While received wisdom among pop pundits is that 1975 was merely the calm before the following year’s Punk-instigated storm, there was plenty of vibrant, vital music being made in Britain and Ireland during that largely overlooked 12-month period.
Roxy Music, 10cc and ELO were still firing on all cylinders, Thin Lizzy and post-Free act Bad Company were emerging as prime contenders for stardom, Hawkwind remained linchpins of the still-thriving free festival circuit, and cult live performers The Sensational Alex Harvey Band unexpectedly achieved Top Ten singles success after covering a melodramatic Tom Jones’ ballad.
The London-based pub Rock scene housed the likes of Ace, Brinsley Schwartz, The Kursaal Flyers and the game-changing Dr. Feelgood, successful Glam-era bands like Slade and Sweet were still producing the goods, while a handful of 60s stalwarts – Manfred Mann, The Pretty Things, The Kinks – were updating their sound to appeal to a new generation of record-buyers.
All these and more are documented in “Lazy Days,” a four-hour, 3xCD boxed set that, like every other release in the series, includes a 48-page booklet with photos, cuttings and the story behind each song.
– Latest instalment of Grapefruit‘s acclaimed year-by-year overview of the British Rock and Pop scenes of the 70s.
– A compendium of hit singles, intriguing misses, cult classics and key album tracks from 1975.
Pre-Order here: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/lazy-days-the-british-progressive-pop-sounds-of-1975-various-artists-3cd-box-set
Tracklist:
DISC ONE
1 GOOD LOVIN’ GONE BAD – Bad Company
2 IMAGINE ME, IMAGINE YOU – Fox
3 RIGHT OR WRONG – Stealers Wheel
4 IN FOR A PENNY – Slade
5 WILD ONE – Thin Lizzy
6 MY WHITE BICYCLE – Nazareth
7 RIDING FOR A FALL – Moonrider
8 EVERYBODY’S A STAR (STARMAKER) – The Kinks
9 PRECIOUS LOVE – Stray
10 JEAN COCTEAU – Be Bop Deluxe
11 BOTH ENDS BURNING – Roxy Music
12 BLUE GUITAR – Justin Hayward & John Lodge
13 GOOD NEWS – 10cc
14 EVIL WOMAN – Electric Light Orchestra
15 DAN THE PLAN – Alan Hull
16 BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME? – Ronnie Lane
17 I’LL REGRET IT ALL IN THE MORNING – Richard & Linda Thompson
18 CAROL – Al Stewart
19 AIN’T GONNA STAND FOR THIS NO MORE (single version) – Ace
20 A WHOLE POT OF JELLY (FOR A LITTLE SLICE OF TOAST) – Pete Wingfield
21 PRIVATE NUMBER – Babe Ruth
DISC TWO
1 FOX ON THE RUN (single version) – Sweet
2 WON’T GET BURNED AGAIN – David Essex
3 IN THE FUTURE – Sparks
4 NOTHING TO DO WITH US – Jet
5 YOU GO TO MY HEAD – Bryan Ferry
6 FRONTERA – Phil Manzanera
7 SHARE IT – Hatfield And The North
8 STUCK IN A HOLE – Caravan
9 GO AND SIT UPON THE GRASS – Ivor Cutler
10 SAD SING – Tom Newman
11 RUN BILLY RUN – The Shadows
12 HEARD IT ALL BEFORE – Pilot
13 HIGHBURY INCIDENT (RAINY JULY MORNING) – Stackridge
14 TITLES – Barclay James Harvest
15 SOMEONE TO LOVE – Speedy Keen
16 HIT RECORDS – Kursaal Flyers
17 LONELY EYES – Method
18 SUMMER SONG – Clive John
19 BLUE EYED BOY – Heavy Metal Kids
20 DELILAH (live) – The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
21 RAINGAME – Streetwalkers
22 ARMS OF MARY – Sutherland Brothers & Quiver
23 THERE’S A CLOUD IN MY HEART – The Brinsleys
DISC THREE
1 ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY (single edit) – Ian Hunter
2 PLAY DON’T WORRY – Mick Ronson
3 BY TONIGHT – Mott
4 RUNNING THROUGH THE CITY – Brian Protheroe
5 SPIRITS IN THE NIGHT (single edit) – Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
6 MINSTREL IN THE GALLERY (single edit) – Jethro Tull
7 HIGHFLY – John Miles
8 TAKE IT AWAY – Kestrel
9 SAD EYE – Pretty Things
10 TRUST IN DICK – The Winkies
11 HARD TIMES – Peter Skellern
12 L’HIPPIE NATIONALE – The Neutrons
13 MR. RAFFLES (MAN IT WAS MEAN) – Steve Harley/ Cockney Rebel
14 LA MAISON DE L’AMOUR – Son-Of-A-Gun
15 MAD DOG (single mix) – John Entwistle’s Ox
16 KINGS OF SPEED – Hawkwind
17 ODD MAN OUT – Agnes Strange
18 SHOOT SHOOT – UFO
19 LAZY DAY – Oddsocks
20 BACK IN THE NIGHT – Dr. Feelgood
21 BIRTHDAY SPECIAL – Peter Hammill
