1978

Top Selling Singles

1. Boney M – Rivers Of Babylon / Brown Girl In The Ring
2. John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John – You’re The One That I Want
3. John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John – Summer Nights
4. The Bee Gees – Night Fever
5. The Commodores – Three Times A Lady
6. Brian & Michael – Matchstalk Men And Matchstalk Cats And Dogs
7. Father Abraham & The Smurfs – The Smurf Song
8. Abba – Take A Chance On Me
9. Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights
10. The Boomtown Rats – Rat Trap

Christmas No. 1 – Boney M – Mary’s Boy Child-Oh My Lord

Top Selling Albums

1. Saturday Night Fever Original Soundtrack (18 weeks at No 1)
2. Grease Original Soundtrack (13 weeks at No 1)
3. ABBA – The Album
4. Boney M – Nightflight to Venus
5. Nat ‘King’ Cole – 20 Golden Greats
6. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
7. Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue
8. Jeff Wayne – Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
9. Don Williams – Images
10. Buddy Holly & the Crickets – 20 Golden Greats

At the Box Office

1. Star Wars
2. Superman
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
4. Grease
5. Saturday Night Fever
6. Game of Death
7. Revenge of the Pink Panther
8. The Wild Geese
9. Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo
10. 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