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 2025
★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