Chart History Question

[ChartKid]

Does anybody know the longest time period between two #1 songs by an artist on the country chart? How about the longest time span between two singles by an artist to hit the chart at all?

[musicfan_84]

Good question. I'm sure the longest span of two singles is probably all over the place... there are many artists who don't release new music for years and years.

[WhySoSerious?]

Just from snooping around, the longest span between two consecutive #1s that I can find is Buck Owens.  He hit #1 in 1972 with "Made In Japan" and didn't return until 16 years later in 1988 with "Streets Of Bakersfield" with Dwight Yoakam.

[Free2Bme]

Unbelievable! 16 years??? I thought surely Buck hit the top of the chart more often than that? I'm probably thinking of his earlier career.

TCorey said:

Just from snooping around, the longest span between two consecutive #1s that I can find is Buck Owens. He hit #1 in 1972 with "Made In Japan" and didn't return until 16 years later in 1988 with "Streets Of Bakersfield" with Dwight Yoakam.

[Marv]

George Strait has a 22-year span between his first #1 single in 1982 and 'I Hate Everything', but I'm not sure if even THAT is an all-time record.

[Marv]

Since 'It Just Comes Natural' hit #1 last February, that would extend George's record (I assume) to over 24 1/2 years!!

[Zazie]

ChartKid's original questions are good ones. The gap between #1's question I remember looking into on another board years ago, but I'm not sure whether Buck was the answer or not. His gap was among the longest, along with Willie Nelson's (and there were other contenders), and now Dolly Parton joins the group with her Paisley duet reaching #1 long after we looked into this.

I'm away from my books now, plus I'd like to wait on somebody who has a better memory, like Jonsolo, who was also part of the research way back -- maybe he'll remember the answer. But I'll be happy to look into it later. Meanwhile, ChartKid, do you care if the answer is someone like Buck, who made it as a participant in someone else's song, or do you want only songs in which the singer is the lead performer? In that case, Kenny Rogers might be the answer.

As for the second part of your question, I've never looked into that. Odds are that the answer is either someone who died, then had an old song (or in one case a computer-generated song) revived -- Patsy Cline, Conway Twitty -- or else someone like the Eagles, who have occasionally charted country but have mostly charted elsewhere. But we can look. The answer might well be 40+ years.

Marv's answering a different question, I believe, but also an interesting one. Strait could be the record-holder, or someone like Kenny Rogers could be. Or Dolly. Or maybe I'm misreading the original question and this is indeed the question that was being asked.

For Free2Bme: Buck was a mainstay on the charts for years, with lots of #1 songs. This 16-year gap is the time between his last solo #1 and his appearance years later with Yoakam.

[queensporsche]

How do you guys KNOW all this stuff? Consider my mind boggled, yet impressed!

[Zazie]

We like country music so much we read books about it.

Here's what I've found out so far:

1. There are several artists who had a 10+ year gap between #1 songs. Among them: Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, and Buck Owens. But the leader -- I don't think anybody else is going to turn up to challenge this -- is Elvis Presley, who went more than 19 years between #1's with Jailhouse Rock (late 1957) and Moody Blue (early 1977) getting the job done. Nice job, Elvis. Maybe another comeback is in order?

2. There are a lot of people who had more than 10 years between chart appearances. Elvis went 15 years; there's one. Patsy Cline is another. The Eagles went 13 years twice. Hank Sr. went more than 10 years 3 times. But the longest run I found is by Leonard Franklin Slye, who went a bit more than 20 years between country chart appearances. He recorded (and did other things) under the name Roy Rogers.

Not sure this is the record, though. I just ran out of steam and stopped looking.

Only one artist exceeded George Strait's span from first #1 to last. Buck Owens was a bit over 25 years, so George will break that soon. Dolly, Eddy Arnold, some others were in that range. But I could easily have missed somebody, as I wasn't really focusing on that question.

[dawhite76]

Here's one most won't remember - Olivia Newton-John! Her last solo country single, "Dancin' Round And Round" (No. 29), from the album "Totally Hot" (No. 4) charted in 1979. She did not return again to the Country charts until 1998 when she released her "Back With A Heart" album (No. 9) and its single, a remake of "I Honestly Love You" (No. 16 Sales). Newton-John returned to the Singles chart as one of the artists on the charity single, "One Heart At A Time," which reached No. 69 also in 1998 - a nearly 19 year gap between chart appearances.

[queensporsche]

She isn't a country artist, but remember Cher hit #1 back in 1974 with "Dark Lady" and didn't hit #1 again until 24 years later with "Believe" in 1998. See, I know some stuff too!! hehehe

[Zazie]

Jan 2, 2008 1:49:37 GMT -5 queensporsche said:

She isn't a country artist, but remember Cher hit #1 back in 1974 with "Dark Lady" and didn't hit #1 again until 24 years later with "Believe" in 1998. See, I know some stuff too!! hehehe

You can be our pop chart contributor. Meanwhile, don't sell Cher short -- she blazed all the way up to #87 with her country hit It's Too Late to Love Me Now back in 1979 (100-position chart back then). Maybe she's planning a comeback in 2009 so she can chart country 30 years apart!

[Marv]

Actually, Cher's 'Half Breed' was the first #1 single when R&R started publishing in early 1974.

Elton John had a 24.5+ year-long gap at top 40 radio between his first #1 single ('Crocodile Rock' in 1973) and his last one ('Something About The Way You Look Tonight/Candle In The Wind 1997') at the end of 1997.

I haven't heard anything regarding when George Strait is going to be releasing new music, but I think that it's pretty safe to say that he'll continue to break his own record as time goes by, since none of the core artists at the format figure to challenge that mark anytime soon.

[sbp17]

Dec 27, 2007 2:20:16 GMT -5 Zazie said:

1. There are several artists who had a 10+ year gap between #1 songs. Among them: Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, and Buck Owens. But the leader -- I don't think anybody else is going to turn up to challenge this -- is Elvis Presley, who went more than 19 years between #1's with Jailhouse Rock (late 1957) and Moody Blue (early 1977) getting the job done. Nice job, Elvis. Maybe another comeback is in order?

Rimes might give Elvis a run. I believe she's at 11 years now. So if she waits until she's at least 34 before getting another #1, she'll break that record.

Only one artist exceeded George Strait's span from first #1 to last. Buck Owens was a bit over 25 years, so George will break that soon. Dolly, Eddy Arnold, some others were in that range. But I could easily have missed somebody, as I wasn't really focusing on that question.

Reba's first was in 1982. Her last was in 2004. Maybe she'll score a number one with a duet this year. He and Reba scored their first number one in the same year, I believe. So it'll be a battle between whoever scores their last the latest. My money's on Strait as he's still scoring #1s without any help from friends.

[Zazie]

Reba can score her next #1 with LeAnn and cover both of your posting points. I would guess that LeAnn will not have to wait that long before her 2nd #1 -- Trace Adkins got his, and she will get hers, perhaps within 2 years. I think she's a better candidate for the other honor -- most amount of time between #1 songs. She'll have a great shot at a 30-year span.

[sbp17]

Agreed.

By the way, do you know which hit number one first...Strait's Fool Hearted Memory or Reba's Can't Even Get The Blues? I assume Strait because Reba had a couple of other songs chart in 1982 before CEGTB.

Somewhat related, I'm really surprised that Reba and George have never recorded a duet since they are both with MCA.

[queensporsche]

I decided to look it up, and George's song was #1 in the august 28 edition of Billboard, and Reba's song didn't chart until the next chart year and was the first #1 song of 1983, appearing in the January 9 issue. So it appears as long as they both keep going strong, George will win this particular battle.

How'd I do, Zazie??

[Zazie]

You're my replacement from here on. Having fulfilled your apprenticeship, now you have to answer every question, preferably as misleadingly as possible.

[Marv]

Good answer, good answer!!!!!

[queensporsche]

That's way too much pressure for me. All I did was figure out that Wikipedia has all the info. And I was curious. You are still one of the chart gurus. Besides, it's way too tedious typing all this on my mobile phone!

[Marv]

I have another chart history question (and a three-part one at that, which I've asked before, but to which I've forgotten the answer (sorry!).

Since Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith & Tim McGraw were the three most played artists at country radio after the first week of 2009 according to Country Aircheck, and figure to challenge each other for that title this year, can someone please refresh my memory & list the first top ten single and #1 single for each of them, as well as the month & year those chart events took place?

Thanks again!!!

[northerncountry]

On Billboard:
1. Kenny Chesney - First #1 - She's Got It All - 8/30/97, First Top 10 - Fall In Love - debuted on chart on 4/1/95

2. Toby Keith - First #1 and First Top 10 - Should've Been a Cowboy - Debuted on Chart on 3/6/93 - Peaked at #1 on 6/5/93

3. Tim McGraw - First #1 - Don't Take The Girl - 5/28/94 - First Top 10 - Indian Outlaw - debuted on chart on 1/22/94

I do have the charts for these years, so I can find out when they entered the Top 10, if you'd like to know - but it would have to wait until tomorrow.

[Marv]

No, that's exactly the information what I was looking for.

Thank you very much!!!