Every UK #1 Single of 1978 Discussion Thread.

Was she finally killed by a Dalek?

 

'Three Times a Lady' only took three weeks to get to number one. It debuted at number 46 the week ending 05 August 1978, shot to number five the following week and then to the top:

UK Singles Chart for the week ending 19 August 1978

01 (05) Commodores - THREE TIMES A LADY
02 (01) John Travolta And Olivia Newton-John - YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT
03 (02) Clout - SUBSTITUTE
04 (18) Darts - IT'S RAINING
05 (06) Boney M - RIVERS OF BABYLON / BROWN GIRL IN THE RING

Apart from the Grease duet, my favourite song in the top 5 of that week is 'Substitute' by South African band Clout. The song was originally recorded by The Righteous Brothers in 1975.



In 1979, Clout had another top 10 hit all over Continental Europe with 'Save Me', which was first recorded in 1976 by the Irish singer Clodagh Rodgers.

 

I loved Substitute. Didn’t know that about Save Me...I did see Clodagh’s version on one of the old TOTP episodes a few years back and liked it. Someone called Brian Chapman also recorded it. I keep getting his version of SongPop.

 

The Commodores were such a great R&B/Soul group who should never had let Lionel Richie take over. He so desperately wanted to be a pop/MOR star and since 3XaL was such a big hit on both sides of the Atlantic, he got his way and ruined the group. It was obvious that he'd be going solo soon and have a very successful and boring solo career.

3XaL is a snoozer.

 

Another very ABBA-esque hit, but rocks a little harder. I'm kinda surprised it wasn't a hit in the US...

 

It’s a good song. For years I thought it had been a number one, but it couldn’t topple the Grease stuff.

 

From 23rd September, 10cc had their last hurrah with Dreadlock Holiday. It was #1 for a week.



"Dreadlock Holiday" is a reggae song by 10cc. Written by Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman, it was the lead single from the band's 1978 album, Bloody Tourists. Lead vocals were performed by Graham Gouldman (verse and chorus) and Eric Stewart (bridge).

It became the group's third and final number one hit in the UK Singles Chart, and final top 10 hit, spending a single week at the top in September 1978.[3] The single also topped the charts in New Zealand, reached Number 2 in Ireland and Australia, and peaked at number 44 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The song was based on real events Eric Stewart and Moody Blues vocalist Justin Hayward experienced in Barbados. Stewart changed the location to Jamaica. Graham Gouldman commented: "Some of the experiences that are mentioned are true, and some of them are ... fairly true!”

The beach scene in the official video was actually filmed on the Dorset coast near Charmouth. Golden Cap, the iconic hill and cliff of this region known as the "Jurassic Coast", is clearly visible for a few seconds in the video.

My thoughts.

10CC had been quiet of late, but came roaring back with Dreadlock Holiday in the summer of 1978. Actually, they were now 5CC as they’d shed two members recently. It looked like a good start, but this would be the group’s final hit. They’d had an extremely good run, though. I wasn’t really a fan, and never came close to buying any of their singles, but many of them were clever and well put together. I don’t think Dreadlock Holiday is amongst their best.

Germany PS.

 

The B-side, Nothing Can Move Me. It’s not bad.

 

The UK single.







France PS.

 

...What happened to the second half on 1977? You had the first half, stopping at about the Pistols/Rod smashup...

 

That wasn’t part of this thread. It was a poll.

 

The single’s lone week at number one.

 

Record Mirror singles page for this week.

 

...Yes, it wasn't this thread. But, IIRC, the 1976 thread spilled over into half of 1977, I recall speaking about the Pistols/Rod legend in the post and asking you about the Jackson's " Show You.." and you saying it was during the second half.

 

I forgot about it, if I’m honest. I’ll get around to finishing it off at some point.

 

...I somehow heard enough by Clout to get their U.S. album of the period, and liked it!
" Substitute " had another version as well, I guess a cover of Clout's.
Gloria Gaynor recorded it...as the original B-side to a little number called " I Will Survive "! And NOW you know...the REST of the story! Doubt many Brits will get that reference, but...








o the chase, post: 19292252, member: 87832"]'Three Times a Lady' only took three weeks to get to number one. It debuted at number 46 the week ending 05 August 1978, shot to number five the following week and then to the top:

UK Singles Chart for the week ending 19 August 1978

01 (05) Commodores - THREE TIMES A LADY
02 (01) John Travolta And Olivia Newton-John - YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT
03 (02) Clout - SUBSTITUTE
04 (18) Darts - IT'S RAINING
05 (06) Boney M - RIVERS OF BABYLON / BROWN GIRL IN THE RING

Apart from the Grease duet, my favourite song in the top 5 of that week is 'Substitute' by South African band Clout. The song was originally recorded by The Righteous Brothers in 1975.



In 1979, Clout had another top 10 hit all over Continental Europe with 'Save Me', which was first recorded in 1976 by the Irish singer Clodagh Rodgers.[/QUOTE]

 

...I was interested to note the Motors'" Forget About You " in that chart there.
At the time, I acquired its mother " Approved By The Motors " album as a promo, liked loads. It was in the original " pseudo-punk/rock " sleeve design, w/a picturefree bacover that sported liner notes by a dude from US Anglophile mag TROUSER PRESS. I read, then, IIRC in a Brit inkie, not TP, how UK Virgin, after " FAY " and " Airport " were chart hits, substituted a more " pop " cover image, not showing the band. Decades later, on my Pandora feed, Motors songs show up... Illustrated w/the second version album cover!
I would presume, to spell it out, that the Trouser Press dude's liner notes were for the US version, not the Virgin one!!!!!!!

 

The record company carried out a survey on the original album sleeve and people said that basically they wouldn’t buy the album as the band were too ugly, hence the new sleeve.
It was something like this, the story got a lot of press/publicity at the time I remember......

 

...Didn't do too much for them in the long run, did it? They had only one more album. I believe, even w/two HITS! from this'n... Don't sell out!





bob60, post: 19298426, member: 45606"]The record company carried out a survey on the original album sleeve and people said that basically they wouldn’t buy the album as the band were too ugly, hence the new sleeve.
It was something like this, the story got a lot of press/publicity at the time I remember......[/QUOTE]

 

Walks around West Bay (Broadchurch for TV fans) and Charmouth are a wonderful way to experience that beautiful part of England.

 

Dreadlock Holiday

Third of the Four original 10cc members sings lead on a UK number One.

Wonderful track, great fun well executed.

 

By this time, their product was being issued in the U.S. on Polydor:

 

Within this bunch, the 45's I have would comprise #6, 9, 16, 18 and 30; the LP's, #4, 5, 24, 25 and 36.

 

I'd long assumed "Dreadlock Holiday" was a bigger US hit than it actually was. It only made #44. My local DJs must've taken a liking because I heard it a lot that fall.

I'm not all that keen on their post Godley and Creme stuff, but this one's a corker.

 

Big shout out to The Jam's David Watts and X-Ray Spex's Identity.