# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/81 "2014-10-07T05:39:28Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > 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) I remain mystified by the love for Springsteen… Anyway, I staunchly refuse to vote for any disco songs even though “Staying Alive” is a truly great song. I had to go with “Miss You”, which is an excellent Stones song, and I’m not even a big fan of theirs. Props to “Hot Child” for it being my favorite song in 1978 as I plastered my ear to the radio listening to Kasey Kasum while I lived in Schofield Barracks. I absolutely LOVED that song but IMO it hasn’t aged very well at all. ---
**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, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/82 "2014-10-07T06:07:22Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Anyway, I staunchly refuse to vote for any disco songs even though “Staying Alive” is a truly great song. I had to go with “Miss You”, which is an excellent Stones song, and I’m not even a big fan of theirs. A lot of people consider “Miss You” to _be_ disco. ---
**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 7, 2014, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/83 "2014-10-07T07:46:08Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > A lot of people consider “Miss You” to _be_ disco. It’s not disco. It’s _disco-ish_. There’s a difference. ---
**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 7, 2014, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/84 "2014-10-07T09:40:29Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > 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. Thanks for your analysis. For some reason, although I love this song, it never occured to me to try and play it. I’ve checked the chords progression and like you said, there’s a nice little back and forth between major and minor. Lovely. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/85 "2014-10-07T15:34:03Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > 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. Yeah, “Beast of Burden” was a fantastic song. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/86 "2014-10-07T15:38:48Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > It is our shame as a nation that no one has tried Andy Gibb for crimes against humanity for that injustice. What’re ya going to do, dig him up so you can hang him? He’s been dead for years… The first of the Gibb brothers to die, despite being the youngest. The massive doses of cocaine probably didn’t help his longevity… ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/87 "2014-10-07T16:45:09Z")
I can’t even. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/88 "2014-10-07T18:08:54Z")
Though hardly the jewel in the crown of The World’s Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band, “Miss You” does manage to transcend the rest of this list. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/89 "2014-10-07T18:54:42Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Kraftwerk - The Model Huh, I didn’t know that originally came out in '78. It seems it was re-issued in the UK in '81 (making number 1), and that’s where I remember it from. They were even more ahead of their time than I thought 🆒 ---
**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, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/90 "2014-10-07T19:02:26Z")
Yeah, that’s weird - it was originally on _The Man-Machine_ album in '78, but it wasn’t released as a single at the time - they put it on the b-side of “Computer Love” in '81, and when DJs started playing it on the radio, they released it as an a-side. Thanks, Wikipedia! ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/91 "2014-10-07T19:22:02Z")
Sorry, but this is another “I can’t really vote for any of them” year. “Miss You” isn’t horrible, but part of me can’t support it because it was so obviously The Stones pandering to a current style, when they should have been leading the way. I remember visiting an old girlfriend in Florida in this year, who had completely changed her stripes from the sort of hippie chick I knew to a disco diva. She dragged me to a club where the band played nothing but disco…until they played this song, which was at least bearable. All of the Bee Gees’ disco output kind of runs together for me, and I kept expecting “Nights on Broadway,” the ONLY song of theirs from this era I can say I actually sort of like, to show up. Turns out it came out way back in 1975, and only reached #7. It’s interesting how quickly they fell off the face of the earth after their last #1 from the era, 1979’s “Love You Inside Out.” A #30 and a #24, and then NOTHING until 1989. “Baby Come Back” is an OK song too, but kind of got played to death both in the day and on Oldies stations. Player’s follow-up that no one remembers, “This Time I’m in It For Love,” is actually a better song. Mercifully, disco’s reign would soon come to an end…and in 1979, I found it easy to vote for one of the songs that helped show it the door: “My Sharona.” ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/92 "2014-10-10T16:23:33Z")
“Miss You” is a good song and “Some Girls” was the last truly good Stones album. ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/93 "2015-01-12T08:30:14Z")
Yvonne Elliman… If I can’t have you…just beat out Le Freak for me…Just a perfect disco era song…the melodies soar…She sings the hell outta of it too… ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/94 "2015-02-11T00:05:12Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > All you people who have been saying previous years were a bad year, **THIS** is a bad year. This NOT a bad year - it is a drill-holes-in-your-eardrums-cause-the-crap-is-inesccapable year. Yeah, I’m not even going to try on this one. Thankgawd for the 8-track in the car. ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387/95 "2015-02-11T00:17:57Z")
Too many good ones to choose from. But since you asked for one, I picked “Hot Child in the City”. Still a pretty catchy tune if you ask me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1978/700387.md?page=4)