JANUARY

 

BBC4 are repeating Top Of The Pops 1978, this is what I was liking then, influenced by TOTP but more-so radio...

 

OK it's all here to see, I was 20, doing a degree, and The Muppets are in the Top 10! Oh it was funny!

 

It's not the only ancient song in the chart either, proving that young people can still like old music, Dooley Wilson and Bing Crosby from the 1940's - that would be like some 20-year-old listing any of these records today....

 

To my credit? lots of new wave stuff that never charted, some American hits that never charted, and big brilliant tracks from The Baby's and others that just should have been bigger. Bob Marley wasnt a legend at this time, he was one of many great reggae acts, and Donna Summer was never content with one hit single she often had 2 at the same time. Sort of Rihanna-like you might say...

 

 

JAN 4TH TO 28TH

 

PUT YOUR LOVE IN ME Hot Chocolate 1 2 5 12

ONLY WOMEN BLEED JUlie Covington 2 1 2 4

EGYPTIAN REGGAE Jonathan Richman 3 8 21 35

DON'T IT MAKE MY BROWN EYES BLUE Crystal Gayle 4 5 15 20

MULL OF KINTYRE Wings 5 3 3 7

DON'T DILLY DALLY ON THE WAY The Muppets 6 10 10 24

LOVE'S UNKIND Donna Summer 7 6 14 19

WATCHING THE DETECTIVES Elvis Costello 8 21 36 50

IT'S A HEARTACHE Bonnie Tyler 9 11 23 38

TURN TO STONE E.L.O. 10 16 22 37

 

AS TIME GOES BY Dooley Wilson 11 23 6 9

RUN BACK Carl Douglas 12 9 19 33

HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE The Bee Gees 13 12 17 17

DANCE DANCE DANCE Chic 14 7 4 8

ISN'T IT TIME The Baby's 15 4 1 1

HEARTSONG Gordon Giltrap 16 15 13 10

I LOVE YOU Donna Summer 17 43 16 18

BELFAST Boney M 18 30 37 49

I WILL Ruby Winters 19 28 33 43

LET'S HAVE A QUIET NIGHT IN David Soul 20 20 20 27

 

REALLY FREE John Otway/ Wild Willy Barrett 21 24 43

LOVE OF MY LIFE The Dooleys 22 35

HOLLYWOOD Boz Scaggs 23 18 29 42

AS Stevie Wonder 24 34 49

WHO PAYS THE FERRYMAN Yannis markpoulos 25 13 7 15

JAMMING Bob Marley & The Wailers 26 17 11 5

LITTLE GIRL The Banned 27 25 41

MARY OF THE FOURTH FORM The Boomtown Rats 28 41

IF I HAD WORDS Scott Fitzgerald/ Yvonne Keeley 29 19 18 14

UPTOWN TOP RANKING Althea & Donna 30 14 8 3

 

STAR WARS Meco 31 31 38 45

THE NAME OF THE GAME Abba 32 26 39 44

VIRGINIA PLAIN Roxy Music 33 32 40 46

PLEASE MISTER PLEASE Olivia Newton-John 34 47

MY WAY Elvis Presley 35

NATIVE NEW YORKER Odyssey 36 22 12 6

WHO'S GONNA LOVE ME The Imperials 37 29

CALLING OCCUPANTS OF INTERPLANETARY CRAFT The Carpenters 38 42 50

ROCKING ALL OVER THE WORLD Status Quo 39 39

I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOUR LOVE The Emotions 40 40 44

 

PRIME TIME Don McLean 41

DESIREE Neil Diamond 42 33 48

SAVE ME Clodagh Rogers 43

YOU'VE LOST THAT LOVING FEELIN' The Righteous Brothers 44

YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE Debby Boone 45

YES SIR I CAN BOOGIE Baccara 46

WHITE CHRISTMAS Bing Crosby 47

MOVE ME (Greg) Almann & Woman (Cher) 48

FOR YOUR LOVE The Four Tops 49

LAY DOWN SALLY Eric Clapton 50

 

JAN 14TH TO 28TH

 

TAKE A CHANCE ON ME Abba 27 9 2

EMOTIONS Samantha Sang 29 28 16

5 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING Godley & Creme 36 30 34

NOBODY IS Airwaves 37 26 40

LOVE IS LIKE OXYGEN The Sweet 38 24 11

MORNING OF OUR LIVES Jonathan Richman 44 32 32

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST David Bowie 45 25 25

HELP ME BABY Rory Block 46

I'D RATHER LEAVE WHILE I'M IN LOVE Carole Bayer-Sager 48

ZODIAKS Roberta Kelly 49 48

FLORAL DANCE Terry Wogan 50

 

JAN 21ST TO 28TH

 

THE GROOVE LINE Heatwave 27 21

JUST ONE MORE NIGHT Yellow Dog 31 22

WORDS Rita Coolidge 34 31

SWEET SWEET SMILE The Carpenters 35 23

FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE Smokie 42 28

EBONY EYES Bob Welch 45 39

SWINGTOWN The Steve Miller Band 46 26

LOVELY DAY Bill Withers 47 13

 

JAN 28TH

 

FIGARO Brotherhood Of Man 30

NERVOUS WRECK Radio Stars 36

SORRY I'M A LADY Baccara 41

GALAXY War 47

 

 

Tune ins oon for February and see which went even higher: Hint, my favourite band of the time? Abba...

Good day, John

Some my huge favourites and personal # 1s from this year in your list:

1. Baccara - Yes, Sir I Can Boogie, Baccara - Sorry, I'm A Lady

Usually I don't like disco, but Baccara and especially Dutch girlband Luv' were great. They used some very fun titles for their albums and 1978 was their best year.

 

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/eb6af673d548361e8f049327c7edd8bd/594293.jpg

 

Marga Scheide :heart:

 

2. Brotherhood of Man - Figaro :wub:

Their best song. Well-known melody and the lyrics, which I heard many times before, but only in late 2012 I knew the artist's name.

 

3. Olivia Newton-John - Please Mister Please

US Hit in 1975. Why so late in your charts ? Most possible thought, that it was UK re-issue :)

 

4. ABBA - The Name Of The Game [+ maybe also "Take A Chance On Me" in poor week / month] will be my # 1s in 1977 / 1978.

1978 was a tie-break for ABBA before monstrous (in positive sense of this word) years 1979 and 1980.

 

+ Clodagh Rodgers - Save Me

+ Dooleys - Love of my life

 

Not the best songs from Carpenters here + some unknown female singers here, which I will be listen, when 1978 would come in my retro thread.

 

AMAZING TIME in UK charts, even without some my favourite Dutch groups.

 

P.S. The Muppets song are very cute and hilarious. Novelty songs are cool. Who is the singer ?

Edited February 1, 201312 yr by AlexRange

Good day, John

Some my huge favourites and personal # 1s from this year in your list:

1. Baccara - Yes, Sir I Can Boogie, Baccara - Sorry, I'm A Lady

Usually I don't like disco, but Baccara and especially Dutch girlband Luv' were great. They used some very fun titles for their albums and 1978 was their best year.

 

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/eb6af673d548361e8f049327c7edd8bd/594293.jpg

 

Marga Scheide :heart:

 

2. Brotherhood of Man - Figaro :wub:

Their best song. Well-known melody and the lyrics, which I heard many times before, but only in late 2012 I knew the artist's name.

 

3. Olivia Newton-John - Please Mister Please

US Hit in 1975. Why so late in your charts ? Most possible thought, that it was UK re-issue :)

 

4. ABBA - The Name Of The Game [+ maybe also "Take A Chance On Me" in poor week / month] will be my # 1s in 1977 / 1978.

1978 was a tie-break for ABBA before monstrous (in positive sense of this word) years 1979 and 1980.

 

+ Clodagh Rodgers - Save Me

+ Dooleys - Love of my life

 

Not the best songs from Carpenters here + some unknown female singers here, which I will be listen, when 1978 would come in my retro thread.

 

AMAZING TIME in UK charts, even without some my favourite Dutch groups.

 

P.S. The Muppets song are very cute and hilarious. Novelty songs are cool. Who is the singer ?

 

Thanks Alex:)

 

Baccara had been a Number One in my chart, Abba too, Clodagh was a hit twice in my charts (in 1976 first) a great song it eventually became a hit for Clout in Europe. You're right about Olivia - it was never a British single release in 1975, they gave it away as a free flexi-disc with a music newspaper, so I think they needed something to follow-up Sam, which had been an unexpected big UK hit, and finally gave a proper release to it.

 

The Muppets were huge in the 70's (and still now, in the movies), Miss Piggy sang the song, voiced by Frank Oz, who went on to become more famous as the voice of Yoda in Star Wars.

Hope you like some of the others when you hear them for 1978 charts:)

cheers!

john

No Top Of The Pops tonight, boo hoo, so if you're having withdrawal symptoms, here's my charts from February 1978, what I liked at the time... that'll be Abba dominating, a bit of pop, rock, country, classical, funk, disco, soul, reggae, crooners, music hall, MOR, glam, new wave, punk, sci-fi movie themes, egyptian-styled pop n rock and anything else I could get to hear on the radio or TV.

 

Some of these will be obscure, so think of them as bonuses you wont find in the UK singles chart of the time or a heads-up on what's coming on TOTP..:)

 

FEB 4th

 

TAKE A CHANCE ON ME Abba 1 1 1 1

ISN'T IT TIME The Baby's 2 8 13 21

UPTOWN TOP RANKING Althea & Donna 3 5 9 12

NATIVE NEW YORKER Odyssey 4 2 5 9

JAMMING Bob Marley & The Wailers 5 9 20 35

LOVELY DAY Bill Withers 6 7 12 16

LOVE IS LIKE OXYGEN The Sweet 7 3 2 3

DANCE DANCE DANCE Chic 8 11 22 34

IF I HAD WORDS Scott Fitzgerald & Yvonne Keeley 9 6 10 13

HEARTSONG Gordon Giltrap 10 18 24 33

 

ONLY WOMEN BLEED Julie Covington 11 27 36 50

MULL OF KINTYRE Wings 12 16 19 22

EMOTIONS Samantha Sang 13 10 8 6

THE GROOVE LINE Heatwave 14 4 3 8

JUST ONE MORE NIGHT Yellow Dog 15 13 7 7

LOVE'S UNKIND Donna Summer 16 25 33 42

I LOVE YOU Donna Summer 17 34

AS TIME GOES BY Dooley Wilson 18 38 48

WHO'S GONNA LOVE ME The Imperials 19 15 21 36

PUT YOUR LOVE IN ME Hot Chocolate 20 31 41

 

SWEET SWEET SMILE The Carpenters 21 37 29 26

WHO PAYS THE FERRYMAN Yannis Markopoulos 22 39

NERVOUS WRECK Radio Stars 23 19 15 19

SWINGTOWN Steve Miller Band 24 20 28 46

HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE The Bee Gees 25 35 42 48

SORRY I'M A LADY Baccara 26 17 17 23

FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE Smokie 27 26 31 39

FIGARO Brotherhood Of Man 28 28 35

WORDS Rita Coolidge 29 23 18 14

GALAXY War 30 12 11 25

 

DON'T IT MAKE MY BROWN EYES BLUE Crystal Gayle 31 36

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST David Bowie 32

MR BLUE SKY E.L.O. 33 14 6 5

ZODIAKS Roberta Kelly 34 33

DON'T DILLY DALLY ON THE WAY The Muppets 35

MORNING OF OUR LIVES Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers 36 29 38

RUN BACK Carl Douglas 37

BLUE BAYOU Linda Ronstadt 38 32 23 17

LET'S HAVE A QUIET NIGHT IN David Soul 39 44

5 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING Godley & Creme 40

 

EGYPTIAN REGGAE Jonanthan Richman 41

TURN TO STONE E.L.O. 42 42 49 49

IT'S A HEARTACHE Bonnie Tyler 43 46

ON FIRE T.Connection 44 22 16 32

THE NAME OF THE GAME Abba 45

STAR WARS Meco 46 50 50

VIRGINIA PLAIN Roxy Music 47

STAYIN' ALIVE The Bee Gees 48 21 4 2

GONE DEAD TRAIN Nazereth 49 41 out 43

EBONY EYES Bob Welch 50

 

 

 

FEB 11th

 

 

COME BACK MY LOVE Darts 24 27 24

HOT LEGS Rod Stewart 30 26 20

WHICH WAY IS UP Stargard 40 37 27

I CAN'T STAND THE RAIN Eruption/ Precious Wilson 43 34 28

NO TIME TO BE 21 The Adverts 45 32 31

WISHING ON A STAR Rose Royce 47 30 10

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND Gene Page 48 43 29

THE DRUMMER MAN Tonight 49 14 11

 

 

FEB 18th

 

FANTASY Earth, Wind & Fire 25 18

EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE GONE The Jacksons 39 38

YOUR LOVE IS EVERYWHERE Lulu 40 37

VARIATIONS 1-4 Andrew Lloyd-Webber 44 44

SHOWDOWN Gallagher & Lyle 45 40

HERE YOU COME AGAIN Dolly Parton 46

5 MINUTES The Stranglers 47 30

 

 

FEB 25th

 

WISHING WELL/ ALL RIGHT NOW Free 4

WUTHERING HEIGHTS Kate Bush 16

JUST THE WAY YOU ARE Billy Joel 41

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT Donovan 45

STAY WITH ME BABY David Essex 47

 

MARCH 1978

 

I'm biased, but hey a bunch of classics all under-performing at the top end of my charts cos they all had the misfortune to clash with the greatest record of all time. That'll be "Baker Street" then....the record that has quite literally followed me around the world and throughout my life, no matter which country I travel to it's on the radio, no matter what period of time, it's on the radio, and more often than not it features in "greatest record of all time" charts. It's perfect from every sublime sax and perfect guitar solo to each gentle melody and word. Everyone is entitled to an opinion on music, of course, but if you don't like Baker Street you need to be tied to a rack and forced to listen to Teletubbies Say Eh Oh for 24 hours. Believe me, it'll sound much better after that. :)

 

 

1st March

 

TAKE A CHANCE ON ME Abba 1 1 4 4

STAYIN' ALIVE The Bee Gees 2 7 10 11

WUTHERING HEIGHTS Kate Bush 3 2 3 3

WISHING WELL/ ALL RIGHT NOW Free 4 8 8 12

MR BLUE SKY E.L.O. 5 10 14 17

LOVE IS LIKE OXYGEN The Sweet 6 11 16 20

WISHING ON A STAR Rose Royce 7 4 6 9

EMOTIONS Samantha Sang 8 5 5 8

THE DRUMMER MAN Tonight 9 22 30 37

JUST ONE MORE NIGHT Yellow Dog 10 19 25 28

 

THE GROOVE LINE Heatwave 11 20 29 36

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND Gene Page 12 12 11 16

5 MINUTES The Stranglers 13 16 21 25

FANTASY Earth, Wind & Fire 14 9 7 5

NATIVE NEW YORKER Odyssey 15 23 31 31

I CAN'T STAND THE RAIN Eruption/ Precious Wilson 16 13 9 6

UPTOWN TOP RANKING Althea & Donna 17 25 33 40

HOT LEGS Rod Stewart 18 17 24 35

WHICH WAY IS UP Stargard 19 21 34 42

WORDS Rita Coolidge 20 14 20 24

 

LOVELY DAY Bill Withers 21 31 38 48

BLUE BAYOU Linda Ronstadt 22 37 44 50

IF I HAD WORDS Scott Fitzgerald & Yvonne Keeley 23 33 42 49

SPREAD YOUR WINGS Queen 24 18 18 26

DENIS (DENISE) Blondie 25 3 2 2

NERVOUS WRECK Radio Stars 26 43 50

BAKER STREET Gerry Rafferty 27 6 1 1

ISN'T IT TIME The Baby's 28 34 40 47

MULL OF KINTYRE Wings 29 35 39 39

SORRY I'M A LADY Baccara 30 41 47

 

RHIANNON (WILL YOU EVER WIN) Fleetwood Mac 31 15 12 10

COME BACK MY LOVE Darts 32 46 48

SWEET SWEET SMILE The Carpenters 33 45

EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE GONE The Jacksons 34 47

NO TIME TO BE 21 The Adverts 35 48

YOUR LOVE IS EVERYWHERE Lulu 36

JUST THE WAY YOU ARE Billy Joel 37 30 37 27

BABY COME BACK Player 38 28 23 22

GALAXY War 39 49 49

SHOWDOWN Gallagher & Lyle 40

 

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT Donovan 41 40 35 30

HEARTSONG Gordon Giltrap 42

STAY WITH ME BABY David Essex 43 39 36 33

VARIATIONS 1-4 Andrew Lloyd-Webber 44

FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE Smokie 45

RUMOUR HAS IT Donna Summer 46 26 26 19

DANCE DANCE DANCE Chic 47

HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE The Bee Gees 48

TURN TO STONE E.L.O. 49

ONLY WOMEN BLEED Julie Covington 50

 

8th March new entries

 

IF YOU CAN'T GIVE ME LOVE Suzi Quatro 24 13 7

I LOVE THE SOUND OF BREAKING GLASS Nick Lowe 27 15 13

EVERY 1'S A WINNER Hot Chocolate 29 19 15

WALK IN LOVE Manhattan Transfer 32 22 18

IS THIS LOVE Bob Marley & The Wailers 36 27 21

WHAT'S YOUR NAME WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER Andrea True Connection 38 17 14

LILAC WINE Elkie Brooks 42 28 23

SINGING IN THE RAIN Sheila B. Devotion 44 32 32

ARIEL Dean Friedman 50 out 29

 

15th March new entries

 

MATCHSTALK MEN AND MATCHSTALK CATS AND DOGS Brian & Michael 41 38

WHENEVER YOU WANT MY LOVE The Real Thing 43 41

I'LL GO WHERE YOUR MUSIC TAKES ME Tina Charles 45 45

MIGHTY QUIN Manfred Mann's Earthband 46 46

 

22nd March new entries

 

(I DON'T WANT TO GO TO) CHELSEA Elvis Costello 34

FOLLOW ME FOLLOW YOU Genesis 43

SOMETIMES WHEN WE TOUCH Dan Hill 44

 

 

 

Good day, John.

I like your old charts, so many ABBA songs in the most of them. :)

Best time for Manhattan Transfer. "Walk In Love" is the first their hit in my charts.

"Take A Chance On Me" and "Denis" are good, even if they are so far from my favourtite ABBA / Blondie songs.

Wait April, because UK entry for Eurovision and new Blondie's hit.

Edited March 22, 201312 yr by AlexRange

Good day, John.

I like your old charts, so many ABBA songs in the most of them. :)

Best time for Manhattan Transfer. "Walk In Love" is the first their hit in my charts.

"Take A Chance On Me" and "Denis" are good, even if they are so far from my favourtite ABBA / Blondie songs.

Wait April, because UK entry for Eurovision and new Blondie's hit.

 

Thanks Alex,

 

Walk In Love was my 3rd Man Tran Top 40 hit, and yes April, I guarantee Coco & Blondie appearing, but I can't remember how high they got - Blondie Top 10 I'm sure, Coco must have gone Top 20 or higher:) After all it had Cheryl Baker in it, what's not to like:)

APRIL 1978:

 

A little thing called Saturday Night Fever seemed to get a bit of notice...

 

1st April

 

BAKER STREET Gerry Rafferty 1 1 2 1 2

DENIS (DENISE) Blondie 2 2 1 3 6

TAKE A CHANCE ON ME Abba 3 6 9 17 22

I CAN'T STAND THE RAIN Eruption/ Precious Wilson 4 3 4 9 19

IF YOU CAN'T GIVE ME LOVE Suzi Quatro 5 4 5 8 12

WUTHERING HEIGHTS Kate Bush 6 7 10 18 23

FANTASY Earth, Wind & Fire 7 10 21 34 44

I LOVE THE SOUND OF BREAKING GLASS Nick Lowe 8 8 6 13 25

EVERY 1'S A WINNER Hot Chocolate 9 5 3 4 11

WISHING ON A STAR Rose Royce 10 13 25 37

 

STAYIN' ALIVE The Bee Gees 11 16 20 25 28

MR BLUE SKY E.L.O. 12 20 28 29 33

EMOTIONS Samantha Sang 13 17 23 26 32

RHIANNON (WILL YOU EVER WIN) Fleetwood Mac 14 21 31 39

WALK IN LOVE Manhattan Transfer 15 19 32 40

IS THIS LOVE Bob Marley & The Wailers 16 12 17 33 43

WISHING WELL/ ALL RIGHT NOW Free 17 24 29 32 34

RUMOUR HAS IT Donna Summer 18 32 39

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND Gene Page 19 28 27 24 5

WHAT'S YOUR NAME WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER Andrea True Connection 20 33 42

 

I WONDER WHY Showaddywaddy 21 9 13 28 36

(I DON'T WANT TO GO TO) CHELSEA Elvis Costello 22 11 11 7 17

FOLLOW ME FOLLOW YOU Genesis 23 18 8 5 4

LOVE IS LIKE OXYGEN The Sweet 24 30 35 35 35

ARIEL Dean Friedman 25 25 38

WHENEVER YOU WANT MY LOVE The Real Thing 26 26 37 45

JUST THE WAY YOU ARE Billy Joel 27 40

SINGING IN THE RAIN Sheila B. Devotion 28 22 15 10 9

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT Donovan 29 39

LILAC WINE Elkie Brooks 30 44

 

BABY COME BACK Player 31 45 `

STAY WITH ME BABY David Essex 32 47

WORDS Rita Coolidge 33 41

I'LL GO WHERE YOUR MUSIC TAKES ME Tina Charles 34 37

JUST ONE MORE NIGHT Yellow Dog 35 48

SOMETIMES WHEN WE TOUCH Dan Hill 36 38 43 41 41

MATCHSTALK MEN AND MATCHSTALK CATS AND DOGS Brian & Michael 37

5 MINUTES The Stranglers 38

NATIVE NEW YORKER Odyssey 39 49

MULL OF KINTYRE Wings 40

 

THE GROOVE LINE Heatwave 41

HIM OR ME The Banned 42 42

UPTOWN TOP RANKING Althea & Donna 43

HOT LEGS Rod Stewart 44

NEVER LET HER SLIP AWAY Andrew Gold 45 23 18 16 14

NEWS OF THE WORLD The Jam 46 50

THE DRUMMER MAN Tonight 47

THE GHOST OF LOVE Tavares 48 27 40 50

SPREAD YOUR WINGS Queen 49

MORE LIKE THE MOVIES Dr Hook 50 35 33 31 30

 

8th April new entries

 

IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU Yvonne Elliman 14 12 21 27

NIGHT FEVER The Bee Gees 15 7 2 1

WITH A LITTLE LUCK Wings 29 14 11 7

SHE'S SO MODERN The Boomtown Rats 31 22 19 13

THEME FROM HONG KONG BEAT Richard Denton/ Martin Cook 34 24 15 10

LET'S ALL CHANT Michael Zager Band 36 36 23 15

WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM Child 43 41

STREETCORNER SERENADE Wet Willie 46 44

 

15th April new entries

 

LOVE TRAIN/ I LOVE MUSIC The O'Jays 16 12 18

TAKE ME I'M YOURS Squeeze 19 6 3

EVERYBODY DANCE Chic 26 20 16

TOO MUCH TOO LITTLE TOO LATE Johnny Mathis/ Deniece Williams 30 22 20

THE BAD OLD DAYS Coco 34 27 24

JACK AND JILL Raydio (Ray Parker Junior) 46 36 26

AUTOMATIC LOVER The Vibrators 47

DANCE A LITTLE BIT CLOSER Charo & The Salsoul Orchestra 48 48 45

CUT ACROSS SHORTY Mud 49 49

EGO Elton John 50 42 40

 

22nd April new entries

 

SIRIUS III Duncan Mackay 30 38

I MUST BE IN LOVE The Rutles 38 29

DO IT DO IT AGAIN Rafaella Carra 43 21

COUNT ON ME Jefferson Starship 44 39

TUMBLING DICE Linda Ronstadt 46 46

CAN'T SMILE WITHOUT YOU Barry Manilow 47 37

 

 

29th April new entries

 

AUTOMATIC LOVER Dee D. Jackson 8

RIVERS OF BABYLON Boney M 31

HEY LORD DON'T ASK ME QUESTIONS Graham Parker & The Rumour 42

THE ONE AND ONLY Gladys Knight 47

MORE THAN A WOMAN Tavares 48

BOOGIE SHOES KC & The Sunshine Band 49

JUPITER Earth, Wind & Fire 50

 

Good day, John

 

Favourite songs :

ABBA - Take A Chance On Me (Good single, even if I prefer less popular ABBA songs, not most their huge hits) Top 5 in my chart

Blondie - Denis (with peak position # 2 in my chart behind Baccara)

Coco - Bad Old Days (my # 1, UK Eurovision entries were on the top in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, but Brotherhood Of Man and Olivia Newton John didn't win ESC rankings in their years with second and fifth place respectively)

 

Sad, that Twiggy "Fallen Angel" can't be here, because this single wasn't in UK official charts.

 

and finally traditional Dutch charts part in the end of my post.

 

Mieke - Charlie Chaplin

 

Good day, John

 

Favourite songs :

ABBA - Take A Chance On Me (Good single, even if I prefer less popular ABBA songs, not most their huge hits) Top 5 in my chart

Blondie - Denis (with peak position # 2 in my chart behind Baccara)

Coco - Bad Old Days (my # 1, UK Eurovision entries were on the top in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, but Brotherhood Of Man and Olivia Newton John didn't win ESC rankings in their years with second and fifth place respectively)

 

Sad, that Twiggy "Fallen Angel" can't be here, because this single wasn't in UK official charts.

 

and finally traditional Dutch charts part in the end of my post.

 

Mieke - Charlie Chaplin

 

 

Thanks Alex, I'll have a look at that video next week on holiday! I usually like Dutch pop music:)

 

cheers

john

Good day, John

 

Favourite songs :

ABBA - Take A Chance On Me (Good single, even if I prefer less popular ABBA songs, not most their huge hits) Top 5 in my chart

Blondie - Denis (with peak position # 2 in my chart behind Baccara)

Coco - Bad Old Days (my # 1, UK Eurovision entries were on the top in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, but Brotherhood Of Man and Olivia Newton John didn't win ESC rankings in their years with second and fifth place respectively)

 

Sad, that Twiggy "Fallen Angel" can't be here, because this single wasn't in UK official charts.

 

and finally traditional Dutch charts part in the end of my post.

 

Mieke - Charlie Chaplin

 

 

...and Alex, if you get the chance check out this 60's song I just came across...

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JRzC7PS3Dk

 

1964 Eurovision-cum-dusty springfield fab:)

Hi John!

Great Chart!

I'm glad that BAKER STREET reached No.1 in your Chart. I've always thought it should have topped the UK chart instead of Matchstalk Men.

Also like to see I CAN'T STAND THE RAIN at No.4. This song has been hugely popular in USSR in the late 70's. As well as One Way Ticket, another Eruption song.

And FANTASY is perhaps my favourite "Earth, Wind & Fire" song. Nice that you charted it higher than BMRB.

Generaly, if judge by your chart seems like you had fun time back in April 78, John. Mostly you picked up jolly dance tracks for your Chart. And that's how i remember the late 70's as well. :)

Hi John!

Great Chart!

I'm glad that BAKER STREET reached No.1 in your Chart. I've always thought it should have topped the UK chart instead of Matchstalk Men.

Also like to see I CAN'T STAND THE RAIN at No.4. This song has been hugely popular in USSR in the late 70's. As well as One Way Ticket, another Eruption song.

And FANTASY is perhaps my favourite "Earth, Wind & Fire" song. Nice that you charted it higher than BMRB.

Generaly, if judge by your chart seems like you had fun time back in April 78, John. Mostly you picked up jolly dance tracks for your Chart. And that's how i remember the late 70's as well. :)

 

Thanks Andrey,

 

Yes, Baker Street is my favourite record of all-time, it's had 3 runs at the top:)

Eruption were great fun, and yes I was at College, so it was discos at the student union with the odd bit of punk/new wave now and then.... and then I didnt go to a club after 1980 until 2002. I still occasionally go to clubs just to show off that I know the words to some current dance hits and younger people don't. Hah!:)

 

cheers!

john

Saturday Night Fever has been mentioned quite a few times on here, I personally liked the film a lot more than the music in it! John Travolta's dancing and acting were terrific, some of the other dance scenes were really well staged, and one did get a sense of what it must have been like to be a disco fan living in New York during that period.

 

The film was supposed to be centreing on the disco craze, of course, but in retrospect, when one takes into account the amount of swearing and violence in the film, perhaps there is also a nod to the burgeoning punk rock scene on both sides of the Atlantic as well.

 

Saturday Night Fever, together with Star Wars, were the main film highlights for me here in the UK in 1978, though I have a suspicion that both flicks were officially made in 1977.

 

 

Saturday Night Fever has been mentioned quite a few times on here, I personally liked the film a lot more than the music in it! John Travolta's dancing and acting were terrific, some of the other dance scenes were really well staged, and one did get a sense of what it must have been like to be a disco fan living in New York during that period.

 

The film was supposed to be centreing on the disco craze, of course, but in retrospect, when one takes into account the amount of swearing and violence in the film, perhaps there is also a nod to the burgeoning punk rock scene on both sides of the Atlantic as well.

 

Saturday Night Fever, together with Star Wars, were the main film highlights for me here in the UK in 1978, though I have a suspicion that both flicks were officially made in 1977.

 

thanks Blackcat, SNF you're right is more punk that disco in attitude, Fame was also a grim sort of Glee version from that era. Star Wars of course is one of the all-time classics!

 

cheers!

john

May 1978 was hot. The weather was hot and the music scene was hot. I was ending my first year at College in Lincoln and music was changing in the charts. Punk may have happened in 1977 but New Wave was the real chart invasion, and it started at the end of May. There have been some online comments about the poor standard of tracks on recent Top Of The Pops from May 1978 shown on the BBC - well, my chart positions of the time support those comments. That's how I saw it too obviously....

 

But just check out My Top 10 tracks in the last week: The top 3 are all classic Saturday Night Fever tracks, as the Bee Gees songs absolutely and categorically ruled the world's singles and albums charts and boosted the disco clubbing scene. Then check out the high debuts from New Wave/punk records, and also lower down from new acts. No gradual chart climbs for Patti Smith, Plastic Bertrand, and Stranglers, it's wham bam! right in. Singles sales were hitting historic highs and the charts changed to reflect that; the UK charts were expanded to 75, and my charts did the same, 50 went to 60 on 13th May and then 75 on the 20th. They've stayed 75 ever since, bar a brief trial at 100 in 1983

 

 

6th MAY

 

NIGHT FEVER The Bee Gees 1 1 1 1

BAKER STREET Gerry Rafferty 2 4 9 14

FOLLOW YOU FOLLOW ME Genesis 3 3 8 13

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND Gene Page 4 13 30 46

AUTOMATIC LOVER Dee D. Jackson 5 2 6 10

THEME FROM HONG KONG BEAT Richard Denton/ Martin Cook 6 8 19 27

IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU Yvonne Elliman 7 7 4 2

TAKE ME I'M YOURS Squeeze 8 11 21 32

WITH A LITTLE LUCK Wings 9 12 22 31

LET'S ALL CHANT Michael Zager Band 10 6 3 6

 

SHE'S SO MODERN The Boomtown Rats 11 10 14 17

DENIS (DENISE) Blondie 12 16 24 26

NEVER LET HER SLIP AWAY Andrew Gold 13 9 12 18

EVERYBODY DANCE Chic 14 21 18 23

RIVERS OF BABYLON Boney M 15 5 2 4

IF YOU CAN'T GIVE ME LOVE Suzi Quatro 16 20 20 24

SINGING IN THE RAIN Sheila B. Devotion 17 26 35 49

DO IT DO IT AGAIN Rafaella Carra 18 18 13 12

THE BAD OLD DAYS Coco 19 15 23 43

EVERY 1'S A WINNER Hot Chocolate 20 28 38 47

 

JACK AND JILL Raydio (Ray Parker Junior) 21 17 17 11

TOO MUCH TOO LITTLE TOO LATE Johnny Mathis/ Deniece Williams 22 29 28 33

I MUST BE IN LOVE The Rutles 23 23 42 67

I CAN'T STAND THE RAIN Eruption/ Precious Wilson 24 36 34 34

(I DON'T WANT TO GO TO) CHELSEA Elvis Costello 25 37 45 56

AB-A-NI-BI Izhar Cohen & Alpha Beta 26 19 16 20

TAKE A CHANCE ON ME Abba 27 31 31 30

WUTHERING HEIGHTS Kate Bush 28 32 36 44

LOVE TRAIN/ I LOVE MUSIC The O'Jays 29 39 47 61

STAYIN' ALIVE The Bee Gees 30 33 37 45

 

WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM Child 31 27 27 37

I LOVE THE SOUND OF BREAKING GLASS Nick Lowe 32 40 46 55

BOOGIE SHOES KC & The Sunshine Band 33 34 39 39

FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME Foreigner 34 24 15 22

TUMBLING DICE Linda Ronstadt 35 30 32 48

HEY LORD DON'T ASK ME QUESTIONS Graham Parker & The Rumour 36 43 60 50

THE ONE AND ONLY Gladys Knight 37 53 61

COUNT ON ME Jefferson Starship 38 48 70

MORE LIKE THE MOVIES Dr Hook 39 OUT 63

MORE THAN A WOMAN Tavares 40 14 5 3

 

DANCE A LITTLE BIT CLOSER Charo & The Salsoul Orchestra 41 58 68

MR BLUE SKY E.L.O. 42 46 52 59

WISHING WELL/ ALL RIGHT NOW Free 43 45 51 58

LOVE IS LIKE OXYGEN The Sweet 44 47 50 57

EMOTIONS Samantha Sang 45 51 53 60

IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO Richard Myhill 46 52 66

YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John 47 42 26 21

LOVE IS IN THE AIR John Paul Young 48 35 25 16

I WONDER WHY Showaddywaddy 49 57 57 69

WHAT GOES ON Bryan Ferry 50 50 72

 

13th MAY new entries

 

THE BOY FROM NEW YORK CITY Darts 22 11 15

(I'M ALWAYS TOUCHED BY YOUR) PRESENCE DEAR Blondie 25 10 9

ON A LITTLE STREET IN SINGAPORE Manhattan Transfer 38 44 35

JUPITER Earth Wind & Fire 41 41 40

BACK IN LOVE AGAIN Donna Summer 44 56 70

NICE 'N' SLEAZY The Stranglers 49 49 8

JUST FOR YOU Alan Price 54 54 62

COME TO ME Ruby Winters 55 69 28

WHAT A WASTE Ian Dury & The Blockheads 56 29 19

EGO Elton John 59 67

FIRE DOWN BELOW Tina Charles 60 59 66

 

20th MAY new entries

 

BECAUSE THE NIGHT Patti Smith Group 7 5

DAVY'S ON THE ROAD AGAIN Manfred Mann's Earthband 33 25

CAN'T SMILE WITHOUT YOU Barry Manilow 40 36

ROSALIE Thin Lizzy 43 38

WOMAN OF MINE Dean Friedman 48 41

UP AGAINST THE WALL The Tom Robinson Band 55 63

MATCHSTALK MEN AND MATCHSTALK CATS AND DOGS Brian & Michael 58 74

PLACE IN YOUR HEART Nazereth 62 53

HERE AM I Bonnie Tyler 64 71

ONLY LOVING DOES IT Guys & Dolls 65 68

SOMETIMES WHEN WE TOUCH Dan Hill 71

SHADOW DANCING Andy Gibb 73 73

EVERY KINDA PEOPLE Robert Palmer 74 64

HI-TENSION Hi-Tension 75 54

27th MAY new entries

 

CA PLANE POUR MOI Plastic Bertrand 7

IT MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE DANCING Rose Royce 29

LOVING YOU HAS MADE ME BANANAS Guy Marks 42

MONEY THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM Tonight 51

THE DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAYGLO X-Ray Spex 52

ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES Sham '69 65

OH CAROL Smokie 72

ON THE STRIP Paul Nicholas 75

Edited May 6, 201312 yr by popchartfreak

Good day, John. Let's back in 1978.

(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear : Strong debut for my long lived # 1 and the song of the year in future.

"You Are The One That I Want" wasn't a hit in my chart (include lowest peak position for Olivia Newton-John, somewhere between # 11 and # 20) , but the second single from "Grease" was her another # 1 single and first # 1 hit for John Travolta.

New Manhattan Transfer song also didn't reach the peak position and was in the shadow after previous their success with "Walk In Love".

 

It was Twiggy month, her "Fallen Angel" was everywhere in my little chart world. :)

Brotherhood Of Man got their next # 1 single with "Beautiful Lover" on the last May week.

 

"New Eurovision star" Bonnie Tyler was in charts with "Here I Am". She has a huge gap between her first # 1 (Lost In France - 1977) and last # 1 (Eurovision song - Believe In Me in 2013)

 

Guys & Dolls are very low, but it's not so bad.

Good day, John. Let's back in 1978.

(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear : Strong debut for my long lived # 1 and the song of the year in future.

"You Are The One That I Want" wasn't a hit in my chart (include lowest peak position for Olivia Newton-John, somewhere between # 11 and # 20) , but the second single from "Grease" was her another # 1 single and first # 1 hit for John Travolta.

New Manhattan Transfer song also didn't reach the peak position and was in the shadow after previous their success with "Walk In Love".

 

It was Twiggy month, her "Fallen Angel" was everywhere in my little chart world. :)

Brotherhood Of Man got their next # 1 single with "Beautiful Lover" on the last May week.

 

"New Eurovision star" Bonnie Tyler was in charts with "Here I Am". She has a huge gap between her first # 1 (Lost In France - 1977) and last # 1 (Eurovision song - Believe In Me in 2013)

 

Guys & Dolls are very low, but it's not so bad.

 

Thanks Alex,

Blondie were always great, Olivia often great, Man Tran occasionally great:)

 

I sort of half recall fallen Angel so not sure if it charted or not, Here I am snuck in after Top Of The Pops I think, but some of her minor hits were big hits in my charts:)

 

Guys & Dolls turned into Dollar and had a run of great pop singles:)

 

cheers

john

JUNE 1978

 

OK, Saturday Night Fever, New Wave and Grease. Just like the real world in June 1978 then....

 

You know how when you're a kid you like novelty records? Father Abraham...? I was 20. No excuses! I know I liked the toon, but even so...no excuses!

 

3rd JUNE chart

 

IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU Yvonne Elliman 1 3 3 6

NIGHT FEVER The Bee Gees 2 2 4 5

CA PLANE POUR MOI Plastic Bertrand 3 1 1 2

MORE THAN A WOMAN Tavares 4 7 7 11

NICE 'N' SLEAZY The Stranglers 5 5 6 15

RIVERS OF BABYLON Boney M 6 10 9 13

(I'M ALWAYS TOUCHED BY YOUR) PRESENCE DEAR Blondie 7 6 11 18

LET'S ALL CHANT Michael Zager Band 8 15 22 29

YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John 9 4 2 1

DAVY'S ON THE ROAD AGAIN Manfred Mann's Earthband 10 9 5 3

 

BECAUSE THE NIGHT Patti Smith Group 11 8 10 14

LOVE IS IN THE AIR John Paul Young 12 16 19 27

JACK AND JILL Raydio (Ray Parker Junior) 13 23 31 43

WHAT A WASTE Ian Dury & The Blockheads 14 12 14 20

THE BOY FROM NEW YORK CITY Darts 15 19 23 34

AUTOMATIC LOVER Dee D. Jackson 16 22 30 40

DO IT DO IT AGAIN Rafaella Carra 17 24 29 42

AB-A-NI-BI Izhar Cohen & Alpha Beta 18 18 16 33

LOVING YOU HAS MADE ME BANANAS Guy Marks 19 11 13 21

BAKER STREET Gerry Rafferty 20 21 26 30

 

FOLLOW YOU FOLLOW ME Genesis 21 27 32 39

NEVER LET HER SLIP AWAY Andrew Gold 22 30 41 54

SHE'S SO MODERN The Boomtown Rats 23 32 42 55

OH CAROL Smokie 24 17 17 10

COME TO ME Ruby Winters 25 25 25 41

IT MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE DANCING Rose Royce 26 26 37 46

FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME Foreigner 27 29 36 44

EVERYBODY DANCE Chic 28 42 59 71

OLE OLA Rod Stewart 29 28 34 53

ROSALIE Thin Lizzy 30 34 24 25

 

DENIS (DENISE) Blondie 31 35 43 50

TAKE A CHANCE ON ME Abba 32 36 44 49

IF YOU CAN'T GIVE ME LOVE Suzi Quatro 33 37 45 51

WOMAN OF MINE Dean Friedman 34 40 33 32

ON A LITTLE STREET IN SINGAPORE Manhattan Transfer 35 33 18 8

THEME FROM HONG KONG BEAT Richard Denton/ Martin Cook 36 43 53 45

WITH A LITTLE LUCK Wings 37 44 54 63

I CAN'T STAND THE RAIN Eruption/ Precious Wilson 38 45 51 61

RUN FOR HOME Lindisfarne 39 14 8 7

TAKE ME I'M YOURS Squeeze 40 46 56 65

 

ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES Sham '69 41 50 39 38

TOO MUCH TOO LITTLE TOO LATE Johnny Mathis/ Deniece Williams 42 41 49 59

CAN'T SMILE WITHOUT YOU Barry Manilow 43 54 63

BOOGIE SHOES KC & The Sunshine Band 44 55 62 73

STAYIN' ALIVE The Bee Gees 45 48 52 56

WUTHERING HEIGHTS Kate Bush 46 49 60 60

MONEY THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM Tonight 47 53 74

JUPITER Earth Wind & Fire 48 59 71

WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM Child 49 58 69

THE DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAYGLO X-Ray Spex 50 66

 

THE BAD OLD DAYS Coco 51 64

PLACE IN YOUR HEART Nazereth 52 52 70

I MUST BE IN LOVE The Rutles 53 56 64

ANNIE'S SONG James Galway 54 20 12 12

EVERY 1'S A WINNER Hot Chocolate 55 62 66 69

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND Gene Page 56 63 67 70

UP AGAINST THE WALL The Tom Robinson Band 57

HEY LORD DON'T ASK ME QUESTIONS Graham Parker & The Rumour 58

BEAUTIFUL LOVER Brotherhood Of Man 59 39 38 37

EVERY KINDA PEOPLE Robert Palmer 60

 

TUMBLING DICE Linda Ronstadt 61

SHADOW DANCING Andy Gibb 62 38 46 57

HI-TENSION Hi-Tension 63 51 40 28

MADEMOISELLE Styx 64 47 47 62

MAKING UP AGAIN Goldie 65 33 15 9

EMOTIONS Samantha Sang 66 72

LOVE IS LIKE OXYGEN The Sweet 67 71

(I DON'T WANT TO GO TO) CHELSEA Elvis Costello 68

WISHING WELL/ ALL RIGHT NOW Free 69 73

MR BLUE SKY E.L.O. 70 74

 

I LOVE THE SOUND OF BREAKING GLASS Nick Lowe 71

ALMOST SUMMER Celebration 72 61 50 48

SINGIN IN THE RAIN Sheila B. Devotion 73

I LOVE MUSIC/ LOVE TRAIN The O'Jays 74

DON'T FEAR THE REAPER Blue Oyster Cult 75 70 58 24

 

10th JUNE new entries

 

PUMP IT UP Elvis Costello 31 27 19

NORTHERN LIGHTS Renaissance 57 61 75

YOU TOOK THE WORDS RIGHT OUT OF MY MOUTH Meatloaf 60 35 31

WE'LL NEVER HAVE TO SAY GOODBYE England Dan & John Ford Coley 65 55 47

LET'S GO DISCO The Real Thing 67 57 36

IT SURE BRINGS OUT THE LOVE IN YOUR EYES David Soul 68 21 26

THE MAN WITH THE CHILD IN HIS EYES Kate Bush 69 65 22

MISS YOU The Rolling Stones 75 20 4

 

17th JUNE new entries

THE SMURF SONG Father Abraham & The Smurfs 28 23

MIND BLOWING DECISIONS Heatwave 48 35

NEVER SAY DIE Black Sabbath 68 67

HONEST I DO LOVE YOU Candi Staton 72 72

SATISFY MY SOUL Bob Marley & The Wailers 73 52

AIRPORT The Motors 75 16

 

24th JUNE new entries

 

DANCING IN THE CITY Marshall-Hain 17

LIKE CLOCKWORK The Boomtown Rats 58

ARGENTINE MELODY San Jose 64

JUST LET ME DO MY THING Sine 66

MAKE LOVE TO THE MUSIC Maria Muldaur 68

WILD WEST HERO E.L.O. 74

 

Good evening, John

 

"The Smurf Song" :music: I love Smurfs and most their songs.

Debut for my # 1 : Renaissance - Northern Lights.

Some years after it Annie Haslam (lead singer of Renaissance) will have the unsuccessful, but very nice single "In The Bleak Midwinter"

 

Most intresting entry here : Maria Muldaur's good song. Never heard it before, even when I worked with 1978 retro charts.

Coco, Blondie, Abba, Brotherhood Of Man - everything is a classic retro pop for me.

Edited June 8, 201312 yr by AlexRange