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1978 in British music

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1978 in British music

This is a summary of 1978 in music in the United Kingdom.

Contents

Events

  • 14 January - The Sex Pistols play their final show (until a reunion in 1996).
  • 24 January - Wings' "Mull of Kintyre" makes No.1 for its 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 female solo artist to reach number one in the UK charts with a self-written song ("Wuthering Heights").
  • 25 May - The Who play their last show with Keith Moon.
  • 30 July – Thin Lizzy officially announces that Gary Moore has replaced Brian Robertson on guitar.
  • 18 August - The Who release their eighth studio 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.
  • 27 November - Def Leppard's permanent drummer Rick Allen joins the band at the age of 15.
  • The Bee Gees' Saturday Night Fever becomes the biggest-selling album of all time (until overtaken in 1983).
  • Operatic contralto Helen Watts is awarded the CBE.
  • Multitone Records is founded by Pranil Gohil and specializing in bhangra style music.

    • Year-end charts

    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.

    Notes:

    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
  • 3 January - Luke Manning, co-founder of Mostar Records
  • 15 January - Sandi Lee Hughes, singer (allSTARS*)
  • 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)
  • 28 April - Lauren Laverne, singer, radio DJ and TV presenter
  • 22 May - Jordan, model and would-be singer
  • 6 June - Sophie Solomon, violinist
  • 27 June - Lolly, singer
  • 4 JUly - Stephen McNally, English singer-songwriter (BBMak)
  • 15 September - David Sneddon, singer-songwriter
  • 9 October - Nicky Byrne, Irish singer (Westlife)
  • 27 November - Mike Skinner, rapper, musician and record producer
  • 18 December - Lindsay Armaou, Greek-born Irish-based singer (B*B*Witched)

    • Deaths

  • 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
  • Keith Moon, drummer for The Who (b. 1946) (Clomethiazole overdose)
  • Charles Williams, composer (b. 1893)
  • 13 November - W. S. Gwynn Williams, musician and composer (b. 1896)

    • References

    1978 in British music Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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