CT40 Jan 3-4 2009, Top 50 of 2008

[ericNY2002]

Here is the CT40s list of the top 50 songs of 2008. As you can see this year end chart is calculated differently than billboard/Mediabase.

50. Billy Ray/Miley Cyrus-Ready, Set, Don't Go
49. Kid Rock-All Summer Long
48. George Strait-Troubadour
47. Kenny Chesney/George Strait-Shiftwork
46. Taylor Swift-Picture To Burn
45. Bucky Covington-Good to Be Us
44. Luke Bryan-Country Man
43. Dierks Bentley-Trying to Stop Your Leavin
42. Rascal Flatts-Every Day
41. Miranda Lambert-Gunpowder and Lead
40. Josh Gracin-We Weren't Crazy
39. The Lost Trailers-Holler Back
38. Rascal Flatts-Winner At A Losing Game
37. Jason Aldean-Laughed Until we Cried
36. Keith Urban-Everybody
35. George Strait-How Bout Them Cowgirls
34. Taylor Swift-Love Story
33. Taylor Swift-Should've Said No
32. Sugarland-All I Want to Do
31. Brad Paisley-Waitin On A Woman
30. Kenny Chesney-Better As A Memory
29. Carrie Underwood-All-American Girl
28. Carrie Underwood-Last Name
27. Keith Urban-You Look Good In My Shirt
26. George Strait-I Saw God Today
25. Kenny Chesney-Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven
24. Phil Vassar-Love Is A Beautiful Thing
23. Carrie Underwood-Just A Dream
22. Montgomery Gentry-Back When I Knew It All
21. Sugarland-Stay
20. Chuck Wicks-Stealing Cinderella
19. Carrie Underwood-So Small
18. Blake Shelton-Home
17. Brad Paisley-Letter to Me
16. Josh Turner-Firecracker
15. Alan Jackson-Small Town Southern Man
14. Lady Antebellum-Love Don't Live Here
13. Keith Anderson-I Still Miss You
12. Toby Keith-She Never Cried In Front of Me
11. Chris Cagle-What Kinda Gone
10. Jimmy Wayne-Do You Believe Me Now
09. Montgomery Gentry-What Do Ya Think About That
08. Darius Rucker-Don't Think I Don't Think About It
07. Rodney Atkins-Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)
06. James Otto-Just Got Started Loving You
05. Gary Allan-Watching Airplanes
04. Alan Jackson-Good Time
03. Trace Adkins-You're Gonna Miss This
02. Brad Paisley-I'm Still A Guy
01. Taylor Swift-Our Song

[Zazie]

Thanks for posting this, Eric. I used to try to model a top 50 that would match Bob's list, which I can't do anymore but at least I do understand what he's trying to do.

Still, this year has me puzzled. I Saw God Today is wildly low, as is So Small. James Otto's too low but at least he made the top 10. The #2 and 4 songs are amazingly high. Toby Keith's awfully high. I'm out of touch with whatever Bob is using as a formula now -- but then, I pay attention to Billboard and not MB, so maybe that's why I find this so confusing.

But Bob does what Bob does.

[kw9461]

Jan 3, 2009 15:59:35 GMT -5 Zazie said:

Thanks for posting this, Eric. I used to try to model a top 50 that would match Bob's list, which I can't do anymore but at least I do understand what he's trying to do.

Still, this year has me puzzled. I Saw God Today is wildly low, as is So Small. James Otto's too low but at least he made the top 10. The #2 and 4 songs are amazingly high. Toby Keith's awfully high. I'm out of touch with whatever Bob is using as a formula now -- but then, I pay attention to Billboard and not MB, so maybe that's why I find this so confusing.

But Bob does what Bob does.

Yeah, I always liked Bob's YE countdown's because they evaluated a songs chart run. I still compile a chart like that for my own amusement, using a similar formula to the one you used to use. I think the BB-MB discrepancy must be pretty large. I'm pretty sure that I Saw God Today was very low on there b/c he spent 8 weeks on the BB after falling from #1. I assume he only got 2 on MB, which would take away nearly 1/4 of his point total. So Small is a bit of a puzzler, b/c it had only 2 falling weeks on BB, and had such a strong steady climb from the T15 to #1. I actually don't think that Otto was that low though. On my list he was actually only ended up #8.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

He just explained the rankings after #13. Points are assigned for each week, plus bonus points for each week at #1, and I didn't pay attention to the rest. Even then, some of the rankings are weird. What Do Ya Think About That coming out higher than Lady A and Chris Cagle seems odd, since both Love Don't Live Here and What Kinda Gone had much longer chart runs, and I think their MB and BB drops were pretty close. (Also, didn't Love Don't Live Here only get to #4 on MB?) Chuck also seems a little high for just a #5 that didn't have an insanely long run. Also, a lot of the #1's are really ranking low, but again, the different recurrent rule is skewing this some.

[Marv]

I also have no idea how James Otto came in behind Trace Adkins on his survey either despite some exceptional SPSPW (Spins Per Station Per Week) numbers, as well as the fact that 'JGSLY' had approximately 5,000 more spins than 'YGMT'.

Phil Vassar was way too low as well, and Alan Jackson's two tunes should have been switched, and the same goes for Brad Paisley's 'LTM' & 'ISAG'.

[kw9461]

Jan 4, 2009 19:30:21 GMT -5 Marv said:

I also have no idea how James Otto came in behind Trace Adkins on his survey either despite some exceptional SPSPW (Spins Per Station Per Week) numbers, as well as the fact that 'JGSLY' had approximately 5,000 more spins than 'YGMT'.

Phil Vassar was way too low as well, and Alan Jackson's two tunes should have been switched, and the same goes for Brad Paisley's 'LTM' & 'ISAG'.

Bob's system goes solely by chart position, so SPSPW doesn't get taken into consideration. That's really the only downside to Bob's system, but I still prefer that to BB or MB's YE charts.

[Jonsolo]

Too bad Bob's "formula" didn't come out with a high enough total for B&D's Put A Girl In It, as I thought that one had the stats to at least get in the #45-#50 section: 19 weeks in the top 40 on Billboard, with ten weeks in the top 10 and a peak at #3. After hitting #3, it went 4-5-4-5-6-15-17-26, so maybe it went recurrent on Mediabase a lot earlier during that drop (after the fall to #6?), and thus lost out on a lot of points in Bob's formula.

It still seems like it should have made it over Kid Rock's All Summer Long, as that one only went to #4, was in the top ten for eight weeks, and only on Billboard's top 40 for 14 weeks. I wouldn't think the Mediabase positions that Bob uses instead of Billboard would have changed by that much, in Kid Rock's favor over B&D. Or, for that matter, in George's Troubadour's favor (19 weeks on Billboard's top 40, nine top 10 weeks, and only a #7 peak).

Zazie still compiles a Billboard-based top 50 chart for each year, of which I get to see from time to time, and I still prefer it to whatever Bob and the other countdown shows come up with with their "formulas".