List of Hot Soul Singles number ones of 1975

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.

Singers The Pointer Sisters
The Pointer Sisters gained their first number one with "How Long (Betcha' Got a Chick on the Side)".

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]

Chart history

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Natalie Cole (left, pictured with her sister Carole), had one of the few number ones to spend more than a single week in the top spot.
 
Al Green had two number ones in 1975.
 
The Staple Singers, pictured with TV host Don Cornelius (second right)) topped the chart with "Let's Do It Again", which also topped the Hot 100.
 
Labelle topped both the soul chart and the Hot 100 with "Lady Marmalade".
Key
Indicates number 1 on Billboard's year-end soul chart[14]
Chart history
Issue date Title Artist(s) Ref.
January 4 "Boogie On Reggae Woman" Stevie Wonder [15]
January 11 "Kung Fu Fighting" Carl Douglas [16]
January 18 "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" Barry White [17]
January 25 "Fire" The Ohio Players [18]
February 1 [19]
February 8 "Happy People" The Temptations [20]
February 15 "I Belong to You" Love Unlimited [21]
February 22 "Lady Marmalade" Labelle [22]
March 1 "Shame, Shame, Shame" Shirley & Company [23]
March 8 "Express" B. T. Express [24]
March 15 "Supernatural Thing (Part I)" Ben E. King [25]
March 22 "Shining Star" Earth, Wind & Fire [26]
March 29 [27]
April 5 "Shoeshine Boy" Eddie Kendricks [28]
April 12 "L-O-V-E (Love)" Al Green [29]
April 19 [30]
April 26 "Shakey Ground" The Temptations [31]
May 3 "What Am I Gonna Do With You" Barry White [32]
May 10 "Get Down, Get Down (Get on the Floor)" Joe Simon [33]
May 17 [34]
May 24 "Baby That's Backatcha" Smokey Robinson [35]
May 31 "Spirit of the Boogie" Kool & the Gang [36]
June 7 "Love Won't Let Me Wait" Major Harris [37]
June 14 "Rockin' Chair" Gwen McCrae [38]
June 21 "Give the People What They Want" The O'Jays [39]
June 28 "Look at Me (I'm in Love)" The Moments [40]
July 5 "Slippery When Wet" Commodores [41]
July 12 "The Hustle" Van McCoy & the Soul City Symphony [42]
July 19 "Fight the Power (Part 1)" † The Isley Brothers [43]
July 26 [44]
August 2 [45]
August 9 "Hope That We Can Be Together Soon" Sharon Paige & Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes [46]
August 16 "Dream Merchant" New Birth [47]
August 23 "Get Down Tonight" KC & the Sunshine Band [48]
August 30 "Your Love" Graham Central Station [49]
September 6 "How Long (Betcha' Got a Chick on the Side)" The Pointer Sisters [50]
September 13 [51]
September 20 "It Only Takes a Minute" Tavares [52]
September 27 "Do It Any Way You Wanna" People's Choice [53]
October 4 "This Will Be" Natalie Cole [54]
October 11 [55]
October 18 "They Just Can't Stop It the (Games People Play)" The Spinners [56]
October 25 "To Each His Own" Faith Hope and Charity [57]
November 1 "Sweet Sticky Thing" The Ohio Players [58]
November 8 "Low Rider" War [59]
November 15 "Fly, Robin, Fly" Silver Convention [60]
November 22 "Let's Do It Again" The Staple Singers [61]
November 29 "That's the Way (I Like It)" KC & the Sunshine Band [62]
December 6 "I Love Music (Part 1)" The O'Jays [63]
December 13 "Let's Do It Again" The Staple Singers [64]
December 20 "Full of Fire" Al Green [65]
December 27 "Love Rollercoaster" The Ohio Players [66]

See also

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References

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  2. ^ Whitburn 1996, p. xii.
  3. ^ Whitburn 1988, pp. 600–606.
  4. ^ Whitburn 1983, p. 5.
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  8. ^ Whitburn 1988, p. 233.
  9. ^ Kallen 2012, pp. 77–79.
  10. ^ Whitburn 1988, pp. 132, 331.
  11. ^ Whitburn 1988, pp. 181, 305, 372.
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Works cited

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