Don’s Top 10 From June 16, 1978

(#15 last week) It took awhile, but Meat Loaf's "Bat Out Of Hell" album is FINALLY a smash, due to this becoming a gold single. Two mixes were created for the song. In the album mix of 5:27, you can hear prominent Moog-synthesizer embellishments by session keyboardist Roger Powell. The single mix of 3:50 downmixes the synthesizer quite a bit, in place of a much warmer, mainly string arrangement by Ken Ascher. This mix also edits out and removes the first lyrical bridge of the song.,

(#8 last week) A huge debut way up at #8 last week , but this week slips a notch to #9, for this 2-man, 2-woman group, although you never saw the guys on TV. Wonder why. This would go on to be the #1 hit of the year, 1978, locally.

(#3 last week) To some critics, this hit was proof that Paul McCartney could sing the phone book & it'd be popular. But the public ignored the critics. Boy, do the people dancing here look goofy, BECAUSE THIS ISN'T A DANCE SONG.

(#6 last week) Betty Wright had a huge hit in 1972 with "Clean-Up Woman", but also backed up other singers on dozens of other songs, most notably this disco smash. Peter Brown had only one other hit, 1977's "Do Ya Wanna Get Funky With Me".

(#10 last week) Former Stealers Wheel lead singer Rafferty's first solo hit, with a scintillating sax by Raphael Ravenscroft. Gerry hadn't recorded for 3 years after his group broke up due to legal problems, a common occurance in the 70s.

(#7 last week) Tyler's signature raspy voice made people compare her to Rod Stewart. at first, she thought her career was over. Her doctors had ordered complete silence after vocal cord surgery, but Bonnie screamed in frustration one day, thus ensuring her raspiness would be permanent. Oh, Rod recorded this song in 2006, too. It was inevitable.

(#4 last week) A generation of men would like to thank Olivia Newton-John for fulfilling their fantasies, as she went from innocent-to-sexy starting with this movie & song, setting a template that more than a few female singers have since followed.

(#2 last week) Talk about a surprise comeback, Johnny Mathis was it! His last top 10 song was 15 years earlier, pre-Beatles, in 1963. But a song about divorce really resonated with boomers, who were watching their parents divorce in very large numbers.

(#5 last week) The man who taught us all about the flugelhorn (had you even heard of that before this song?) was much more than this one hit. Rochester, NY, native Mangione has recorded over 30 albums over the last 50+ years.

(#1 last week; 2nd week at #1) While "Boogie Oogie Oogie" was the local #1 hit of the year, this would become the national #1 hit of the year. It was the first written by all four Gibb brothers.