# Best #1 single of the year retrospective: 1978 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387 "2014-10-04T16:11:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/41 "2014-10-05T02:39:44Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I personally went with Macarthur Park for this year’s vote; it’s not as good as the original by Richard Harris Which, according to Dave Barry, was the worst popular song ever. (He was right, too, at least until Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” hit the charts a couple of decades later.) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/42 "2014-10-05T03:26:54Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Our survey brings us now to 1978, the year in which the dominance of disco in the pop charts reached its zenith - the Bee Gees and little brother Andy have 22 weeks in the #1 spot between them, the overwhelming majority of the rest of the 20 songs to make it to the top are disco tunes, and even the Rolling Stones went disco for their sole #1 this year. And Andy’s getting little or no love. Which does not surprise me. As mentioned, as long as we’re doing statistics, a significant proportion of the chart is filled by tracks that could be found either on the _Saturday Night Fever_ or \*Grease \*soundtracks OK, sure we are deep in discoworld here, but one still can find merit. I mean we’ve got Chic’s _Le Freak_, fer cryin’ out loud, people! Meanwhile Donna’s version of _MacArthur Park_ eventually led many like me to the splendid incomprehensible wreck that is the original and I thank her for that. From SNF the BeeGees main dance tracks _Stayin’ Alive_ and _Night Fever_ are of course iconic, and Yvonne Elliman’s contribution is still a pleasure to listen to. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/43 "2014-10-05T03:57:29Z")
MacArthur Park! Notably, Hot Child in the City was the first pop song I’d ever learned well enough to sing. My dad heard me singing the song while playing and it then became my first ever record that I owned. The second record I ever owned was the Grease soundtrack. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/44 "2014-10-05T06:03:18Z")
All you people who have been saying previous years were a bad year, **THIS** is a bad year. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/45 "2014-10-05T06:38:59Z")
The problem is that disco was meant to dance to, not to listen to. I have some great memories of the disco period, but they were all about dancing. Oh well, “Stayin’ Alive.” ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/46 "2014-10-05T08:59:16Z")
I guess that’s why there are so many flavors of ice cream. I rolled my eyes when people gushed over other years’ songs I thought were lame; now you can roll your eyes at me when I say “How Deep is Your Love” is one of my all-time favorites. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/47 "2014-10-05T11:19:08Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > _Hot Child in the City_ A fine song. Sung by the former lead vocalist of Sweeney Todd - and who’s name is not, as shown in the poll, Nick GLIder, but rather Nick GILder. And who should be named Nicole anyway - I totally thought that was a girl singer for the longest time. While I am at it on that song, I haven’t listened to it in years, but playing it in my brain right now, I am conflating the riff in the song with the one from I Believe in Miracles (where ya from, you sexy thing). I will have to go back and compare them… ETA: Wow, am I right!! - Hot Child - get to the chorus: [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=El6iQ2\_dvlc](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=El6iQ2_dvlc) - Hot Chocolate, I Believe in Miracles: [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aOl4oeHZnBk](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aOl4oeHZnBk) Enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/48 "2014-10-05T11:41:03Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > A fine song. Sung by the former lead vocalist of Sweeney Todd - and who’s name is not, as shown in the poll, Nick GLIder, but rather Nick GILder. And who should be named Nicole anyway - I totally thought that was a girl singer for the longest time. Me too! I thought the same thing about Prince the first time I heard him too. OMG, Grease! I graduated from HS in '78 and it was a tossup as to what was bigger, Saturday Night Never or Grease. I vote for the latter – yeah, it might have been the Bee Gee’s biggest year on the charts, and I’ve always liked them, but there’s something about a musical that really makes me want to dance and sing. Ergo, I voted _You’re The One That I Want_. A dear male friend of mine at the time and I used to sing to it word for word, breath for breath, whenever we were together and heard it. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/49 "2014-10-05T11:44:38Z")
I had been looking forward to voting for Gerry Raferty’s “Baker Street,” but turns out it only made it to #2 in the US. I was going to impress you all with my analysis of his use of major and minor chords…eh, probably just as well to spare you from my pompous and pathetic wanna-be musicologist musings. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/50 "2014-10-05T13:16:46Z")
OK, it’s not a great year. To my mind though “Stayin’ Alive” might be the easiest choice yet. You may not like disco, but Stayin’ Alive is an absolutely note-perfect song executed with sensational technical proficiency, is immensely famous, is highly representative of the era, was part of the soundtrack of one of the biggest movies of the year (which was also for a time the biggest selling album ever) and, most importantly, it’s got a hell of a beat and you can dance to it. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/51 "2014-10-05T13:42:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > OK, it’s not a great year. > > To my mind though “Stayin’ Alive” might be the easiest choice yet. You may not like disco, but Stayin’ Alive is an absolutely note-perfect song executed with sensational technical proficiency, is immensely famous, is highly representative of the era, was part of the soundtrack of one of the biggest movies of the year (which was also for a time the biggest selling album ever) and, most importantly, it’s got a hell of a beat and you can dance to it. All true. I respect that choice and it probably should win. But Le Freak! I think the story is well known: Nile and Bernard and the band were trying to get into Studio 54 one night - they were told Diana Ross, I think, had put their names in. They got turned away, so ended up back in one of the places, which was close to the club. Nile started messing around on The Hitmaker (his Stratocaster which he used on all of his big songs) and came up with the infamous Le Freak riff, screaming out the window towards Studio 54: Fuck Off!!!. Then they realized it was a great hook and came up with another phrase 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/52 "2014-10-05T13:48:24Z")
Yup - _Stayin’ Alive_. It was the year of disco, so disco it must be, and _Stayin’ Alive_ has positive associations with me. As mentioned the best song of that year in particular would have to be a song that you danced to rather than listened to, so there you go. “Whether you’re a brother or whether you’re a mother…” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/53 "2014-10-05T14:03:53Z")
This one was between Le Freak and Staying Alive. I ended up going with the latter, as it’s perhaps the most emblematic disco tune. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/54 "2014-10-05T15:00:15Z")
**John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John** - _You’re the One That I Want_ is my favourite song in the list but _How Deep Is Your Love_ is the best one. I really like the many modulations in the chorus. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/55 "2014-10-05T19:38:42Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Yup - _Stayin’ Alive_. It was the year of disco, so disco it must be… Hey, “Stayin’ Alive” is the [theme song for my Death Pool list.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17775308&postcount=1712) 😃 But I’m still abstaining from this poll. The music I associate most with this year is Jackson Browne’s _Running on Empty._ Obviously I wasn’t paying any more attention to disco than I had to. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/56 "2014-10-05T19:45:01Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > OK, it’s not a great year. > > To my mind though “Stayin’ Alive” might be the easiest choice yet. You may not like disco, but Stayin’ Alive is an absolutely note-perfect song executed with sensational technical proficiency, is immensely famous, is highly representative of the era, was part of the soundtrack of one of the biggest movies of the year (which was also for a time the biggest selling album ever) and, most importantly, it’s got a hell of a beat and you can dance to it. Co-signing this. 1978 was my birth year, and frankly I’m damn proud to be a disco baby. “Boogie Oogie Oogie” is a close second because the bass line is so cool. ---
**Author:** ![Eddie\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@Eddie\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eddie_F)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/57 "2014-10-05T20:01:11Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > All you people who have been saying previous years were a bad year, **THIS** is a bad year. 1976 would like to have a word with you outside, around the corner. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/58 "2014-10-05T20:23:39Z")
Andy Gibb got no votes, so I do have to mention that I like “Shadow Dancing” quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/59 "2014-10-05T22:21:00Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > All you people who have been saying previous years were a bad year, **THIS** is a bad year. I’m going through the previous years and listening to all the songs I don’t know (which is most of them prior to 1974 or so). I’m currently listening to the 1961 songs and I strenuously disagree with your statement. There’s no Lawrence Welk on this list. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/60 "2014-10-05T22:30:49Z")
No wonder 1977 and 1978 were the years I stopped listening to whatever was popular. I discovered Album Oriented Rock (AOR) then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387.md?page=4)