# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/61 "2014-10-05T22:40:34Z")
In 1978 I was 11-12 years old, and I can actually say that I remember every single one of these songs (i.e. hearing them multiple times when they were current). Well, except for “Boogie Oogie Oogie.” Don’t remember that one at all, at least the title. Maybe if I heard it it would sound familiar. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/62 "2014-10-05T22:45:03Z")
Of the songs that went to #1, Yvonne E\*lliman with If I Can’t Have You \*is the best. Miss You, by the Rolling Stones wasn’t event the best song they had in 1978. _Beast of Burden_ was, and it only went to #8. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/63 "2014-10-06T01:45:35Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Did you not like dancing? Correct. Hated it then. Hate it now. The only difference is that over the years I have learned I don’t have to dance in any situation. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/64 "2014-10-06T01:52:36Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > 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. 😉 No, go ahead. It can’t be worse than listening to Andy Gibb’s “Shadow Dancing” which was the song that kept “Baker Street” from hitting #1 by making it sit in the runner-up position for six weeks. If it’s any consolation, I’ve heard “Baker Street” played on oldies stations a lot more than I’ve heard “Shadow Dancing”. ---
**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 6, 2014, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/65 "2014-10-06T08:28:26Z")
If it’s any consolation, **Raferty** ’s \*Baker Street \* is the song I’d voted for in a heartbeat if it had reached #1. I’m sure he would have been proud 🆒. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/66 "2014-10-06T08:48:24Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > If it’s any consolation, **Raferty** ’s \*Baker Street \* is the song I’d voted for in a heartbeat if it had reached #1. > > I’m sure he would have been proud 🆒. I would’ve done that too but these polls aren’t about songs that peaked at #2. Once you start doing that, you’re on a slippery slope that leads to including any song that made the Top 5, then the Top 10, the Top 20, the Top 40, etc. **Smapti** is already doing a lot of work on these as it is so it’s not fair to add to his burden just because some of us find the selection of number ones from a particular year lackluster. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/67 "2014-10-06T10:14:21Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Correct. Hated it then. Hate it now. The only difference is that over the years I have learned I don’t have to dance in any situation. My view of dance music has always been that it’s harmless enough fluff, often entertaining at its best. Pop music has always been poorer since the 70s when dance music isn’t driving its evolution. And this era had some good dance music. This chart is filled with Bee Gees and Donna Summer, two of the greatest dance acts of all time. ---
**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 6, 2014, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/68 "2014-10-06T10:28:48Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > I would’ve done that too but these polls aren’t about songs that peaked at #2. Once you start doing that, you’re on a slippery slope that leads to including any song that made the Top 5, then the Top 10, the Top 20, the Top 40, etc. **Smapti** is already doing a lot of work on these as it is so it’s not fair to add to his burden just because some of us find the selection of number ones from a particular year lackluster. You’re absolutely right and just to set the record straight: I most definitely wasn’t complaining. No one forced me to post, the rules are clear and I play by them. It’s just that _Baker Street_ was mentioned and I wanted to make a side comment about it ;). ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/69 "2014-10-06T11:30:00Z")
I voted Rolling Stones as it is, I think truthfully, the \*\*\*only \*\*\*one on that list that I would not prompt me to reach for the off or mute button if it started playing on the radio. 1978 was a real stinker for #1’s. ---
**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 6, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/70 "2014-10-06T13:36:29Z")
Les Espaces, I for one never thought you were implying that we/Smapti should add #2’s to these polls. Like you, I just thought it was okay to discuss certain songs we EXPECTED to have reached #1, but turns out they did not (Baker Street being a prime example, surely). What I wanted to say about the song is how delightfully it plays with major and minor. The verse is mostly in A Major, and ends in D Major. The refrain alternates between D minor and A minor, but the first half of it ends on a juicy, hopeful D Major chord (“you’re trying _now_”), while the second half ends in on a juicy, but more wistful A Major chord (“you’re crying _now_”), echoing the lyrics. The sax thing is played over power chords which I usually see notated as “major,” and I guess they are, but because of the sax melody (blues scale), they’re ambiguous enough that they feel neither or both. Coming out of the sax thing into a verse, it feels like you’ve gone from minor to major, while going into the sax thing from the refrain it feels like you’re going from a mostly minor section back to major again. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/71 "2014-10-06T13:57:28Z")
> [@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. Agreed. The song is beautifully crafted vocally and musically so that it has transcended disco and been covered by a plethora of artists in different genres, myself included. Here’s a great example by [Springsteen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs-7N8Y1s68#t=148) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/72 "2014-10-06T15:05:56Z")
Another horrible year, but I went with “Night Fever.” ---
**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 6, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/73 "2014-10-06T15:40:10Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > No, go ahead. It can’t be worse than listening to Andy Gibb’s “Shadow Dancing” which was the song that kept “Baker Street” from hitting #1 by making it sit in the runner-up position for six weeks. It is our shame as a nation that no one has tried Andy Gibb for crimes against humanity for that injustice. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/74 "2014-10-06T15:52:39Z")
I really like the haunting melody in the verses of Grease, so I voted for that. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/75 "2014-10-06T16:16:56Z")
That was a really weak field. I voted for Miss You, even though I hate that song. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/76 "2014-10-06T17:08:31Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > It is our shame as a nation that no one has tried Andy Gibb for crimes against humanity for that injustice. He’s been dead since 1988, so barring some sort of pop music Cadaver Synod, I think we missed our chance on that one. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/77 "2014-10-06T17:27:25Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Here’s a great example by [Springsteen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs-7N8Y1s68#t=148) Non-cellphone version: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n1GT-VjjVs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n1GT-VjjVs) And, wow, “Baker Street” came out in '78? I’d have sworn it was earlier than that. ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/78 "2014-10-06T18:03:30Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > He’s been dead since 1988, so barring some sort of pop music Cadaver Synod, I think we missed our chance on that one. Well, we might we collectively dance on his grave instead, in an ironic as well as fitting protest? ---
**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 7, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/79 "2014-10-07T01:11:37Z")
> [@mack](#): > > I really like the haunting melody in the verses of Grease… Great call. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/80 "2014-10-07T03:20:48Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Joining you. Man, my birth year was a fucking wasteland for pop music. Thank goodness I was a baby and so didn’t notice it much. Like any year, there was plenty of great music that never made it to #1. I’ve made myself “100 Songs” compilations of each decade to listen to on my iPod, meaning I picked 10 songs from each year and made a mix. For 1978, I have: Cheap Trick - Surrender Elvis Costello & The Attractions - No Action The Cars - Just What I Needed Kraftwerk - The Model The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet The Clash - White Man in Hammersmith Palais Buzzcocks - I Don’t Mind Queen - Don’t Stop Me Now The Police - So Lonely XTC - Statue of Liberty Even if those aren’t to your taste, I’m sure there are plenty of other songs from '78 you’d like. No reason to completely write off your birth year! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387.md?page=5)