Billboard published a weekly chart in 1975 ranking the top-performing singles in the United States in soul music and related African American-oriented genres; the chart has undergone various name changes over the decades to reflect the evolution of black music and since 2005 has been published as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. [1] In 1975, it was published under the title Hot Soul Singles, [2] and 43 different singles reached number one.
The rapid turnover of number ones during the year meant that 1975 had the highest number of chart-topping singles in a calendar year since Billboard launched a combined sales and airplay chart for black music in 1958. [3] Only eight singles spent more than one week at number one, including one which spent two non-consecutive weeks in the peak position. The year's longest-running number one was "Fight the Power (Part 1)" by the Isley Brothers, which spent three consecutive weeks atop the chart in July and August. The Ohio Players spent the highest total number of weeks at number one of any act, with four weeks in the peak position. The group was the only act to achieve three number ones during the year; Al Green, KC & the Sunshine Band, the O'Jays, the Temptations and Barry White each took two singles to number one.
"Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas had already spent time at number one on Billboard's Hot 100 pop singles chart in late 1974 [4] [5] and reached the pinnacle of the soul listing in January 1975; it was among ten of 1975's soul chart-toppers to also reach the peak position on the Hot 100. Labelle, Earth, Wind & Fire, Van McCoy & the Soul City Symphony, Silver Convention and the Staple Singers each took a single to number one on both charts during 1975. [6] The Ohio Players reached the summit of both charts during 1975 with "Fire", and their single "Love Rollercoaster", which was the final soul number one of 1975, would go on top the Hot 100 in early 1976. [6] [7] KC & the Sunshine Band also released two singles in 1975 which topped both charts: "Get Down Tonight" and "That's the Way (I Like It)". [6] The former song was the first soul number one for the group, [8] which would go on to be one of the leading acts in the disco genre before that style fell from favor at the end of the 1970s. [9] [10] [11] Several acts who would go on to experience long and successful chart careers reached number one on the listing for the first time in 1975, including the Pointer Sisters and Earth, Wind & Fire. [12] Conversely, acts including Shirley & Company, Major Harris and New Birth gained the only number ones of their respective careers during the year and would achieve only moderate further success in chart terms. [13]
† | Indicates number 1 on Billboard's year-end soul chart [14] |
"Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" is a song recorded by Neil Sedaka, co-written by Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. Sedaka recorded this song twice, in 1962 and 1975, in two significantly different arrangements, and it is considered to be his signature song. Between 1970 and 1975, it was a top-40 hit three separate times for three separate artists: Lenny Welch, The Partridge Family and Sedaka's second version.
"Love on a Two-Way Street" is a soul ballad written by Sylvia Robinson and Bert Keyes in 1968. The song was originally recorded by Lezli Valentine, an artist signed to All Platinum, the record label that Sylvia Robinson co-owned with her husband, Joe. The song was then recorded by The Moments, an R&B vocal group signed to All Platinum subsidiary Stang Records, as filler for their 1968 album Not on the Outside, But on the Inside, Strong!. Sylvia and Joe decided to release the song as a single in March 1970 and it went on to become one of the biggest R&B hits of that year, spending five weeks at number one on Billboard's Soul Singles chart and reaching number three on the Hot 100 chart. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 25 song of 1970. It was also certified gold by the RIAA for sales of one million copies.
"Do It Baby" is a 1974 single recorded and released by the Motown R&B group The Miracles. The song was taken from the album of the same name, and written by Motown staff songwriters Freddie Perren and Christine Yarian and produced by Perren.