The 25 best Indie tracks of 1978
2 May 2025, 16:48
Let's take a trip back to the days of The Police, The Jam, the Banshees, The Undertones and many other great post-punk acts.
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Magazine - Shot By Both Sides: released 20th January 1978
After leaving Buzzcocks after their debut EP Spiral Scratch. Howard Devoto formed art rock collective Magazine and issued this amazing single as their debut. Co-written with his former Buzzcocks colleague Pete Shelley, the track made Number 41 in the charts.
Shot By Both Sides
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Squeeze - Take Me I'm Yours: Released 3rd February 1978
The first single from the Deptford punk-pop act would later appear on their self-titled debut album, recorded when Jools Holland was a full time member. Take Me I'm Yours peaked at Number 19 on the chart.
Squeeze - Take Me I'm Yours (Official Music Video)
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Wire - I Am The Fly: released 24th February 1978
Taken from the influential post-punk band's second album Chairs Missing, this single didn't trouble the charts, but Wire's quirky aesthetic had many admirers, most notably Elastica, whose track Line-Up is a tip of the hat to this tune.
Wire "I Am The Fly"
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Elvis Costello & The Attractions - (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea: released 3rd March 1978
The former Declan MacManus released his second album, This Year's Model, in March of 1978 and this was the lead single. It was his second Top 20 hit in a row, after Watching The Detectives.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
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Devo - (I Can't Get Me No) Satisfaction: released April 1978
Akron, Ohio's premier exponents of devolution issued their sacrilegious cover of the Rolling Stones classic in America in September 1977 and the British gave it some love in April '78, when the track grazed the Top 40.
Devo - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
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The Police - Roxanne: released 7th April 1978
After their non-album debut single Fall Out was released in May 1977, Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland hit big with this follow-up, taken from their debut album Outlandos d'Amour - it made Number 12 in the UK charts.
The Police - Roxanne (Official Music Video)
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Patti Smith Group - Because The Night: released 14th April 1978
Co-written with Bruce Springsteen, Smith took ownership of this classic when she included it on her third album Easter. Because The Night was a Top 5 hit in the UK.
Patti Smith Group - Because the Night (Official Audio)
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The Only Ones - Another Girl Another Planet: released 14th April 1978
One of the great post-punk era singles, this classic - voiced by frontman Peter Perrett - didn't chart on its initial release in 1978.
The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet (Video)
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The Normal - Warm Leatherette: released 5th May 1978
Terrifying early electronica single from Daniel Miller, who would found the Mute label to distribute this sort of thing to the masses with the likes of Depeche Mode and Erasure. Based on J.G. Ballard's controversial novel Crash, Warm Leatherette was covered by Grace Jones in 1980.
The Normal - Warm Leatherette
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The Clash - (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais: released 16th June 1978
A standalone single in the UK, this track was added to the American edition of the punk band's self-titled debut album. Joe Strummer tells the story of a disappointing experience at a reggae all-nighter at the titular West London venue. The single made Number 32 in the UK charts.
The Clash - (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais (Official Video)
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The Human League - Being Boiled: released 30th June 1978
Alongside The Normal (see above), The Human League were one of the most influential bands in the new wave of electronic pop. Three years before they hit the big time with the Dare album, the band issued this stark single as their debut on the Scottish indie Fast Records. It didn't chart in 1978, but made number 6 in January 1982 after the success of the classic Don't You Want Me.
The Human League - Being Boiled - 1978
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Jilted John - Jilted John: released 4th August 1978
Graham Fellows, who later became well known as John Shuttleworth, created this early comic character for a single produced by Martin Hannett in his pre-Joy Division days.
Jilted John
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Siouxsie & The Banshees - Hong Kong Garden: released 18th August 1978
Despite playing their first live show in 1976, the influential post-punk band took an age to get signed, and when they did (to Polydor), this was their debut single. Hong Kong Garden made a respectable Number 7 in the Uk charts - the first of a series of Top 40 hits for the group.
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Hong Kong Garden (Official Music Video)
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Ramones - Don't Come Close: released 15th September 1978
A track from the Brudders' fourth album Road To Ruin, this was a UK Top 40 hit for the punks, making Number 39 in October 1978 and spending five weeks on the chart.
Ramones - Don't Come Close (Official Music Video)
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Talking Heads - Take Me To The River: release 29th September 1978
A cover of the 1974 song by Al Green, this was an international hit for the New York art rockers, and was taken from their second album, More Songs About Buildings And Food.
Talking Heads - Take me to the River 1980
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Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone: released October 1978
A cover of a song by Jack Lee, first recorded by his band The Nerves earlier in 1978, which went into the Top 5 on the UK chart.
Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone
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The Boomtown Rats - Rat Trap: released 6th October 1978
The song that fanously knocked Summer Nights (from the Grease soundtrack) off the top spot was the first of two Number 1s for the Dublin band - the other was I Don't Like Mondays.
BOOMTOWN RATS rat trap
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Gang Of Four - Damaged Goods: released 13th October 1978
One of the best known songs from the Leeds-based post-punk group - the track was re-recorded for the band's debut album, Entertainment! the following year.
Gang of Four - Damaged Goods (Damaged Goods EP)
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The Jam - Down In The Tube Station At Midnight: released 13th October 1978
Paul Weller's tale of violence on the London Underground was taken from the album All Mod Cons and reached Number 15 on the UK chart.
The Jam - Down In The Tube Station At Midnight
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Public Image Ltd - Public Image: released 13th October 1978
After the Sex Pistols imploded in January 1978, frontman John Lydon formed Public Image Ltd and issued this broadside as their first single. An attack on Pistols manager Malcom McLaren, the single made Number 9 and paved the way for the band's self-titled debut LP (aka First Issue).
Public Image Limited - Public Image
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Adam And The Ants - Young Parisians: released 20th October 1978
Despite being one of the original Kings Road punks, Adam Ant's debut single was a music hall tune no doubt inspired by the film Cabaret rather than the hardcore thrash the Ants usually peddled. It did nothing at the time, but after the success of the hit Antmusic, the single was reissued against Adam's wishes and made Number 9.
Adam & The Ants Young Parisians
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The Undertones - Teenage Kicks: released 20th October 1978
One of the greatest punk singles and one of the greatest 45s of all time full stop, this was the superb debut from Derry's Undertones, fronted by Feargal Sharkey. For such an all-time favourite, it had a modest chart life, only making Number 31 in the UK.
The Undertones - Teenage Kicks (Official Video)
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The Cars - My Best Friend's Girl: released 20th October 1978
Written by Rick Ocasek and released as the second single from The Cars' self-titled debut album, this power pop tune made Number 3 in the UK -sales of which were no doubt helped by the release of one of those new-fangled picture discs.
The Cars - My Best Friend's Girl
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Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick: released 1st December 1978ckheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick: released 23rd November 1978
After breaking theTop 10 with What A Waste in April 1978, Dury topped the UK charts with this all-time classic in January of 1979.
Ian Dury and The Blockheads – Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick (Official HD Video)
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The Cure - 10.15 Saturday Night: released 22nd December 1978
Robert Smith and co's debut single was a "double A" side with the controversial Killing An Arab, and was rush released on the independent Small Wonder label before Christmas 1978, before getting a wider issue in the New Year. It failed to chart, but the track would lead off the band's debut album Three Imaginary Boys in May 1979.
The Cure - 10:15 Saturday Night (HD Remastered)
