Summer Engagement
Lyn begins the year with more cabaret dates. January includes appearances at the Crystal Rooms in Hereford (11th January) and at the Amsterdam Bar in Huddersfield (15th January). February includes a date at Allisons Club in Liverpool (19th February) which turns into a disaster. While Lyn is paying her hotel bill and chatting to the Manager and desk staff, thieves take all Lyn's belongings from her car. The haul includes Lyn's stage clothes and jewellery given to her by her parents.
Lyn makes a number of radio and television appearances during the course of 1978, including three appearances on Pebble Mill At One (BBC1) and two appearances on Celebrity Squares (ATV), hosted by Bob Monkhouse. Fellow guests on Celebrity Squares include Willy Rushton and those "dear ladies" Hinge and Bracket. Lyn is also a guest on The Don Estelle Easter Show, The Frankie Howerd Variety Show, An Evening With Dave Evans (Yorkshire Television, Saturday, 29th April, 7.30pm), Seaside Special (BBC 1) and The Freddie Starr Experience (London Weekend Television, Sunday, 10th September, 8.15pm). Guests on the Freddie Starr show include the sports broadcaster Dickie Davies and a number of actors known for their roles as TV cops - Nicholas Ball (from Hazell), Lewis Collins and Martin Short (The Professionals) and Frank Windsor (Z Cars and Softly, Softly).
On 17th May Lyn gets engaged to club owner Vince McCaffrey before heading down to the Festival Theatre, Paignton on 23rd May, where she stars in a third Summer Season with Freddie Starr. Whilst appearing there, Lyn announces that she and Vince plan to marry on 16th September. When September arrives, however, a theatrical engagement forces Lyn to postpone the wedding.
Starrtime '78 programme
 
In July, while Lyn Paul is appearing in Starrtime '78, the New Seekers have a hit single with Anthem (One Day In Every Week). The single spends 10 weeks on the UK singles chart and peaks at number 21. Shortly afterwards Eve Graham and Danny Finn quit the group. Danny teams up with the New Seekers' musical director John Franklin (also one of Lyn's friends) and heads for Germany. Lyn Paul's mum reports the news in a Fan Club Newsletter:
"A few years back John, along with Danny and two other fellas, formed the group Wishful Thinking and released a disc called 'Hiroshima'. It was a hit for them in Germany and, surprise surprise, it's done it again ... So the boys have been rehearsing together again and it looks like Germany, here we come. John came over and cooked for us on the barbecue last week and was most enthusiastic about the future" (Lyn Paul Fan Club Newsletter, October 1978)
Wishful Thinking
featuring John Franklin (far left)
and Danny Finn (second from right).
From 24th September - 7th October Lyn has an engagement on a P&O Cruise of the Mediterranean, taking in Gibraltar, Barcelona, Palma, Las Palmas, and Madeira. Vince accompanies her on what should also have been their honeymoon.
At the end of the year Lyn's sister Mandi starts to appear with her on stage. She makes her début with Lyn at Fagins in Manchester on Christmas Eve.
Incidentally ...
Boney M top the singles chart in May with Rivers Of Babylon. In 1984 Lyn Paul covers the song on a K-Tel compilation of hits.
The Pointer Sisters release an album Energy, which includes cover versions of Fire by Bruce Springsteen and Echoes Of Love by the Doobie Brothers. Although Fire is the obvious choice for a hit single (US number 2 / UK number 34), it is Echoes Of Love that proves to be an inspiration for Lyn Paul. Five years later Lyn releases the song as a single on the Crash label.
| In the News - 1978 |
| |
|
| Jan |
An Air India jumbo jet explodes near Bombay, killing 213 people.
Newspaper editor, Donald Woods, escapes from house arrest in South Africa.
The European Court of Human Rights finds Britain guilty of using "inhumane and degrading" interrogation techniques in Northern Ireland, so breaching Article 3 of the Human Rights Convention.
Nancy Spungen is stabbed to death by her boyfriend Sid Vicious on 12th January.
|
| Feb |
New smaller £1 notes are introduced in the UK featuring a portrait of Sir Isaac Newton on one side.
The United States carries out a nuclear test in the Nevada desert on 13th February. Following this the French carry out a nuclear test on Muruora Island on 27th February.
Tom Robinson's Rising Free EP enters the UK singles chart on 18th February. One of the songs on the EP, Sing if You're Glad To Be Gay, is banned by the BBC.
Jack Jones retires as Secretary General of the Transport and General Workers Union.
Car workers at British Leyland's Speke factory vote to end their 17-week strike.
|
| Mar |
Aldo Moro, five times Prime Minister of Italy, is kidnapped in Rome on 16th March. His dead body is found in a stolen car on 9th May.
Pakistan's former leader, Ali Bhutto, is sentenced to death on 18th March.
On 24th March the shipwrecked oil tanker, Amoco Cadiz, spills 50,000 tons of oil into the English Channel.
Actor Wilfred Pickles dies on 27th March.
On 30th March the Conservative Party hires the largest British-owned advertising company, Saatchi & Saatchi, to revamp its image in time for the next General Election.
|
| Apr |
On 7th April the US President, Jimmy Carter, calls an indefinite halt to the production of the neutron bomb. President Leonid Brezhnev follows suit.
Motorcycle stunt man Eddie Kidd breaks Evel Knievel's bus record on 8th April by jumping over 14 double-decker buses
On 18th April the US Senate approves the return of the Panama Canal to Panama by the year 2000.
On 20th April a Korean airliner is shot down in Soviet airspace.
The European Court of Human Rights rules that the use of the birch on young offenders in the Isle of Man is "degrading".
Sandy Denny, formerly a member of Fairport Convention, falls down the stairs at a friend's house and dies from a brain haemorrhage on 21st April, aged 31.
Bob Marley makes his first public appearance in Jamaica since being wounded in an assassination attempt in December 1976, when he and the Wailers perform at the 'One Love Peace Concert' on 22nd April.
|
| May |
England and Wales get a May Day Bank Holiday for the first time.
On 10th May the news is announced from Buckingham Palace that Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon will divorce.
The coffin containing the body of Charlie Chaplin is discovered in a field in Switzerland on Wednesday, 17th May, 11 weeks after being stolen by grave robbers.
French troops rescue 2,000 Europeans being held hostage in Kolwezi, Zaire.
|
| Jun |
Israeli troops complete their withdrawal from occupied territory in southern Lebanon on 13th June.
Three members of the Provisional IRA - Dennis Brown, William Mailey and James Mulvenna - are killed on 21st June in an exchange of gunfire with the British army at the Ballysillan post office depot in Belfast. A civilian, William Hanna, is killed in the crossfire.
A bomb planted by separatists from Brittany explodes at the Palace of Versailles on 26th June.
|
| Jul |
On 6th July eleven people are killed and seventeen injured in a fire on the Penzance to Paddington sleeper train.
170 people are killed and more than 100 injured when a tanker carrying liquid gas explodes at a camp site in eastern Spain.
The UK Police get a 45% pay rise.
The strike at the Grunwick film processing plant in Willesden, which had lasted for almost two years, is called off on 14th July. None of the workers who had been sacked during the dispute are reinstated.
Louise Brown, the world's first "test-tube baby", is born at Oldham General Hospital shortly before midnight on Tuesday, 25th July.
|
| Aug |
Eagle II makes the first successful manned balloon crossing of the Atlantic on 17th August.
The President of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, dies in Mombasa on 22nd August.
A new Pope is elected on 26th August. He honours his two predecessors by taking the name Pope John Paul I.
Charles Boyer dies on the same day.
|
| Sep |
At least two million people are made homeless by severe floods in northern India.
Keith Moon, drummer with The Who, dies from a drug overdose on 7th September.
Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian defector, dies in London on Monday, 11th September, four days after being stabbed in the leg with a poison-tipped umbrella. Coroners later found that he had been injected with ricin.
One of the founder-members of the Baader-Meinhof gang, Astrid Proll, is arrested in London on 15th September.
President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and the Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meet with the US President Jimmy Carter for peace talks at Camp David. On Sunday, 17th September, after 12 days of negotiations, they sign the Camp David Accord
Carl Bridgewater, a 13-year-old paperboy, is shot in the head at close range on 19th September when he unwittingly disturbs burglars at an isolated farmhouse near Stourbridge in Staffordshire.
P.W. Botha succeeds John Voster as Prime Minister of South Africa on 28th September. The following day Voster is elected President.
|
| Oct |
On 6th October Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad from ABBA get married in Stockholm.
French singer-songwriter Jacques Brel dies of cancer on 9th October.
Daniel Arap Moi is sworn in as President of Kenya on 10th October.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded jointly to President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and the Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
On Sunday, 15th October, wearing T-shirts with the slogan 'A woman's place is on top', Vera Komarkova and Irene Miller become the first women climbers to reach the summit of the Himalayan peak Annapurna I.
Following the death of Pope John Paul I on 28th September, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, Archbishop of Cracow, is elected Pope. He takes the name Pope John Paul II.
Smash Hits is published for the first time.
Country singer Maybelle Carter dies on 23rd October.
On 25th October the Queen attends a service of thanksgiving and dedication to mark the completion of Liverpool Cathedral. Building work had begun in 1904.
|
| Nov |
The UK's newest tabloid newspaper, the Daily Star, rolls off the presses in Manchester on 2nd November.
The Caribbean island of Dominica gains independence from the UK on 3rd November.
Following fierce rioting in Tehran on 5th November, the Shah of Iran places the country under military rule.
Artist Norman Rockwell dies on 8th November, aged 84.
On the same day the General Synod of the Church of England rejects proposals to allow the ordination of women priests.
On 18th November 914 members of an American religious sect, the People's Temple, are found dead at their headquarters in Guyana, South America, after an apparent mass suicide. The founder of the sect, Jim Jones, is among the dead.
At a committal hearing on 20th November in Minehead, Somerset, the former leader of the Liberal Party Jeremy Thorpe is charged with conspiring to murder Norman Scott, with whom he is alleged to have had an affair in the early 1960s.
On 22nd November Ford car workers in the UK accept a 17% pay offer and call off their nine week strike.
|
| Dec |
Following a meeting in Brussels of the nine EEC Heads of State, it is announced that the UK will not to join the European Monetary System.
In a referendum held in Spain on 6th December, voters give their approval to a new democratic constitution. It establishes Spain as a parliamentary monarchy.
Former Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir, dies on 8th December, aged 80.
Following its defeat in two votes in the House of Commons on the previous day, the UK government narrowly wins a vote of confidence on 14th December by 300 votes to 290.
|
|
| In the Charts |
| |
| UK Chart Debuts |
| |
- Blondie
- Kate Bush
- Cars
- Dollar
- Ian Dury and the Blockheads
- Billy Joel
- Chaka Khan
- Meat Loaf
- Police
- Chris Rea
- Siouxsie and the Banshees
- Squeeze
- Undertones
|
| UK Best-selling Singles |
| |
- ABBA
Summer Night City
- ABBA
Take A Chance On Me
- Bee Gees
Night Fever
- Bee Gees
Too Much Heaven
- Ivor Biggun and the Red-Nosed Burglars
The Winker's Song (Misprint)
- Blondie
Denis
- Blondie
Hanging On The Telephone
- Boney M
Mary's Boy Child - Oh My Lord
- Boney M
Rivers Of Babylon / Brown Girl In The Ring
- Boney M
Rasputin
- Boomtown Rats
Rat Trap
- Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip
I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper
- Kate Bush
Wuthering Heights
- Cars
My Best Friend's Girl
- Chic
Le Freak
- City Boy
5-7-0-5
- Commodores
Three Times A Lady
- Darts
It's Raining
- ELO
Mr. Blue Sky
- ELO
Sweet Talkin' Woman
- ELO
Wild West Hero
- David Essex
Oh What A Circus
- Exile
Kiss You All Over
- Father Abraham and the Smurfs
The Smurf Song
- Dean Friedman
Lucky Stars
- Crystal Gayle
Talking In Your Sleep
- Dan Hartman
Instant Replay
- Heatwave
Always And Forever / Mind Blowing Decisions
- Dee D. Jackson
Automatic Lover
- Mick Jackson
Blame It On The Boogie
- Jacksons
Blame It On The Boogie
- Elton John
Song For Guy
- Patrick Juvet
I Love America
- Marshall Hain
Dancing In The City
- Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams
Too Much Too Little Too Late
- Frankie Miller
Darlin'
- Motors
Airport
- Olivia Newton-John
Hopelessly Devoted To You
- Gerry Rafferty
Baker Street
- Tom Robinson
Rising Free EP
- Rose Royce
Love Don't Live Here Anymore
- Leo Sayer
I Can't Stop Lovin' You
- Sex Pistols
No One Is Innocent (A Punk Prayer By Ronald Biggs) / My Way
- Rod Stewart
Da Ya Think I'm Sexy
- Donna Summer
MacArthur Park
- Sylvester
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
- 10cc
Dreadlock Holiday
- Three Degrees
Givin' Up Givin' In
- John Travolta
Sandy
- John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
Summer Nights
- John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
You're The One That I Want
- Undertones
Teenage Kicks
- Village People
YMCA
|
|
| One Hit Wonders |
|
- Althia and Donna
Uptown Top Ranking
- Babys
Isn't It Time
- Blue Oyster Cult
(Don't Fear) The Reaper
- Brian and Michael
Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs
- Raffaella Carra
Do It Do It Again
- Clout
Substitute
- Driver 67
Car 67
- Funkadelic
One Nation Under A Groove (Part 1)
- Jilted John
Jilted John
- Sally Oldfield
Mirrors
- Renaissance
Northern Lights
- Samantha Sang
Emotions
- Streetband
Toast
- A Taste Of Honey
Boogie Oogie Oogie
- Michael Zager Band
Let's All Chant
|
| Hit Albums |
|
- ABBA
The Album
- Blondie
Parallel Lines
- Boney M
Night Flight To Venus
- Jackson Browne
Running On Empty
- Kate Bush
The Kick Inside
- Cars
Cars
- Art Garfunkel
Watermark
- Crystal Gayle
When I Dream
- Grease
[Film Soundtrack]
- Billy Joel
The Stranger
- Billy Joel
52bd Street
- Meat Loaf
Bat Out of Hell
- Nick Lowe
The Jesus Of Cool
- Bob Marley and the Wailers
Kaya
- Olivia Newton-John
Totally Hot
- Maddy Prior
Woman In The Wings
- Gerry Rafferty
City To City
- Renaissance
A Song For All Seasons
- Cliff Richard
Small Corners
- The Rutles
The Rutles
- Saturday Night Fever
[Film Soundtrack]
- Al Stewart
Time Passages
- Rod Stewart
Blondes Have More Fun
- 10cc
Bloody Tourists
- Thin Lizzy
Live and Dangerous
- Jeff Wayne
War Of The Worlds
- Don Williams
Images
|
|
|
| At the Movies |
| |
| |
- ABBA - The Movie
- Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
- Convoy
- Death On The Nile
- The Goodbye Girl
- Grease
- Heaven Can Wait
- Julia
- Revenge Of The Pink Panther
- Saturday Night Fever [UK]
- Star Wars
- Superman
- Watership Down
|
|
| On Television |
| |
| |
- All Creatures Great and Small
- Are You Being Served?
(Series 6)
- Blake's 7
- Bruce Forsyth's Big Night
- Butterflies
(Series 1)
- Citizen Smith
(Series 2)
- Dallas
(USA)
- Edward and Mrs. Simpson
- The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
(Series 3)
- Family Fortunes
- The Freddie Starr Experience
- The Generation Game
(Larry Grayson)
- George and Mildred
(Series 3 and 4)
- Grange Hill
- Hazell
- The Incredible Hulk
- It Ain't Half Hot Mum
(Series 6)
- The Kenny Everett Video Show
- The Les Dawson Show
- The Little and Large Show
- The Liver Birds
(Series 9)
- Mork and Mindy
(USA)
- The Muppet Show
(Series 3)
- Anna Ford joins News at Ten
- Pennies From Heaven
- The Rag Trade
(Series 2)
- Rising Damp
(Series 4)
- Rutles All You Need Is Cash
- Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
(Series 3)
- The South Bank Show
- The Sweeney (Series 4)
- 3-2-1
- Top Gear
- Two's Company
(Series 3)
- Wonder Woman
|
|
| Sporting Heroes |
| |
BBC Sport
BBC
Sports Personality
of the Year:
Steve Ovett
|
|
Boxing: Leon Spinks defeats Muhammad Ali in Las Vegas to become World Heavyweight Champion. Ali regains the title later in the year when he and Spinks fight each other again in New Orleans.
Horse Racing: Lucius wins the Grand National. Three times winner Red Rum is withdrawn on the eve of the race with a heel injury.
Snooker: Ray Reardon wins his sixth World title.
Doug Mountjoy wins the UK Championship, beating Dennis Taylor 15:9 in the final.
Rowing: Oxford win the Boat Race. The Cambridge boat sinks at Barnes Bridge, a mile from the finish line.
Football: Ipswich Town beat Arsenal 1:0 in the FA Cup final.
Nottingham Forest win the League Cup and end the season as champions of the First Division.
Liverpool beat Bruges 1:0 in the final of the European Cup and become the first British club to win the competition twice in a row.
Argentina win the World Cup final, defeating the Netherlands 3:1 after extra time.
Sailing: Naomi James becomes the first woman to sail single-handed around the world via Cape Horn. By completing her voyage in 272 days she also breaks the record set by Sir Francis Chichester in 1967.
Cricket: Ian Botham is the new star of English cricket. In a test match against Pakistan he scores his third century in seven tests and captures eight wickets for just 34 runs.
Tennis: Martina Navratilova wins the women's singles title at Wimbledon for the first time, beating Chris Evert in the final in three sets (2-6, 6-4, 7-5).
Björn Borg wins the men's singles title for the third time. He defeats Jimmy Connors in the final for the second year in a row (6-2, 6-2, 6-3).
Britain's men qualify for the final of the Davis Cup for the first time since 1937. The British women's team win the Wightman Cup.
Athletics: Steve Ovett, running in the Men's 1,500 metres, wins Britain's only gold medal at the European Athletics Championships in Prague.
Golf: Jack Nicklaus wins the British Open for the third time.
|
|
| Page-turners |
| |
Man Booker Prize
Winner:
Iris Murdoch
The Sea, The Sea
|
|
