1978 in music



This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1978.

January–April

 * January 14 – The Sex Pistols play their final show (until a 1996 reunion) at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom.
 * January 16 – Elton John appears on this week's People Magazine without his trademark glasses. John would still wear glasses occasionally for the next ten years until wearing them permanently again.
 * January 21 – As Saturday Night Fever becomes a cultural phenomenon, the soundtrack hits #1 on the Billboard Charts, where it will stay until July.
 * January 25
 * Electric Light Orchestra kick off their "Out of the Blue" world tour in Honolulu, Hawaii.
 * Bob Dylan makes his directorial debut in the surrealist film Renaldo and Clara, shot during his Rolling Thunder Revue tour.
 * January 28 – By request, Ted Nugent autographs his name into a fan's arm with a bowie knife in Philadelphia.
 * February 4 – Elton John appears as the guest star on The Muppet Show.
 * February 10 – Van Halen debuts with self-titled album; Eddie Van Halen introduces a powerful new sound and technique to world, while David Lee Roth is ushered in as the front man.
 * March 18 – California Jam II is held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in California. Over 300,000 fans come to see Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Santana, Dave Mason, Foreigner, Heart and more.
 * April 22
 * In the Eurovision Song Contest in Paris, France, victory goes to Israel's entry "A-Ba-Ni-Bi", performed by Izhar Cohen & The Alphabeta.
 * The "One Love Peace Concert" is held in Kingston, Jamaica, headlined by Bob Marley, making his first concert appearance since December 1976.
 * Steve Martin performs the original "King Tut" on Saturday Night Live; also that night, The Blues Brothers make their first appearance on the show.

May–July

 * May 6 – The Knack is formed (first album released in 1979).
 * May 13 – Barry Gibb becomes the only songwriter in history to have written 4 consecutive #1 singles on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart.
 * May 18 – The Buddy Holly Story, starring Gary Busey, is released. It would win the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score, and earn a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Busey) and Best Sound.
 * May 25 – In a performance used for The Kids Are Alright, The Who play their last show with Keith Moon.
 * June 10 – The Rolling Stones begin their 25-date US summer tour in Lakeland, Florida.
 * June 13 – The Cramps play a free concert for patients at the Napa State Mental Hospital.
 * June 16 – The film adaptation of the musical Grease, opens in theaters and is a box office hit.
 * June 20 – Grace Slick splits with Jefferson Starship the day after a disastrous concert in Hamburg, Germany, in which a heavily intoxicated Slick verbally abused the crowd and groped various fans and band mates.
 * June 29 – Peter Frampton is nearly killed in a car accident in The Bahamas, suffering multiple broken bones, a concussion, and muscle damage.
 * July 1 – The first Texxas Jam is held over the July 4 long weekend at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The first day features Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush, Heart, Journey, Head East, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Eddie Money, Van Halen and Walter Egan. Sunday consists of Willie Nelson headlining his sixth annual Fourth of July picnic.
 * July 19 – Dead Kennedys play their first concert, at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco, California.
 * July 21 – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, a much-hyped musical film starring Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees performing the music of The Beatles, opens in theaters. The film is savaged by critics and proves a box office disappointment.
 * July 29 – Glenn Goins, one of the lead vocalists for the band Parliament-Funkadelic dies of Hodgkin's lymphoma at age of 24.
 * July 30 – Thin Lizzy officially announces that Gary Moore has replaced Brian Robertson on guitar.

August–December

 * August 18 – The Who release their eighth studio Who Are You. It is The Who's last album with Keith Moon as the drummer; Moon died twenty days after the release of this album.
 * August 26 – 80,000 concertgoers attend Mosport Speedway in Ontario for the "Canada Jam Festival", featuring sets by the Doobie Brothers, Commodores, Kansas, Village People, Dave Mason, the Atlanta Rhythm Section and Triumph.
 * August 28 – 67,000 Funk fans assembled at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois to attend the first annual Funk Festival, billed as "One Nation Under A Groove", featuring A Taste of Honey (band), Parlet, Con Funk Shun, the Bar-Kays, and Parliament-Funkadelic.
 * September 7 – The Who drummer Keith Moon dies in a central London flat after a prescription drug overdose at the age of 32.
 * September 14–16 – The Grateful Dead perform three shows in Giza, Egypt, very close to the Sphinx and Great Pyramid.
 * October 12 – Nancy Spungen, the American girlfriend of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious, is found dead in a New York hotel room of a stab wound. Sid is arrested and charged with her murder.
 * October 24 – Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards pleads guilty to a reduced charge of possessing heroin in Toronto in 1977. The more serious charge of drug trafficking is dropped and Richards is given a one-year suspended sentence as well as ordered to play a charity concert for the blind.
 * October 29 – Michael Schenker plays his final show with UFO in Stanford, California before leaving the group to rejoin Scorpions.
 * November 21 – French pop star Dalida performed a concert at New York's Carnegie Hall.
 * November 25
 * A now sober Alice Cooper releases the album From the Inside, which tells of his stay in rehab for alcoholism.
 * Aerosmith cuts a concert short after Steven Tyler suffers cuts to his face from a bottle that shatters upon hitting a stage monitor.
 * Donna Summer becomes the first female artist of the modern rock era to have the number single (Mac Arthur Park) and album (Live and More) on billboard charts simultaneously.
 * November 27 – Def Leppard's permanent drummer Rick Allen joins the band at the age of 15.
 * December 31
 * Matthias Jabs joins Scorpions, replacing Uli Jon Roth.
 * The seventh annual New Year's Rockin' Eve special airs on ABC, with performances by Barry Manilow, Village People, Chuck Mangione, Tanya Tucker and Rick James.
 * CBS airs New Year's Eve with Guy Lombardo for the final time, nearly two years after the band leader's death and ending a 22-year run that began in 1956.
 * The Winterland Ballroom venue in San Francisco closes with a New Year's Eve performance by the Grateful Dead, New Riders of the Purple Sage and the Blues Brothers.
 * Iron Maiden records a demo, consisting of four songs, at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge which would eventually become The Soundhouse Tapes.

Also in 1978

 * Kenny Rogers continues his highly successful solo career with the single (and album) "The Gambler" and will go on to star in no less than five movies based around the song.
 * In the UK, singles sales are at their all-time high this year, boosted by the simultaneous peak of the disco and punk phenomena and the success of singles from the movie Grease.
 * Mozambique holds its first National Dance Festival, involving half a million people.
 * November, Iron Maiden hires lead singer Paul Di'Anno.

Bands formed

 * See Category:Musical groups established in 1978

Bands disbanded

 * See Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1978

Albums released

 * 1) Shuffering and Shmiling Fela Kuti

Biggest hit singles
The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the charts of 1978.

Chronological table of US and UK number one hit singles
US number one singles and artist (weeks at number one)
 * How Deep Is Your Love – Bee Gees (2 weeks in 1977 + 1 week in 1978)
 * "Baby Come Back" – Player (3)
 * Stayin' Alive – Bee Gees (4)
 * "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water" – Andy Gibb (2)
 * "Night Fever" – Bee Gees (8), best selling single of the year
 * "If I Can't Have You" – Yvonne Elliman (1)
 * "With a Little Luck" – Paul McCartney & Wings (2)
 * "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" – Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams (1)
 * You're The One That I Want – John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (1)
 * "Shadow Dancing" – Andy Gibb (7)
 * Miss You – The Rolling Stones (1)
 * "Three Times a Lady" – Commodores (2)
 * Grease – Frankie Valli (2)
 * "Boogie Oogie Oogie" – A Taste of Honey (3)
 * "Kiss You All Over" – Exile (4)
 * "Hot Child in the City" – Nick Gilder (1)
 * "You Needed Me" – Anne Murray (1)
 * "MacArthur Park" – Donna Summer (3)
 * "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" – Barbra Streisand & Neil Diamond (2)
 * "Le Freak" – Chic (3 weeks in 1978 + 3 weeks in 1979)

UK number one singles and artist (weeks at number one)
 * "Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School" – Paul McCartney & Wings (5 weeks in 1977 + 4 weeks in 1978)
 * "Uptown Top Ranking" – Althea & Donna (1)
 * "Figaro" – Brotherhood of Man (1)
 * "Take a Chance On Me" – ABBA (3)
 * "Wuthering Heights" – Kate Bush (4)
 * "Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs" – Brian and Michael (3)
 * "Night Fever" – Bee Gees (2)
 * "Rivers of Babylon" – Boney M (5) best selling single of the year
 * "You're the One That I Want" – John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (9)
 * "Three Times a Lady" – Commodores (5)
 * "Dreadlock Holiday" – 10cc (1)
 * "Summer Nights" – John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (7)
 * "Rat Trap" – The Boomtown Rats (2)
 * "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" – Rod Stewart (1)
 * "Mary's Boy Child"/"Oh My Lord" – Boney M (4)

Ballet

 * Lorenzo Ferrero – Invito a nozze

Musical theater

 * Ain't Misbehavin' Broadway revue opened at the Longacre Theatre on May 9 and ran for 1604 performances
 * The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas opened at the Entermedia Theatre on April 17 and ran for 85 performances. The show moved to Broadway in 1979, and ran for 1584 performances.
 * Eubie Broadway revue opened at the Ambassador Theatre on September 20 and ran for 439 performances
 * Evita (Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice) – London production opened at the Prince Edward Theatre on June 21
 * Hello, Dolly! (Jerry Herman) – Broadway revival opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on March 5 and ran for 152 performances
 * I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road Off-Broadway production opened at the Anspacher Theater on June 14 and ran for 1165 performances
 * Timbuktu Broadway production opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on March 1 and ran for 243 performances
 * On The Twentieth Century Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on February 19 and ran for 460 performances