1975 in music

Events

• January 2 - New York City US District Court Judge Richard Owen rules that former Beatle John Lennon and his lawyers can have access to Department of Immigration files pertaining to his deportation case.
• January 5 - The Wiz, a new version of the classic The Wizard of Oz story, opens at Broadway's Majestic Theater in New York City
• January 6 - Approximately 1000 Led Zeppelin fans cause an estimated $30,000 in damage to the lobby of the Boston Garden. The fans had been waiting for tickets to go on sale for Led Zeppelin's February 4 concert. The fans reportedly broke chairs and doors and caused other damage to the building. Boston Mayor Kevin 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 & Graham; and Central Station
• February 15 - Soul Train makes it national television debut after 5 years as a local show in Chicago, Illinois. The shows first performance is by Gino Vannelli
• February 21 - John Lennon releases his "Rock & Roll" LP, featuring John singing his favorite early rock songs from the 50's. 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 McCartney is arrested for having six to eight ounces of marijuana in her pocketbook.
• March 26 - The film version of The Who's Tommy premiers in London
• 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 18 - Alice Cooper's first television special, Welcome To My Nightmare: The Making Of A Record Album airs
• April 23 - Badfinger's Peter Ham hangs himself in his London garage
• April 28 - Tom Snyder interviews John Lennon on the Tomorrow Show.
• May 10 - Stevie Wonder performs before 125,000 people at the Washington Monument as part of Human Kindness Day festivities.
• August 9 - Renato Carosone's comeback concert after 15-year retirement
• November 6 - The Sex Pistols play their first concert at St. Martin's School of Art in London.

Unknown dates

• Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour
• Firefall forms
• The Ramones sign to Sire Records
• Pere Ubu forms in August
• .38 Special forms
• Motörhead forms
• Ocean disbands
• John Rutter becomes Director of Music at Clare College, Cambridge.

Albums released

• ABBA - ABBA
• ''Straight Shooter - Bad Company
• Tryin' to Get the Feeling - Barry Manilow
• Main Course - The Bee Gees
• Sabotage - Black Sabbath
• Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan
• The Basement Tapes - Bob Dylan & The Band
• Young Americans - David Bowie
• Another Green World - Brian Eno
• Love Will Keep Us Together - Captain & Tennille;
• Horizon - Carpenters
• I'm Still In Love With You - Roy Orbison
• IX - Chicago
• VIII - Chicago
• Welcome to My Nightmare - Alice Cooper
• J'Attendrai - Dalida
• Hair of the Dog - Nazareth
• An Evening with John Denver - John Denver
• Windsong - John Denver
• One of These Nights - The Eagles
• Gratitude - Earth, Wind & Fire;
• That's the Way of the World - Earth, Wind & Fire
• Face the Music - Electric Light Orchestra
• Feel Like Makin' Love - Roberta Flack
• Experience Gloria Gaynor - Gloria Gaynor (debut)
• Never Can Say Goodbye - Gloria Gaynor
• Daryl Hall & John Oates; - Hall & Oates; (debut)
• Elite Hotel - Emmylou Harris
• Between the Lines - Janis Ian
• Red Octopus - Jefferson Starship
• Minstrel in the Gallery - Jethro Tull
• Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy; - Elton John
• Rock of the Westies - Elton John
• All the Girls in the World Beware - Grand Funk Railroad
• Journey - Journey
• U.S.A - King Crimson
• Dressed To Kill and Alive! - Kiss
• Autobahn - Kraftwerk
• Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
• Live - Bob Marley and the Wailers
• Venus and Mars - Paul McCartney & Wings;
• Fire on the Bayou - The Meters
• Ted Nugent- Ted Nugent
• Live - Old & in the Way
• Have You Never Been Mellow - Olivia Newton-John
• Chocolate City - Parliament
• Mothership Connection - Parliament
• Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
• Still Crazy After All These Years - Paul Simon
• A Night at the Opera - Queen
• Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow - Rainbow
• Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady - Helen Reddy
• Quiet Storm - Smokey Robinson
• Heart Like a Wheel - Linda Ronstadt
• Siren - Roxy Music
• Caress of Steel - Rush
• Fly by Night - Rush
• Horses- Patti Smith
• Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
• Katy Lied - Steely Dan
• Atlantic Crossing - Rod Stewart
• Love To Love You Baby - Donna Summer
• Bolan's Zip Gun - T. Rex
• Force It - UFO
• Why Can't We Be Friends - War
• The Who By Numbers - The Who
• Venus & Mars - Wings
• Dream Weaver - Gary Wright
• Tonight's the Night - Neil Young & Crazy Horse;
• Fandango - ZZ Top

Chronological Table of US and UK Number One Hit Singles

Other significant singles

• "All Around My Hat" - Steeleye Span
• "Angie Baby" - Helen Reddy
• "Art For Art's Sake" - 10cc
• "At 17"-Janis Ian
• "Autobahn" - Kraftwerk
• "Bad Time" - Grand Funk Railroad
• "Ballroom Blitz" - Sweet
• "Best Thing That Ever Happened" - Gladys Knight and the Pips
• "Blanket On The Ground" - Billie Jo Spears
• "Blue Guitar" - Justin Hayward and John Lodge
• "Born To Run" - Bruce Springsteen
• "C'est mieux comme ça (Le Parrain 2)" - Dalida
• "Calypso" - John Denver
• "The Carpet Crawlers" - Genesis
• "Cut The Cake" - Average White Band
• "Do It Again" - Steely Dan
• "Doing Alright With The Boys" - Gary Glitter
• "Dolly My Love" - The Moments
• "Dreamer" - Supertramp
• "Et de l'amour... de l'amour" - Dalida & Richard Chanfray as "St-Germain"
• "Fancy Pants" - Kenny
• "Feel Like Makin' Love" - Bad Company
• "Feelings" - Morris Albert
• "Fox On The Run" - Sweet
• "Free Bird" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
• "Get Down Tonight" - K.C. and the Sunshine Band
• "Glass Of Champagne" - Sailor
• "Golden Years" - David Bowie
• "Good Love Can Never Die" - Alvin Stardust
• "Hey You" - Bachman Turner Overdrive
• "Hold Back The Night" - Trammps
• "Horror Movie" - Skyhooks #1
• "Holy Roller" - Nazareth
• "How Does It Feel" - Slade
• "How Sweet It Is" - James Taylor
• "Hurts So Good" - Susan Cadogan
• "I Believe In Father Christmas" - Greg Lake
• "I Can Do It" - The Rubettes
• "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" - ABBA
• "I'm Stone In Love With You" - Johnny Mathis
• "Imagine" - John Lennon
• "It's Been So Long" - George McCrae
• "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" - Eric Clapton
• "The Late Show" - Jackson Browne
• "Love Is The Drug" - Roxy Music
• "Lyin' Eyes" - The Eagles
• "Mamma Mia" - ABBA
• "Mein Lieber Herr" - Dalida
• "Miracles" - Jefferson Starship
• "Motor Biking" - Chris Spedding
• "Mr.Raffles(Man It Was Mean)" - Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel
• "My White Bicycle" - Nazareth
• "Ne lui dis pas" - Dalida
• "New York Groove" - Hello
• "The Newcastle Song" - Bob Hudson #1
• "No No Song" - Ringo Starr
• "No Woman No Cry" - Bob Marley and the Wailers
• "Number 9 Dream" - John Lennon
• "Once Bitten Twice Shy" - Ian Hunter
• "Only Women Bleed" - Alice Cooper
• "Out On The Floor" - Dobie Gray
• "Pandora's Box" - Procol Harum
• "Piano Man" - Billy Joel
• "Promised Land" - Elvis Presley
• "Right Back Where We Started From" - Maxine Nightingale
• "Rock and Roll All Night" - Kiss
• "Roll On Down The Highway" - Bachman Turner Overdrive
• "Roll Over Lay Down" - Status Quo
• "Saturday Night Special" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
• "The Secrets That You Keep" - Mud
• "Send In The Clowns" - Judy Collins
• "Shame, Shame, Shame" - Shirley and Company
• "Sky High" - Jigsaw
• "The Snake" - Al Wilson
• "SOS" - ABBA
• "Stand By Me" - John Lennon
• "Summer Love" - Sherbet #1
• "Sweet Emotion" - Aerosmith
• "Take Good Care Of Yourself" - The Three Degrees
• "Tangled Up In Blue" - Bob Dylan
• "Thanks For The Memory(Wham Bam Thank You Mam)" - Slade
• "Theme From Jaws" - John Williams
• "There Goes My First Love" - The Drifters
• "This Will Be" - Natalie Cole
• "Trampled Underfoot" - Led Zeppelin
• "What Am I Gonna Do With You?" - Barry White
• "When Will I Be Loved?" - Linda Ronstadt
• "Where Is The Love?" - Betty Wright
• "Who Loves You?" - The Four Seasons
• "Why Can't We Be Friends?" - War
• "Wide Eyed And Legless" - Andy Fairweather-Low
• "Wildfire" - Michael Murphey
• "You Are So Beautiful" - Joe Cocker
• "You Sexy Thing" - Hot Chocolate
• "Young Americans" - David Bowie
• "Your Mama Won't Like Me" - Suzi Quatro

Published popular music

• "Anytime (I'll Be There)"     w.m. Paul Anka
• "Calypso"     w.m. John Denver
• "I'm Not In Love"     w.m. Graham Keith Gouldman & Eric Michael Stewart
• "I'm Sorry"     w.m. John Denver
• "The Last Farewell"     w.m. R. A. Webster & Roger Whittaker
• "Mamma Mia"     w.m. Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus
• "Love Will Keep Us Together"     w.m. Neil Sedaka & Howard Greenfield
• "Movin' On Up" w.m. Jeff Barry and Ja'Net DuBois, theme from the TV series The Jeffersons
• "New York State Of Mind" w.m. Billy Joel
• "One"     w. Edward Kleban m. Marvin Hamlisch
• "Rockin' All Over The World" w.m. John C. Fogerty
• "Wasted Days Wasted Nights"     w.m. Freddy Fender & Wayne Duncan
• "The Way I Want To Touch You"     w.m. Toni Tennille
• "What I Did For Love"     w. Edward Kleban m. Marvin Hamlisch
• "You"     w.m. Tom Snow

Classical music

• Samuel Adler - Symphony No. 5, "We are the Echoes"
• Claude Bolling and Jean Pierre Rampal - Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano
• Mario Davidovsky - Scenes from Shir ha-Shirim for soprano, two tenors, bass soli and chamber ensemble
• Theo Loevendie - Concerto for Bass Clarinet and Orchestra, "Incantations"
• Witold Lutoslawski - Les Espaces du Sommeil

Opera

Musical theatre

• Chicago - Broadway production
• A Chorus Line (Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban) - Broadway production
• A Little Night Music(Stephen Sondheim) - London production
• The Wiz - Broadway production

Musical films

• Funny Lady

Births

• January 2 - Emm Gryner
• February 7 - Wes Borland, Limp Bizkit
• February 20 - Brian Littrell, The Backstreet Boys
• March 10 - Jerry Horton, Papa Roach
• March 25 - Melanie Blatt, singer
• April 26 - Jose Pasillas, Incubus
• May 8 - Enrique Iglesias
• May 18 - Jack Johnson
• May 25 - Lauryn Hill, The Fugees
• May 29 - Melanie Brown (Scary Spice), The Spice Girls
• September 9 - Michael Bublé
• September 11 - Brad Fischetti, LFO
• September 16 - Shannon Noll, Australian singer and actor
• September 22 - Mystikal
• October 9 - Sean Ono Lennon, son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono
• November 6 - Mike Herrera, MxPx
• November 14 - Travis Barker, blink-182
• December 13 - Tom Delonge, blink-182
• December 1 - Bo Bice

Deaths

• February 4 - Louis Jordan, jazz musician
• February 19 - Luigi Dallapiccola, composer
• February 22 - Lionel Tertis, viola player
• March 27 - Sir Arthur Bliss, Master of the Queen's Musick
• April 14 - Michael Flanders, lyricist, actor, partner of Donald Swann
• April 23 - Peter Ham, Badfinger, suicide
• May 18 - Leroy Anderson, US composer and conductor
• June 29 - Tim Buckley, drug overdose
• July 14 - Zutty Singleton, US jazz drummer
• July 19 – Lefty Frizzell, Country Music Hall of Fame singer
• August 9 - Dmitri Shostakovich, heart attack
• September 5 - Bill Sprouse Jr The Road Home, heart attack
• October 1 - Al Jackson, drummer and songwriter
• October 30 - John Scott Trotter, US arranger and conductor
• December 17 - Noble Sissle, US bandleader and singer
• December 17 - Hound Dog Taylor, blues musician
• December 24 - Bernard Herrmann, composer

Awards

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1975

Country Music Association Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1975