Tamworth Bands History : 1975

UK Number Ones - 1975

Week Ending Act Title 18 Jan 1975 Status Quo Down Down 25 Jan 1975 Tymes Ms Grace 1 Feb 1975 Pilot January 22 Feb 1975 Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) 8 Mar 1975 Telly Savalas If 22 Mar 1975 Bay City Rollers Bye Bye Baby 3 May 1975 Mud Oh Boy 17 May 1975 Tammy Wynette Stand By Your Man 7 Jun 1975 Windsor Davies & Don Estelle Whispering Grass 28 Jun 1975 10 CC I'm Not In Love 12 Jul 1975 Johnny Nash Tears On My Pillow 19 Jul 1975 Bay City Rollers Give A Little Love 9 Aug 1975 Typically Tropical Barbados 16 Aug 1975 Stylistics Can't Give You Anything (But My Love) 6 Sep 1975 Rod Stewart Sailing 4 Oct 1975 David Essex Hold Me Close 25 Oct 1975 Art Garfunkel I Only Have Eyes For You 8 Nov 1975 David Bowie Space Oddity 22 Nov 1975 Billy Connolly D.I.V.O.R.C.E. 29 Nov 1975 Xmas No 1 Queen Bohemian Rhapsody

In the News - 1975

• Vietnam War ends, communist troops capture Saigon, Khmer Rouge take control in Cambodia • Civil war begins in Lebanon • The Spanish monarchy is restored after the death of General Franco • IRA terrorists holdout for six days in Balcombe street siege • Britains first North Sea oil piped ashore • Dutch Elm disease devastates trees across UK • Domestic video cassette recorders introduced • 41 people killed in Tube crash at Moorgate, London • West Indies win the first cricket world cup

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January - March	April - June
Folk, Folk, Folk!	Lenny Henry at Amington Liberal Club
July - September	October - December
Dave Armour	The Arts Centre opens...

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It’s 1975. The Bay City Rollers sing Bye, Bye, Baby, Queen and Bohemian Rhapsody, Rod Stewart and Sailing and Don Estelle and Windsor Davies and Whispering Grass – this is 1975.

In Tamworth, you can see Lenny Henry at Amington Liberal Club, Jasper Carrott at the re-opening of the Wigginton Hotel Folk Club and The Hollies at The Belfry in September. These are the only big name acts to visit the town in ’75.

Local Bands
Concept are probably the highest profile local band. They’re featured in the Herald twice with their new band nights at Tamworth Football Club where they encourage other local bands to join them on stage for exposure.

Kwil are still playing regularly (although without Phil Bates) as are The Hy-Kells, and Andy Dwyer is still the top local folk act. Discos have surprisingly died a death. The regular disco at every local working men’s club seems to have ended, although Barry John still appears regularly.

Local News
There is only one story this year. Tamworth Arts Centre opened on November 21st 1975. Despite continued protests from councillors “attacking staff costs” and “hire charges will turn centre into a ‘white elephant’”, the Arts Centre finally opened in November of ’75.

Dave Armour, the manager, had earlier in the autumn suggested he wanted a “full-house every night” and he organised an incredibly ambitious opening programme of events. Everything from ballet to folk, film to brass bands. Two solid weeks of arts entertainment for the people of Tamworth.

Read the full History of the Birth of Tamworth Arts Centre – one of the most important venues in the development of Tamworth bands.

Dave Armour – was one of the nicest people you could meet. Someone who looked you in the eye and treated you, no matter who you were or what you looked like, as an equal. His work establishing Tamworth Arts Centre as a vibrant heart of creativity in a town where ‘arts’ was a four-letter word was an achievement that will never, ever be appreciated for the impact it had on the town. From his work and encouragement of music in the late 1970s sprung the entire music scene of the 1980s. A man who, after asking Vince Watts and Eddie Armchair who were the best band around at the time, actually considered trying to get the The Clash to play at the very, very first Tamworth Rock Festival. Dave Armour – a hero. A hero that to my lifelong regret, I shit on. (Sorry Dave – I was an 18 year-old twat! - Ed.)