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.