Year-end consensus · All Rock Formats · one countdowns combined
The best rock songs of 1978
One radio stations and charts published year-end countdowns for 1978: KISW. Combining every list, the top rock song of 1978 is “Runnin' With The Devil” by Van Halen, which appeared on one of the one countdowns and was voted number one by one of them. Van Halen was the year’s most-charted artist, with two different songs placing 2 times across the countdowns.
Top 100 songs of 1978
Ranked by combined points across every 1978 year-end countdown in this format. How it works.
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Runnin' With The Devil Van Halen | 1 | #1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Who Are You The Who | 1 | #2 | – | |
| 3 | Fat Bottomed Girls Queen | 1 | #3 | – | |
| 4 | Don't Fear the Reaper Blue Oyster Cult | 1 | #4 | – | |
| 5 | Lights Journey | 1 | #5 | – | |
| 6 | Miss You The Rolling Stones | 1 | #6 | – | |
| 7 | Renegade Styx | 1 | #7 | – | |
| 8 | Hollywood Nights Bob Seger | 1 | #8 | – | |
| 9 | I Need to Know Tom Petty | 1 | #9 | – | |
| 10 | Roxanne The Police | 1 | #10 | – | |
| 11 | Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love Van Halen | 1 | #11 | – | |
| 12 | Surrender Cheap Trick | 1 | #12 | – | |
| 13 | Sultans of Swing Dire Straits | 1 | #13 | – | |
| 14 | Straight On Heart | 1 | #14 | – | |
| 15 | Hot Blooded Foreigner | 1 | #15 | – | |
| 16 | Life's Been Good Joe Walsh | 1 | #16 | – | |
| 17 | Good Times Roll The Cars | 1 | #17 | – | |
| 18 | Beast of Burden The Rolling Stones | 1 | #18 | – | |
| 19 | I Wanna Be Sedated The Ramones | 1 | #19 | – | |
| 20 | Feeling That Way Journey | 1 | #20 | – | |
| 21 | Don't Look Back Boston | 1 | #21 | – | |
| 22 | Godzilla Blue Oyster Cult | 1 | #22 | – | |
| 23 | Double Vision Foreigner | 1 | #23 | – | |
| 24 | Old Time Rock and Roll Bob Seger | 1 | #24 | – | |
| 25 | Hold The Line Toto | 1 | #25 | – |
Every station’s number one of 1978
| Station | Number one song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|
| KISW | Hold The Line Toto | KISW Top 25 Rock Songs from 1978 |
All 1978 countdowns in this ranking
About the 1978 ranking
Radio stations count down their listeners’ favorite songs at the end of every year. Each station’s list reflects its own audience, so a song that ruled Los Angeles could miss the top ten in Chicago. To find the songs that defined 1978 everywhere, RockLists gives every appearance percentile-based points (a number one earns 100, the last position earns close to zero) and adds them up across all one qualifying countdowns. This ranking combines every rock format on the site. Read the full methodology.