American Top 40 (Hot AC) - September 12-13, 2009

[Battle601]

"Already Gone" finally enters the chart along with "Good Girls Go Bad". For the latter, I think it will likely stick on the chart for more than a week.

Other than that, same old, same old. By this point, "Love Song" has probably spent at least a week at each rank in the #30s, over the course of its run which now totals 103 weeks. "Smile" is the biggest mover for the third week in a row while "The Climb" is no match to its title, as it falls hard.

"Chances" and "Be There" serve as this week's breakouts. I'm expecting the former to make the chart as soon as another longtime recurrent song drops out, and perhaps next week, "We Weren't Born To Follow" will finally be featured.

"No Surprise" holds on for one more week at #1. All signs point to a new #1 song next week, with "Use Somebody" likely staying there a little longer than any of the songs that have been there after "Second Chance" dominated for eight consecutive weeks this summer.


Off this week's chart:
39 Plain White T's - 1, 2, 3, 4 (28 weeks)
38 Carolina Liar - Show Me What I'm Looking For (21 weeks)

LW TW Wks Title - Artist
BR 40 (01) Cobra Starship Featuring Leighton Meester - Good Girls Go Bad
40 39 (02) Kate Voegele - 99 Times
EX 38 (01) Kelly Clarkson - Already Gone
37 37 (68) Gavin Rossdale - Love Remains The Same
35 36 (04) Linkin Park - New Divide
36 35 (103) Sara Bareilles - Love Song
34 34 (47) Nickelback - Gotta Be Somebody
33 33 (39) Taylor Swift - Love Story
BREAKOUT (BR): Howie Day - Be There
23 32 (20) Miley Cyrus - The Climb
31 31 (33) Lady GaGa featuring Colby O'Donis and Akon - Just Dance
OPTIONAL EXTRA: Rihanna Featuring Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You
24 30 (20) Lady GaGa - Poker Face
32 29 (64) Coldplay - Viva La Vida
29 28 (58) O.A.R. - Shattered (Turn The Car Around)
22 27 (32) Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You
25 26 (47) Katy Perry - Hot 'N Cold
30 25 (04) Jordin Sparks - Battlefield
28 24 (09) Safetysuit - Stay
27 23 (07) Collective Soul - Staring Down
21 22 (30) Theory Of A Deadman - Not Meant To Be
BREAKOUT (BR): Five For Fighting - Chances
20 21 (33) Pink - Sober
OPTIONAL EXTRA: Fall Out Boy - Thnks Fr Th Mmrs
26 20 (03) Uncle Kracker - Smile
19 19 (34) The All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell
17 18 (69) Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
18 17 (39) The Fray - You Found Me
16 16 (05) Michael Franti & Spearhead - Say Hey (I Love You)
15 15 (09) Green Day - 21 Guns
14 14 (14) Parachute - She Is Love
13 13 (18) Mat Kearney - Closer To Love
11 12 (14) The Fray - Never Say Never
12 11 (06) Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling
OPTIONAL EXTRA: Evanescence - Bring Me To Life
08 10 (21) Nickelback - If Today Was Your Last Day
10 09 (10) Colbie Caillat - Fallin' For You
09 08 (08) Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me
05 07 (21) Shinedown - Second Chance
06 06 (19) David Cook - Come Back To Me
07 05 (13) Katy Perry - Waking Up In Vegas
02 04 (18) Rob Thomas - Her Diamonds
03 03 (16) Pink - Please Don't Leave Me
OPTIONAL EXTRA: No Doubt - It's My Life
04 02 (12) Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody
01 01 (15) Daughtry - No Surprise (2nd week at #1)

[chartfreak]

No Madonna....:(

[musicfanpete]

Sept 12, 2009 13:44:07 GMT -5 chartfreak said:

No Madonna....:(

Well again, AT40 is based on actual Mediabase data. Since AT40 is essentially the official Mediabase Hot AC chart with recurrents left in, songs usually don't hit Breakout status until they hit roughly the mid to high 20's on the official chart. And since Madonna has a ways to go to get to that point, don't expect to see it featured on AT40 any time soon.

However, this song did debut on the Rick Dees chart this week, which I am posting right now. Since Dees uses his "dartboard" method of compiling the chart the way he wants, any song has a shot of making his chart. :)

[gin]

Sept 12, 2009 15:20:41 GMT -5 musicfanpete said:

Sept 12, 2009 13:44:07 GMT -5 chartfreak said:

No Madonna....:(

However, this song did debut on the Rick Dees chart this week, which I am posting right now. Since Dees uses his "dartboard" method of compiling the chart the way he wants, any song has a shot of making his chart. :)

Isn't it great?!

[musicfanpete]

Sept 12, 2009 21:34:40 GMT -5 gin said:

Sept 12, 2009 15:20:41 GMT -5 musicfanpete said:

However, this song did debut on the Rick Dees chart this week, which I am posting right now. Since Dees uses his "dartboard" method of compiling the chart the way he wants, any song has a shot of making his chart. :)

Isn't it great?!

Definately! Not only does he give songs that have no shot to chart on AT40 a chance, you don't see songs hanging around for 103+ weeks on his chart!

[chartfreak]

^^exactly...I mixed up the two charts.

[Battle601]

While I appreciate that AT40 essentially goes by the official Mediabase charts with recurrents, I think they oughta change things up.

In the case of "Love Song", 100 weeks is way more than enough. I thought once it reached that mark, it should have retired right then and there, if not before. As much as it seemed ridiculous to watch this song get that far, it's just not right anymore for this song to continue charting IMO.

Not sure if this was already suggested in another thread, but I think someone also brought up a 60-week ruling, although I can't remember what it was. In that case, my suggestion is recurrent songs that are below #30 for more than one week automatically leave the chart after 60 weeks, regardless of how well they continue to perform at that point.

So looking at this week's chart, both "Love Song" and "Love Remains the Same" would be subject to that ruling. I don't mind recurrents staying on the chart for a certain period but I think after a year or so has passed, it's fair enough to let them leave in favor of songs that deserve a chance to get on the chart.

And I agree that Madonna's "Celebration" should be given a shot at making the AT40 but with its current rules, there's pretty much little to no chance of that happening.

With the case of "I'm Yours", it is in position to make some history. As it approaches 70 weeks, this song has not yet left the Top 20. When "Love Song" was that far into its run, it was already in the mid-#20s, so who knows what will happen?

[Battle601]

On the subject of "Love Song", I thought it would be interesting to take a trip back in time and see how this song has managed to last nearly two years on the AT40 chart.

September 29-30, 2007:
Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" was #1 on AT40 for the fourth straight week.
"Wake Up Call" by Maroon 5 had the biggest rise in is fourth week on the chart.
"Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado had the biggest drop during its 38th week.
Four songs had a run of more than 40 weeks: "Waiting On the World to Change" (63 weeks), "Far Away" and "How To Save a Life" (60 weeks each) and "Suddenly I See" (54 weeks).
Two songs debuted that week: "Calling You" by Blue October (#36) and a little gem called "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles (#39).
It is also worth noting that "Love Song" was never featured as a breakout or extra upon its first entry into the chart.

In the upcoming weeks, "Love Song" had a steady rise that made it a Top 30 single within a month, Top 20 two months into its run and on the edge of the Top 10 the end of 2007. Through 14 weeks, it peaked at #12.

39 - 37 - 36 - 36 - 30 - 26 - 21 - 19 - 17 - 17 - 14 - 13 - 12 - 12

Key dates (Week #)
9/29/2007 (1): #39 (debut)
10/20/2007 (5): #30 (First week)
11/17/2007(8): #19 (First week in Top 20)
12/22/2007 (13): #12 (Final chart of 2007; chart frozen following week due to year-end countdown special)

It was not until 2008 when "Love Song" became a huge force to be reckoned with in terms of radio airplay, once "Bubbly" ended its run at the top. Reaching a new peak in the first week of the new year at #11, it slid back a spot for two weeks before finally reaching the Top 10 in February. Not long after, this found its way to #1 where it remained for 10 straight weeks between March and May 2008. After finishing its run at #1, it remained inside the Top 10 for another nine weeks, essentially keeping this song in the Top 10 for nearly half a year.

Tally from weeks #15 through #42:

11 - 12 - 12 - 10 - 9 - 8 - 6 - 5 - 2 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 4 - 5 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10

Key dates (Week #)
1/5/2008 (15): New peak of #11
1/26/2008 (18): First week in Top 10
3/9/2008 to 5/10/2008 (24-33): #1 song on AT40 for 10 straight weeks

A total of 25 weeks spent inside the Top 10. The song ranked every position except #3 over the course of its run.

After leaving the Top 10, the song spent the remainder of the summer and early fall (July to September 2008) in the Top 20 on its way to recurrent status.

Here's the tally from weeks #43 thru #54 (7/19/2008 to 10/4/2008):

11 - 11 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 15 - 15 - 15 - 18 - 19 - 17 - 20

Hard to believe that the song managed to spend four straight weeks at #15. The song reached every rank inside the Top 20 except #16.

From weeks #55 thru #83 (10/11/2008 to 4/25/2009):

Remainder of 2008 (Weeks #55 to 66):
22 - 24 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 21 - 21 - 23 - 27 - 26 - 25 - 25

January to April 2009 (Weeks #67 to 83):
28 - 29 - 24 - 24 - 29 - 25 - 21 - 29 - 24 - 25 - 24 - 26 - 26 - 24 - 24 - 26 - 29

This marked a total of 28 straight weeks (more than half a year) that the song stayed inside the Top 30. As you can see, it was pretty much bounced back and forth even under recurrent status, since stations carrying the countdown most likely continue to give it substantial airplay, as the AT40 is based on airplay from its affiliates with recurrents included.


May to September 2009 (Weeks #84 to 103) (5/2/2009 to 9/12/2009)

31 - 33 - 35 - 32 - 31 - 32 - 30 - 32 - 33 - 31 - 32 - 35 - 33 - 35 - 37 - 35 - 34 - 38 - 36 - 35

Aside from a brief rebound to #30 for one week in June, the single is slowly nearing the bottom, but still not enough to leave the AT40. "Love Song" has spent nearly 20 weeks below the Top 30 as it approaches two full years on the chart.

Key dates
7/25/2009 (96): Tied "You and Me" for the longest run in AT40 history
8/1/2009 (97): Broke record for longest run
8/22/2009 (100): First ever song to reach 100 weeks

So over the course of this crazy run now totalling 103 weeks, the song has ranked nearly every position on the chart (except #3 and #16). It could still possibly hit #40 on its way out. No matter how you look at it, it's just ridiculous yet interesting at the same time.

[musicfanpete]

Sept 13, 2009 13:10:39 GMT -5 Battle601 said:

While I appreciate that AT40 essentially goes by the official Mediabase charts with recurrents, I think they oughta change things up.

In the case of "Love Song", 100 weeks is way more than enough. I thought once it reached that mark, it should have retired right then and there, if not before. As much as it seemed ridiculous to watch this song get that far, it's just not right anymore for this song to continue charting IMO.

Not sure if this was already suggested in another thread, but I think someone also brought up a 60-week ruling, although I can't remember what it was. In that case, my suggestion is recurrent songs that are below #30 for more than one week automatically leave the chart after 60 weeks, regardless of how well they continue to perform at that point.

So looking at this week's chart, both "Love Song" and "Love Remains the Same" would be subject to that ruling. I don't mind recurrents staying on the chart for a certain period but I think after a year or so has passed, it's fair enough to let them leave in favor of songs that deserve a chance to get on the chart.

And I agree that Madonna's "Celebration" should be given a shot at making the AT40 but with its current rules, there's pretty much little to no chance of that happening.

With the case of "I'm Yours", it is in position to make some history. As it approaches 70 weeks, this song has not yet left the Top 20. When "Love Song" was that far into its run, it was already in the mid-#20s, so who knows what will happen?

That was me. I had mentioned a while back in another AT40 thread that 60 weeks would be a nice round number of weeks that would be more than enough for an entire run. I believe the record on Rick Dees is 61 weeks for "I'm Yours", a song that has already been off of his countdown for over two months! Pretty amazing that it is still in the top 20 on AT40.

[at40forever]

I think that Love Song has overstayed its welcome on the chart for far too long.

As much as I really want that song gone, I can guarantee by at the end of this year, it will still be on the chart.

Even Bubbly didn't last that long to make it a 100 weeks.