It was an awful tough call to come up with just five albums to highlight as we look back to the music released in March 1975. Every era has its classics, but artists were really rising to the occasion in this particular month.
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We chose a quintet of LPs that should give you an idea of the excellence to which music fans were privy at that time. The good news is they’re all out there for you to give them a listen yourselves.
Katy Lied by Steely Dan
This was the first album where Steely Dan was officially winnowed down to founders/songwriters Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. If anything, this change seemed to open them up to new musical avenues in that it freed the duo from being too beholden to the typical rock approach. Marvelously intricate and sneakily heartfelt mid-tempo songs like the title track and “Doctor Wu” were a direct result. The second side of this record is full of unheralded gems, including “Any World (That I’m Welcome To),” where Michael McDonald’s backing vocals really shine.
Between the Lines by Janis Ian
Ian’s career developed under the radar following her teenage success in the ‘60s. By the time Between the Lines rolled around, she fully understood the musical settings in which she thrived, which included everything from bluesy rock like “From Me to You” to torch songs such as “Bright Lights and Promises.” The hit “At Seventeen” has been justly praised for Ian’s fearless evocation of the pitfalls of being an outsider, while elegantly sad songs like “Tea and Sympathy” and “Lover’s Lullaby” are just as great. Quite simply a career peak from a generational artist.
Young Americans by David Bowie
Like most of the rest of the listening world, David Bowie fell in love with the soulful sounds emanating from Philadelphia in the mid-70s. Young Americans is his touching homage. It’s not his best-written collection of songs. But his devotion to the format ensures everything sounds suitably lush and romantic. And even if it’s lesser Bowie, you still get a great cover (“Across the Universe”), a forgotten album cut with a lot of spunk (“Somebody Up There Likes Me”), and two of his finest radio songs (the title track and the John Lennon-assisted “Fame”).
The Original Soundtrack by 10cc
Long adored in their native UK, 10cc received a huge boost in exposure and finances with the worldwide mega-single “I’m Not in Love.” Luckily, that led new fans to one of their finest records, one where the differing strengths of the band’s two songwriting teams were on full display. These guys could always pull off a humorous lyric with the best of them. But the key to this record’s success is the melodies of satires like “Life Is a Minestrone” and “The Second Sitting for the Last Supper” always rank high on the hummable meter.
Frampton by Peter Frampton
Peter Frampton’s career was on the commercial ropes coming into this record. The good news is he was able to deliver a solid set that, while it didn’t originally sell all that much, at least gave him enough momentum to take it out on tour. Then came Frampton Comes Alive! and suddenly the guy was a sensation. The studio versions of “Show Me the Way” and “Baby, I Love Your Way” stand up pretty well against the more well-known live takes. Overall, there’s an amiability and ease that flows through this record, and for that matter the man who created it, that makes it eminently likable.
Photo by Herb Ball/NBCU Photo Bank
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