Don’s Top 10 From August 24, 1978

(#11 last week) Like several other bands in the 70s, the group name sounded like one person. Why Toby Beau? "Toby Beau" was the name of one of the last original wooden shrimp boats docked in Port Isabel.

(#10 last week) One-and-a-half-hit-wonders (the catchy followup, "Hot Number", peaked at a not-so-hot #21 nationally). Too much face makeup, Mr. Lead Singer. Uh, I think, Mr. Lead Singer. Thought it was a girl.  :-)

(#13 last week) First single from their second album "Double Vision", this is one of Foreigner's most enduring hits, being used in literally dozens of movies, TV shows & commercials.

(#7 last week) The critics didn't like this California pop-rock group. Robert Christgau in the Village Voice said, ""hear David Jenkins sing 'once you get past the pain' fifty times in a day and the pain will be permanent". Ouch. Well, the public felt differently.

(#6 last week) At first, this was thought of as a novelty (the singles sales outstripped the radio airplay in '78), but it's surprisingly turned into Manilow's most enduring hit! First featured in the movie "Foul Play" with Chevy Chase & Goldie Hawn.

(#5 last week) Cover your eyes & ears, disco haters. Mick Jagger & Ron Wood insist that "Miss You" wasn't conceived as a disco song, while Keith Richards said, "...'Miss You' was a damn good disco record; it was calculated to be one." Even though Richards is credited as co-writer, it apparently was co-written by Jagger with Billy Preston.

(#1 last week; was #1 for 4 weeks) Didn't make it to the top nationally, but a huge #1 song right here! "Last Dance" was one of the first disco songs to also feature slow tempo parts: it starts off as a ballad; the full-length version on the film soundtrack also has a slow part in the middle. This part was edited out for the 7". The versions found on most greatest hits packages is either the original 7" edit (3:21) or the slightly longer and remixed version from the 1979 compilation "On The Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2" (4:56). "Last Dance" started a trend for Summer as some of her following hits also had a ballad-like intro before speeding up the tempo. Her other hits of this tempo format include "On the Radio"; "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)"; & "Dim All the Lights".

(#4 last week) In researching this "Don's Top 10", I was reminded of the incredible chart run locally of "Boogie Oogie Oogie" in the summer & fall of '78: 22 weeks with a number on WABC, every single one of them in the top 10! Debuted at #8 on June 6, & it took 14 long weeks, but finally hit #1 on September 6, holding on to the top spot for 5 weeks, finally falling to "Encore" on November 7. Amazing.

(#3 last week) Wow, you could lose things in Richie's hair in 1978! Sometimes, a songwriter only needs the simplest inspiration. Lionel said he was inspired to write this song because of a comment his father made about his mother. His father said to his mother "I love you. I want you. I need you. Forever".

(#2 last week; 1st week at #1) Jersey Boy makes good with what turned out to be his last solo hit, written by Barry Gibb. In the I-did-not-know-this-department, Peter Frampton was playing on this. They were both filming "Sgt. Pepper" at the time.