for “One Of These Nights” by the Eagles, two for the Bee Gees with “Jive Talkin’” then “Fallin’ In Love” by Hamilton , Joe Frank & Reynolds and “Get Down Tonight” by K.C & The Sunshine Band both get a week at number one.

• “At Seventeen” – Janis Ian
• [new] “Ballroom Blitz” – Sweet
• [new] “Black Superman” – Johnny Wakelin
• [new] “Calypso / I’m Sorry” – John Denver
• [new] “Could This Be Magic” – Barry Manilow
• [new] “Daisy Jane” – America
• [new] “Dance With Me” – Orleans
• “Dynomite” – Tony Camillo’s Bazuka
• “Everytime You Touch Me” – Charlie Rich
• “Fallin’ In Love” – “Hamilton Joe Frank & Reynolds”
• [new] “Fame” – David Bowie
• [new] “Feel Like Makin’ Love” – Bad Company
• [new] “Feelings” – Morris Albert
• “Fight The Power” – Isley Brothers
• [new] “Get Down Tonight” – K.C & The Sunshine Band
• [new] “Help Me Rhonda” – Johnny Rivers
• [new] “Holdin’ On To Yesterday” – Ambrosia
• “How Sweet It Is” – James Taylor
• [new] “I Believe There’s Nothing Stronger Than Our Love” – Paul Anka & Odia Coates
• “I’m Not In Love” – 10Cc
• “I’m On Fire” – Dwight Twilley Band
• “Jive Talkin’” – Bee Gees
• “Just A Little Bit Of You” – Michael Jackson
• [new] “Listen To What The Man Said” – Wings
• “Love Will Keep Us Together” – Captain & Tennille
• “Midnight Blue” – Melissa Manchester
• “Mornin’ Beautiful” – Tony Orlando & Dawn
• “One Of These Nights” – Eagles
• “Please Mr. Please” – Olivia Newton-John
• [new] “Rendezvous” – Hudson Brothers
• “Rhinestone Cowboy” – Glen Campbell
• “Rockford Files” – Mike Post
• “Rockin’ Chair” – Gwen Mccrae
• [new] “Run Joey Run” – David Geddes
• “Saturday Night Special” – Lynyrd Skynyrd
• “Slippery When Wet” – Commodores
• [new] “Solitaire” – Carpenters
• “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” – Elton John
• “Swearin’ To God” – Frankie Valli
• [new] “That’s The Way Of The World” – Earth Wind & Fire
• [new] “That’s When The Music Takes Me” – Neil Sedaka
• “The Hustle” – Van Mccoy
• [new] “The Proud One” – Osmonds
• “The Way We Were” – Gladys Knight & The Pips
• [new] “Third Rate Romance” – Amazing Rhythm Aces
• [new] “Tush” – Zz Top
• [new] “Wasted Days And Wasted Nights” – Freddy Fender
• “Why Can’t We Be Friends” – War

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

The Times

Track-and-field history was shattered on August 12, 1975, when kiwi runner John Walker broke one of athletics’ most legendary barriers at a track meet in Gothenburg, Sweden. Becoming the first human being in history to run a mile in under 3 minutes and 50 seconds, Walker crossed the finish line at 3:49.4, trimming nearly a full second off the previous world record. His lightning performance ignited global sports headlines, cementing the sub-3:50 mile as the ultimate benchmark of human speed and endurance and paving the way for his iconic 1500m Gold Medal victory at the Montreal Olympic Games the following summer. (see a film here.)

On August 10, 1975, American political culture received a jolt of unprecedented candor when First Lady Betty Ford appeared for an interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes. Speaking with journalist Morley Safer, Ford broke traditional First Lady protocol by discussing taboo topics with startling honesty—openly supporting abortion rights, discussing premarital sex, predicting her children’s generation would experiment with marijuana, and candidly reflecting on her own mental health. The broadcast sent shockwaves through the political establishment, sparking intense national debate, drawing tens of thousands of letters, and ultimately transforming her into an unconventional cultural icon whose authenticity resonated across generations.

On August 20, 1975, NASA fired the opening shot in the golden age of planetary exploration by launching the Viking 1 spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Bound for Mars, the robotic orbiter and lander mission aimed to capture the first high-resolution color photographs of the Red Planet’s surface and analyze Martian soil for potential signs of microbial life. Transmitting unprecedented, close-up images of Martian deserts and canyons back to Earth the following year, the Viking program captured the public imagination, fueling a massive 1970s revival in space-age fascination, alien pop culture, and speculative science fiction.

The Take

Some classic music / live videos for some of the new songs this month…

“Get Down Tonight” by K.C & The Sunshine Band here.

“Could It Be Magic” by Barry Manilow below…

And the fabulous “Fame” by David Bowie…

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

And here we are mid-way through the middle-year of the 70s, let’s hear it Sadie…

The Chart

Two weeks at the top for “Love Will Keep Us Together” by Captain & Tennille, a week for “Listen To What The Man Said” by Paul Mccartney & Wings and then one for Van Mccoy’s “The Hustle” to round out the month.

• [new] “At Seventeen” – Janis Ian
• “Cut The Cake” – Average White Band
• [new] “Disco Queen” – Hot Chocolate
• “Dynomite” – Tony Camillo’s Bazuka
• [new] “Everytime You Touch Me” – Charlie Rich
• [new] “Fallin’ In Love” – “Hamilton Joe Frank & Reynolds”
• [new] “Fight The Power” – Isley Brothers
• “Get Down Get Down” – Joe Simon
• “Hey You” – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
• [new] “How Sweet It Is” – James Taylor
• “I’ll Play For You” – Seals & Crofts
• “I’m Not In Love” – 10Cc
• “I’m Not Lisa” – Jessi Colter
• “I’m On Fire” – Dwight Twilley Band
• [new] “Jive Talkin’” – Bee Gees
• [new] “Just A Little Bit Of You” – Michael Jackson
• “Listen To What The Man Said” – Paul Mccartney & Wings
• “Love Will Keep Us Together” – Captain & Tennille
• “Love Won’t Let Me Wait” – Major Harris
• “Magic” – Pilot
• “Midnight Blue” – Melissa Manchester
• “Misty” – Ray Stevens
• [new] “Mornin’ Beautiful” – Tony Orlando & Dawn
• “One Of These Nights” – Eagles
• “Only Women Bleed” – Alice Cooper
• “Please Mr. Please” – Olivia Newton-John
• “Rhinestone Cowboy” – Glen Campbell
• [new] “Rockford Files” – Mike Post
• “Rockin’ Chair” – Gwen Mccrae
• [new] “Saturday Night Special” – Lynyrd Skynyrd
• “Sister Golden Hair” – America
• [new] “Slippery When Wet” – Commodores
• [new] “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” – Elton John
• “Swearin’ To God” – Frankie Valli
• “Take Me In Your Arms” – Doobie Brothers
• “Thank God I’m A Country Boy” – John Denver
• “The Hustle” – Van Mccoy
• “The Way We Were” – Gladys Knight & The Pips
• “When Will I Be Loved / It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” – Linda Ronstadt
• “Why Can’t We Be Friends” – War
• “Wildfire” – Michael Murphey

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

The Times

On July 17, 1975, Cold War geopolitics surrendered to orbital diplomacy during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project when an American Apollo spacecraft docked directly with a Soviet Soyuz capsule 140 miles above Earth. As hatch doors opened, NASA Commander Thomas Stafford and Soviet Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov exchanged a historic, televised “handshake in space.” Watched live by hundreds of millions of viewers around the globe, this broadcast moment transcended political tensions, serving as a powerful symbolic thaw in international relations and inspiring decades of science fiction storytelling by proving that joint space exploration was a reality.

Back on earth, Reggae music reached an electric global turning point on July 18, 1975, when Bob Marley and the Wailers performed the first of two legendary sold-out nights at the Lyceum Theatre in London. Captured live on tape, these incendiary UK performances documented Marley’s transition from a regional Jamaican phenomenon into a transcendent global icon. The standout track recorded during these shows—a slower, soul-drenched live rendition of “No Woman, No Cry”—became an immediate international smash hit single, exposing mainstream European and American audiences to Roots Reggae culture and forever cementing the genre into global pop history.

The Take

The genesis of “Fight The Power” by the Isley Brothers was a 1975 recording session in which guitarist Ernie Isley, inspired by the news, wrote two songs: “Fight the Power” and an anti-poverty ballad titled “Harvest for the World”. The group ended up recording both songs on the same day and eventually picked “Fight the Power” as the song to release first. The song is notable (of the time) for the usage of the word “bullshit”, which was censored during radio airplay.

It would later inspire the title of Public Enemy’s revolution track, Fight the Power”, as well as be sampled in it. And then of course, as happens with these things…it became the soundtrack to a star-studded commercial for a coffee brand in 2015! Ah, how the revolution dies….

We’re really starting to get some great live performance and even early “music videos” for songs as we hit the end of the ’70s. This is a great example…”Just a Little Bit of You” is a song from the 1975 Michael Jackson album titled “Forever, Michael”. The album was Jackson’s fourth and was released when he was still only 16 years old. Produced by Brian Holland, “Just a Little Bit of You” became Jackson’s biggest solo hit in three years reaching number 23 on the US Pop Singles chart. It was also the last Motown single released while Jackson was still signed to the label.

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

What time is it?

The Chart

It’s a week at the top for “Thank God I’m A Country Boy” by John Denver, “Sister Golden Hair” by America, and then two for “Love Will Keep Us Together” by Captain & Tennille.

• [new] “Attitude Dancing” – Carly Simon
• [new] “Baby That’s Backatcha” – Smokey Robinson
• “Bad Luck” – Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
• “Bad Time” – Grand Funk
• “Before The Next Teardrop Falls” – Freddy Fender
• “Cut The Cake” – Average White Band
• [new] “Dynomite” – Tony Camillo’s Bazuka
• “Get Down Get Down” – Joe Simon
• [new] “Hey You” – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
• “How Long” – Ace
• “I Don’t Like To Sleep Alone” – Paul Anka
• “I Wanna Dance Wit Choo” – Disco Tex & The Sex-O-Lettes
• “I’ll Play For You” – Seals & Crofts
• [new] “I’m Not In Love” – 10Cc
• “I’m Not Lisa” – Jessi Colter
• [new] “I’m On Fire” – Dwight Twilley Band
• “Jackie Blue” – Ozark Mountain Daredevils
• [new] “Listen To What The Man Said” – Paul Mccartney & Wings
• “Love Will Keep Us Together” – Captain & Tennille
• “Love Won’t Let Me Wait” – Major Harris
• “Magic” – Pilot
• [new] “Midnight Blue” – Melissa Manchester
• [new] “Misty” – Ray Stevens
• “Old Days” – Chicago
• [new] “One Of These Nights” – Eagles
• “Only Women Bleed” – Alice Cooper
• “Only Yesterday” – Carpenters
• “Philadelphia Freedom” – Elton John Band
• [new] “Philadelphia” – Elton John Band
• [new] “Please Mr. Please” – Olivia Newton-John
• “Remember What I Told You To Forget / My Ship” – Tavares
• [new] “Rhinestone Cowboy” – Glen Campbell
• [new] “Rockin’ Chair” – Gwen Mccrae
• “Shakey Ground” – Temptations
• “Shining Star” – Earth Wind & Fire
• “Shoeshine Boy” – Eddie Kendricks
• “Sister Golden Hair” – America
• [new] “Swearin’ To God” – Frankie Valli
• “Take Me In Your Arms” – Doobie Brothers
• “Thank God I’m A Country Boy” – John Denver
• [new] “The Hustle” – Van Mccoy
• “The Last Farewell” – Roger Whittaker
• [new] “The Way We Were” – Gladys Knight & The Pips
• “When Will I Be Loved / It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” – Linda Ronstadt
• [new] “Why Can’t We Be Friends” – War
• “Wildfire” – Michael Murphey

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

The Times

On June 20, 1975, the modern Hollywood commercial blockbuster was born when Universal Pictures unleashed Steven Spielberg’s Jaws into North American theaters. Backed by an unprecedented, aggressive nationwide television advertising campaign, the film adapted Peter Benchley’s bestselling novel about a man-eating great white shark terrorizing a fictional New England resort town. John Williams’ famously minimalist, two-note suspense theme built unbearable tension, sending shockwaves through audiences and causing measurable drops in real-world beach attendance that summer. As the first movie to surpass $100 million dollars at the box office, Jaws fundamentally rewrote the rules of studio distribution, cementing the high-stakes summer release window as cinema’s premier cultural event.

And in the theatre another blockbuster was born on Broadway on June 1, 1975, when the iconic musical variety production Chicago officially opened at the 46th Street Theatre. Directed, choreographed, and co-written by Bob Fosse, the production turned a 1926 jazz-age crime story into a cynical, high-energy satire of celebrity culture and media manipulation. Boasting a powerhouse score by John Kander and Fred Ebb featuring showstoppers like “All That Jazz,” the original staging (running from ’75 to ’77) starred Broadway royalty Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera. Though initially overshadowed at the Tony Awards by its contemporary “A Chorus Line”, Chicago’s sharp wit and signature minimalist choreography laid the foundation for an enduring global legacy, eventually spawning the longest-running revival in Broadway history when it returned two decades later in the ’90s, and is still running today.

The Take

I’d never clocked why “I’m Not In Love” by 10Cc has such a unique sound…apparently it was an abandoned song by the band that was resurrected when one of the members has a crazy idea, “I tell you what, the only way that song is gonna work is if we totally fuck it up and we do it like nobody has ever recorded a thing before. Let’s not use instruments. Let’s try to do it all with voices.”

How they did that is a fascinating production story,

Stewart spent three weeks recording Gouldman, Godley and Creme singing “ahhh” 16 times for each note of the chromatic scale, building up a “choir” of 48 voices for each note of the scale. The main problem facing the band was how to keep the vocal notes going for an infinite length of time, but Creme suggested that they could get around this issue by using tape loops. Stewart created loops of about 12 feet in length by feeding the loop at one end through the tape heads of the stereo recorder in the studio, and at the other end through a capstan roller fixed to the top of a microphone stand, and tensioned the tape. By creating long loops the ‘blip’ caused by the splice in each tape loop could be drowned out by the rest of the backing track, providing that the splice in each loop did not coincide with any of the others. Having created twelve tape loops, one for each of the 12 notes of the chromatic scale, Stewart played each loop through a separate channel of the mixing desk. This effectively turned the mixing desk into a musical instrument complete with all the notes of the chromatic scale, which the four members together then “played”, fading up three or four channels at a time to create “chords” for the song’s melody.

Also this month is one, of what will be a growing number of songs, that we’ll hear sampled in hiphop songs a few decades hence – “The Way We Were” by Gladys Knight & The Pips.

The band record a live cover of Barbra Streisand’s original “The Way We Were” as part of a blend with the song “Try to Remember”. Knight’s rendition was then sampled in 1993 for “Can It Be All So Simple” by the Wu-Tang Clan from their album “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)”.

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.