Popular ’75
The first in what will be a regular run of reader participation features – one each time we reach the end of a year.
As you know, I give a mark out of 10 to each track. The rough expectation, over the course of 56+ years of #s, is that the number I give 1-5 to will roughly equal the number I give 6-10 to – but we will see. ANYWAY, at the end of every year I’m going to run a poll (below the cut) so you can have your say. All you have to do is vote for the ones you would have given 6 or more to (by whatever criteria you yourself would choose).
In other words – tick the ones you like! And, if you want, use the comments box for more general thoughts on the year and its qualities – what the list reflected, what it missed, and so on.
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Tom in FT /Popular • Pop/popular year poll • 2,618 views
I am glad someone found it in their hearts to vote for Telly!
when i worked at wuxtry the telly album was always in the ‘now playing’ slot regardless of what was actually playing. still haven’t heard that telly track but his ‘i shall be released’ works well enough, his voice like some amalgam of nashville skyline dylan and johnny cash.
Space Oddity seems like a surprisingly rockist front runner.
happened to glance back at this and was a bit ashamed to realise i forgot to vote for Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)thus robbing it of it’s rightful 2nd place position…
That’s funny, it says I didn’t vote for 10cc, but I’m convinced I did.
The phantom NME Chart number ones of 1975; The Streets Of London, Please Mr Postman, Honey, Loving You, Moonlighting, You Sexy Thing. A lot of discrepancies between the two charts that year.
For a sense of context, here’s the same chart seen upside down. These are the singles that peaked at number 40 in the same chart in 1975;
8 Feb 60 Minute Man – The Trammps – 1 week
29 Mar My Man & Me – Lynsey De Paul – 1
12 Jul Long Lost Lover – The 3 Degrees – 1
20 Sep Yum Yum – The Fatback Band – 1
NME Readers’ poll for 1975 – ‘Best single’ category;
1. Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
2. 10CC – I’m Not In Love
3. Bob Marley – No Woman, No Cry
4. Greg Lake – I Believe In Father Christmas
5. Led Zeppelin – Trampled Underfoot
6. David Bowie – Golden Years
7. Rod Stewart – Sailing
8. Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
9. David Bowie – Fame
10. Roxy Music – Love Is The Drug
Post-Clough Derby County won the league, their season ending with a goalless draw against relegated Carlisle. That’s from memory, but my memories of the 1975 pop year are of a similar non-event. You don’t have to be under 40, Tom, to think that it was a poor year. And if Jim Capaldi’s Love Hurts made it into NME’s Top 20 singles of the year, that shows how little was happening underground.
(Somebody there probably got one of the white label/press kits of Big Star’s Sister Lovers, though.)
As with 1960, it was a year of novelties (Running Bear, Whispering Grass) and lack of direction due to a major boom (R&R, Glam) imploding with surprising rapidity (no deaths or prison – yet – for the Glam heroes, though, so less obvious explanation). Kenny’s Fancy Pants and Hello’s New York Groove were great pop 45s, but no rivals to Hell Raiser or Cum On Feel The Noize.
Studio technology to blame? There’s a distinct thinness of sound and a squeakily dry, reverb-free sound on ’75 recordings. Think of Ian Hunter’s Once Bitten Twice Shy and compare it to Mott’s Roll Away The Stone; Roy wood’s Oh What A Shame vs Angel Fingers, Hold Me Close vs Rock On. I should understand the reason for this, but I don’t.
Oh, I see that the ‘Barbados’ forum is still closed… But I still thought that you might rather enjoy Pan’s People’s Christmas TOTP interpretation;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FjWmUsp73Y
1975′s US number ones in full:
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds – Elton John
Mandy – Barry Manilow
Please Mr Postman – The Carpenters
Laughter In The Rain – Neil Sedaka
Fire – Ohio Players
You’re No Good – Linda Ronstadt
Pick Up The Pieces – Average White Band
Best Of My Love – The Eagles
Have You Never Been Mellow – Olivia Newton John
Black Water – Doobie Brothers
My Eyes Adored You – Frankie Valli
Lady Marmalade – Labelle
Lovin’ You – Minnie Riperton
Philadelphia Freedom – Elton John
Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song – BJ Thomas
He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You) – Tony Orlando & Dawn
Shining Star – Earth Wind & Fire
Before The Next Teardrop Falls – Freddy Fender
Thank God I’m A Country Boy – John Denver
Sister Golden Hair – America
Love Will Keep Us Together – Captain & Tennille
Listen To What The Man Said – Wings
The Hustle – Van McCoy
One Of These Nights – The Eagles
Jive Talkin’ – The Bee Gees
Fallin’ In Love – Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds
Get Down Tonight – KC & The Sunshine Band
Rhinestone Cowboy – Gen Campbell
Fame – David Bowie
I’m Sorry/Calypso – John Denver
Bad Blood – Neil Sedaka
Island Girl – Elton John
That’s The Way I Like It – KC & The Sunshine Band
Fly Robin Fly – Silver Convention
Let’s Do It Again – Staple Singers
A whacking great 14 of these never even reached the UK Top 50. BJ Thomas’s lovely lazy thing was a Radio 2 staple, but Bad Blood? Fire? Fallin’ In Love? Don’t think I’ve ever heard these, on the radio or anywhere. Disco taking a grip late in the year, and some real corkers.
Isn’t it odd that John Denver only had one (monster) hit in the UK? Four number ones in the US; nothing wrong with I’m Sorry, or his Jacques Cousteau tribute Calypso.
Well, howdy again.
Many thanks indeed to the divine Lena for keeping everybody here abreast of my condition and indeed for ringing for the ambulance in the first place, without which Punctum would have been consigned to the next world for sure. Also many thanks for all the kind comments which have arisen in my absence; these certainly made my stair exercises (and making-the-tea exercises too! No slacking in world-class stroke units, that’s for definite, although both the wobbleboard and wobble cushion happily eluded me, as did the more gruesome exercises referred to by Rosie elsewhere – my main hassle was being bothered by earnest staff to participate in surveys or research/data collection studies!).
Happily I am now safely enconsced back home at Punctum Towers and continue to make a great recovery, although I have been reminded in no uncertain terms by the distinguished neurologists who have followed me up that it’ll be early doors for Punctum if I do not radically change my ways. Next time I might not be so lucky.
Getting back to work on TPL has been good therapy (and helped me to work with a computer again) so without further ado I present the latest chapter:
http://nobilliards.blogspot.com/2012/01/led-zeppelin-physical-graffi.html
Welcome back to you – and welcome back to TPL. Glad to see you’re ploughing on.
Yay! Fantastic news!
Welcome back to the Green Dome, Marcello!
Great to have you back on board!
A hearty welcome back, and our thanks to Lena too. And you’ve been eased back into the routine with some nice MOR music I see!
Welcome home, MC
TPL does its second double album in a week, though this one is perhaps schmaltzier than the previous one.
Good stuff. I have always secretly hoped that there is a late 60s Tom Jones album out there full of funky soul material in the vein of “Looking Out My Window”. But it probably doesn’t exist.
(P.S. Tried posting this on your blog but I couldn’t get OpenID to work)
Happy Birthday MC!
Re 45: I remember Live At The Talk Of The Town being quite full-on by Tom Jones’ standards.
His version of ‘Land Of A Thousand Dances’ (on the b-side of the ‘It’s Not Unusual’1980′s 12inch)is pretty intense sixties soul – probably the kind of stuff Otis Redding was on about when he called him the greatest white soul singer.
His “On Stage” ep is also great stuff.
TPL moves on to present the year’s biggest seller.
TPL update: http://nobilliards.blogspot.com/2012/02/wings-venus-and-mars.html
TPL: not exactly a laugh a minute, this album, but it’s one of the best I’ve written about for some time. Who’d have thought it?
TPL: even when you have one foot planted at home, you really can’t go home again.
One of the MAJOR TPL posts, I think it safe to say, all 3,922 words of it.
TPL: this post worked out as only 31 words shorter than the Wish You Were Here one, but there was a lot to get in, and not just the forty songs the album contains.
TPL: not the only “comedy” number one album – it’s about rather more than that.
TPL: what does a crooner know who only crooning knows?
And so TPL finally staggers to the end of 1975; and, of course, the last entry is also the most important one.