WPGC Playlist - Top 100 of 1978

Three words; Saturday Night Fever. Two more; Bee Gees. Until the release of the film in December, 1977, Disco was a casual pastime generally devoted to the weekend. The film transformed the craze into a cultural phenomenon like pouring gasoline on a fire. Some stations abandoned format altogether to jump on the Disco bandwagon for a ratings spike that could not be maintained long term. Thankfully, WPGC was not one of them. But with the ethnic composition of the Nation's Capital being what it is, WPGC had historically always leaned towards R&B records from its earliest days. Disco was a natural progression for the station musically and never was that more apparent than in 1978.

For perspective, not since the Beatles' total dominance in 1964 had there been anything remotely comparable to the influence of the Brothers Gibb. Their extraordinary chart feat of having written, produced and/or sung on 5 of the Top Ten records on Billboard's Hot 100 on 03/25/78 had only been eclipsed on 04/04/64 when the Fab Four held all 5 of the top positions. Along with younger brother, Andy, other recipients of their benevolence included Yvonne Elliman, Samantha Sang and Tavares. So many titles from the Bee Gees universe were in rotation at the same time, WPGC took to playing two at a time in regularly scheduled double plays and at one point even started playing the 12" remixes of some of those songs.

Just as the Beatles had spearheaded the British Invasion with dozens of artists following in their wake, the Brothers from Manchester did the same for a plethora of other Disco acts. It was nearly impossible to turn on the radio and not immediately hear hit records with a pronounced beat from Chic, the Village People, Donna Summer, Alicia Bridges, Evelyn 'Champagne' King, A Taste of Honey, the Trammps, Heatwave and so many others. Listener appetite for seemingly anything with a beat led to the inevitable profiteers wanting to cash in on the trend. When things reached the point that an artist of the stature of Ethel Merman did a Disco version of, 'God Bless America' the following year, things had gone too far and a backlash would become inevitable. But in 1978, it was full speed ahead on the dance floor.

That is not to say however that Rock rolled over and played dead. Major releases from acts such as Foreigner, Boston and Queen enjoyed widespread airplay. One of those Rock acts however pushed their luck when the Stones did a blatantly dance inspired track, 'Miss You' of which a 12" remix was issued for clubs. Newcomers on the Pop scene also got their share of attention, particularly Gerry Rafferty, once of Stealers Wheel fame. 'Baker Street' was hailed as one of the finest songs of the year and justifiably so. A one time guitarist for Stevie Wonder, Ray Parker Jr. and Raydio climbed up the charts if not the hill with, 'Jack & Jill'. Chris Rea's, 'Fool If You Think It's Over' turned out to be a cruel joke on him; he would never have another major hit. Others such as Eddie Money, Player, Michael Johnson and Rick James all found new fans that year.

Rivaling his success earlier in the year, lightning struck twice when John Travolta starred with Olivia Newton-John in the film adaptation of, 'Grease'. With no acting experience of her own to speak of, Olivia swept everyone off their collective feet with her portrayal of Sandy, the wide-eyed innocent turned bombshell beauty and hinted at the transformation of her own singing career in the years to come. With memorable duets alongside Travolta and solo songs of her own from the soundtrack, whose title track was ironically written by Barry Gibb, the scores of both of the biggest films of the year and the tonnage of hit singles generated from them made RSO the undisputed #1 label of the year.

Other duets also did rather well that year. Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond's, 'You Don't Bring Me Flowers' started out as an edit of separate recordings of the pair by Gary Guthrie at WAKY in Louisville as a going away present for his wife whom he had just divorced. Veteran, Johnny Mathis teamed up with Deniece Williams on, 'Too Much, Too Little, Too Late' while Kenny Loggins did the same with Stevie Nicks on, 'Whenever I Call You Friend'. And longtime singing partners, Roberta Flack of Arlington, who at one time had been a school teacher in Chevy Chase and Donny Hathaway made a comeback with, 'The Closer I Get To You'.

Other 'not heard from in a long time' comebacks included the Who on the aptly named, 'Who Are You' (minus the F word from the album on the 45), Ambrosia, Steely Dan and Lynyrd Skynyrd whose, 'Street Survivors' LP had its original album cover artwork with the band standing in front of flames recalled after the tragic plane crash the year earlier that took the lives of several band members and injured others. One artist who was heard from for a very long time was Paul Davis. His hit from late the previous year, 'I Go Crazy' carried over into 1978, spending an amazing 40 consecutive weeks during its chart run, a record at the time.

With the passing of Elvis Presley one year before, it seemed fitting that the Queen of the remakes, Linda Ronstadt would cover one of his songs. Her, 'Living In the USA' LP generated hits like, 'Back In the USA' and, 'Ooh Baby, Baby' and also contained covers of, 'Just One Look', 'Alison' and Elvis', 'Love Me Tender'. Dave Foxx once again buried himself in the production studio and emerged with a striking duet in which the two appeared to sing with one another, long before electronic gimmickry made such combinations far more common in later years. Hear his amazing blade work here.

In short, 1978 epitomized the latter half of the 'Me' (if not the Disco) decade that would come to a flaming end in just a year's time.