Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

is a chart published by '' Billboard'' ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in the

adult contemporary music Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

(AC) market. In 1978, 17 songs topped the chart, then published under the title Easy Listening, based on playlists submitted by radio stations. In the first issue of ''Billboard'' of the year, Billy Joel reached number one with " Just the Way You Are", replacing " How Deep Is Your Love" by the Bee Gees in the top spot. Joel had launched his solo career in 1971 and achieved a number of minor hits over the next six years, but his breakthrough to stardom did not come until the release of the album '' The Stranger'' in the fall of 1977. Taken from the album, "Just the Way You Are" won two Grammy Awards, and gave him his first ''Billboard'' number one. He would continue to be a regular on the Easy Listening/Adult Contemporary chart for more than two decades, topping the chart eight times. His 1993 song "

The River of Dreams "The River of Dreams" is a song by American musician Billy Joel. It is the title track and first single from his 1993 album, ''River of Dreams.'' The song was a hit, peaking at number three on the US and UK charts, making it Joel's best-charting ...

" would break a 25-year-old record by spending twelve consecutive weeks atop the listing. In contrast to Joel's lengthy and successful career was that of another act to top the chart for the first time in 1978, the band

Toby Beau Toby Beau is an American band from Texas, formed in the early 1970s and perhaps best known for the 1978 hit single, " My Angel Baby". The band is still in existence today and continues to perform on the club circuit. The band's name was based from ...

. Despite topping the Easy Listening chart and placing highly on the magazine's all-genres listing, the Hot 100, with "

My Angel Baby "My Angel Baby" is a 1978 song by Toby Beau. "My Angel Baby" was written by band members Danny McKenna and Balde Silva. The single, from the group's self-titled album, went to #1 on the Easy Listening chart for one week, and peaked at #13 on th ...

", the band would achieve only two more hit songs before dropping into relative obscurity after 1980. Similarly jazz trumpeter

Chuck Mangione Charles Frank Mangione ( ; born November 29, 1940) is an American flugelhorn player, voice actor, trumpeter and composer. He came to prominence as a member of Art Blakey's band in the 1960s, and later co-led the Jazz Brothers with his brother ...

topped the Easy Listening chart for the first time in 1978 and enjoyed a brief period of chart success before falling from public favor in the 1980s. "

Time Passages ''Time Passages'' is the eighth studio album by Al Stewart, released in September 1978. It is the follow-up to his 1976 album ''Year of the Cat''. The album, like 1975's ''Modern Times'' and 1976's ''Year of the Cat'', was once again produced by ...

" by the Scottish singer Al Stewart was the final number one of the year. It held the top spot for the last eight weeks of 1978, the longest unbroken run atop the chart during the year. The only act to achieve more than one Easy Listening number one in 1978 was Barry Manilow; as his two chart-toppers only totalled five weeks in the top position, Stewart also had the highest total number of weeks at number one by an act during the year. Stewart had been a recording artist since the mid-1960s and would remain active for more than forty years, but his U.S. chart success was confined to a three-year period at the end of the 1970s.

Chart history

Chart history

References

See also