1978
The year in music, movies, TV, fads & memories
In 1978, “Shadow Dancing” by Andy Gibb topped the Billboard year-end Hot 100 and 52nd Street by Billy Joel and Van Halen by Van Halen were on every turntable. Grease, Superman and Halloween were in theaters, and Dallas premieres, Mork & Mindy and Taxi were on TV.
The headlines: Jonestown mass deaths. New that year: Space Invaders released. Fads of the year: Disco peak (Saturday Night Fever) and Space Invaders. Gas was 63¢ a gallon, a stamp was 15¢ and a movie ticket ran $2.34. On the shelf: a Laffy Taffy, a Fresca and a game of Simon, with Scooby-Doo on Saturday morning.
🎂 What music raised you?
Drop your birthday and we'll rewind to your golden era — the years the songs imprinted for life.
🔙 Backtrack — 1978
The world around the music — what was on screen, and what was on the shelf.
🎬 Set the scene
A wood-paneled-basement afternoon, 1978: the TV was playing Super Friends, a Slush Puppie was in the kitchen, and later you'd hang the drive-in speaker on the car window.
🎬 At the movies
📼 Saturday cartoons
- Scooby-Doo👕 tee →
- Super Friends👕 tee →
- Schoolhouse Rock!
- Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
- The Pink Panther Show
- Hong Kong Phooey
- The Jetsons
- The Flintstones
📰 Headlines
- Jonestown mass deaths
- Camp David Accords
- First 'test-tube baby' born
- Proposition 13 (California)
- Garfield comic debuts
💡 Tech & Firsts
- Space Invaders released
- Magnetic-stripe ATMs spread
- TI Speak & Spell
- Laserdisc (DiscoVision) launches
- First computer bulletin board (BBS)
🏆 Sports
- Yankees win the World Series
- Cowboys win Super Bowl XII
- Bullets win the NBA title
- Affirmed wins the Triple Crown
- Argentina wins the World Cup
🤪 Crazes & fads
- Disco peak (Saturday Night Fever)
- Space Invaders
- Roller disco
- Garfield merchandise
- Smile buttons
👖 Clothes
- Disco gold (Travolta white suit)
- Designer jeans rising
- Spandex / Lycra
- Wrap dresses
- Gold lamé
💵 What it cost
- Gas: 63¢/gal
- Stamp: 15¢
- Movie ticket: $2.34
- New car avg: ~$6,400
- Median home: ~$55,700
🧸 Toy chest
🍬 On the shelf
Billboard Year-End Hot 100
📊 Full chart →- 1
Shadow DancingAndy Gibb - 2
Night FeverBee Gees - 3
You Light Up My LifeDebby Boone - 4
Stayin' AliveBee Gees - 5
Kiss You All OverExile - 6How Deep Is Your LoveBee Gees
- 7
Baby Come BackPlayer - 8
(Love Is) Thicker Than WaterAndy Gibb - 9
Boogie Oogie OogieA Taste of Honey - 10
Three Times a LadyThe Commodores - 11
GreaseFrankie Valli - 12
I Go CrazyPaul Davis - 13
You're the One That I WantJohn Travolta & Olivia Newton-John - 14
Emotion (feat. Bee Gees)Samantha Sang - 15
Lay Down SallyEric Clapton - 16
Miss YouThe Rolling Stones - 17
Just the Way You AreBilly Joel - 18
With A Little LuckWings - 19
If I Can't Have YouYvonne Elliman - 20
Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)Chic - 21
Feels So GoodChuck Mangione - 22
Hot Child in the CityNick Gilder and Time Machine - 23
Love Is Like OxygenSweet - 24
It's a HeartacheBonnie Tyler - 25
We Will Rock YouQueen
More from 1978
🎤 Big in 1978
🎚️ 1978 genres
🎛️ Behind the boards & the pen — 1978
The hands behind 1978 — the producers and songwriters who actually shaped that year's records. Jeff Lynne was on 2 of them.
🎬 Movies of 1978
All soundtracks →The soundtracks that scored 1978 — every song and where it played.
🎚️ Related vibes
All themes →Themed rooms that lean on the sound of 1978.
🌀 Things 1978 remembers wrong
All Glitch Files →Mandela-effect cases that were on the shelf, the screen or the radio in 1978. Which do you remember?
What does 1978 remind you of?
The drive, the dance, the heartbreak, the summer. Add a memory of 1978.
Community Memories
How well do you remember 1978?
7 quick questions — the songs, the artists, the year. No cheating. 😏
📼 Take this 8-track with you
Build this in your own Spotify in two taps — free, no account needed here. (For Apple Music or YouTube, open songs one-by-one below.)
Then open the free helper
🎵 1978 albums on vinyl
Affiliate links: as an Amazon Associate and an 80sTees affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. Details
📻 70s gear
Affiliate links: as an Amazon Associate and an 80sTees affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. Details