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Biggest Artists 1978

The UK's Top 20 best-performing artists in 1978 are listed below. Boney M are the first of only four acts to accrue over 5,000 CHAMP points in a year during the Golden Years (1977-85). The Top 10 has something for most tastes: disco (Boney M, Donna Summer, The Bee Gees), new wave (Blondie and The Boomtown Rats), doo-wop and rock 'n' revival (Darts, Showaddywaddy, Travolta & Newton-John), dance-funk (Chic) and Beatlesque pop (ELO).

Artists are ranked by their Chart-Measured Performance (CHAMP) totals for the year. Singles are listed per artist in chronological order (from left to right) with a symbol denoting peak position. Key to icons: ★No. 1 ●Top Ten ○Top 40 (all on official chart) ☆Unofficial No. 1 (i.e. No. 1 only on NME Chart)
WKS: total weeks spent on the official Top 40

WKS CHAMP
1 BONEY M★Rivers Of Babylon  ●Rasputin  ★Mary’s Boy Child 42 5,459
2 JOHN TRAVOLTA & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN1★You’re The One That I Want  ★Summer Nights 32 4,826
3 BEE GEES●Stayin’ Alive  ★Night Fever  ●Too Much Heaven 40 3,877
4 DARTS●Come Back My Love  ●The Boy From New York City  ●It’s Raining  ●Don’t Let It Fade Away 38 3,782
5 BLONDIE☆Denis  ○(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear  ●Picture This  ●Hanging On The Telephone 35 3,184
6 BOOMTOWN RATS●She’s So Modern  ●Like Clockwork  ★Rat Trap 32 2,938
7 DONNA SUMMER●Love’s Unkind  ●I Love You  ○Rumour Has It  ○Back In Love Again  ●MacArthur Park 43 2,808
8 CHIC●Dance Dance Dance  ●Everybody Dance  ●Le Freak 34 2,621
9 SHOWADDYWADDY☆I Wonder Why  ●A Little Bit Of Soap  ●Pretty Little Angel Eyes 27 2,389
10 ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA●Mr Blue Sky  ●Wild West Hero  ●Sweet Talkin' Woman  ○Can't Get It Out Of My Head2 34 2,347
11 ROSE ROYCE●Wishing On A Star  ●Love Don’t Live Here Anymore  ○It Makes You Feel Like Dancin' 27 2,323
12 KATE BUSH★Wuthering Heights  ●The Man With The Child In His Eyes 20 2,165
13 ROD STEWART●I Was Only Joking  ●Ole Ola (Mulher Brasileira)3  ★Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? 24 2,099
14 ABBA★Take A Chance On Me  ●Summer Night City 17 1,979
15 HEATWAVE○The Groove Line  ○Mind Blowing Decisions  ●Always And Forever 29 1,921
16 THE COMMODORES○Flying High  ★Three Times A Lady  ○Too Hot To Trot 13 1,684
17 BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS●Jamming  ●Is This Love  ○Satisfy My Soul 27 1,646
18 CRYSTAL GALE●Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue  ○Talking In Your Sleep 24 1,548
19 JOHN TRAVOLTA●Sandy  ○Greased Lightnin' 17 1,525
20 BROTHERHOOD OF MAN★Figaro  ●Beautiful Lover 18 1,466

Chart © Wow Vinyl 2024

★No. 1 ●Top Ten ○Top 40 (all on official chart) ☆Unofficial No. 1 (i.e. No. 1 only on NME Chart)

WKS total weeks spent on the official Top 40

1 If duets and solos are combined, John Travolta scores 6,351 pts and Olivia Newton-John 5,682 pts. However, we consider these distinct acts because otherwise the duet score would be counted twice.

2 Lead track from the ELO EP which also included Strange Magic, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle and Evil Woman

3 With Scotland World Cup Squad

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