It Was 45 Years Ago Last Week

Flashing back on the August 19, 1978 issue of Billboard Magazine

Greetings, JTL readers!

Thanks for hanging tight during my much-needed vacation. A little sun, sand, pizza, ice cream, and quality time with both my dad and my GF were definitely what the doctor ordered. Hope y’all had a good week, as well.

While lazing on the beach, I started thinking about the summer of 1978. AM Top 40 radio had played a gradually increasing presence in my summers of ‘75 through ‘77, but ‘78 was when it really became an obsession for me. I’d started buying records for the first time that spring, which made me feel somehow increasingly invested in knowing which songs were where on the charts, and in following the rise and fall of current favorites (and not-so-favorites).

That summer was the first one where I remember the radio being on pretty much constantly, both at home — or rather, at my mom’s new apartment in L.A., the bottom half of a Fairfax District duplex owned by my aunt and uncle — and in the car. I mostly listened to KRLA, because I loved that it played both golden oldies and contemporary hits; although the station was clearly hedging their bets with such wide-ranging programming, in retrospect there was something truly radical and mind-expanding about hearing, say, Gene Vincent’s “Be-Bop-a-Lula” followed by Donna Summer’s “Last Dance”.

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While previous JTL newsletters have dug into Billboard issues from the ‘60s and early ‘70s, thoughts of that summer motivated me to find the August 19, 1978 issue and see what was happening in the charts and on the radio 45 years ago last week. Looking at it now brings back a rush of memories and emotions, especially the late-August dread of having to leave the freedom of my radio-soundtracked L.A. summer days behind and return to my home in Ann Arbor, where I would be starting junior high school that September.

But it’s also kinda fascinating to see some of the news items that were being covered in that issue, along with the artist ads that various labels were forking over big bucks to have in the mag…

Like this one. The bargain-basement Blacula on the cover was somehow not enough to boost this otherwise forgettable disco album, which stiffed at #141 on the Billboard 200.

Despite promoting an excellent LP that includes the classic disco hits “Dance With Me” and “Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me,” the ad’s tag line of “Spinning Brown into Gold” immediately reminds me of the infamous “Brown 25” commercial from The Groove Tube. (If you know, you know.) And speaking of disco…

Sesame Street Fever is just one of the many indicators in this issue that disco — once an underground music and culture — had not only gone fully mainstream at this point, but was now also fully saturating other aspects of American popular culture. Dig, if you will, this article about how major advertising agencies were starting to employ disco jingles in their commercials…

And on the subject of ads, here’s a piece about Arthur Prysock’s Lowenbrau jingle being released as a single — a key part of the whole “Soul Battles of ‘70s Microbrew” thang I shared here back in September.

And back on the disco tip, here’s Studio 54 getting sued for not paying their ASCAP licensing fees. Gee, what a surprise!

Disco acts weren’t the only ones getting full-page ads in Billboard. Klaatu, the Canadian pop-prog band that was briefly rumored to be The Beatles in disguise, got one for Sir Army Suit, an album so dire that it didn’t even manage to chart in Canada.

And then there was Roadmaster, who were to Indianapolis what REO Speedwagon were to Champaign-Urbana and Kansas were to, uh, Kansas. Only without the hits.

Hall & Oates’ Along the Red Ledge — one of my favorite albums by them, especially Side One — would be released two days after this issue’s street date. “It’s a Laugh,” which remains kind of an underrated single from this period of their career, reached #20.

Since I was so obsessed with AM radio that summer, it’s interesting for me now to go back and read the section of the mag where it lists the songs that were being added at the biggest stations in different markets, like in Chicago…

Or in L.A., where Bob Seger weirdly seemed to have more traction this week than in his Midwest stomping grounds…

And here’s a look at the Top 20 Soul Singles, which surprisingly include blues great B.B. King among the dance floor smashes…

I was going to showcase the Top 25 Pop Singles, but I wound up cropping the Top 26 in order to get Eddie Money in there.

And finally, here are the Top 20 Albums from that week’s Billboard 200, which features a pretty interesting array of LPs…

The Grease soundtrack was still on top, and Frankie Valli’s titular single from the film was at #2 — so even though the soundtrack and the single were on RSO, Valli’s official labels Warner Bros/Curb celebrated his success on the back page of the mag with this rather creepy-looking ad, which made it look like “Loitering” was really the word.

Which seems like a good reason to post this mind-blowing Midnight Special clip of Mr. Valli jamming out with fellow 1978 hitmakers The Commodores. And which, in turn, seems like a good place to bid y’all adieu until next time…

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