American Top 40 1978 February 18th

American Top 40 with Casey Kasem aired on radio from July 4, 1970 until August 6, 1988. This recording is a rebroadcast from internet radio.

In this countdown War is spending their last ever week in the Top 40. They made their Top 40 debut (at number 38) when AT40 debuted and spend this week at 39.

Bread and water: Casey tells how David Gates (at number 37 this week with "Goodbye Girl"), of the group Bread fulfilled his lifelong dream of sailing from California to Honolulu. Four days after Gates departed so did a world famous yacht race, and David Gates was declared the winner as he landed.

A listener wants to know, "In the Rock Era, which duo has spent the most weeks on the Album Chart?" Casey remarks how odd it is that only 2 duos have ever hit number 1 on the Album Chart to begin with, the Carpenters have one week, but Simon and Garfunkel have 19 weeks. All this happens right before Casey plays "Falling" (at number 32) by Leblanc & Carr, the only duo in the countdown.

For only the second time in the Rock Era (the first was in 1958), 3 solo artists, each getting name billing on the label, have teamed up on one record and hit the Top 40. With "Wonderful World" at number 29 are Art Garfunkel, James Taylor, and Paul Simon.

A listener wants to know if any triple-albums have ever hit #1on the Album Chart. Casey says it has happened 3 times in 33 years, all in the 70's. In 1970 it was a live recording of Woodstock, in 1971 George Harrison did it with "All Things Must Pass," and in 1977, "Wings Over America" became the third.

There is a song that was turned down by over 20 record companies before one of them finally bought it, and when it finally went into production, it happened so quickly that thousands of singles were pressed and shipped with the wrong label before anybody noticed.

This is also the first of 12 consecutive weeks that the Gibbs will dominate on the Top 2 positions either as artists or in the case of "If I Can't Have You", songwriters. 5 songs reach #3 during this period, all obviously denied the two top spots as a result. This is the first week that all 5 of those songs are in the survey. "Can't Smile Without You" is the highest debut joining "Lay Down Sally", "Emotion" (another Gibb record), "Sometimes When We Touch" and reaching #3 this week, "Just the Way You Are".

40: Breakdown – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
39: Galaxy - War
38: Dust In The Wind - Kansas
37: Goodbye Girl – David Gates
36: Jack & Jill - Raydio
35: Our Love – Natalie Cole
34: Can’t Smile Without You – Barry Manilow
33: Always & Forever - Heatwave
32: Falling – Leblanc & Carr
31: Serpentine Fire – Earth, Wind & Fire
30: Street Corner Serenade – Wet Willie
29: Wonderful World – Art Garfunkel with James Taylor & Paul Simon
28: The Way You Do The Things You Do – Rita Coolidge
27: Desiree – Neil Diamond
26: Happy Anniversary – Little River Band
25: Theme From Close Encounters - Meco
24: Too Hot Ta Trot - Commodores
23: Ffun – Con Funk Shun
22: Name Of The Game - Abba
21: Native New Yorker - Odyssey
20: Long, Long Way From Home - Foreigner
19: Thunder Island – Jay Ferguson
18: What’s Your Name – Lynyrd Skynyrd
17: Night Fever - The Bee Gees
16: You’re In My Heart – Rod Stewart
15: Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – Santa Esmeralda
14: Theme from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind – John Williams
13: Peg – Steely Dan
12: I Go Crazy – Paul Davis
11: Lay Down Sally – Eric Clapton
10: How Deep Is Your Love – The Bee Gees
9: Baby Come Back - Player
8: Short People – Randy Newman
7: Dance, Dance, Dance, Yowsah, Yowsah - Chic
6: Emotion – Samantha Sang
5: Sometimes When We Touch – Dan Hill
4: We Are The Champions - Queen
3: Just The Way You Are – Billy Joel
2: Love Is Thicker Than Water – Andy Gibb
1: Stayin’ Alive – The Bee Gees