1975_in_British_music
1975 in British music
Overview of the events of 1975 in British music
This is a summary of 1975 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
- 13 February - The film Slade In Flame, starring the members of Slade, premieres at the Metropole Theatre in London.
- 2 March - Los Angeles Police make a routine traffic stop that turns out to be Paul McCartney and his wife Linda. Linda is arrested for having 170 to 225 grams (six to eight ounces) of marijuana in her pocketbook.
- 22 March - The Shadows represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden. They come second.
- 26 March - The film version of The Who's Tommy premieres in London.
- 7 April - Ritchie Blackmore plays a final show with Deep Purple in Paris before quitting to form his own group, Rainbow.
- 24 April - Pete Ham, founder of the group Badfinger, is found hanged in his London garage. His death is ruled a suicide.
- 1 May - The Rolling Stones announce their forthcoming North American tour by performing Brown Sugar from a flatbed truck on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The occasion was guitarist Ronnie Wood's debut with the band.
- 4 August - Robert Plant and his wife Maureen are seriously injured in a car accident while vacationing on the Greek island of Rhodes. The immediate future of Led Zeppelin is cast into doubt, as Plant will not recover for quite some time.
- 23 August - Peter Gabriel leaves progressive rock group Genesis.
- 3 October - The Who release their seventh studio album The Who By Numbers.
- 7 October - John Lennon finally wins his battle to stay in the United States after the New York Court of Appeals overturns Lennon's 1972 deportation order.
- 9 October - John Lennon and Yoko Ono become parents of Sean Ono Lennon at 2:00 AM. The birth heralds the beginning of John's temporary retirement from the music business as he vows to devote himself to family for the next five years.
- 31 October - Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" is released. It goes to No.1 for 9 weeks and as of 2015 is the biggest-selling non-Charity single in UK history.
- 6 November - The Sex Pistols play their first concert at St. Martin's School of Art in London.
- 18 December - The official break-up of Faces is announced at a London press conference. Rod Stewart will continue his solo career while Ronnie Wood joins The Rolling Stones.
- 25 December - Iron Maiden is formed, in Leyton, east London, by bassist Steve Harris.
Singles
More information Chart date (week ending), Song ...
| Chart date (week ending) | Song | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 11 January | "Lonely This Christmas" | Mud |
| 18 January | "Down Down" | Status Quo |
| 25 January | "Ms Grace" | The Tymes |
| 1 February | "January" | Pilot |
| 8 February | ||
| 15 February | ||
| 22 February | "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" | Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel |
| 1 March | ||
| 8 March | "If" | Telly Savalas |
| 15 March | ||
| 22 March | "Bye Bye Baby" | Bay City Rollers |
| 29 March | ||
| 6 April | ||
| 13 April | ||
| 20 April | ||
| 27 April | ||
| 3 May | "Oh Boy!" | Mud |
| 10 May | ||
| 17 May | "Stand By Your Man" | Tammy Wynette |
| 24 May | ||
| 31 May | ||
| 7 June | "Whispering Grass" | Don Estelle & Windsor Davies |
| 14 June | ||
| 21 June | ||
| 28 June | "I'm Not in Love" | 10cc |
| 5 July | ||
| 12 July | "Tears On My Pillow" | Johnny Nash |
| 19 July | "Give a Little Love" | Bay City Rollers |
| 26 July | ||
| 2 August | ||
| 9 August | "Barbados" | Typically Tropical |
| 16 August | "I Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)" | The Stylistics |
| 23 August | ||
| 30 August | ||
| 6 September | "Sailing" | Rod Stewart |
| 13 September | ||
| 20 September | ||
| 27 September | ||
| 4 October | "Hold Me Close" | David Essex |
| 11 October | ||
| 18 October | ||
| 25 October | "I Only Have Eyes for You" | Art Garfunkel |
| 1 November | ||
| 8 November | "Space Oddity" | David Bowie |
| 15 November | ||
| 22 November | "D.I.V.O.R.C.E." | Billy Connolly |
| 29 November | "Bohemian Rhapsody" | Queen |
| 6 December | ||
| 13 December | ||
| 20 December | ||
| 27 December | ||
| 3 January | ||
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Albums
More information Date, Single ...
| Date[1] | Single | Artist | Weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 January | Greatest Hits | Elton John | 4 |
| 18 January | |||
| 25 January | |||
| 1 February | |||
| 8 February | His Greatest Hits | Engelbert Humperdinck | 3 |
| 15 February | |||
| 22 February | |||
| 1 March | On the Level | Status Quo | 2 |
| 8 March | |||
| 15 March | Physical Graffiti | Led Zeppelin | 1 |
| 22 March | 20 Greatest Hits | Tom Jones | 4 |
| 29 March | |||
| 5 April | |||
| 12 April | |||
| 19 April | The Best of the Stylistics | The Stylistics | 2 |
| 26 April | |||
| 3 May | Once Upon a Star | Bay City Rollers | 3 |
| 10 May | |||
| 17 May | |||
| 24 May | The Best of the Stylistics | The Stylistics | 5 |
| 31 May | |||
| 7 June | |||
| 14 June | |||
| 21 June | |||
| 28 June | Venus and Mars | Wings | 1 |
| 5 July | Horizon | The Carpenters | 2 |
| 12 July | |||
| 19 July | Venus and Mars | Wings | 1 |
| 26 July | Horizon | The Carpenters | 3 |
| 2 August | |||
| 9 August | |||
| 16 August | The Best of the Stylistics | The Stylistics | 2 |
| 23 August | |||
| 30 August | Atlantic Crossing | Rod Stewart | 5 |
| 6 September | |||
| 13 September | |||
| 20 September | |||
| 27 September | |||
| 4 October | Wish You Were Here | Pink Floyd | 1 |
| 11 October | Atlantic Crossing | Rod Stewart | 2 |
| 18 October | |||
| 25 October | 40 Golden Greats | Jim Reeves | 3 |
| 1 November | |||
| 8 November | |||
| 15 November | We All Had Doctors' Papers | Max Boyce | 1 |
| 22 November | 40 Greatest Hits | Perry Como | 5 |
| 29 November | |||
| 6 December | |||
| 13 December | |||
| 20 December | |||
| 27 December | A Night at the Opera | Queen | 2 |
| 3 January | |||
Close
Between 30 December 1974 and 5 December 1975.
Best-selling singles
More information No., Title ...
Close
Best-selling albums
The list of the top fifty best-selling albums of 1975 were published in Music Week and in Record Mirror at the end of the year, and reproduced the following year in the first edition of the BPI Year Book in 1976. However, in 2007 the Official Charts Company published album chart histories for each year from 1956 to 1977, researched by historian Sharon Mawer, and included an updated list of the top ten best-selling albums for each year based on the new research. The updated top ten for 1975 is shown in the table below.[3]
More information No., Title ...
| No. | Title | Artist | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Best of the Stylistics | The Stylistics | 1 |
| 2 | Once Upon a Star | Bay City Rollers | 1 |
| 3 | Atlantic Crossing | Rod Stewart | 1 |
| 4 | 40 Golden Greats | Jim Reeves | 1 |
| 5 | Venus and Mars | Wings | 1 |
| 6 | 40 Greatest Hits | Elvis Presley | 16[lower-alpha 1] |
| 7 | Greatest Hits | Elton John | 1 |
| 8 | Horizon | The Carpenters | 1 |
| 9 | Tubular Bells | Mike Oldfield | 2[lower-alpha 2] |
| 10 | 40 Greatest Hits | Perry Como | 1 |
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Notes:
- Greatest Hits was not eligible for the album chart until July 1975, as television-advertised compilations were excluded from the chart until this date. Most of the album's sales were during late 1974 and early 1975, and by the time it was readmitted to the album chart its sales had tailed off. The album did not officially reach number one until September 1977, following Presley's death.
- Benjamin Britten -
- Phaedra
- String Quartet No. 3
- Stanley Myers - Conduct Unbecoming, starring Michael York, Richard Attenborough and Trevor Howard.
- 3 January - Rebecca Onslow, singer (Solid HarmoniE)
- 6 January - Gabriel Prokofiev, Russian-British composer
- 7 January - Neil Watts, singer (Code Red)
- 9 January - Glen Clarke, Irish singer (OTT)
- 13 January - Jason King, radio DJ
- 15 January - Edith Bowman, radio DJ
- 19 January - Kule T, singer (MN8)
- 24 January
- Isobel Cooper, soprano
- Paul Marazzi, singer (A1)
- 28 January - Lee Latchford-Evans, singer (Steps)
- 12 March - Kelle Bryan, singer (Eternal)
- 17 March - Justin Hawkins, vocalist (The Darkness)
- 25 March - Melanie Blatt, singer (All Saints)
- 1 April - Suzy Klein, music writer and presenter
- 23 May - Darren Styles, record producer
- 29 May - Melanie Brown, singer (Spice Girls)
- 4 June - Russell Brand, radio DJ
- 18 June - Jem, Welsh singer-songwriter and producer
- 23 June - KT Tunstall, singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 9 July - Shona Fraser, British-born music journalist
- 18 July - M.I.A., rapper and producer
- 15 August - Phillip Rodell, singer (Code Red)
- 4 September - Mark Ronson, DJ and music producer
- 8 September - Richard Hughes, drummer (Keane)
- 23 September - Chris Hawkins, radio DJ
- 9 October - Sean Ono Lennon, son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono
- 14 October - Shaznay Lewis, singer (All Saints)
- 25 October - Melissa Graham, singer (Solid HarmoniE)
- 5 November - Lisa Scott-Lee, singer (Steps)
- 14 November - Faye Tozer, singer (Steps)
- 25 November - Paul Mealor, composer
- 29 November - Alan Fitzsimons, Irish singer (OTT)
- 12 December - Michael Harwood, guitarist (Ultra)
- 8 February - Martyn Green, actor and singer, 75
- 13 February - Eric Thiman, composer, 74
- 13 March – Jeannie Robertson, folk singer, 66/67
- 27 March - Sir Arthur Bliss, Master of the Queen's Musick, 83
- 14 April - Michael Flanders, lyricist, actor, humorist and singer (Flanders and Swann), 53 (intracranial berry aneurysm)
- 15 April - John D. H. Greenwood, film composer, 75
- 21 April - Sir Jack Westrup, musicologist, writer, teacher and occasional conductor and composer, 70
- 24 April - Pete Ham, singer and songwriter (Badfinger), 27 (suicide)
- 26 April - Godfrey Winham, English-born US music theorist and composer of contemporary classical music, 40
- 2 August - Muir Mathieson, conductor and composer, 64 (oesophageal cancer)[4]
- 13 November - Lambert Williamson, composer and conductor, 68
- "1975 Best Sellers: Singles". Record Mirror and Disc. London, England: Spotlight Publications: 12. 10 January 1976.
- Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1975". Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007.
- Hetherington, S. (2006) Muir Mathieson: A Life in Film Music, Scottish Cultural Press, ISBN 1-898218-11-0