Worth Another Listen - 1978

According to Billboard magazine, the following are the Top five songs from 1978. They are all songs that bring me back to then, solidly spanning high school graduation to the start of college. We can start with the #5 song from the year, Kiss You All Over. It was performed by the band Exile, a rock band who moved to pop and hit the charts big. Five years later, they moved to Country, and found a home there, with 10 #1 Country songs. But in 1978, they sounded like this.



In 1977, Saturday Night Fever ruled the Christmas box office, and the the early part of 1977. With it, the soundtrack ruled the airwaves and the charts. The BeeGees, brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, had their first taste of success in the US in 1967, with a pop sound with strong melodies and vocals. In a few years, that success started to fade a bit as Disco started taking center stage. Not to be left behind, the brothers stepped up the beat, and joined the new style. They wrote the the soundtrack to the film, and the #4 song, Stayin' Alive.



Chic was a band headed up by Nigel Rodgers, an amazing guitarist, writer/composer, as well as one of the most innovative and influential music producers of the 70s and 80s. In 1978, however, he was at the helm of Chic, and had the #3 song of the year, Le Freak.



Yet another of the Gibb brothers, Andy Gibb, topped the charts in 1978 with his own music. He was riding high, with a music career in overdrive, having a debut album going to platinum, and several hit singles. He also had a relationship with his wife, who gave birth to their daughter in January. In a few years, the career took a turn for the worse, as his singles didn't have the same success, and he lost a few jobs acting and hosting. Just as it was decided to make him the fourth BeeGee, Andy's helth went bad, and he passed away. But in 1978, he has the #2 song on the charts, the title track from his sophomore album, Shadow Dancing.



Completing the domination of the charts, the #1 song of 1978 was the BeeGees Night Fever. The big track from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, the song was everywhere. The British-born brothers, whose family moved to Australia, started out their careers Down Under, but soon ruled the world.