May 1975

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  1
With their first big hit single, "Lady," still on the chart, the Chicago-based rock band Styx earns its first gold record, for the 1973 album Styx II. Along with such bands as Journey, REO Speedwagon, Rush and Kansas, Styx will become one of the foremost exponents of the brand of commercially successful arena-rock dismissed by critics as "pomp rock" -- a streamlined, merger of British art-rock technique, high-harmony vocals derived from Crosby, Stills and Nash and British art-rockers Yes, as well as heavy metal. Such "pomp rock" will become the staple fare of mid-Seventies album-oriented radio.

The Rolling Stones announce their Tour of the Americas '75 in New York City, first by way of an incomprehensible monologue by comedian Professor Irwin Corey, and then by playing "Brown Sugar" with new but not yet permanent replacement Ron Wood on the back of a flatbed truck moving down Fifth Avenue.

Hank Aaron, now a Milwaukee Brewer, breaks another Babe Ruth record, knocking in his 2,209th career RBI.
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After four years of resisting TV broadcasts, the South African government gives up, and the country's first TV program airs.
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Straight Shooter, the second album by British hard-rock band Bad Company -- which features ex-Free vocalist Paul Rodgers and ex-Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs -- goes gold, as its predecessor, the band's eponymous debut album, did the year before.
 9
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Stevie Wonder plays before 125,000 people at the Washington Monument as part of Human Kindness Day, for which he is the honoree. Despite initial reservations as to whether the focus of his involvement might detract from the event's impact, Wonder and his group, Wonderlove, perform for over an hour.
11
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The Jefferson Starship give a concert in New York's Central Park for 60,000 fans. The band flies into town specifically for the performance, which is free, but only for the audience. The Starship and concert sponsor WNEW-FM pick up a $14,000 tab for cleanup and damage done to the park.

American pop group Steely Dan -- one of the few "critics' favorites" to also achieve popular success -- earn their third gold record for the album Katy Lied, which contained the minor hit singles "Black Friday" and "Dr. Wu." Their previous gold records went to their debut album Can't Buy a Thrill, and their third album, Pretzel Logic.

Khmer Rouge naval vessels seize the U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez 60 miles off the Cambodian coast. In a rescue operation that will embarrass and damage President Ford politically, 38 U.S. troops are killed (23 in a helicopter crash en route to the rescue). 50 are wounded and three are MIA.
 13
Bob Wills, the King of Western Swing, dies in Kent Nursing Home in Fort Worth, Texas. He was 70 and had been suffering from heart problems and a stroke for several years. With his group, the Texas Playboys, Wills had popularized Western Swing, a goodtime mix of country, blues, jazz and swing.
 14
The White House, New York State and various banks refuse New York City mayor Abe Beame's requests for financial assistance. New York City will suffer a series of debilitating strikes by public service workers, then on July 31 begin austerity measures including wage freezes. On Dec. 9, President Ford will sign legislation to save the city from default.

Three sitcoms depicting blue-collar life in urban America, All in the Family, Sanford and Son and Chico and the Man, are TV's most popular series.
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Just two weeks prior to the start of the Rolling Stones' lengthy Tour of the Americas '75, Mick Jagger puts his right hand through a window at Gosman's restaurant in Montauk, on Long Island. The wound requires twenty stitches; fortunately, no real damage is done, and tour plans proceed accordingly.

Top of the charts: Tony Orlando & Dawn's "He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)" (pop single); Earth, Wind & Fire's That's the Way of the World (pop album).
18
 19
Who leader Pete Townsend turns thirty years old. Excessive hours spent working on the film Tommy and his own uncertainty about his role in rock lead him to give an acerbic interview this month to friend and New Musical Express jounalist Roy Carr. Who vocalist Roger Daltrey responds in the NME in August, and rumors fly -- aided by the October release of The Who by Numbers LP -- that the group is finally about to break up.
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 22
Pure Prairie League, Rufus, Earl Scruggs and Joe Cocker entertain 17,000 troups and their families at the army base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The concert, known as Music - You're My Mother, fails to break even at the box office, and base officials cancel another show planned for June 14th, the 200th anniversary of the army.
 23
The potential danger in performing rock at big arenas is realized by Vincent Furnier (a.k.a. Alice Cooper), who falls off the set of his aptly named Welcome to My Nightmare tour in Vancouver and breaks six ribs, forcing the cancellation of a few subsequent dates.
 24
For the second show in a row, the Beach Boys, on tour with Chicago, literally have the joint jumping. The second level at the Oakland Coliseum is noticeably shaking in footage taken by a local news crew; the previous day's concert at Anaheim Stadium caused the mezzanine to vibrate as much as eighteen inches.
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The Alaskan Supreme Court rules marijuana usage within the privacy of one's home permissable.
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