Overview of the events of 1978 in British music
List of years in British music
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This is a summary of 1978 in music in the United Kingdom.
14 January - The Sex Pistols played their final show (until a reunion in 1996), at Winterland, San Francisco. 24 January - Wings ' "Mull of Kintyre " made No.1 for its ninth (and final) week - becoming the biggest-selling single in UK history at that point. 25 January - Electric Light Orchestra kicked off their Out of the Blue world tour in Honolulu , Hawaii. 11 March - Kate Bush became the first 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 played their last show with Keith Moon . 15 July - The Picnic at Blackbushe Aerodrome , Camberley , Surrey, a concert featuring Bob Dylan , Eric Clapton and Joan Armatrading , attracted some 200,000 people.[1] 30 July - Thin Lizzy officially announced that Gary Moore had replaced Brian Robertson on guitar. 18 August - The Who released their eighth studio album Who Are You . It is The Who's last album with Keith Moon as the drummer; Moon died twenty days after the release of this album. September - Second anti-racism event staged in Brockwell Park , South London, featuring Elvis Costello , Stiff Little Fingers and Aswad , with 150,000 attending.[citation needed ] 27 November - Def Leppard 's permanent drummer Rick Allen joined the band at the age of 15. December - UB40 formed. The Bee Gees ' Saturday Night Fever became the biggest-selling album of all time (until overtaken in 1983). First BBC Young Musician of the Year competition for classical players won by trombonist Michael Hext . Operatic contralto Helen Watts is appointed a CBE . Multitone Records is founded by Pranil Gohil and specializing in bhangra style music. Number one singles [ edit ] Number one albums [ edit ] Year-end charts [ edit ] 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 [ edit ] [2]
Best-selling albums [ edit ] [3]
Notes :
^ Reached number 4 in 1977 ^ Reached number 5 in 1979 ^ Reached number 1 in 1979 ^ Reached number 9 in 1981 ^ Reached number 1 in 1976 ^ Reached number 1 in 1979 ^ Reached number 3 in 1977 ^ Reached number 1 in 1976 Classical music: new works [ edit ] Film and Incidental music [ edit ] 1 January - Tarik O'Regan , composer 3 January - Luke Manning , co-founder of Mostar Records 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 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 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 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 ) 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 11 January - William John Edwards , Cerdd Dant singer (b. 1898) 15 January - Jack Jackson , trumpeter, bandleader and radio disc jockey (b. 1906) 24 February - Mrs Mills , pianist (b. 1918) 9 March - L. Radley Flynn , singer and actor (b. 1902) 12 March - Tolchard Evans , songwriter, composer, pianist and bandleader (b. 1901) 3 April - Ray Noble , composer and bandleader (b. 1903) 21 April - Sandy Denny , singer (Fairport Convention ) (b. 1947) (cerebral haemorrhage) 14 August - Victor Silvester , dance band leader (b. 1900) 7 September 15 September - Robert Bruce Montgomery , composer (b. 1921) 13 November - W. S. Gwynn Williams , musician and composer (b. 1896) See also [ edit ] References [ edit ]
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