DECEMBER 1975

 

 

The following is a review of the year 1975 in music, as typed by me on my trusty Smith-Corona typewriter on the evening of Tuesday 30 December 1975. It is very true that most eleven-year-olds in 1975 - I don't know about now but would guess that today they're already far smarter than we'll ever be - did not hold such opinions or express them in such a manner, but as you may have gathered by now, I wasn't "most eleven-year-olds"; I was me. The original typescript and journal entries are available on request, but the video links and connections I've done right now, in 2025. Anyway, here goes. Probably much too influenced by Simon Frith and Charlie Gillett in Rock File, which volumes I used to purchase from John Menzies in Hamilton for 20p a throw, but there you have it:

 

Was 1975 a dull, decadent year in pop? It depends where you look. As far as the singles chart was concerned, no overall trend was in place, except it was and it was called disco. That of course is unfair to fans of rich, long-haired white men who play guitars and whose songs are never less than five minutes long. But I expect black people are thoroughly fed up of having their music only get praised as a substitute when Rock isn’t up to much, and working-class people sick of being patronised (“It’s only pop!”).

 

Glam was definitely on the way out in 1975. Slade made the mistake of taking themselves too seriously. I am too young to go and see Slade In Flame but I gather that it’s about as miserable as the average episode of Public Eye. But they were untouchable and unbeatable two years ago and now they struggle even to get into the top ten. The Glitter Band are now doing better than Gary Glitter. Mud had a lot of hits but changed their record label and got rid of Chinn and Chapman, and really none of them add up to a single bar of “Tiger Feet.” Stalwarts like Roy Wood and Gilbert O’Sullivan were steadily declining commercially (if not artistically). The Sweet also began to write their own singles but after a really good start they ran out of petrol. Alvin Stardust’s producer’s dog was more successful than Alvin Stardust (although his great Moog version of “Move It” should have been a hit – that’s what happens when you get stuck in a formula). Showaddywaddy were in imminent danger of collapsing down the dumper before they wisely decided to become a cover-version band. Meanwhile, Suzi Quatro, Barry Blue and Lynsey de Paul disappeared from the Top 30 completely. Only David Essex, who seems to have become more popular than ever, appears to have bucked this trend, while Sparks look to be moving back towards cult following art rock – despite getting a number one, Cockney Rebel, or whatever Steve Harley and his backing band are called these days, already seem to have painted themselves into a corner.

 

History may see 1975 as the peak of Rollermania, but were the girls screaming at the band, or at Bill Martin and Phil Coulter’s idea of the Bay City Rollers? “Bye Bye Baby” was the year’s biggest-selling single and not too many people remember the two follow-ups – although “Saturday Night,” not a single in Britain, has just gone to number one on Billboard, so perhaps they don’t need to worry too much. Kenny enjoyed some success with the Martin/Coulter songs that the Rollers didn’t want, but we’re highly unlikely to see them in next year’s charts.

 

As far as former teen idols were concerned, the Osmonds elegantly vapourised into florid insignificance, the continuing decline of T Rex was painful to witness, and there were exactly three solo Beatles Top 30 hits (if you count Wings as “solo”), one of which was a belated single release of a four-year-old album title track. Elvis – one top ten hit with a Chuck Berry cover and another Top 30 hit with a Jerry Lee Lewis/Tom Jones cover notwithstanding – seemed to have vacated the pop building. Cliff Richard was nowhere to be seen in the charts – but the Shadows (singing!) managed to return to the Top 20, thanks to Eurovision.

 

There was a feeling that most of the really big British stars thought themselves slightly above “the charts” in 1975. Elton John and David Bowie both did far better in the United States than they did here, probably because they preferred Soul Train to Top Of The Pops (we don’t get to see Soul Train in Britan, but I understand this is reasonable). It was embarrassing that Bowie’s biggest success here, and his first number one after years of trying, was…a reissue of his first hit, from six years ago. No wonder he chose to stay in Los Angeles. He had a film to make and a new album to record, after all. The album he actually released this year, Young Americans, included the best music he had ever made, performed by the best musicians he’s ever worked with – it is utterly superior to the Denys Fisher board game that was Diamond Dogs.

 

We didn’t see too much from Rod Stewart, Queen, Roxy Music, 10cc or even Leo Sayer in 1975, but they did make their presence felt when needed, and they all enjoyed best-selling albums, as though they were deigning to pay pop music a visit. Only “Bye Bye Baby” outsold “Sailing” this year. In the cases of Queen and 10cc they gave us astounding six-minute multi-part singles which threatened to redefine what was possible in pop music. “Bohemian Rhapsody” seems to arrive at a peak which the Sweet found themselves unable to reach.

 

Perhaps most remarkable was the return of Abba – one Eurovision number one in 1974, then three relative flops, but they turned themselves around and came back with intelligent and inventively-constructed pop songs. 1976 is likely to provide further proof that they have escaped the Eurovision curse.

 

If anything, the album charts seemed divided right down the middle. The year’s best-selling album was the compilation The Best Of The Stylistics – having had their care transferred from Thom Bell to Hugo and Luigi, the group became an easy listening cabaret act, forever on The Two Ronnies, and more popular in Britain than ever. But The Best Of The Stylistics focuses almost exclusively on their work with Bell, and is pure magic. I am not sure how good a second Best Of would be.

 

Otherwise it was either ROCK – Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Status Quo – or middle of the road. From the latter perspective, The Carpenters were perhaps unique in enjoying major success in both the single and album charts, but you would search the Top 30 in vain for songs by Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Perry Como and Jim Reeves, all of whom made number one with greatest hits albums heavily advertised on television. In the latter two cases that meant forty-track double albums. My parents bought the Perry Como one and you smile superficially but it’s pretty heavy going at times. The only act who might qualify for membership in both camps is Wings (fans of Humperdinck and to a lesser extent David Cassidy – the latter tried a credibility comeback this year, with limited success - may be transferring en masse to Barry Manilow).

 

There was of course plenty of what you might call MoR in the singles charts, and nearly all of it was because of television – Tammy Jones from Opportunity Knocks, Windsor Davies and Don Estelle from It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Mike Batt and the New Edition from Seaside Special (the Wombles were just about managing still to get mid-chart hits, although their guitarist Chris Spedding did commercially better than them on his own in 1975), Telly Savalas from Kojak, Stephanie de Sykes from Crossroads (Julie Forsyth of Guys ‘N’ Dolls, who didn’t become the new New Seekers, is the daughter of Bruce, and in any case “There’s A Whole Lot Of Loving” originated from a McVitie’s commercial). As usual, there were also too many oldies being re-released, largely because of Noel Edmonds’ “saddest song” campaign on Radio 1. What did “Honey” or “Sealed With A Kiss” otherwise have to do with 1975 – although it was startling in a good way to see “Stand By Your Man,” recorded in 1968, suddenly go to number one here. In West Central Scotland country is the biggest music there is. Folk don’t appreciate just how big a song like Freddy Fender’s “Before The Next Teardrop Falls” is up here, and our biggest singing star Sydney Devine from Cleland is a country singer. All that having been said, though, there isn’t yet much call for the work of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Guy Clark or Emmylou Harris in Uddingston (the commercial success of “Blanket On The Ground” and “Rhinestone Cowboy” would seem to suggest that pop with country touches is more immediately attractive to buyers than unadulterated country).

 

There was also far too much irritating novelty. Comedy records that went out of their way to be unfunny – the increasingly embarrassing recordings of the Goodies mirror the decline of their TV show - and outright nauseating things like “Barbados” and “Big 10” (there’s more genuine sexuality in any given second of “Lady Marmalade” than in the whole of Judge Dread’s catalogue. Even two-hit wonders Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes are better than him). The best comedy hits were actually very funny (it was good to see Laurel and Hardy get so high in the charts), and one of 1975’s more encouraging trends saw regional folk singers becoming successful comedians – Billy Connolly is already a superstar in Scotland, of course, but it was good to see him finally crossing over down South this year; and there were also Mike Harding from Rochdale, Jasper Carrott from Birmingham and, with a number one album, Max Boyce from Glamorgan! Yet too many of the funnies veered towards funny peculiar rather than funny ha-ha.

 

I also have to mention Bruce Springsteen, one of about nine million “new Dylans.” But Born To Run – the album as well as the song – is spectacular. Everybody went on about how great an album Blood On The Tracks was but Dylan seems to be singing about his divorce and we already have Tammy Wynette and Billy Connolly for that – there’s nothing for young people here (the long-awaited official release of The Basement Tapes was much more interesting). That having been said, Horses by Patti Smith was a TOTAL knock-anybody-dead work of masterpiece art and never mind boring old Steve Lake in the Melody Maker – this is where music is going!

 

If you look at the singles charts of 1975, however, the overwhelming trend was disco and soul music, and it was a great year for both. The Miami scene might not extend beyond George McCrae, KC & the Sunshine Band and Betty Wright but it was still responsible for some wonderful music. The Philly Sound was in slight hibernation and Motown seemed to be going for the middle-aged cabaret audience. Barry White was maybe beginning to repeat himself. All Platinum started off well but rapidly fizzled out. But everything that did hit did so for a reason – it was providing the excitement, colour and life in music that pompous concept album rock wasn’t (apart from freak hits by Procol Harum, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band and Kraftwerk, and the perennial genial exception of Mike Oldfield, there was very little crossover from the latter, “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “I Believe In Father Christmas” notwithstanding). Even the Bee Gees were rescued from working men’s club obscurity by the need to dance. And what about “Disco Stomp” and “The Hustle,” not to mention the seamlessly-structured first side of Gloria Gaynor’s Never Can Say Goodbye L.P. – no pop music in 1975 sounded happier to be alive.

 

And the Northern Soul boom showed no hint of slackening off – even pastiche Northern Soul hits like “Footsee” and “Right Back Where We Started From” had their place. The reissued “Israelites” and smutty “Fattie Bum Bum” both outsold “No Woman, No Cry” – as did the three wretched Judge Dread hits - but the importance of Bob Marley will become more evident in the coming years. From the Continent the electronic future seems to be either Silver Convention or Kraftwerk (but why not have both?).

 

It is difficult to forecast where the charts will go in 1976. Expect more from Queen and Abba, certainly. There will be more disco hits, and the revitalised Four Seasons, who made a really spectacular comeback this year, should continue to prosper (as should Frankie Valli as a solo artist – although “Swearin’ To God” ought to have done a lot better here). More television novelty, more reissues, while everybody is waiting for something explosively new to occur – at present the “punk rock” movement in both the United States and Britain is only being written about; none of it seems to have yet been recorded. But I’m going to become twelve years old next month, and in August will be starting my second year at the Grammar, which I hope to heavens is going to be better than the first one is (so far)!

 

 

 

 

 

6 December

 

RUBETTES: Little Darling/Miss Goodie Two Shoes (State Records STAT 13)

 

 

 

Curious record that seems to start off like the modern-day Drifters (“Down On The Beach Tonight”) with Thom Bell sitar, then tries very hard not to be “Sugar Baby Love” while at the same time trying extremely hard to be Brian Wilson. There is a vague First Class autumnal veneer but ultimately the song doesn’t really know what it wants to be.

 

 

 

THE DRIFTERS: Can I Take You Home Little Girl/Please Help Me Down (Bell 1462)

 

 

 

The ageing boys go light (very light) reggae with an odious lyric that begs you to ring 999 and ask for the police.

 

 

BOWIE: Golden Years/Can You Hear Me (RCA Victor RCA 2640)

 

 

 

Forget “Space Oddity”- this is where "Bowie," as RCA apparently want him to be known again, actually is in 1975 and it sounds to me like a seamless and flawless pop record, down to the harmonica and whistling. The singer has never sounded more emotionally committed, his band never funkier, and the performance plays tricks with timing and perspective that make most mainstream pop music sound like singalong sessions in primary school. It’s a real shame RCA has probably already spiked its commercial potential with the Major Tom reissue, because this would otherwise most likely have succeeded “Bohemian Rhapsody” in the number one slot. This new Bowie album already sounds like a masterpiece in waiting.

 

 

 

CHUBBY CHECKER: Let’s Twist Again/The Twist (London HLU 10512)

 

 

 

Following the success of John Asher, the original has inevitably stormed its way back into the charts, and the strange thing about its presence here – given that the whole Twist revival has basically been initiated by James Hamilton, Chris Hill and other DJs – is how natural it sounds in the context of “The Hustle” and “Disco Stomp” as if to say; huh, well you got along OK with dance music before the Beatles came, here’s your second chance! This year has been about nothing if it hasn’t been all about dancing, and if you dip to “El Bimbo” you should have no trouble twisting. It’s as if an ancient but concealed order is reasserting itself.

 

 

 

13 December

 

ELVIS PRESLEY: Green Green Grass Of Home/Thinking About You (RCA Victor RCA 2635)

 

 

 

More Jerry Lee Lewis than Tom Jones with some enterprising slide guitar work but still too slushy and not remotely exciting or what young people need in the mid-seventies. They’ll love it in Viewpark.

 

 

 

KEN DODD: Think Of Me (Wherever You Are)/Togetherness (EMI 2342)

 

 

 

Away from the charts for three years but he is plugging this waltzing weepie every flipping week on his Friday TV show. Not funny, poignant or even memorable. One for sentimental but unfussy grandmothers.

 

 

 

10cc: Art For Arts (sic) Sake/Get It While You Can (Mercury 6008 017)

 

 

 

Wisely not attempting a second “I’m Not In Love,” they instead retreat to the sardonic art-rock of “Wall Street Shuffle,” though intervening experience has sharpened their lyrical acuity and expanded their musical palette. Endlessly inventive, always turning where you wouldn’t expect, and yet still catchy; likely top five after Christmas.

 

 

 

ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW: Wide-Eyed And Legless/Grease It Up (A&M AMS 7202)

 

 

 

You don’t see the Amen Corner man in the charts too often, but he has quietly got on with doing absolutely his own thing, and this is a lovely, limpid Sauciehall Street ballad about being drunk, like Leo Sayer’s wise uncle (although I think Andy may be slightly younger than Leo!). Beautifully arranged and produced (by Glyn Johns), it just makes you want to stop trying things and content yourself with luxuriating instead. Even though Andy’s a Welshman, this is a peculiarly Glaswegian-sounding record – at times he comes across like a mellower Alex Harvey. Genuinely classy pop.

 

 

 

DAVID ESSEX: If I Could/Funfair (CBS 3776)

 

 

 

Those who only know David Essex through his singles – and his really is one of the strangest run of pop singles in the seventies so far – should be aware that his albums are even stranger. “If I Could” is, I’d say, more of an album track than a single, so probably won’t do as well as “Hold Me Close” but it sounds intimate and touching enough as a ballad to conceal something that is probably a lot more sinister. The closing synthesised coda – like a Lionel Bart dream evaporating into sharply harsh splinters - would not have been out of place on an Eno or Gavin Bryars record. The younger Stanley Holloway singing to himself on Mars.

 

 

 

JUDGE DREAD: Christmas In Dreadland/Come Outside (Cactus CT 80)

 

 

 

So relentlessly trashy and vulgar it makes Carry On Henry look like Citizen Kane.

 

 

 

CHRIS HILL: Renta Santa/RENTAGROUP: (It’s Gonna Be) A Merry Xmas Day (Philips 6006 491)

 

 

 

Whereas this is actually funny and very cleverly done; a Dickie Goodman-style cut-up of recent hits (all conveniently performed by Phonogram artists) that should easily make the top ten.

 

 

 

GREG LAKE: I Believe In Father Christmas/Humbug (Manticore K 13511)

 

 

 

But this sounds like the most remarkable and frightening Christmas single ever made. ELP don’t usually bother with singles but Lake – with lyricist and former King Crimson colleague Pete Sinfield, and with more than a little help from Prokofiev – sings this highly cynical yet heartfelt diatribe against what humanity and commercialisation have done to the season. His performance is sinister and unapologetically unsentimental, as the music builds up to an apocalyptic orchestral and choral climax behind him – in its manner, as uncompromising as the closing section of side one of Oldfield’s Ommadawn – and when he intones “HELL” he sounds as though he is escorting, or possibly pushing, the human race into that pit. “The Christmas we get we deserve,” he concludes before being devoured, although that “we” might by the sound of things actually be “you.” What a Christmas number one this would be, even though it seems to scream, placidly, DON’T BUY RECORDS.

 

 

 

20 December

 

THE FATBACK BAND: (Are You Ready)/Do The Bus Stop/Gotta Learn How To Dance (Polydor 2066 637)

 

 

 

Fundamental clavinet/wah-wah driven funk. Does pretty much the same thing all the way through but if you’re on the dance floor you won’t be worrying about that.

 

 

 

THE SMALL FACES: Itchycoo Park/My Way Of Giving (Immediate IMS 102)

 

 

 

No idea why this is out again other than that the label’s reissue of Chris Farlowe’s “Out Of Time” got cancelled out by Dan McCafferty’s cover and the Stones original. This psychedelic vaudeville romp is only eight years old but already sounds like it comes from another century.

 

 

 

THE GOODIES: Make A Daft Noise For Christmas/(A Goodies Disco Special) Last Chance Dance (Bradley’s Records BRAD 7533)

 

 

 

Musically this isn’t far away from “Do The Bus Stop,” though with American swing replaced by British stolidity. But my father lost his temper with this one. “FOR F**K’S SAKE, YOU TRAINED AS DOCTORS, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO PAY BACK ALL THE MONEY WE WASTED ON YOUR EDUCATION?!” he screamed at the TV. Two-week-old babies would frankly be insulted by this.

 

 

 

SAILOR: A Glass Of Champagne/Panama (Epic EPC 3770)

 

 

 

This is like a cleaned-up “Virginia Plain” without all the weird bits (also known as the good bits). Sort of Chicory Tip via Hot Butter with mannered art school vocals (not as mannered as Ferry, but nowhere near as good either). This will undoubtedly be a big hit but how many more will they have?

 

 

 

DANA: It’s Gonna Be A Cold Cold Christmas/The Goodbye Song (GTO GT 45)

 

 

 

Aiming for her biggest hit since “All Kinds Of Everything,” Geoff Stephens and Roger Greenaway do their middle-of-the-road best to get everybody singing along with cheerful gloom throughout the holiday season.

 

 

 

 

27 December

 

BILL HOWARD: King Of The Cops/Bond Is A Four Letter Word (Penny Farthing PEN 892)

 

 

 

Impressionist does all the TV cops – Columbo, McCloud, Cannon etc. – to Roger Miller’s tune. He’s actually very good at all the voices – technically it’s a lot harder than it might sound – and the record is genuinely funny, as well as making a barbed comment about the Telly Savalas hit.

 

 

 

ABBA: Mamma Mia/Tropical Loveland (Epic EPC 3790)

 

 

 

A slow commercial start for the follow-up to “SOS” but this is nevertheless a very smartly-choreographed uptempo pop record; one step away from bubblegum but when was that ever a bad thing? Lots of quick-change across-channel vocal forays, rhetorical yet completely charming. Once we get past Christmas this one should really take off.

 

 

 

MIKE OLDFIELD: In Dulci Jubilo/On Horseback (Virgin VS 131)

 

 

 

Brisk “Good Christian Men Rejoice” recorder/guitar/drums-led seasonal instrumental, backed with the hilarious finale to Ommadawn, complete with deliberately corny sound-effects and the speaking Oldfield sounding remarkably like Tommy Cooper.