The Great Class of 1975

New music fans may wonder why older people say music was so great in the 60's and 70's.  It was not only the complexity of the music and lyrics, but the fact that many artists in those days didn't just have one hit and fade away forever.

Certainly 1975 had its share of One-Hit Wonders, but even those are among the greatest of the Rock Era, as you'll see in our presentation of The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era* soon on Inside the Rock Era. 

Here are some of the top artists who enjoyed their first big hit in 1975.  There are some incredible songs for artists enjoying their first hit all in the same year.  You'll note that several of them became some of the top superstars of the Rock Era:

 

Queen

Their first single, "Killer Queen", only reached #12 in 1975, but this English group became superstars in short order.  Responsible for classics such as "Bohemian Rhapsody", "We Are the Champions", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Another One Bites the Dust", Queen was one of the rulers of the music world through 1993, scoring 27 hits.

 

Styx

This band from the windy city of Chicago enjoyed their first hit in 1975 with the great "Lady".  Many of their early albums contained their best music, even though it took several years for them to become superstars.  They were magnificent in those early years, and went on to score 23 hits, with 8 of those reaching the Top 10.

 

Barry Manilow

Certainly one of the most successful of the newcomers from 1975, he hit #1 with "Mandy" and never looked back.  The former accompaniest and producer of Bette Midler, Manilow had 28 hits in his spectacular career, including three #1's and 11 Top 10's.  Manilow is still going strong 38 years later as one of the major performers in Las Vegas, Nevada.

ELO

This group had enjoyed minor success with songs like "Roll Over Beethoven", but in 1975, they scored their first big hit with "Can't Get It Out of My Head", which gave them a #9 song.  What an incredible group they became.  They racked up 27 career hits with 7 of those reaching the Top 10. 

ZZ Top

This fun-loving trio from Texas are among the great live performers of the Rock Era and you can still catch their act.  They had the underrated "La Grange" in 1974, but scored their first big hit with "Tush" in 1975.  They finished with 17 career hits including "Legs", "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Gimme All Your Lovin'".

Captain & Tennille

One of the most successful of the new acts in 1975, they used to be backing musicians for the Beach Boys before launching their own career.  The hit #1 in 1975 with "Love Will Keep Us Together" and also landed a big hit with "The Way I Want to Touch You".  The popular husband and wife team also went on to host their own television variety series and went on to score 14 hits.

Natalie Cole

The daughter of the legendary Nat, Natalie became a big star in her own right, winning the Best New Artist Grammy Award following her first album in 1975.  Natalie hit #6 with "This Will Be" that year, then enjoyed 16 other hits, including 5 Top 10's.

K.C. & the Sunshine Band

Success is often timing, and this former D.J. and his band certainly had that.  They hit #1 twice in 1975 with "Get Down Tonight" and "That's the Way (I Like It)".

Leo Sayer

This English artist hit #9 with his first single--"Long Tall Glasses".  He gave us nine other hits in his career through 1981 including the smashes "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing", "When I Need You" and "More Than I Can Say".

Bay City Rollers

One of the top acts to ever come out of Scotland, Rollermania was alive and well.  They hit #1 with their first single, "Saturday Night", and scored eight hits through 1977.

Ambrosia

This great group from L.A. put out a great sound.  Their first single from 1975, "Holdin' On To Yesterday" only reached #17, but don't let that fool you; it's one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.  They later scored big with "How Much I Feel", "Biggest Part of Me" and "You're The Only Woman".

Average White Band

This unique group, a group of musicians from Scotland, hit #1 with "Pick Up the Pieces" in 1975, their first single.  They went on to score seven career hits.

Gloria Gaynor

Gaynor landed at #9 with her remake of the Jackson Five hit "Never Can Say Goodbye".  She enjoyed five minor hits through 1979, but gave us one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era* in "I Will Survive".

Hot Chocolate

You listen to "Emma", this group's first single which hit #8 in 1975, and it's obvious they were going to be a unique group--what a great sound!  They also scored big later with "You Sexy Thing" and "Every 1's A Winner" and were big stars in Europe.

Jigsaw

The group from England hit #3 with their first single "Sky High" in 1975.  They had three other charting singles in their career.

Sammy Johns

Another of the One-Hit Wonders from 1975, Sammy gave us "Chevy Van".

LaBelle

LaBelle burst unto the scene in 1975 with the incredible "Lady Marmalade", yet another #1 song from this great class of newcomers.  They were an amazing live act, as evidenced by their performance on The Midnight Special.  Patti LaBelle enjoyed a total of 17 hits in her career with several groups and as a solo performer.

Melissa Manchester

This talented former backup singer for Bette Midler also enjoyed her first hit in 1975 with "Midnight Blue".  She became another star, enjoying 15 charting singles through 1985.

Van McCoy

McCoy recorded one of The Top 100 Instrumentals of the Rock Era* in 1975 as a newcomer--"The Hustle".

Michael Murphey

Although "Wildfire" in 1975 was by far his biggest career hit, it is without a doubt one of the most beautiful songs of the Rock Era.  He had a minor hit with "Carolina in the Pines" and became a noted country performer.

Pilot

This group was another One-Hit Wonder, but that one hit was huge--a #5 song in the spring of 1975 that went gold.  They were one of several Scottish artists to explode onto the music scene in 1975.

Minnie Riperton

Riperton was another of the One-Hit Wonders, but her one hit was a beauty--the #1 song "Lovin' You".

Silver Convention

They scored two huge hits that were essentially instrumentals; the one that caught on in 1975 was "Fly, Robin, Fly".

Phoebe Snow

This gifted performer who was taken from us much too soon got to #5 with the great song "Poetry Man" in 1975.  It was the first single from the singer who first began performing in Greenwich Village, New York.  She teamed up with Paul Simon for "Gone At Last" later in the year, and also had three other charting singles.

Tavares

This soul group hit #10 with "It Only Takes A Minute" in 1975.  They also scored another big hit with "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel" later in their career, were featured prominently in one of the all-time top movies, Saturday Night Fever, scored big on the R&B chart, and landed 14 charted hits.