1978
Top Selling Singles
- Boney M – Rivers Of Babylon / Brown Girl In The Ring
- John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John – You’re The One That I Want
- John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John – Summer Nights
- The Bee Gees – Night Fever
- The Commodores – Three Times A Lady
- Brian & Michael – Matchstalk Men And Matchstalk Cats And Dogs
- Father Abraham & The Smurfs – The Smurf Song
- Abba – Take A Chance On Me
- Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights
- The Boomtown Rats – Rat Trap
Christmas No. 1 – Boney M – Mary’s Boy Child-Oh My Lord
Top Selling Albums
- Saturday Night Fever Original Soundtrack (18 weeks at No 1)
- Grease Original Soundtrack (13 weeks at No 1)
- ABBA – The Album
- Boney M – Nightflight to Venus
- Nat ‘King’ Cole – 20 Golden Greats
- Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
- Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue
- Jeff Wayne – Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
- Don Williams – Images
- Buddy Holly & the Crickets – 20 Golden Greats
At the Box Office
- Star Wars
- Superman
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Grease
- Saturday Night Fever
- Game of Death
- Revenge of the Pink Panther
- The Wild Geese
- Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo
- The Stud
Cost of Living
Average house price | £11,860 |
Average salary | £5,000 |
Average car price | £2,800 |
Petrol | 76p/gallon |
Pint of beer | 40p |
Packet of 20 Cigarettes | 57p |
Pint of milk | 12p |
In the News
- Prime Minister was James Callaghan (Labour)
- The Otter becomes a protected species, ending the hunting of it.
- Anna Ford becomes the first female newsreader on ITN
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy first broadcast by BBC Radio 4
- Conservative Party recruit advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi to revamp their image
- First official naturist beach opens at Fairlight Glen in Covehurst Bay near Hastings
- Early May Bank Holiday observed for the first time
- Naomi James becomes the first woman to sail around the world single-handedly
- Louise Brown becomes the world’s first human born from in vitro fertilisation, in Oldham (Test Tube )
- The government announces plans for a new single exam to replace O Levels and CSEs (GCSE’s)
- British bakeries impose bread rationing after a baker’s strike led to panic buying of bread
- Inflation reaches a six-year low of 8.3%,although unemployment is at a postwar high of 1,500,000
On the Telly
- The first edition of arts magazine The South Bank Show is shown
- The first episode of schools drama Grange Hill is broadcast on BBC1
- The Police (as in the band) appear in a television commercial for Wrigley’s chewing gum.
- The four-part drama series Law & Order begins airing on BBC2. Each of the four stories within the series is told from a different perspective, including that of the Detective, the Villain, the Brief and the Prisoner
- Sesame Street starts airing
- The original series of Top Gear began airing on BBC2 having started as a locally produced programme at BBC Pebble Mill the previous year.
- Larry Grayson succeeds Bruce Forsyth as presenter of The Generation Game. (Shut that door!)
- ITV starts broadcasting the ORACLE-teletext based service
- Also still watching…
- Cheggers Plays Pop (1978–1986)
- The Little and Large Show (1978–1991)
- Dallas (1978–1991)
- Butterflies (1978–1983, 2000)
- Mixed Blessings (1978–1980)
- The Incredible Hulk (1977–1982)
In Music
- The Eurovision Song Contest was held in Paris. The winner was Israel with the song “A-Ba-Ni-Bi” by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta.
Top Selling Christmas Toys
- Hungry Hippos
- Speak & Spell
- Simon Says
Gadgets
- Kodak EK300 – Instant Camera
- Philips Laserdisc Player
- Sanyo Betamax Video Recorder
- Sinclair MTV1 Micro TV
- Speak and Spell