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1978 in British music
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This is a summary of 1978 in music in the United Kingdom.
Events
- 14 January – The Sex Pistols play their final show (until a reunion in 1996) at Winterland, San Francisco.
- 24 January – Wings' "Mull of Kintyre" is number one for a ninth and final week, becoming the biggest-selling single in UK history at that point.
- 25 January – Electric Light Orchestra kick off their Out of the Blue world tour in Honolulu, Hawaii.
- 11 March – Kate Bush becomes the first British female solo artist to reach number one in the UK charts with a self-written song, "Wuthering Heights".
- 30 April – The Clash, Tom Robinson Band, Steel Pulse, X-Ray Spex, the Ruts, Misty in Roots and Generation X all play live in Victoria Park, Hackney, at the Anti-Nazi League/Rock Against Racism festival, following a march from Trafalgar Square.
- 25 May – The Who play their last show with Keith Moon before his death.
- 15 July – The Picnic at Blackbushe Aerodrome, Camberley, Surrey, a concert featuring Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Joan Armatrading, attracts some 200,000 people.[1]
- 30 July – Thin Lizzy officially announce that Gary Moore has replaced Brian Robertson on guitar.
- 18 August – The Who release their eighth studio album Who Are You. It is the Who's last album with Keith Moon as the drummer; Moon dies twenty days after the release of the album.
- September – Second anti-racism event staged in Brockwell Park, South London, featuring Elvis Costello, Stiff Little Fingers and Aswad, with 150,000 people in attendance.[citation needed]
- 27 November – Def Leppard's permanent drummer Rick Allen joins the band at the age of 15.
- unknown dates
- The Bee Gees' Saturday Night Fever becomes the biggest-selling album of all time (until overtaken in 1983).
- The first BBC Young Musician of the Year competition for classical players is won by trombonist Michael Hext.[2]
- Operatic contralto Helen Watts is appointed a CBE.
- Multitone Records is founded by Pranil Gohil, specialising in bhangra music.
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Charts
Number one singles
Number one albums
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Year-end charts
Summarize
Perspective
The tables below include sales between 31 December 1977 and 30 December 1978: the year-end charts reproduced in the issue of Music Week dated 23 December 1978 and played on Radio 1 on 31 December 1978 only include sales figures up until 16 December 1978.
Best-selling singles
Best-selling albums
Notes:
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Classical music: new works
- Malcolm Arnold – Symphony No. 8
- Peter Maxwell Davies – Symphony no. 1
- Daniel Jones – String Quartet No 4
- Malcolm Williamson
- Azure
- Fiesta
Film and Incidental music
- Tony Banks – The Shout, starring Alan Bates, Susannah York and John Hurt.
- Roy Budd – The Wild Geese.
- Ron Goodwin – Force 10 from Navarone directed by Guy Hamilton, starring Robert Shaw and Edward Fox.
- Ed Welch – The Thirty Nine Steps, starring Robert Powell.
Births
- 1 January – Tarik O'Regan, composer
- 13 January – Shelley Nash, singer (Girls@Play)
- 15 January – Sandi Lee Hughes, singer (allSTARS*)
- 19 January – Wayne Williams, singer (Another Level)
- 13 February – Hamish Glencross, Scottish guitarist
- 14 February – Ryan Griffiths (The Vines)
- 22 February – Jenny Frost, singer (Atomic Kitten)
- 6 April – Myleene Klass, singer (Hear'Say), radio and TV presenter
- 7 April – Duncan James, singer (Blue)
- 9 April – Rachel Stevens, singer (S Club 7)
- 16 April – Terry Daly, Irish singer (Mytown)
- 23 April – Tom Lowe, singer and keyboardist (North and South)
- 25 April – Luke Bedford, composer
- 28 April – Lauren Laverne, singer, radio DJ and TV presenter
- 4 May – Matthew Rose, bass
- 22 May – Jordan, model and would-be singer
- 29 May
- Adam Rickitt, singer and actor
- Daniel Pearce, singer (One True Voice)[citation needed]
- 6 June – Sophie Solomon, violinist
- 16 June – Elisa Cariera, American-born singer (Solid HarmoniE)
- 4 July – Stephen McNally, English singer-songwriter (BBMak)
- 1 August – Jonathan Wilkes, singer and entertainer
- 21 August – John Paul "J-Rock" Horsley, American-born singer (Big Brovaz)
- 3 September – Johnny Shentall, singer (Boom!)
- 15 September – David Sneddon, singer-songwriter
- 27 September – Jamie Benson, singer (Hepburn)
- 7 October – Alesha Dixon, singer (Mis-Teeq)
- 9 October
- Nicky Byrne, Irish singer (Westlife)
- Beverley Fullen, drummer (Hepburn)
- 26 October – Rachael Carr, singer (Boom!)
- 27 October – Sabrina Washington, singer (Mis-Teeq)
- 29 October – Sam Chapman, singer and keyboardist (North and South)
- 1 November – Bobak Kianovsh, singer (Another Level)
- 7 November – Mark Read, singer (A1)
- 23 November – Randy Brown, Jamaican-born singer (Big Brovaz)
- 27 November – Mike Skinner, rapper, musician and record producer
- 12 December – Paul Walker, Irish singer (Mytown)
- 18 December – Lindsay Armaou, Greek-born Irish-based singer (B*Witched)
- date unknown – Oliver Weeks, composer, arranger and guitarist
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Deaths
- 11 January – William John Edwards, Cerdd Dant singer (b. 1898)[5]
- 15 January – Jack Jackson, trumpeter, bandleader and radio disc jockey (b. 1906)[6]
- 24 February – Mrs Mills, pianist (b. 1918; heart attack)[7]
- 9 March – L. Radley Flynn, singer and actor (b. 1902)
- 12 March – Tolchard Evans, songwriter, composer, pianist and bandleader (b. 1901)[8]
- 3 April – Ray Noble, composer and bandleader (b. 1903)
- 21 April – Sandy Denny, singer (Fairport Convention) (b. 1947) (cerebral haemorrhage)[9]
- 14 August – Victor Silvester, dance band leader (b. 1900)[10]
- 7 September
- Keith Moon, drummer of The Who (b. 1946) (Clomethiazole overdose)[11]
- Charles Williams, composer (b. 1893)[12]
- 15 September – Robert Bruce Montgomery, writer and composer (b. 1921)[13]
- 13 December – Jack Doyle, Irish-born boxer and singer (b. 1913; cirrhosis of liver)[14]
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See also
References
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