1977 - The Golden Age of Soundtracks?

In 1977, 29 singles reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. Of those 29, four came from movie soundtracks.  Those singles spent a combined 7 weeks in the top spot.  One might argue that Debby Boone's record-setting #1 single, "You Light Up My Life," should be included on this list, but her version is actually a cover.  The original soundtrack version (lip-synched in the film by Didi Conn) was recorded by Kasey Cisyk.

The #1 spot in the album chart was monopolized in 1977 by Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album which spent 29 weeks there, but a lone soundtrack did manage to be #1 in February and March of that year: the A Star is Born soundtrack was the top album for six consecutive weeks.

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		"Car Wash" Rose Royce #1 for one week, January 29  from the movie Car Wash
"Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star is Born)" Barbra Streisand #1 for three weeks, March 15-29 from the movie A Star is Born
		"Gonna Fly Now" Bill Conti #1 for one week, July 2 from the movie Rocky
"How Deep Is Your Love" Bee Gees #1 for two weeks in 1977, three overall, Dec 24 - Jan 7 from the movie Saturday Night Fever

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Click on the year to check out similar soundtrack lists for the following years:

Year	No. of soundtrack #1's	Total no. of weeks at #1
1977	4 of 29	7
1978	6 of 20	17
1979	0 of 24	0
1980	2 of 16	10
1981	3 of 17	14
1982	3 of 16	10
1983	2 of 17	8
1984	7 of 20	21
1985	9 of 27	14

Other soundtrack hits from 1977 that didn't make the top spot include:

• "Nobody Does It Better" by Carly Simon from The Spy Who Loved Me  (peaked at #2)
• "I Wanna Get Next to You" by Rose Royce from Car Wash (#10)
• "Star Wars Main Title" by John Williams (#10)
• "Roots Medley" by Quincy Jones (#57) 
• "You Light Up My Life" by Kasey Cisyk from You Light Up My Life (#80)

Special honorable mention awards go to the Meco disco version of "Stars Wars Theme/Cantina Band" (#1), Maynard Ferguson's cover of "Gonna Fly Now (Theme from 'Rocky')" (#28), and Henry Mancini's version of "Theme from Charlie's Angels" (#46).

The winner of the Oscar for Best Original Song at the 50th Academy Awards was "You Light Up My Life." The winner of the Oscar for Best Original Song at the 49th Academy Awards was "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star is Born)"

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