1975 was a very busy year… I graduated from high school in May and moved into my freshman dorm at Vanderbilt University by late August. 1975 was also my first full year of being a regular DJ on our college radio station, WRVU.
As the station’s music director that year, it was my responsibility to select all current and new music to play on the station. This week’s show is just a small sampling of what I had to choose from that year.
Also In 1975:
- Minimum wage in the U.S. was $2.10 per hour
- The average annual income was $14,816
- A new car cost $4,225
- You could build a new home for $39,300
- A loaf of bread was 36 cents
- A full-service gallon of gas was just 44 cents
- First Class postage was only 10 cents!
1975 World News Headlines:
- Margaret Thatcher became the first woman elected to lead Britain’s Conservative Party
- Egypt reopened the Suez Canal after being closed for eight years
- U.S. President Ford met with Philippine President Marcos to renew American use of strategic air and naval bases in the Philippines
- Saigon was captured by North Vietnamese troops and was renamed Ho Chi Minh City
- The first linkup of Soviet and American spacecraft in space occurred
- India launched its first satellite
1975 U.S. News Headlines:
- John Mitchell, H.R. Haldeman & John Erlichman were sentenced to prison for conspiring to obstruct justice in the Watergate investigation
- Work began on the Alaskan Oil Pipeline
- The busing of 21,000 students was ordered in Boston to achieve racial balance in public schools
- Former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa disappeared, and was presumed murdered
The top TV shows in 1975: All in the Family, Laverne & Shirley, Maude, The Bionic Woman, Sanford & Son, Rhoda, The Six Million Dollar Man, Happy Days, One Day at a Time, The Waltons, M*A*S*H*, Welcome Back Kotter, Starsky & Hutch, The Jeffersons, Saturday Night Live, and Mary Hartman Mary Hartman
Favorite movies from 1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Jaws, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Dog Day Afternoon, Barry Lyndon, Nashville, Tommy, Rollerball, Shampoo, Mahogany, The Eiger Sanction, The French Connection II, The Great Waldo Pepper, Funny Lady, The Sunshine Boys, and Rooster Cogburn.
Hear Progressive Rock and more from 1975 right now on both Live365 and TuneIn apps! Click below to listen and enjoy the memories!
And please send us feedback and your comments on the show. Thanks for listening!
– Fred