American Top 40 1978 July 22nd

American Top 40 with Casey Kasem aired on radio from July 4, 1970 until August 6, 1988. This recording is one I found on the internet.

In this countdown:

There is the latest song by a man who says he has been involved in the creative process of more than a thousand albums. Maybe that is why his current song features the talents of Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, and Chaka Khan.

Evelyn "Champagne" King debuts with her first hit "Shame" (at number 37), and Olivia Newton-John has the highest debuting song of the week, "Hopelessly Devoted To You" (at number 35).

A listener wants to know what group, and what woman, has had the most number one albums. The group holding that title is the Beatles, and Casey tells what two female artists are tied for first place.

The movie "FM" (with cameos by Linda Ronstadt and Tom Petty) has two songs in the countdown: the title song by Steely Dan (at number 17) and "Life's Been Good" by Joe Walsh (at number 22). "Thank God It's Friday" (which includes performances by the Commodores and Donna Summer) is another movie represented by two songs: the title song by Love and Kisses (at number 22) and "Last Dance" by Donna Summer (at number 5). I am helping to seed copies of these (uploaded by others) for at least a month AND to a ratio of 30 (whichever comes last), so you can enjoy a full 1978 experience. Get your copies at the links provided in the text.

Casey gives a special report on Sister Luc Gabrielle, who had a hit song, "Dominique" and was facing jail time for non-payment of back taxes at the time of this broadcast. She had taken a vow of poverty and all her royalties went to charity.

There is a band in the countdown whose success came so quickly, they had trouble finding an opening act because nobody had ever heard of them. Casey explains.

In a country whose gross national product per capita is the largest in the world, the most profitable business enterprise is a recording act that has a hit in this countdown. Casey explains this too.

Having heard Casey say that Johnny Mathis holds the record for riding the album chart the most consecutive weeks with the same album, a listener wants to know who holds that record among female artists. Casey says the woman who leads all the ladies also leads all the men except Mathis.

With this countdown, the record label RSO has held the number one spot 29 of the last 32 weeks. Casey lists the number one hits that made it happen.

40: An Everlasting Love - Andy Gibb
39: Rivers Of Babylon - Boney M
38: Stuff Like That - Quincy Jones
37: Shame - Evelyn "Champagne" King
36: Boogie Oogie Oogie - A Taste Of Honey
35: Hopelessly Devoted To You - Olivia Newton-John
34: Love Or Something Like It - Kenny Rogers
33: Prove It All Night - Bruce Springsteen
32: Can We Still Be Friends - Todd Rundgren
31: You're The One That I Want - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John
30: I've Had Enough - Wings
29: Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
28: Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad - Meatloaf
27: Stay - Jackson Browne
26: King Tut - Steve Martin
25: Songbird - Barbara Streisand
24: If I Ever Needed You Again - Roberta Flack
23: FM - Steely Dan
22: Thank God It's Friday - Love and Kisses
21: I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight - Atlanta Rhythm Section
20: Magnet And Steel - Walter Egan
19: Bluer Than Blue - Michael Johnson
18: My Angel Baby - Toby Beau
17: Life's Been Good - Joe Walsh
16: Dance With Me - Peter Brown
15: Copacabana - Barry Manilow
14: Hot Blooded - Foreigner
13: Runaway - Jefferson Starship
12: It's A Heartache - Bonnie Tyler
11: Love Will Find A Way - Pablo Cruise
10: Three Times A Lady - Commodores
9: Take A Chance On Me - ABBA
8: Use Ta Be My Girl - O'Jays
7: The Groove Line - Heatwave
6: Grease - Frankie Valli
5: Last Dance - Donna Summer
4: Still The Same - Bob Seger
3: Miss You - The Rolling Stones
2: Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
1: Shadow Dancing - Andy Gibb