1978 in music.

Fleetwood Mac's Rumours won 1977. Let's see who wins 1978.

Billboard chart-topping albums of 1978:
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (cont. from '77)
Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever
Gerry Rafferty - City to City
The Rolling Stones - Some Girls
Original Cast - Grease
Boston - Don't Look Back
Linda Rondstadt - Living in the USA
Donna Summer - Live and More
Billy Joel - 52nd Street

Billboard chart-topping singles of 1978:
Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love (cont. from '77)
Player - Baby Come Back
Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive
Andy Gibb - Love is Thicker Than Water
Bee Gees - Night Fever
Yvonne Elliman - If I Can't Have You
Wings - With a Little Luck
Johnny Mathis - Too Much, Too Little, Too Late
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John - You're the One That I Want
Andy Gibb - Shadow Dancing
The Rolling Stones - Miss You
Commodores - Three Times a Lady
Frankie Valli - Grease
A Taste of Honey - Boogie Oogie Oogie
Exile - Kiss You All Over
Nick Gilder - Hot Child in the City
Anne Murray - You Needed Me
Donna Summer - MacArthur Park
Barbara Streisand - You Don't Bring Me Flowers
Chic - Le Freak

What are your top three albums for 1978? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be:
1. Johnny Thunders - So Alone
2. Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers
3. Cheap Trick - Heaven Tonight

What are some of the forgotten gems from the year? What is overrated? What did you discover at a young age and what did you discover later?

YEARS IN MUSIC • forum.chorus.fm

 

Another Bruce year, sorry Pat.

 

remaining top 20:
4. Blondie - Parallel Lines
5. Brian Eno - Music for Airports
6. The Cars - The Cars
7. Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town
8. Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy
9. Ramones - Road to Ruin
10. The Clash - Give 'Em Enough Rope
11. Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food
12. Television - Adventure
13. AC/DC - Powerage
14. Judas Priest - Stained Class
15. Patti Smith - Easter
16. The Police - Outlandos D’Amour
17. Willie Nelson - Stardust
18. Buzzcocks - Love Bites
19. Public Image Limited - First Issue
20. The Jam - All Mod Cons

honorable mentions:
Blondie - Plastic Letters
Bob Seger - Stranger in Town
Brian Eno - Music for Films
Buzzcocks - Another Music in a Different Kitchen
Joe Walsh - But Seriously, Folks
John Prine - Bruised Orange
Lou Reed - Street Hassle
Queen - Jazz
The Rolling Stones - Some Girls
Rush - Hemispheres
The Saints - Eternally Yours
Tom Petty - You’re Gonna Get It
Van Halen - Van Halen
Waylon Jennings - I’ve Always Been Crazy
The Who - Who Are You

stuff to check out:
Billy Joel - 52nd Street
Bob Marley - Kaya
Chic - C’est Chic
Elvis Costello - This Year’s Model
Emmylou Harris - Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town
Genesis - And Then There Were Three
Gerry Rafferty - City to City
Kate Bush - The Kick Inside
Kraftwerk - The Man Machine
Magazine - Real Life
Molly Hatchet - Molly Hatchet
Nick Lowe - Pure Pop for Now People
Rainbow - Long Live Rock n Roll
Todd Rundgren - Hermit of Mink Hollow

 

it's my 2nd favorite album of his.

i doubt he wins this year

 

Not sure I see a more likely contender, but we’ll see I suppose.

 

big star, blondie, the cars, cheap trick and Zevon all have a very good shot

 

1. Kate Bush - The Kick Inside
2. Blondie - Parallel Lines
3. Bruce - Darkness

 

Pat - are you familiar with/do you like XTC at all? Their first two records came out in '78, and while not their best work - definitely worth checking out this year.

 

The Police- Outlandos
Kate Bush- The Kick Inside
Van Halen- Van Halen

 

they've been on my list for a while but never got around to them - I'll check it out

 

totally forgot the police and van halen - they could absolutely win over bruce. this site loves kate bush too, though I've never heard of this particular album

 

I’m not going to vote for the album, but man I love Street Hassle the song.

 

not the best year for me, but:

1. Blondie - Parallel Lines
2. Billy Joel - 52nd Street
3. Wings - London Town
4. Queen - Jazz
5. Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town

albums I heard for the first time but would be in contention

Blondie - Plastic Letters
AC/DC - Powerage
Elvis Costello - This Year's Model
Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove
The Police - Outlandos d'Amour
Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear
Ramones - Road To Ruin
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - You're Gonna Get It!
Van Halen - Van Halen

 

1. Billy Joel - 52nd Street
2. Heart - Dog and Butterfly
3. Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town

Excruciating cuts:
Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy
Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band - Stranger in Town
Peter, Paul, and Mary - Reunion

Others I love:
Gerry Rafferty - City to City
Van Halen - Van Halen
Willie Nelson - Stardust
Boston - Don't Look Back
The Doobie Brothers - Minute by Minute
George Benson - Weekend in L.A.
Chic - C'est Chic
Lou Reed - Street Hassle
The Cars - The Cars
Blondie - Parallel Lines
The Moody Blues - Octave
Al Stewart - Time Passages
The Jacksons - Destiny

Good ones:
Ruben Blades and Willie Colon - Siembra
Wings - London Town
Elvis Costello - This Year's Model
Styx - Pieces of Eight
Cheap Trick - Heaven Tonight
Gordon Lightfoot - Endless Wire
Joe Walsh - But Seriously, Folks
Richard and Linda Thompson - First Light
Barry Manilow - Even Now
Dirk Hamilton - Meet Me at the Crux
Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear
Loleatta Holloway - Queen of the Night
Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food
The Temptations - Hear to Tempt You
The Rolling Stones - Some Girls
Nina Simone - Baltimore
Neil Young - Comes a Time
Herb Ellis and Reno Palmir - Windflower
AC/DC - Powerage
Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove
Dan Fogelberg and Tim Wiseberg - Twin Sons of Different Mothers
Renaissance - A Song for All Seasons
Eric Clapton - Backless
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - You're Gonna Get It
Chuck Mangione - Feels So Good
Big Star - Third/Sisters/Lovers
Southside Johnny and the Absury Jukes - Hearts of Stone
Pink Floyd - Animals
Commodores - Natural High
Rush - Hemispheres
Toto - Toto
Prince - For You
Yvonne Elliman - Night Flight
Chaka Khan - Chaka
L.T.D. - Togetherness
Dire Straits - Dire Straits
Linda Ronstadt - Living in the U.S.A.
Queen - Jazz
Elton John - A Single Man
Ace Frehley - Ace Frehley
Smokey Robinson - Love Breeze
Jethro Tull - Heavy Horses
The Brothers Johnson - Blam!
.38 Special - Special Delivery
Allen Toussaint - Motion
The Motors - Approved by the Motors
Tina Turner - Rough
Foreigner - Double Vision
The Staples - Unlock Your Mind
Heart - Magazine
Kool and the Gang - Everybody's Dancin'

Targets for listening:
Joe Cocker - Luxury You Can Afford
Bob Dylan - Street Legal
Peter Gabriel - Pete Gabriel [Scratch]
Genesis - ...and then there were three...
Police - Outlandos d'Amour
Adverts - Crossing the Sea with The Adverts
Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
Joe Ely - Honky Tonk Masquerade
Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music for Airports
The Jam - All Mod Cons
Kraftwerk - The Man-Machine
Magazine - Real Life
The Only Ones - The Only Ones
Elis Regina - Vento De Maio
Residents - Duck Stab/Buster and Glen
The Saints - Eternally Yours
Siouxsie and The Banshees - The Scream
Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous
Throbbing Gristle - D.O.A. Third and Final Report
Pere Ubu - Dub Housing
X-Ray Spex - Germ Free Adolescents
The Blues Brothers - Briefcase Full of Blues
Van Morrison - Wavelength
Patti Smith - Easter
Various Artists - Grease Original Soundtrack
Kenny Rogers - The Gambler
Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool
The Clash - Give 'Em Enough Rope
David Johansen - David Johansen
Television - Adventure
Generation X - Generation X
Lene Lovich - Stateless
Al Green - Truth 'n' Time
Nicolette Larsen - Nicolette
Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians
Rainbow - Long Live Rock and Roll
Gloria Gaynor - Love Tracks
Todd Rundgren - The Hermit of Mink Hollow
Various Artists - No New York
John Prine - Bruised Orange
Dr. Alimentado - Best Dressed Chicken in Town
Gino Vanelli - Brother to Brother
Rachel Sweet - Fool Around
A Taste of Honey - A Taste of Honey
Ashford and Simpson - Is It Still Good to Ya
Linda Clifford - If My Friends Could See Me Now
Musique - Keep on Jumpin'
Sylvester - Step II
Bohannon - Summertime Groove
Johnny Thunders - So Alone

 

PLEASE do listen to City to City. Criminally underrated classic.

 

1978 mix

 

come on

 

Spotify is such a pain in the ass. Had been planning to listen to Culture’s Two Sevens Clash on a friend’s rec since like May. Jotted it down as ‘78, as Spotify says. But it’s a ‘77 and I missed it. You really cannot trust the internet

 

I know it has it's faults, but I use wikipedia for release dates 90% of the time. For most albums there's a good breakdown of when it was originally released in different countries as well, and lists if there is a disputed release date

 

I noticed you have Pink Floyd's Animals as '78 as well, but Wiki and my list has it as '77.

 

Son of a whore. Thankfully it doesn’t really affect me much since it’s nowhere near my top 3 and I’ve heard it already so it wasn’t something I was going to listen to this week.

 

Yeah wiki is generally the source I trust unless I have the album in hand with a different copyright. I just didn’t do double diligence like an idiot. It doesn’t seem like it should be that hard for Spotify, THE listening destination, to get it right.

Then again, multiple albums on my list there aren’t on Spotify whatsoever, so that’s too much to expect

 

well the slight caveat there is that the labels are the ones that submit the metadata for the albums, so incorrect release years are actually the fault of the label, but what's their excuse!

 

1. Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town
2. The Clash - Give 'Em Enough Rope
3. Blondie - Parallel Lines

I think Bruce will probably win this year, and this is his darker, slightly harder follow up to Born to Run, but while that record might have an edge that BTR doesn't necessarily have, it's still full to the brim with massive soulful rock n roll songs.

Give Em Enough Rope often goes a bit underappreciated, coming between two major Clash releases, but it's a phenomenal record in it's own right. Opens with an absolute bang with Safe European Home, which as an opener feels like the punk version of Like a Rolling Stone. What came before and what came after is probably better, but taken in it's own merit, this is fantastic. Possibly the earliest example of a band saying "****" in their lyrics?

Blondie's Parallel Lines marks their transition into a full on pop band, with massive hits and hooks in the form of Heart of Glass, Sunday Girl, One Way or Another & Hanging on the Telephone amongst others. Incredible songwriting on show here. I think I mistakenly included Plastic Letters in last year's thread, but that is actually a 78 release too.

Honourable mentions;

A couple of Kate Bush records, her first, released when she was just 18/19 in The Kick Inside & Lionheart. I think that she only started getting really good with The Dreaming, but these early records are still enjoyable, The Kick Inside and lead single Wuthering Heights in particular.

Black Flag - Nervous Breakdown: Barely 5 minutes long, but a really influential piece of American hardcore, marking itself as a slightly different entity from punk, louder, quicker and more aggressive.

Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear: Marvin's version of Blood on the Tracks, written about his divorce from his wife. Long, spiralling and introspective, it was panned on release, but re-appraised decades later.

Hank Williams - 40 Greatest Hits: Doesn't feel like a 78 record of course, but this is a comprehensive and deep dive on Williams tragic career. Bleak and melancholy at times, but with an excellent voice and sense of melody, it's one of the few compilations that I return to regularly.

Generation X - Generation X: Billy Idol's band, and they wrote Billie Joe's favourite song of all time, Kiss Me Deadly. Good British punk, but with a sense of storytelling and poppiness to them.

Funkadelic - One Nation under a Groove: A proggy-funky album that once it locks you into the groove, it never lets go.

Throbbing Gristle - The Second Annual Report: A very aptly titled band name, this isn't easy listening. An ugly, unpleasant album, that would be massively influential for industrial and noise music. Not one that's in regular rotation, but when you're after something uncompromising and painful, this hits the spot.

 

Went back and forth on whether to include 40 Greatest Hits or not and ultimately left it off because it felt weird to put it so high, but that’s an absolutely essential album for any serious listener to have. Just staggering how good he was