The Top Hits of 1978 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Night Fever

In 1977, Robert Stigwood, the manager of the Bee Gees, was also involved in a movie project based on the burgeoning disco scene in New York City tentatively named "Saturday Night". He floated the project past the Gibbs brothers and wondered if they could compose a few numbers for it.

They suggested that they already had a song that might prove suitable, "Night Fever", and convinced Stigwood that the title of the movie should be renamed "Saturday Night Fever". There you go! The movie was a smash, a bona fide icon for the disco movement, and the song became the biggest hit of the Bee Gees' illustrious career. All the songs listed as choices for this question were on the movie soundtrack except for "Shadow Dancing" which was performed by brother Andy Gibb.

It was Number One for seven weeks and the second ranked song of 1978 amongst the other three Bee Gees' songs.

Answer: How Deep Is Your Love

Once again we highlighted the three major Bee Gees' hits from "Saturday Night Fever" and threw another Andy Gibb hit into the mix "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water". It was a Number One hit for two weeks and the sixth ranked song for 1978. Between the Bee Gees and Andy Gibb, they had five of the six highest rated songs for the year. The only artist to impinge on their dominance was Paul Davis. His "I Go Crazy" was the fifth ranked song although it could only peak at Number Seven, most of its charting points derived on the strength of lingering on the Hot 100 for 40 weeks.

"How Deep Is Your Love" was likely the most tender of the love ballads composed by the Bee Gees. It was the first of the "Saturday Night Fever" songs to command attention and actually topped the charts on Dec. 24, 1977. Most of its 33 week chart run occurred in 1978 and hence its placement in that year's ratings. It remained in the Top 10 for 17 weeks and only one song from 1956 onward had a lengthier Top 10 run. Believe it or not, that song was Jim Lowe's "Green Door" in 1956. It was Top 10 for 18 weeks. Since Billboard altered their methodology of charting songs in 1992, many hits have had 20 or more weeks among the Top 10 with LeAnn Rimes holding the record for the 1955-1999 period. Her "How Do I Live" in 1997 was Top 10 for an astonishing 32 weeks!

Answer: Stayin' Alive

"Saturday Night Fever" - the movie; the credits are rolling at the start, this song plays insistently, Travolta struts the streets of New York City like he owns them. Classic! More than any other song from the movie, this one was the anthem to the drug crazed, orgiastic underworld of the late 1970s disco scene.

The Bee Gees were at the top of the music world in late 1977 and early 1978. During a 20 week period, the group's three songs highlighted in this quiz were Number One for 15 of them. This sort of chart dominance hearkened back to the Beatles of 1964. The Bee Gees weren't done yet either. They would stretch their run of consecutive Number One hits to six with "Too Much Heaven", "Tragedy" and "Love You Inside Out" in 1979. But then the industry caved in on them. Perhaps tired of the excesses of the whole disco culture, the genre totally lost credibility to the masses and by extension, so did the Bee Gees, now seen as its prime practitioners. They would not have another Top 10 hit until 1989 with the Number Seven "One". Later recordings did reasonably well in other areas of the world outside of North America but with the death of Maurice Gibb in 2003, the remaining brothers, Robin and Barry, decided to dissolve the Bee Gees entity.

Answer: Kiss You All Over

"Kiss You All Over" was performed by a Kentucky based group named Exile. Originally formed in 1963, they were nothing more than a favorite regional band until this hit. Seemingly destined to be virtual "one hit wonders" (subsequent releases peaked at Number 40 and 88), a key personnel switch in 1980 proved fortuitous for the band's fortunes. Lead singer Jimmy Stokely left the band replaced by Les Taylor and they gradually morphed into a country group. It took a couple of years but by 1983 they were the hottest commodity in country music. Between 1983 and 1986, they had eight consecutive releases shoot to the top of the Billboard Hot Country charts, missed with their next offering but bounced back with two more Number Ones in 1987. Then, Taylor left the group followed by the departure in 1990 of group founder J.P. Pennington. Exile eventually disbanded in 1993 but in 1997, Pennington and Taylor formed a new Exile group and have toured regularly on the Country nostalgia circuit ever since.

Of the other songs mentioned in the question, "I Wanna Be Close To You" was a fictitious title, "Sharing The Night Together" was a Number Six song for Dr. Hook and the 29th ranked song for 1978, and "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me" was a Number Four hit for Barry White and the 61st ranked song of 1977.

Answer: Hot Child In The City

"Hot Child In The City" was composed and sung by Nick Gilder, a native of London, England but who had resided in Vancouver, B.C. since emigrating to Canada as a child. In 1976, he was a member of a popular Canadian band called Sweeney Todd and they had a Number One Canadian hit "Roxy Roller" but the song barely made a dent on the Billboard charts, peaking at Number 90. Nevertheless, he felt he had the stuff to make it in the U.S. and moved to L.A. with Sweeney Todd bandmate Jimmy McCullouch. Unfortunately, this would be the only song of his to make a mark, later releases peaking at Number 44 and 57. He would later turn his attentions to songwriting and he co-wrote a Number One hit for Patti Smyth and Scandal in 1984, "The Warrior". Gilder returned to Canada some years ago and continues to record and tour in the "Great White North".

"Hot Child In The City" was controversial at the time because of its subject matter, teenage prostitution. Apparently, Gilder noticed a 14 year old girl plying her trade near a record studio/radio station he frequented. It's rumored that he took a benevolent interest in her and was endeavoring to legally adopt her to get her off the streets. Before completing the process, she was fatally shot in a gang war and Gilder then wrote this song in tribute and to call attention to the problem of child prostitution.

Your other choices: "Bad Girls" was a huge Number One hit in 1979 for Donna Summer; "Hot Blooded" was a Number Three hit for Foreigner in 1978 and the 38th ranked song for the year; "Le Freak" was another Number One song in 1979 performed by Chic.

Answer: Three Times a Lady

In 1970, in Tuskegee, Alabama, a number of bands were performing regularly at clubs and bars frequented by students of the Tuskegee Institute. As a university town, most of the musicians were students themselves looking for an extra buck. When a couple of those groups specializing in R&B music disbanded, the cream of both bands decided to form a new group and take their chances as professional musicians. In time, they took the name The Commodores. Initially, they played funky R&B music exclusively as evidenced from their debut charting single in 1974, "Machine Gun". Eventually, they showed their mellow side with songs like "Just To Be Close To You" in 1976 and "Easy" in 1977 but with this hit, "Three Times A Lady", the die was inevitably cast and almost all their later material was of similar ilk - romantic ballads written by Lionel Richie. The inspiration for this song was Richie's parent's 37th wedding anniversary when his father, giving a speech, used the term describing his wife. When he left the group in 1982, Richie went on to an immensely successful solo career singing those types of songs until about 1987. He's been relatively quiet since 1996, at least in a musical sense, but a couple of well-publicized divorces have kept him in the public eye via the tabloids.

Meanwhile, the group replaced Richie with vocalist J.D. Nicholas and had one more big hit in 1985, a tribute to Jackie Wilson and Marvin Gaye entitled "Nightshift". They persist to this day with Nicholas and two other original members, Walter Orange and William King plus backing musicians, and regularly tour and headline performances at the Trump and Hard Rock casinos.

As for your other options, "Thanks For The Memories" is a song that dates back to the 1930s and was Bob Hope's theme song. "I'll Never Love This Way Again" was a Number Five hit for Dionne Warwick in 1979 and "You're In My Heart" was a number Four hit for Rod Stewart in 1978. It was the 30th ranked song for the year.

Answer: Just The Way You Are

New York native Billy Joel was something of a rebellious youth. He didn't much care for school and spent most of his time at the piano or fist-fighting. After getting pounded one too many times, he chose music as a career, quit school at the age of 16 and found employment with a Long Island band in 1965. From 1966 to 1971, he played with various bands until forming a two-man group named Attila with drummer Jon Small. A recording session yielded one album that was such an abysmal failure that Joel, in a fit of depression, attempted suicide and required professional psychiatric intervention to recover. The duo split up but Joel came away with Small's wife, Elizabeth, in the process. They would eventually marry in 1973 after moving to L.A.

Joel spent 18 months playing in a piano bar at the Executive Room in L.A. and the experience moved him to compose "Piano Man" in 1974. The song did very well peaking at Number 25 and the album was a commercial success as well. Follow-up albums were less so and by 1977, Joel perceived himself at the crossroads... his next effort would be a make or break proposition. Anchored by "Just The Way You Are", written as a birthday present to Elizabeth, his album "The Stranger" was an enormous success ultimately selling nine million units. He remained very productive from that point on until 1993, producing a string of best-selling albums and 37 single releases that made charting appearances.

On a personal level, Joel has had his ups and downs. His marriage to Elizabeth ended in divorce in 1982 and he then took up with super model Christy Brinkley, his inspiration for the single "Uptown Girl" in 1984. Their 1985 marriage also ended in divorce nine years later. Along the way, he's been engaged in several multi-million dollar lawsuits with lawyers, managers and accountants and has dealt with substance abuse issues. He's been a tabloid editor's dream. Approaching his 60th birthday in 2009, Joel still tours regularly to sold out audiences world-wide but it would seem that his prime recording years have long since passed.

Of the other songs listed, "Count On Me" was a Number Eight song for Jefferson Starship and the 83rd ranked song of 1978, "Love Is In The Air" was ranked 42nd and a Number Seven hit for John Paul Young while "Can't Smile Without You" by Barry Manilow charted at Number Three and was ranked 24th for 1978.

Answer: Grease

Yep, to steal the movie tagline, "Grease" is the word. Written by Barry Gibb, it was just one of six Number One songs that year for which he received at least partial credit as composer. One wonders what his income was in royalties alone for 1978! Frankie Valli was the vocalist and except for a couple of subsequent songs that finished well down the charts, it would mark his swan song as a significant charting influence. Valli, of course, was the lead singer of The 4 Seasons during their halcyon days in the 1960s and currently leads an ever-changing group on regular tours. He, along with Bob Gaudio, also developed a musical stage play based on The 4 Seasons, "The Jersey Boys", although neither has performed in any of its productions. A tremendous success and now with several touring editions around the world, it won four Tony Awards in 2006 following its Broadway debut.

"Magic" was a 1980 Number One hit for Olivia Newton-John who coincidently starred in "Grease" with John Travolta. "Fame" was the title for two big, but distinctly different, hits. It was Number One for David Bowie in 1975 and a Number Four hit for Irene Cara in 1980. "Our Love" was a Number Ten hit for Natalie Cole in 1978 and the 57th ranked song for the year.

Answer: We Are The Champions

If ever there was a song that fit the mold of an "arena" anthem, be it from the musical or the sporting perspective, this has to be it, especially when combined with its B-side "We Will Rock You". They have been inextricably linked together since one segued into the other on the album "News of the World" and are now staples at sporting events around the globe. The first time I ever heard it used in that context was when the New York Islanders won the Stanley Cup in 1980. Freddie Mercury wrote the song for that purpose... as something that local fans could rally around in support of their team, although he had British football in mind when he composed it.

Although the other songs listed as choices shouldn't have deterred you from selecting the right answer, let's quickly review them. "With a Little Luck" was a two-week Number One hit in 1978 for Paul McCartney and Wings and the 36th ranked song for the year. "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" was ranked 54th for the year. Performed by Meatloaf, it peaked at Number 11 on the Hot 100 during a 23 week chart run. "I Will Survive" topped the charts for five weeks in 1979, the biggest hit in Gloria Gaynor's brief, disco-oriented chart career.

Answer: You Don't Bring Me Flowers

"You Don't Bring Me Flowers" had a very interesting genesis. While at a banquet with television producer Norman Lear, Neil Diamond asked him if he had any new television series on the horizon and if he did, he(Diamond)would be interested in composing the theme song. In fact, Lear did have a project on the go with the pilot episode due to be shot within a couple of days. Marilyn and Alan Bergman were at the same function and Lear suggested that they help Diamond with the composition. Together, they composed the forty-five second piece, all the time given for a TV theme. The project failed and the song was shelved. Some months later, Diamond was using the song on tour and getting favorable responses to it. He got together with the Bergman's and fleshing the song out, recorded it for his 1977 album "I'm Glad You're Here With Me Tonight". Barbra Sreisand heard the song off the album and decided to include her version on her next album "Songbird" released in June 1978. Coincidently, she used the same producer and sang the song in the same key as Diamond. Gary Guthrie, an enterprising disc jockey in Louisville, Kentucky, noticed the similarity in both renditions and splicing them together, started playing his version to instant listener approval. Streisand and Diamond were friends from their school days together in Brooklyn and when they heard the spliced version, decided to record their own studio version for release. It reached Number One on December 2, 1978.

Bonnie Tyler's "It's a Heartache" peaked at Number Three and finished 1978 ranked 33rd for the year. "Love Will Find a Way" by Pablo Cruise peaked at Number Six and finished 58th in 1978's year-end rankings. Yvonne Elliman took "If I Can't Have You" to Number One for one week in 1978. It was another Gibb composition from "Saturday Night Fever" and was ranked 21st for the year.

Answer: Sometimes When We Touch

Dan Hill's hit dealt with a troubled relationship. Another piece of the lyric spells it out pretty clearly:

"At times I'd like to break you
And drive you to your knees
At times I'd like to break through
And hold you endlessly"

The song was co-written by Hill and Barry Mann, the same guy who wrote such memorable hits as "Who Put the Bomp" and "You've Lost That Loving Feeling". Talk about being at opposing ends of the spectrum!

Hill's parents were American, one black, one white, and they moved to Toronto to avoid the racism that was sometimes evident to couples in mixed race marriages in the States. He was born in 1954 and grew up listening to soft pop by Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan and the like. It influenced him in later life as a musician and composer as he always wrote and performed sentimental pop standards. This was a huge hit in Canada earning him virtually every Canadian music award the song was nominated for. Subsequent releases were not as successful and the Canadian critics were not kind. He responded by retreating from performing and concentrating on composing, writing songs for the likes of Jeffery Osborne, Tina Turner and George Benson. He re-emerged in 1987 recording the Number Six hit "Can't We Try" with Vonda Sheppard. It would be the 44th ranked song of that year. Still, he preferred composing songs to recording them and wrote several songs for Celine Dion in the 1990s. He still resides in Toronto.

"The Closer I Get To You" was the 31st ranked song for 1978. It was a Number Two hit for Roberta Flack and Donnie Hathaway. "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" was another duet, this time by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams. It topped the charts for a week in 1978 winding up the year ranked 43rd. "Real Love" was just another title thrown in to round out your options although nine separate songs with that title have cracked the Hot 100 over the years.

Answer: Reminiscing

The Little River Band recorded "Reminiscing" and it was the biggest Billboard hit up to that time for a completely Australian band. That record was broken by Air Supply in 1981 with the Number One "The One That You Love"... that is, if you consider a duo a "band". If you don't, then the honor falls to Men At Work with their Number One "Down Under" in 1983.

When the band formed in 1975, it was perceived as a significant event in Australia. The major group components, Glen Shorrock, Beeb Birtles and Graham Goble had been part of the Australian rock scene for years in various other groups. Their goal from the outset was to be an influence in America and they succeeded, spending as much time on tour in the States as they did at home. Unfortunately, they simply didn't get along and were in constant turmoil. In the studio, they recorded their parts separately and on tour, they even traveled independently... the only time they were a "group" was when they performed on stage. Although sidemen were constantly shuffled, somehow the core stuck it out until 1983 when Shorrock was replaced with another legendary Australian, John Farnham, an experiment that only lasted a couple of years when Shorrock returned. With all the tension, the group's creativity withered and by 1985, they were a spent force although formal disbandment didn't occur until 1991. Two members of the group recruited in 1988 to replace others, Wayne Nelson and John Housden, mounted a new LRB group in 1992 and persist to this day.

"Night and Day", as mentioned in the lyric, was a Cole Porter song dating from the 1930s and merely a red herring for quiz purposes. "Dance With Me" has been the title for four different charting songs during the rock era. Orleans used it for a Number Six hit in 1976 as did Peter Brown and Betty Wright for a duet in 1978 that peaked at Number Eight. It was the 45th ranked song for the year. Finally, "Last Dance" was the 37th ranked song of 1978 and a Number Three hit for Donna Summer.

Answer: Short People

This song created quite the furor in 1978. Composed and sung by Randy Newman with supporting background vocals by Glenn Frey, Timothy Schmitt and J.D. Souther of The Eagles (they all shared the same agent), it was meant as a satire on "small" thinking bigots who harbored prejudice and hatred toward others. Apparently, similar "small" thinking people who were vertically challenged didn't get it! The song was pulled from many radio station playlists, Newman received hate-mail and probably was even threatened by some "small" people with their little guns that went pop-pop-pop. Nevertheless, the controversy drove the song up the charts to Number Two for three weeks, by far the biggest and most commercially successful record of his career. None of his other single releases ever made the Top 40 charts.

Although Newman has released a number of albums over a career that has now spanned more than 40 years, his forte since the early 1980s has been composing movie scores and songs for TV. He has been nominated for 17 Academy Awards, winning in 2002 for Best Original Song; "If I Didn't Have You" from "Monsters, Inc.". Among his dozen Grammy nominations for movie scores and songs, he has copped the award four times. Even the worst bigot can't deny him those honors!

Answer: Hold The Line

The group was Toto and they had just gotten together earlier in the year. The group consisted of David Paich, keyboard and vocals; Bobby Kimball, lead vocals; Steve Lukather, guitar and vocals; David Hungate, bass; Steve Porcaro, keyboards and vocals; and his brother, Jeff Porcaro, percussion. Prior to their formation, the individual members were among the busiest and most talented session men in L.A. Paich, Hungate and Jeff Porcaro in particular made names for themselves performing and composing a few songs for Boz Scaggs' slicker than slick album "Silk Degrees" in 1976. They, and the others, also backed up such notable artists as Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand and Jackson Browne. The group continued as a significant entity on the pop charts up to 1988 but their banner year was 1982. Their album "Toto IV" won the Grammy for Album of the Year and five songs released from it as singles charted on the Hot 100, most notably the Number Two "Rosanna" and their biggest hit, the Number One "Africa". By 1984, the group started splintering with changes in personnel but all the original members continued to be valuable session men for other artists. The last original member of the group was Lukather and in 2008, he announced that he had had enough and Toto was formally dissolved.

Let's review the other selections. "That's The Way (I Like It) dated back to 1975 and was a Number One hit for KC and the Sunshine Band. "The Logical Song" was a Number Six hit for Supertramp in 1979. "How Much I Feel" was the 34th ranked song of 1978 and a Number Three hit for another L.A. based pop band, Ambrosia.

Answer: Copacabana (At The Copa)

"Copacabana (At The Copa)" was undeniably Barry Manilow's most unique offering among his many hits. Virtually all his other hits were decidedly middle-of-the-road, sentimental ballads that found favor with grandmas and the hopelessly romantic. This, on the other hand, was a danceable "show tune" and dealt with gangsters, floozies, guns, murder and bloodletting! I have a hunch that this is why it wasn't as successful on the charts as it might have been... a little to risqué for his base core of fans but perhaps a little too mainstream for the R&R crowd. Nevertheless, it became a club scene favorite and actually reappeared on the "Hot Dance Music" charts in 2004 with a new mix designed for play at dance clubs.

Meanwhile, "Lola", dating back to 1970, was a Number Nine hit for The Kinks and dealt with cross-dressing, gender bending confusion. "I Love The Nightlife (Disco Round)" was a Number Five hit for Alicia Bridges, charted for 31 weeks and finished the year ranked 11th. It was one of the few disco songs of 1978 that did not have the hand of a Gibb brother in its production. "On Broadway" was a Number Seven hit for George Benson in 1978. It was ranked 70th for the year.