American Top 40 1978 July 29th

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:

Casey reads from the AT40 Book of Records (before it's due back at the Countdown library). This week's honor goes to the man who accumulated more consecutive weeks in the top 40 than anyone else in the rock era. This man had a string of 23 hits which kept him on the chart for three-and-a-half years (and that is about how long it was before the library eventually got their book back).

There is a famous musician in this countdown who has been nominated for 35 Grammys, four Oscars, two Emmys, has his first top 40 hit in this countdown, but when he gets angry, he still says, "Well, I never!"

A listener writes in to ask, "Has there ever been a record that hit the top 40, then fell out, then at a later date came back on the chart and hit number one?" Casey says there have been two such yo-yo tricks, and gives the specifics.

Casey gives his Special Report on Motown: the little record company that started with a $700 loan in 1960. By the end of the decade the Detroit based label had put more singles in the number one spot than any of its well established competition (but look, if I started a record company with the talents of Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, the Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye, I wouldn't even need the $700).

Casey answers the question, "What group, other than the Beatles, has been the most successful on the charts?" He says the line-up of this American group was all-female, and what’s more, they worked for Motown!

There is a band in the countdown which once got this review, "They are perverted, outrageous, violent, repulsive, ugly, tasteless, incoherent, a travesty, and that's what's good about them." That review was written by Geoffrey Cannon, then editor of "The Radio Times, "the official organ of the BBC." If I was in charge of any official organ, I would make Harpo Marx look like a blabber-mouth!

Finally, I somehow didn't get the extras this week, but my assistant Amy found out what they were and even put in an "extra" extra. That's all folks!

40: Macho Man - Village People
39: Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra
38: Two Tickets To Paradise - Eddie Money
37: River Of Babylon - Boney M
36: Fool If You Think It's Over - Chris Rea
35: You - Rita Coolidge
34: Stuff Like That - Quincy Jones
33: Shame - Evelyn "Champagne" King
32: Love Or Something Like It - Kenny Rogers
31: Thank God It's Friday - Love & Kisses
30: Can We Still Be Friends - Todd Rundgren
29: An Everlasting Love - Andy Gibb
28: Boogie Oogie Oogie - A Taste Of Honey
27: I've Had Enough - Wings
26: Hopelessly Devoted To You - Olivia Newton-John
25: Songbird - Barbra Streisand
24: King Tut - Steve Martin
23: Stay - Jackson Browne
22: FM - Steely Dan
21: Bluer Than Blue - Michael Johnson
20: Dance With Me - Peter Brown
19: It's A Heartache - Bonnie Tyler
18: I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight - Atlanta Rhythm Section
17: Take A Chance On Me - ABBA
16: Magnet And Steel - Walter Egan
15: My Angel Baby - Toby Beau
14: Life's Been Good - Joe Walsh
13: Copacabana - Barry Manilow
12: Runaway - Jefferson Starship
11: Hot Blooded - Foreigner
10: Love Will Find A Way - Pablo Cruise
9: The Groove Line - Heatwave
8: Use To Be My Girl - The O'Jays
7: Still The Same - Bob Seger
6: Three Times A Lady - Commodores
5: Grease - Frankie Valli
4: Last Dance - Donna Summer
3: Miss You - Rolling Stones
2: Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
1: Shadow Dancing - Andy Gibb