Casey’s Top 40 - April 30, 1994 - The PPW Era Turns 20
Apr 21, 2014 7:03:17 GMT -5
Post by Cerebro on Apr 21, 2014 7:03:17 GMT -5
We’ve, already, had a couple of anniversaries this year. Ryan Seacrest celebrated 10 years of hosting AT40. January, also, marked 25 years since Caseys Top 40 launched. Well, we’ve got another one...
20 years ago, this week, R&R drastically altered their chart methodology. Just as Billboard had done almost two-and-a-half years earlier, R&R cast aside it’s previous methodology -- accepting ranked playlists submitted by reporters and applying inverse points to generate the chart -- and started using actual monitored airplay data (i.e. plays per week...PPW) from...somwhere (R&R didn’t start using Mediabase until 1999. I don’t know where they got their data from prior to that). Another change would also occur at this time. Up until this point, R&R published a single CHR chart. With the change, the CHR format was split into separate Pop and Rhythmic charts. R&R would continue to publish the combined chart, as well (at least until the end of the year). The radio countdowns that used R&R, at the time, (Casey’s Top 40 and Rick Dees’ Weekly Top 40) would switch over to using the CHR/Pop chart, going forward. All of these changes would go into effect with the R&R issue dated April 22, 1994 and would be reflected in the countdowns airing the following weekend.
(On a tangential note, CHR wasn’t the only format that split. Adult Contemporary got the knife, too, spawning the Hot AC chart. The further fragmenting would influence Casey and Westwood One to create a third countdown show, Casey’s Hot 20, to air alongside Casey’s Pop and AC offerings, CT40 and Casey’s Countdown.)
Not being online and not having access to the magazine, I got all of my chart info from just listening to the countdowns back in those days. Listening to this show without any knowledge of the behind-the-scenes changes was, certainly, a little odd. The first thing I remember noticing was that Casey hardly mentioned any chart movements. That, immediately, told me that something was off. Then, I noted that many of the chart movements weren’t making a lick of sense. Several songs that had been steadily dropping, suddenly, made a u-turn and jumped back up the chart. Most notable were “Because Of Love”, “The Power Of Love”, and “Now And Forever”. The biggest offender, was “Found Out About You”, re-entering at #17 after falling off a few weeks earlier. At the other end of the spectrum, “I’m Ready” tumbled 7-23. You wouldn’t know it from that drop, but that song was still considered to be “climbing” the chart. Eventually, it worked it’s way back up to #13 before it dropped again, for real. This week also saw “The Sign” returning to the top spot after ceding it to Prince for two weeks. Songs returning to #1 were quite rare on the R&R chart (it hadn’t happened since the 70s). Of the seven droppers, three songs -- “Regulate”, “I Wish”, and “Disarm” -- would return in the following weeks as they “caught up” to the new methodology. To add to the confusion, Rick Dees didn’t air a regular countdown this weekend. Instead, he did one of his patented, time wasting, “All Request Specials”. So that meant there was no second source readily available to validate the veracity of what I was hearing.
At the end of the day, it all worked itself out. However, using actual spins meant that we had to get used to longer chart runs and slower turnover. It was, definitely, the start of a new era...
CASEY'S TOP 40 - APRIL 30, 1994
LW TW WKS Artist - Title
33 40 (03) Joshua Kadison - Beautiful In My Eyes
-- 39 (01) Sheryl Crow - Leavin’ Las Vegas
-- 38 (01) Ace Of Base - Don’t Turn Around
25 37 (06) Michael Bolton - Completely
35 36 (02) All-4-One - I Swear
-- 35 (01) Ovis - Regular Thang
37 34 (03) I To I - The Right Time
31 33 (04) Alice In Chains - No Excuses
-- 32 (01) Celine Dion - Misled
-- 31 (01) Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories - Stay (I Missed You)
-- 30 (01) Morrissey - The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get
Request and Dedication: Mariah Carey - Hero
15 29 (09) Babyface - And Our Feelings
12 28 (09) R. Kelly - Bump ’N Grind
28 27 (05) The Cranberries - Dreams
21 26 (05) Brand New Heavies - Dream On Dreamer
29 25 (16) Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Mary Jane’s Last Dance
27 24 (17) Us3 - Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)
07 23 (07) Tevin Campbell - I’m Ready
17 22 (10) Melissa Etheridge - Come To My Window
23 21 (05) Rosco Martinez - Neon Moonlight
18 20 (07) Bonnie Raitt - Love Sneakin’ Up On You
Request and Dedication: Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
16 19 (07) Beck - Loser
14 18 (04) Toni Braxton - You Mean The World To Me
RE 17 (20) Gin Blossoms - Found Out About You
19 16 (06) Juliet Roberts - I Want You
26 15 (15) Janet Jackson - Because Of Love
22 14 (04) General Public - I’ll Take You There
11 13 (13) Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue - Whatta Man
06 12 (14) All-4-One - So Much In Love
13 11 (10) Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Philadelphia
30 10 (21) Celine Dion - The Power Of Love
Request and Dedication: Michael Bolton - Reach Out I’ll Be There
20 09 (15) Richard Marx - Now And Forever
05 08 (08) Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
09 07 (06) Enigma - Return To Innocence
08 06 (13) Mariah Carey - Without You
10 05 (05) Madonna - I’ll Remember
01 04 (08) "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" - The Most Beautiful Girl In The World
02 03 (09) Big Mountain - Baby, I Love Your Way
03 02 (10) Counting Crows - Mr. Jones
04 01 (15) Ace Of Base - The Sign ** 9 weeks @ no. 1 **
DROPPERS:
Masta Ace Incorporated - Born To Roll (from 40, 1 week on)
Warren G and Nate Dogg - Regulate (from 39, 1 week on)
Gabrielle - I Wish (from 38, 1 week on)
The Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm (from 36, 2 weeks on)
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Gin And Juice (from 34, 9 weeks on)
Lighter Shade Of Brown - Hey DJ (from 32, 6 weeks on)
Zhané - Groove Thang (from 24, 11 weeks on)
20 years ago, this week, R&R drastically altered their chart methodology. Just as Billboard had done almost two-and-a-half years earlier, R&R cast aside it’s previous methodology -- accepting ranked playlists submitted by reporters and applying inverse points to generate the chart -- and started using actual monitored airplay data (i.e. plays per week...PPW) from...somwhere (R&R didn’t start using Mediabase until 1999. I don’t know where they got their data from prior to that). Another change would also occur at this time. Up until this point, R&R published a single CHR chart. With the change, the CHR format was split into separate Pop and Rhythmic charts. R&R would continue to publish the combined chart, as well (at least until the end of the year). The radio countdowns that used R&R, at the time, (Casey’s Top 40 and Rick Dees’ Weekly Top 40) would switch over to using the CHR/Pop chart, going forward. All of these changes would go into effect with the R&R issue dated April 22, 1994 and would be reflected in the countdowns airing the following weekend.
(On a tangential note, CHR wasn’t the only format that split. Adult Contemporary got the knife, too, spawning the Hot AC chart. The further fragmenting would influence Casey and Westwood One to create a third countdown show, Casey’s Hot 20, to air alongside Casey’s Pop and AC offerings, CT40 and Casey’s Countdown.)
Not being online and not having access to the magazine, I got all of my chart info from just listening to the countdowns back in those days. Listening to this show without any knowledge of the behind-the-scenes changes was, certainly, a little odd. The first thing I remember noticing was that Casey hardly mentioned any chart movements. That, immediately, told me that something was off. Then, I noted that many of the chart movements weren’t making a lick of sense. Several songs that had been steadily dropping, suddenly, made a u-turn and jumped back up the chart. Most notable were “Because Of Love”, “The Power Of Love”, and “Now And Forever”. The biggest offender, was “Found Out About You”, re-entering at #17 after falling off a few weeks earlier. At the other end of the spectrum, “I’m Ready” tumbled 7-23. You wouldn’t know it from that drop, but that song was still considered to be “climbing” the chart. Eventually, it worked it’s way back up to #13 before it dropped again, for real. This week also saw “The Sign” returning to the top spot after ceding it to Prince for two weeks. Songs returning to #1 were quite rare on the R&R chart (it hadn’t happened since the 70s). Of the seven droppers, three songs -- “Regulate”, “I Wish”, and “Disarm” -- would return in the following weeks as they “caught up” to the new methodology. To add to the confusion, Rick Dees didn’t air a regular countdown this weekend. Instead, he did one of his patented, time wasting, “All Request Specials”. So that meant there was no second source readily available to validate the veracity of what I was hearing.
At the end of the day, it all worked itself out. However, using actual spins meant that we had to get used to longer chart runs and slower turnover. It was, definitely, the start of a new era...
CASEY'S TOP 40 - APRIL 30, 1994
LW TW WKS Artist - Title
33 40 (03) Joshua Kadison - Beautiful In My Eyes
-- 39 (01) Sheryl Crow - Leavin’ Las Vegas
-- 38 (01) Ace Of Base - Don’t Turn Around
25 37 (06) Michael Bolton - Completely
35 36 (02) All-4-One - I Swear
-- 35 (01) Ovis - Regular Thang
37 34 (03) I To I - The Right Time
31 33 (04) Alice In Chains - No Excuses
-- 32 (01) Celine Dion - Misled
-- 31 (01) Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories - Stay (I Missed You)
-- 30 (01) Morrissey - The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get
Request and Dedication: Mariah Carey - Hero
15 29 (09) Babyface - And Our Feelings
12 28 (09) R. Kelly - Bump ’N Grind
28 27 (05) The Cranberries - Dreams
21 26 (05) Brand New Heavies - Dream On Dreamer
29 25 (16) Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Mary Jane’s Last Dance
27 24 (17) Us3 - Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)
07 23 (07) Tevin Campbell - I’m Ready
17 22 (10) Melissa Etheridge - Come To My Window
23 21 (05) Rosco Martinez - Neon Moonlight
18 20 (07) Bonnie Raitt - Love Sneakin’ Up On You
Request and Dedication: Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
16 19 (07) Beck - Loser
14 18 (04) Toni Braxton - You Mean The World To Me
RE 17 (20) Gin Blossoms - Found Out About You
19 16 (06) Juliet Roberts - I Want You
26 15 (15) Janet Jackson - Because Of Love
22 14 (04) General Public - I’ll Take You There
11 13 (13) Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue - Whatta Man
06 12 (14) All-4-One - So Much In Love
13 11 (10) Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Philadelphia
30 10 (21) Celine Dion - The Power Of Love
Request and Dedication: Michael Bolton - Reach Out I’ll Be There
20 09 (15) Richard Marx - Now And Forever
05 08 (08) Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
09 07 (06) Enigma - Return To Innocence
08 06 (13) Mariah Carey - Without You
10 05 (05) Madonna - I’ll Remember
01 04 (08) "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" - The Most Beautiful Girl In The World
02 03 (09) Big Mountain - Baby, I Love Your Way
03 02 (10) Counting Crows - Mr. Jones
04 01 (15) Ace Of Base - The Sign ** 9 weeks @ no. 1 **
DROPPERS:
Masta Ace Incorporated - Born To Roll (from 40, 1 week on)
Warren G and Nate Dogg - Regulate (from 39, 1 week on)
Gabrielle - I Wish (from 38, 1 week on)
The Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm (from 36, 2 weeks on)
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Gin And Juice (from 34, 9 weeks on)
Lighter Shade Of Brown - Hey DJ (from 32, 6 weeks on)
Zhané - Groove Thang (from 24, 11 weeks on)
