Biggest Artists 1978
The UK's Top 20 best-performing artists in 1978 are listed below. They are ordered by their total Chart Measured Performance (CHAMP) scores for the year. Singles are listed per artist in chronological order (from left to right) with a symbol denoting peak position. 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).
★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 2023
★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