Golden Age of Rock: 1978
Time to dust off an older post to prepare for the Year of Your Birth/Current Hit night on American Idol next week. Too bad Taylor Hicks or Elliott weren’t born in 1978, Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street would be excellent!
Top 100 Songs / Top 100 Hits
| 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | |
| 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | |
| 1962 | 1972 | 1982 | 1992 | 2002 | |
| 1963 | 1973 | 1983 | 1993 | 2003 | |
| 1964 | 1974 | 1984 | 1994 | 2004 | |
| 1965 | 1975 | 1985 | 1995 | 2005 | |
| 1966 | 1976 | 1986 | 1996 | 2006 | |
| 1967 | 1977 | 1987 | 1997 | 2007 | |
| 1968 | 1978 | 1988 | 1998 | 2008 | |
| 1969 | 1979 | 1989 | 1999 | 2009 |
Be sure to check out Music Outfitters, the good Minnesota folk and suppliers of all things musical who compiled these lists.
Originally posted on August 24, 2005
From Theology Geek comes this fun timewaster: Do a search on the most popular 100 songs from the year you graduated high school. Bold your favorite songs. (I changed the directions…sorry Jason.)
Something strange happened when I tried to go through this list. I realized that I could still remember every single tune and most of the lyrics. I spent so much time listening to the radio at this age. I think that 1978 was really a golden age of music, although I hate to admit that my opinion is colored by my own experience. Nearly every song on this list is still popular today. Just look at it! The Bee Gees and the Saturday Night Fever songs dominated the charts, along with anything related to the movie Grease. Those movies are still popular today.
Paul McCartney’s band, Wings, really bothered me in 1978 - I just didn’t “get” their concept, but I now like the songs. To like Andy Gibb was to doom yourself socially - forever. Nobody liked Debbie Boone and those that did were afraid to admit it, but we all knew the song and sang along when nobody was looking. Wasn’t it Exile’s lead singer who wore the most disgusting jumpsuit ever? (Maybe it was the lead singer for Atlanta Rhythm Section - I can’t find a photo on Yahoo to help out my memory).
I can’t imagine my life without Styx, ELO, Foreigner, Boston, The Commodores/Lionel Ritchie, Earth Wind and Fire, Kansas and Steely Dan. I had big things for the music of Gerry Rafferty and Bob Welch, and played their songs over and over and over. Billy Joel and Barry Manilow were also very popular, although they weren’t my personal favorites. My best friend, Annette, would have done anything for Barry Manilow and Billy Joel. We Minnesotans were proud of Michael Johnson, even after he moved to Nashville. Chuck Mangione’s trumpet playing is something not heard today in pop music. These songs continue to please me and comfort me in my daily life, although I also enjoy many new artists. 1978 was a great year!
1. Shadow Dancing, Andy Gibb
2. Night Fever, Bee Gees
3. You Light Up My Life, Debby Boone
4. Stayin’ Alive, Bee Gees
5. Kiss You All Over, Exile
6. How Deep Is Your Love, Bee Gees
7. Baby Come Back, Player
8. (Love Is) Thicker Than Water, Andy Gibb
9. Boogie Oogie Oogie, A Taste Of Honey
10. Three Times A Lady, Commodores
11. Grease, Frankie Valli
12. I Go Crazy, Paul Davis
13. You’re The One That I Want, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
14. Emotion, Samantha Sang
15. Lay Down Sally, Eric Clapton
16. Miss You, Rolling Stones
17. Just The Way You Are, Billy Joel
18. With A Little Luck, Wings
19. If I Can’t Have You, Yvonne Elliman
20. Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah), Chic
21. Feels So Good, Chuck Mangione
22. Hot Child In The City, Nick Gilder
23. Love Is Like Oxygen, Sweet
24. It’s A Heartache, Bonnie Tyler
25. We Are The Champions / We Will Rock You, Queen
26. Baker Street, Gerry Rafferty
27. Can’t Smile Without You, Barry Manilow
28. Too Much, Too Little, Too Late, Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams
29. Dance With Me, Peter Brown
30. Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad, Meat Loaf
31. Jack And Jill, Raydio
32. Take A Chance On Me, Abba
33. Sometimes When We Touch, Dan Hill
34. Last Dance, Donna Summer
35. Hopelessly Devoted To You, Olivia Newton-John
36. Hot Blooded, Foreigner
37. You’re In My Heart, Rod Stewart
38. The Closer I Get To You, Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway
39. Dust In The Wind, Kansas
40. Magnet And Steel, Walter Egan
41. Short People, Randy Newman
42. Use Ta Be My Girl, O’Jays
43. Our Love, Natalie Cole
44. Love Will Find A Way, Pablo Cruise
45. An Everlasting Love, Andy Gibb
46. Love Is In The Air, John Paul Young
47. Goodbye Girl, David Gates
48. Slip Slidin’ Away, Paul Simon
49. The Groove Line, Heatwave
50. Thunder Island, Jay Ferguson
51. Imaginary Lover, Atlanta Rhythm Section
52. Still The Same, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
53. My Angel Baby, Toby Beau
54. Disco Inferno, Trammps
55. On Broadway, George Benson
56. Come Sail Away, Styx
57. Back In Love Again, L.T.D.
58. This Time I’m In It For Love, Player
59. You Belong To Me, Carly Simon
60. Here You Come Again, Dolly Parton
61. Blue Bayou, Linda Ronstadt
62. Peg, Steely Dan
63. You Needed Me, Anne Murray
64. Shame, Evelyn “Champagne” King
65. Reminiscing, Little River Band
66. Count On Me, Jefferson Starship
67. Baby Hold On, Eddie Money
68. Hey Deanie, Shaun Cassidy
69. Summer Nights, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-john
70. What’s Your Name, Lynyrd Skynyrd
71. Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue, Crystal Gayle
72. Because The Night, Patti Smith
73. Every Kinda People, Robert Palmer
74. Copacabana, Barry Manilow
75. Always And Forever, Heatwave
76. You And I, Rick James
77. Serpentine Fire, Earth, Wind and Fire
78. Sentimental Lady, Bob Welch
79. Falling, LeBlanc and Carr
80. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, Santa Esmeralda
81. Bluer Than Blue, Michael Johnson
82. Running On Empty, Jackson Browne
83. Whenever I Call You “Friend”, Kenny Loggins
84. Fool (If You Think It’s Over), Chris Rea
85. Get Off, Foxy
86. Sweet Talking Woman, Electric Light Orchestra
87. Life’s Been Good, Joe Walsh
88. I Love The Night Life, Alicia Bridges
89. You Can’t Turn Me Off (In The Middle Of Turning Me On), High Inergy
90. It’s So Easy, Linda Ronstadt
91. Native New Yorker, Odyssey
92. Flashlight, Parliament
93. Don’t Look Back, Boston
94. Turn To Stone, Electric Light Orchestra
95. I Can’t Stand The Rain, Eruption
96. Ebony Eyes, Bob Welch
97. The Name Of The Game, Abba
98. We’re All Alone, Rita Coolidge
99. Hollywood Nights, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
100. Deacon Blues, Steely Dan
Great post…
From another 78′er
Hi, Theresa!
Elliott was born on July 20, 1978, so thank you for posting his song choices. Some Yaminions are promoting On Broadway for him, but Scott Savol performed it last year to an accompaniment by George Benson himself. I know you remember!
Some great songs and great memories. Others, not so much!
Bob Welch and Walter Egan both benefited from their Fleetwood Mac associations that year. I lurv Magnet and Steel. Have you heard the current commercial (I forget the product) that plays a snippet of Sentimental Lady? Cool, huh.
Other personal favorites from your list:
Baker Street (Raphael Ravenscroft, one of the all-time great names, on saxophone) - Gerry Rafferty, formerly of Stealers Wheel (Stuck in the Middle with You)
I Go Crazy - Paul Davis
Last Dance - Donna Summer
Groove Line (best disco song ever - I still dance to it) - Heatwave
Still the Same - Bob Seger
Baby, Hold On - Eddie Money (Spectorish wall of sound)
Every Kinda People - Robert Palmer (I think You’re Gonna Get What’s Coming was on the same album)
Peg and Deacon Blues - Steely Dan
Deacon Blues with its Crimson Tide allusions would be appropriate for Taylor, but he’s two years too old.
Why is it that, at age 49, I can remember all this useless trivia but can’t remember which prescription pill I just took?
I hear ya about the forgetting thing. In the old folks home, we might not know where we are, but we’ll be rocking to rock ‘n roll! Great picks on songs. I didn’t know Elliot was born in 1978; I’m so excited. I’m so happy Elliott is pulling ahead in the American Idol race; surely someday he’ll know that you were one of his main cheerleaders!
I must have listened to Baker Street a thousand times that summer. I still love that songe. Steely Dan was another favorite.
Baker Street…
How about Magnet & Steel..
You know, I always thought that song was just a little hokey….
The Boomer Effect…
I’ve got a post brewing about how my daughter (16) bellowed to me recently that the adults were RUINING American Idol. She said it was supposed to be a teens’ show promoting teen artists and we’d taken it over. She said more. She said that adults always catch the wave just when a fad is ending and drag it on forever. She even called into Ian Punnett’s show to share her resentment with them! I just stood in the next room, listening to her go on and on over the airwaves. I was speechless, guilty and knew that she was her mother’s daughter!
I graduated in 1984, but that was the year I started listening to Christian Music (AAAAAGH!). I hardly recognize much on the list. Funny thing is, I click on 1983, and I know almost all of it. (Though I will say that I like what I know of 1983 much better than 1984. I could have chosen a worse year to miss than 1984.)
Rick, I had the same experience around that time. But I don’t think the mid to late 80’s produced as many classics as the late 70’s.
I am curious how these lists were compiled. Are they based solely on record sales and air play DURING the years listed, or do they take into account total sales (spanning possibly several years) of a record that was released in that particular year? To me it looks like the former.
Oh sure, ask the hard question! Hold on…
I just sent an email to Bob at Music Outfitters. It’s an Minnesota company! Who knew! In fact, they are located in Ely, in the Bounday Waters area of northern Minnesota.
Sorry to make you do all the work. If I were smarter, I could have asked him myself.
By the way, since you hadn’t posted about this yet, I didn’t know if you had any interest in this:
“http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060426&content_id=1420502&vkey=news_min&fext=.jsp&c_id=min”
Well, it’s been talked about for so long (and I mean years and years) I’d guess that most Minnesotans have tuned out the matter. If it is actually passing this time, then I’ll get excited about it…I think.