1979
Top Selling Singles
- Art Garfunkel – Bright Eyes
- Cliff Richard – We Don’t Talk Anymore
- Dr Hook – When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman
- Tubeway Army – Are ‘Friends’ Electric
- Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive
- The Boomtown Rats – I Don’t Like Mondays
- Blondie – Heart Of Glass
- Lena Martell – One Day At A Time
- Blondie – Sunday Girl
- Roxy Music – Dance Away
Christmas No.1: PINK FLOYD – ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL
Top Selling Albums
- SHOWADDYWADDY – GREATEST HITS (1976-1978)
- VARIOUS ARTISTS – MIDNIGHT HUSTLE
- VARIOUS ARTISTS – DON’T WALK – BOOGIE
- GREASE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
- THE CARPENTERS – THE SINGLES 1974-1978
- BONEY M – NIGHTFLIGHT TO VENUS
- VARIOUS ARTISTS – EMOTIONS
- NEIL DIAMOND – 20 GOLDEN GREATS – NEIL DIAMOND
- ROD STEWART – BLONDES HAVE MORE FUN
- ELTON JOHN – A SINGLE MAN
At the Box Office
- Moonraker
- Alien
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture
- Monty Python’s Life of Brian
- Every Which Way but Loose
- The Black Hole
- Apocalypse Now
- Quadrophenia (1979)
- National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)
- Porridge (1979)
Cost of Living
Average house price | £13,650 |
Average salary | |
Average car price | £3,503 |
Petrol | 98p/Gallon |
Pint of beer | 46p |
Packet of 20 Cigarettes | 67p |
Pint of milk | 15p |
In the News
- Prime Minister – James Callaghan (Labour) (until 4 May), Margaret Thatcher (Conservative) (after 4 May)
- Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain’s 1st Female PM
- Lorry drivers go on strike, causing new shortages of heating oil and fresh food.
- Tens of thousands of public-workers strike in the beginning of what becomes known as the “Winter of Discontent”
- Airey Neave, Conservative Northern Ireland spokesman, is killed by an Irish National Liberation Army bomb in the House of Commons car park
- Inflation was 17%.
- Sony launched a portable cassette player called a Walkman, marketed in the US at $200
- McDonalds introduced Happy Meals.
- Mother Theresa won the Nobel peace prize
- China ordered its citizens to have no more than one child
- Lord Mountbatten was murdered by IRA bombers. (His death set a record audience for a news bulletin, as 26 million viewers watched the coverage on BBC1. Strike action at ITN led to the record viewing figures.)
- Space Invaders Hit UK
- World’s first £1 Million footballer is bought – Trevor Francis bought by Nottingham Forest
On the Telly
- BBC1 broadcasts the first edition of Blankety Blank hosted by Terry Wogan.
- The first episode of the children’s television series Worzel Gummidge begins on ITV.
- Tales of the Unexpected, an Anglia Television series based on the short stories of Roald Dahl, makes its debut on ITV. [theme]
- Robin Day presents the first edition of the long-running political debate programme Question Time on BBC1.
- The final episode of the comedy series Fawlty Towers is broadcast on BBC2.
- ITV debuts its comedy drama series Minder starring George Cole and Dennis Waterman.
- The last episode of the first series of the sitcom To the Manor Born is broadcast on BBC1. It is watched by 23.95 million viewers, the all-time highest figure for a recorded programme in the UK
- We were also still watching:
- The Dukes of Hazzard
- The Paul Daniels Magic Show
- Shoestring
- Terry and June
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- Kelly Monteith
- The Jim Davidson Show
- Mork & Mindy
- The Cannon and Ball Show
- Only When I Laugh
- Are You Being Served
- Last of the Summer Wine
In Music
- Elton John becomes the first musician from the west to perform live in the Soviet Union.
Top Selling Christmas Toys
- Strawberry Shortcake
- Millenium Falcon
- Sony Walkman
Gadgets
- MB Games – BigTrak