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This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1975.
January 2 – New York City U.S. District Court Judge Richard Owen rules that former BeatleJohn Lennon and his lawyers can have access to Department of Immigration files pertaining to his deportation case.
January 5 – The Wiz, a new musical version of the classic Wizard of Oz story, opens at Broadway's Majestic Theater in New York City.
January 6 – Approximately 1.000 Led Zeppelin fans, waiting for tickets to go on sale for Led Zeppelin's February 4 concert, cause an estimated $30,000 in damage to the lobby of the Boston Garden. The fans reportedly broke chairs and doors and caused other damage to the building. Boston MayorKevin White cancels the upcoming show.
January 8 – Three Led Zeppelin concerts at Madison Square Garden sell out in a record four hours.
January 12 – "The Warner Brothers Music Show" begins a nine-city, 18-show tour of Europe. The tour included Warner Brothers acts Little Feat, Tower of Power, the Doobie Brothers, Bonaroo, Montrose, and Graham Central Station.
January 24 – JazzpianistKeith Jarrett plays the solo improvisation 'The Köln Concert' at the Cologne Opera, which, recorded live, becomes the best-selling piano recording in history.[1]
February 13 – The film Slade In Flame, starring the members of Slade, premieres at the Metropole Theatre in London.
February 21 – John Lennon releases his Rock 'n' Roll LP, featuring his favorite rock songs from the 1950s. To promote the album he conducts a telephone interview with 20 rock radio stations simultaneously.
March 2 – 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.
March 21 – Alice Cooper, now a solo artist, begins the Welcome to My Nightmare tour in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The elaborate show is among the largest stage spectacles of the decade.
March 23 – Promoter Bill Graham stages the S.N.A.C.K. (Students Need Athletics, Culture and Kicks) charity concert at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, California, to benefit the city's educational system. Almost 60,000 people come to see The Grateful Dead, The Doobie Brothers, Santana, Jefferson Starship, Tower of Power, Eddie Palmieri, Joan Baez, Graham Central Station and Neil Young joined by members of The Band along with a surprise appearance by Bob Dylan. It's the largest benefit concert in history to date.
March 26 – The film version of The Who's Tommy premieres in London.
March 29 – Jeff Beck releases the album Blow by Blow. It is the first album to be released using just his name.
April 3 – Steve Miller is arrested and charged with setting fire to the clothes and personal effects of a friend, Benita DiOrio, and resisting arrest. DiOrio drops the charges the following day.
April 7 – Ritchie Blackmore plays a final show with Deep Purple in Paris before quitting to form his own group, Rainbow.
April 17 – Cambodian singer-songwriter Sinn Sisamouth and his pregnant wife are among millions forced out of Phnom Penh by the Khmer Rouge.
April 18 – Alice Cooper's first television special, Welcome to My Nightmare: The Making of a Record Album airs.
April 24 – Pete Ham, founder of the group Badfinger, is found hanged in his London garage. His death is ruled a suicide.
April 28 – Tom Snyder interviews John Lennon on the Tomorrow Show.
May–August[]
May 1 – 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.
May 10 – Stevie Wonder performs before 125,000 people at the Washington Monument as part of Human Kindness Day festivities.
June 1 – The Rolling Stones open their North American Tour in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
June 20 – Talking Heads perform their first show at CBGB in New York.
June 23 – Alice Cooper falls off the stage during a concert in Vancouver, Canada, breaking six ribs.
June 24 – "Gens du pays", the unofficial national anthem of Quebec, is performed for the first time by Gilles Vigneault in a concert on Montreal's Mount Royal.
June 30 – Cher and Gregg Allman are married in a Las Vegas hotel suite. That same day, The Jackson 5 leave Motown for CBS Records, but the brothers are forced to change their name to The Jacksons because Motown owns the Jackson 5 name. Jermaine Jackson stays with Motown when his brothers break their contracts and leave for CBS; he is replaced by youngest Jackson brother Randy as a result.
July 4 – The Texas Senate declares the Fourth of July "Willie Nelson Day", as more than 70,000 fans visit Liberty Hill for the third annual picnic and country rock show headlined by Willie himself.
August 4 – 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.
The Bee Gees begin their mid-1970s international comeback when "Jive Talkin'" reaches #1 and goes platinum with sales over 1 million.
Renato Carosone's comeback concert after a 15-year retirement.
The first Rock Music Awards, produced by Don Kirshner, are held in Los Angeles, co-hosted by Elton John and Diana Ross. John wins "Outstanding Rock Personality of the Year". The Who's film Tommy wins "Rock Movie of the Year".
August 23 – Peter Gabriel leaves British progressive rock group Genesis.
September–December[]
September 15 – Pink Floyd releases their ninth album, Wish You Were Here.
September 29 – Singer Jackie Wilson suffers a massive heart attack while performing on stage in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He survives but never physically recovers.
October 3 – The Who release their seventh studio album, The Who By Numbers.
October 7 – 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.
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.
Rock band Kiss earns publicity by playing the homecoming dance of Cadillac High School in Cadillac, Michigan.
October 11 – Bruce Springsteen appears at the Monmouth Arts Center (Count Basie Theater) for The Homecoming Concert.
October 18 – Simon & Garfunkel reunite on the second-ever episode of Saturday Night Live on NBC, performing "The Boxer", "Scarborough Fair", and new collaboration "My Little Town".
October 27 – Bruce Springsteen appears on the covers of both Time and Newsweek magazines on the same week.
November 6 – The Sex Pistols play their first concert at St. Martin's School of Art in London.
November 21 – Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" goes to number one in the U.K., where it remains for five weeks of 1975 and four weeks of 1976.
December 6 – The Who set the record for largest indoor concert at the Pontiac Silverdome, attended by 78,000 fans.
December 10 – The John Denver holiday special Rocky Mountain Christmas airs on ABC.
December 18 – The official break-up of Faces is announced at a London press conference. Rod Stewart will continue his solo career while Ronnie Wood is widely expected to be announced as an official member of The Rolling Stones in the near future.
December 24 – The first issue of Punk magazine is released with a January 1976 cover date. A drawing of Lou Reed is on the cover.
December 25 – Bassist Steve Harris forms Iron Maiden, drawing the name from a torture device mentioned in The Man in the Iron Mask.
The fourth annual New Year's Rockin' Eve airs on ABC, with performances by Average White Band, Melissa Manchester, Freddy Fender, and Neil Sedaka.
Elvis Presley performs before the biggest audience of his career, at Pontiac, Michigan's Silverdome. During the show, Elvis rips his pants onstage and has to leave to change.
Also in 1975[]
John Rutter becomes Director of Music at Clare College, Cambridge.
Billy Davis, Jr. and Marilyn McCoo leave the 5th Dimension and start solo careers.
The Goodies have five top twenty singles (in the UK) becoming, according to Bill Oddie, "the first, the only and the most successful comedy rockers".
UK – 1, Ireland – 1, Canada – 1, Brazil – 1, USA – 2, France – 2, Australia – 3, New Zealand – 4, Belgium – 5, Netherlands – 5, Norway – 6, Germany – 8, Switzerland – 8, South Africa – 17, Italy – 24
3
Alain Barriere
""
1975
Germany – 1, Australia – 1, South Africa – 1, UK – 2, Canada – 2, Belgium – 2, Netherlands – 2, Norway – 2, Ireland – 2, Austria – 3, New Zealand – 3, Switzerland – 3, USA – 5, Sweden – 10
4
Morris Albert
"Feelings"
1974
USA – 1, Canada – 1, Ireland – 1, Belgium – 1, New Zealand – 2, South Africa – 2, Netherlands – 3, UK – 4, Australia – 5, Sweden – 17, Germany – 31
5
Salsoul Orchestra
"Tangerine"
1975
Netherlands – 1, Sweden – 1, Austria – 1, Switzerland – 1, Norway – 1, Germany – 1, Belgium – 1, South Africa – 1, Canada – 5, UK – 10, Italy – 11, USA – 26
Chronological table of U.S. and UK number one hit singles[]
U.S. number one singles and artist (weeks at number one)
UK number one singles and artist (weeks at number one)
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" – Elton John (2)
"Mandy" – Barry Manilow (1)
"Please Mr. Postman" – The Carpenters (1)
"Laughter in the Rain" – Neil Sedaka (1)
"Fire" – Ohio Players (1)
"You're No Good" – Linda Ronstadt (1)
"Pick Up the Pieces" – Average White Band (1)
"Best of My Love" – Eagles (1)
"Have You Never Been Mellow" – Olivia Newton-John (1)
"Black Water" – The Doobie Brothers (1)
"My Eyes Adored You" – Frankie Valli (1)
"Lady Marmalade" – Labelle (1)
"Lovin' You" – Minnie Riperton (1)
"Philadelphia Freedom" – Elton John (2)
"(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" – B. J. Thomas (1)
"He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)" – Tony Orlando and Dawn (3)
"Shining Star" – Earth, Wind & Fire (1)
"Before the Next Teardrop Falls" – Freddy Fender (1)
"Thank God I'm a Country Boy" – John Denver (1)
"Sister Golden Hair" – America (1)
"Love Will Keep Us Together" – Captain & Tennille (4) "Listen to What the Man Said" – Paul McCartney & Wings (1)
"The Hustle" – Van McCoy (1)
"One of These Nights" – Eagles (1)
"Jive Talkin'" – Bee Gees (2)
"Fallin' in Love" – Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds (1)
"Get Down Tonight" – KC and the Sunshine Band (1)
"Rhinestone Cowboy" – Glen Campbell (2)
"Fame" – David Bowie (2)
"I'm Sorry" – John Denver (1)
"Bad Blood" – Neil Sedaka (3)
"Island Girl" – Elton John (3)
"That's the Way (I Like It)" – KC and the Sunshine Band (2)
"Fly, Robin, Fly" – Silver Convention (3)
"Let's Do It Again" – The Staple Singers (1)
"Lonely This Christmas" – Mud (2 weeks 1974 + 2 weeks 1975)
"Down Down" – Status Quo (1)
"Ms Grace" – The Tymes (1)
"January" – Pilot (3)
"Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" – Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel (2)
"If" – Telly Savalas (2)
"Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby Goodbye)" – Bay City Rollers (6)
"Oh Boy" – Mud (2)
"Stand by Your Man" – Tammy Wynette (3)
"Whispering Grass" – Windsor Davies & Don Estelle (3)
"I'm Not in Love" – 10cc (2)
"Tears on My Pillow (I Can't Take It)" – Johnny Nash (1)
"Give a Little Love" – Bay City Rollers (3)
"Barbados" – Typically Tropical (1)
"Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)" – The Stylistics (3)
"Sailing" – Rod Stewart (4)
"Hold Me Close" – David Essex (3)
"I Only Have Eyes for You" – Art Garfunkel (2)
"Space Oddity" – David Bowie (2)
"D.I.V.O.R.C.E." – Billy Connolly (1)
"Bohemian Rhapsody" – Queen (5 weeks 1975 + 4 weeks 1976)
Chicago – Broadway production opened at the 46th Street Theatre and ran for 936 performances
A Chorus Line (Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban) – Broadway production opened at the Shubert Theatre and ran for 6137 performances, the longest run of any Broadway musical at the time
A Little Night Music (Stephen Sondheim) – London production
Dance With Me – Broadway production opened at the Mayfair Theatre and ran for 396 performances
The Wiz – Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre and ran for 1672 performances
Pacific Overtures – Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre and ran for 192 performances
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