Hot 100 Turns 60!-Top 600 Songs!!

[Gary]

Best sellers in stores was the primary chart before 8/58

[jenglisbe]

Aug 2, 2018 20:29:40 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

Aug 2, 2018 20:24:08 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

What was the “last week” position based on?

on Pre-Hot 100 era (1940-1958), I think...that week in 1958 was the first in Hot 100 era.

But was the methodology the same, or was it based on a specific chart?

When they started allowing airplay only songs to chart, wasn’t the previous week position shown the one from the mock chart, not the actual Hot 100?

[Gary]

My database ties the two charts together at 8/4/58. I just looked at the magazine from that era - The magazine does not

[Gary]

Weeks on would all be one - officially since nothing officially existed before that week - LOL

[Gary]

Revised chart as it appears in the 8/4/58 chart

This Week Last Week Two Weeks Ago Weeks Title, Artist Peak
1 1 Poor Little Fool, Ricky Nelson 1
2 1 Patricia, Prez Prado And His Orchestra 2
3 1 Splish Splash, Bobby Darin 3
4 1 Hard Headed Woman, Elvis Presley 4
5 1 When, The Kalin Twins 5
6 1 Rebel-Rouser, Duane Eddy 6
7 1 Yakety Yak, The Coasters 7
8 1 My True Love, Jack Scott 8
9 1 Willie And The Hand Jive, The Johnny Otis Show 9
10 1 Fever, Peggy Lee 10
11 1 Ginger Bread, Frankie Avalon 11
12 1 Just A Dream, Jimmy Clanton And His Rockets 12
13 1 Left Right Out Of Your Heart (Hi Lee Hi Lo Hi Lup Up Up), Patti Page 13
14 1 If Dreams Came True, Pat Boone 14
15 1 For Your Precious Love, Jerry Butler And The Impressions 15
16 1 One Summer Night, The Danleers 16
17 1 Endless Sleep, Jody Reynolds 17
18 1 Little Star, The Elegants 18
19 1 Everybody Loves A Lover, Doris Day 19
20 1 Do You Want To Dance, Bobby Freeman 20
21 1 Guess Things Happen That Way, Johnny Cash And The Tennessee Two 21
22 1 A Certain Smile, Johnny Mathis 22
23 1 Western Movies, The Olympics 23
24 1 The Purple People Eater, Sheb Wooley 24
25 1 What Am I Living For, Chuck Willis 25
26 1 Born Too Late, The Poni-Tails 26
27 1 Think It Over, The Crickets 27
28 1 Secretly, Jimmie Rodgers 28
29 1 Enchanted Island, The Four Lads 29
30 1 Angel Baby, Dean Martin 30
31 1 Chantilly Lace, The Big Bopper 31
32 1 Blue Blue Day, Don Gibson 32
33 1 The Freeze, Tony And Joe 33
34 1 Don't Ask Me Why, Elvis Presley 34
35 1 Rock 'N Robin, Bobby Day 35
36 1 No Chemise, Please, Gerry Granahan 36
37 1 Moon Talk, Perry Como 37
38 1 Somebody Touched Me, Buddy Knox With The Rhythm Orchids 38
39 1 That's How Much I Love You, Pat Boone 39
40 1 Crazy Eyes For You, Bobby Hamilton 40

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Aug 2, 2018 20:36:34 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Aug 2, 2018 20:29:40 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

on Pre-Hot 100 era (1940-1958), I think...that week in 1958 was the first in Hot 100 era.

But was the methodology the same, or was it based on a specific chart?

When they started allowing airplay only songs to chart, wasn’t the previous week position shown the one from the mock chart, not the actual Hot 100?

"Originally, Billboard had separate charts for different measures of popularity, including disc jockey playings, juke box song selection, and best selling records in retail stores. A composite standing chart that combined these gradually grew to become a top 100, the predecessor to the current Hot 100 chart. The juke box chart ceased publication after the June 17, 1957 issue, the disk jockey chart, after the July 28, 1958 issue, and the best seller chart, after the October 13, 1958 issue. The July 28, 1958 issue was also the last issue that called the composite chart the "Top 100"; the following week began the "Hot 100"."

No.1s 1958

I only found this

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

Aug 2, 2018 18:40:38 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

Aug 2, 2018 18:30:34 GMT -5 kierz7 said:

Britney Spears has NO SONGS in the entire Top 600. OMG! Damn.

It's weird tho, Baby One More Time was #78 on '90 decade-end chart 

The methodology for that decade-end chart has been completely disavowed by Billboard. It had One Sweet Day at #1 over Macarena, which seemed terribly wrong at the time, considering the latter was #1 in the 1996 Year-End over the former.

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

Aug 2, 2018 19:31:57 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

For those checking the top 600 out out by decade, note that Extreme's "More Than Words" erroneously shows up in the 1980s lol

Not only that, but as R&B and male which they seem to replicate from Rock With You.

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Aug 2, 2018 20:56:55 GMT -5 Baby Yoda Hot100Fan said:

Aug 2, 2018 18:40:38 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

It's weird tho, Baby One More Time was #78 on '90 decade-end chart 

The methodology for that decade-end chart has been completely disavowed by Billboard. It had One Sweet Day at #1 over Macarena, which seemed terribly wrong at the time, considering the latter was #1 in the 1996 Year-End over the former.

I know, but 14 weeks in the top 10 and 32 overall are pretty good for a '90s song.

Also, just noticed that Genie In The Bottle debuted on the chart the same week when ...Baby One More Time dropped out.

[noober]

So, Tik Tok is 2010's song?

[brady47]

Aug 2, 2018 19:23:15 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Aug 2, 2018 18:31:59 GMT -5 jtd Thee Stallion said:

Britney songs have no longevity

How many of her singles had a true chart run, though? Many of them were airplay-only no? Songs like “Sometimes” and “Oops I Did it Again” would have had better chart runs with a full commercial single. “Toxic” would have done better if digital sales counted. Britney was also affected by urban songs dominating airplay at her peak.

Regardless, she’s always sold albums more than she’s had singles hits.

Even without the commercial sales, Britney never really did well in the airplay department. Some of her singles had good peaks but poor longevity. Her highest year-end charting airplay single was Baby One More Time (#8 peak) and #20 for the 1999 year end chart

Meanwhile, Christina Aguilera had 4 top 2 airplay hits - Genie In A Bottle (#1), What a Girl Wants (#2), Lady Marmalade (#1), Beautiful (#2).

[brady47]

Aug 2, 2018 23:16:04 GMT -5 noober said:

So, Tik Tok is 2010's song?

It was #1 year end for 2010 so I'd say yeah

[brady47]

Also surprised with Despacito.

For a 16 week #1, it beat Shape of You in Digital Sales & Streaming for the 2017 year end chart.

The only metric it was weak on was airplay. (It had 5 weeks #1 on airplay, but only ranked #6 for the year end airplay chart) - radio basically dropped it after August.

Even a 2016 hit like "Closer" was an airplay monster - it ranked #5 for the year end 2017 airplay chart AND charted at #26 for the year-end 2016 airplay chart

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Aug 2, 2018 23:28:40 GMT -5 brady47 said:

Also surprised with Despacito.

For a 16 week #1, it beat Shape of You in Digital Sales & Streaming for the 2017 year end chart.

The only metric it was weak on was airplay. (It had 5 weeks #1 on airplay, but only ranked #6 for the year end airplay chart) - radio basically dropped it after August.

Even a 2016 hit like "Closer" was an airplay monster - it ranked #5 for the year end 2017 airplay chart AND charted at #26 for the year-end 2016 airplay chart

It's a summer song and people really got tired of it in September. Despacito and Shape of You were equal in streaming and sales but SOY is one of the 5 biggest radio hits of the decade.

[jenglisbe]

Aug 2, 2018 23:20:53 GMT -5 brady47 said:

Aug 2, 2018 19:23:15 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

How many of her singles had a true chart run, though? Many of them were airplay-only no? Songs like “Sometimes” and “Oops I Did it Again” would have had better chart runs with a full commercial single. “Toxic” would have done better if digital sales counted. Britney was also affected by urban songs dominating airplay at her peak.

Regardless, she’s always sold albums more than she’s had singles hits.

Even without the commercial sales, Britney never really did well in the airplay department. Some of her singles had good peaks but poor longevity. Her highest year-end charting airplay single was Baby One More Time (#8 peak) and #20 for the 1999 year end chart

Meanwhile, Christina Aguilera had 4 top 2 airplay hits - Genie In A Bottle (#1), What a Girl Wants (#2), Lady Marmalade (#1), Beautiful (#2).

And Christina album sold less lol. Maybe radio got it wrong.

Aug 2, 2018 23:28:40 GMT -5 brady47 said:

Also surprised with Despacito.

For a 16 week #1, it beat Shape of You in Digital Sales & Streaming for the 2017 year end chart.

The only metric it was weak on was airplay. (It had 5 weeks #1 on airplay, but only ranked #6 for the year end airplay chart) - radio basically dropped it after August.

Even a 2016 hit like "Closer" was an airplay monster - it ranked #5 for the year end 2017 airplay chart AND charted at #26 for the year-end 2016 airplay chart

"SOY" had more longevity on the Hot 100, though. That's what really helps on these all-time charts. How a song did on specific measures only matters indirectly.

[Gary]

Aug 2, 2018 23:28:40 GMT -5 brady47 said:

Also surprised with Despacito.

Despacito is big to this day

The current #1 on Hot Latin Songs (53 weeks and counting)

[garrettlen]

Thank you Gary for sharing all these special articles with us.

As Billboard itself might say (if it could speak), You rock.

[Deleted]

Aug 2, 2018 23:28:40 GMT -5 brady47 said:

Also surprised with Despacito.

For a 16 week #1, it beat Shape of You in Digital Sales & Streaming for the 2017 year end chart.

The only metric it was weak on was airplay. (It had 5 weeks #1 on airplay, but only ranked #6 for the year end airplay chart) - radio basically dropped it after August.

Even a 2016 hit like "Closer" was an airplay monster - it ranked #5 for the year end 2017 airplay chart AND charted at #26 for the year-end 2016 airplay chart

These charts don't consider the individual metrics or chart points.  It's all about position and number of weeks on the Hot 100, with some different weighting for different eras.

[HolidayGuy]

hot100fan- I did notice that, as well. :)

For all of the featuring credits and such, Drake's performing very well on the whole, to crash in at No. 21 on the artist chart.

[brady47]

Aug 3, 2018 6:46:54 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

Aug 2, 2018 23:28:40 GMT -5 brady47 said:

Also surprised with Despacito.

For a 16 week #1, it beat Shape of You in Digital Sales & Streaming for the 2017 year end chart.

The only metric it was weak on was airplay. (It had 5 weeks #1 on airplay, but only ranked #6 for the year end airplay chart) - radio basically dropped it after August.

Even a 2016 hit like "Closer" was an airplay monster - it ranked #5 for the year end 2017 airplay chart AND charted at #26 for the year-end 2016 airplay chart

It's a summer song and people really got tired of it in September. Despacito and Shape of You were equal in streaming and sales but SOY is one of the 5 biggest radio hits of the decade.

That is true - Shape of You was an airplay MONSTER

38 weeks in the top 10 (that's unprecedented), I wouldn't be surprised if it was the all-time airplay song ever

But a 16 week record-breaking #1 being #1 on airplay for only 5 weeks is kind of underwhelming + radio dropping it so fast after summer ended.

The radio support was low for how big a hit it was which ultimately hurt its longevity & All-time position.

[brady47]

Aug 2, 2018 21:09:39 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

Aug 2, 2018 20:56:55 GMT -5 Baby Yoda Hot100Fan said:

The methodology for that decade-end chart has been completely disavowed by Billboard. It had One Sweet Day at #1 over Macarena, which seemed terribly wrong at the time, considering the latter was #1 in the 1996 Year-End over the former.

I know, but 14 weeks in the top 10 and 32 overall are pretty good for a '90s song.

Also, just noticed that Genie In The Bottle debuted on the chart the same week when ...Baby One More Time dropped out.

Baby One More Time was #5 on the 1999 year end chart - so the point system was kind of a disadvantage for it. It ranked higher than "Genie In A Bottle" which was #7 on the 1999 year end chart (though the last 3 weeks of it's chart run got cutoff for the 2000 year)

It had pretty good longevity - 24 weeks in the top 20, 14 weeks in the top 10

In terms of raw points, I think Baby One More Time would've made the top 600

[brady47]

Aug 3, 2018 7:13:01 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Aug 2, 2018 23:20:53 GMT -5 brady47 said:

Even without the commercial sales, Britney never really did well in the airplay department. Some of her singles had good peaks but poor longevity. Her highest year-end charting airplay single was Baby One More Time (#8 peak) and #20 for the 1999 year end chart

Meanwhile, Christina Aguilera had 4 top 2 airplay hits - Genie In A Bottle (#1), What a Girl Wants (#2), Lady Marmalade (#1), Beautiful (#2).

And Christina album sold less lol. Maybe radio got it wrong.

Aug 2, 2018 23:28:40 GMT -5 brady47 said:

Also surprised with Despacito.

For a 16 week #1, it beat Shape of You in Digital Sales & Streaming for the 2017 year end chart.

The only metric it was weak on was airplay. (It had 5 weeks #1 on airplay, but only ranked #6 for the year end airplay chart) - radio basically dropped it after August.

Even a 2016 hit like "Closer" was an airplay monster - it ranked #5 for the year end 2017 airplay chart AND charted at #26 for the year-end 2016 airplay chart

"SOY" had more longevity on the Hot 100, though. That's what really helps on these all-time charts. How a song did on specific measures only matters indirectly.

True - but Christina's album sold less probably because she released every single as a commercial single while Britney limited her single releases

[Linnethia Monique]

Usher has 6 songs on the list as a main artist. Put some respect on his name!

[Gary]

Hot 100 Turns 60! Barry Gibb, Paul McCartney & Lionel Richie Among Top Songwriters

News

By Trevor Anderson | August 03, 2018 11:45 AM EDT
Babyface, Paul McCartney & John Lennon

Gibb and McCartney each boast five writing credits among the top 100 Hot 100 hits all-time.

As we celebrate the Billboard Hot 100's 60th anniversary, Billboard looks at those behind the hits: the most prominent songwriters who have lent their talents to crafting the chart's top smashes, dating to the chart's Aug. 4, 1958, inception.

Among the Hot 100's top 100 hits all-time, Barry Gibb and Paul McCartney share the mark for the most songwriting credits: five each.

Gibb, unsurprisingly, earned his biggest success in the late 1970s with Bee Gees classics, with brothers Maurice and Robin. At the same time, the trio's brother Andy, with whom Barry also wrote, achieved solo success. At the height of the Gibb siblings' reign in 1978, Barry scored the unprecedented feat of co-writing four consecutive Hot 100 No. 1 hits, in order: Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive," Andy Gibb's "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water," Bee Gees' "Night Fever" and Yvonne Elliman's "If I Can't Have You."

McCartney, meanwhile, had a hand in composing several hits across multiple decades. Many of his early successes were creations with fellow Beatles member John Lennon, and the Lennon-McCartney catalog fueled the Fab Four's record 20 Hot 100 No. 1s. After the band's 1970 breakup, McCartney went on to pen more hits for his next group, Wings, and solo-career collaborations with other major stars, including Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder.

Behind Barry Gibb and McCartney, the other two Bee Gees – Maurice and Robin Gibb – each claim four co-writes among the Hot 100's all-time top 100 titles, as does Lionel Richie, who wrote most of his solo material in the '80s, as well as Kenny Rogers' No. 1 "Lady."

Here is a look at the most common songwriters among the Hot 100's top 100 hits of the chart's first 60 years.

Barry Gibb (5)

"How Deep Is Your Love, Bee Gees (No. 25 rank all-time)
"I Just Want to Be Your Everything," Andy Gibb (No. 29)
"Night Fever," Bee Gees (No. 42)
"Shadow Dancing," Andy Gibb (No. 49)
"Stayin' Alive," Bee Gees (No. 59)

Paul McCartney (5)

"Hey Jude," The Beatles (No. 12 rank all-time)
"Silly Love Songs," Wings (No. 40)
"I Want to Hold Your Hand," The Beatles (No. 48)
"Say Say Say," Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson (No. 44)
"Ebony and Ivory," Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder (No. 76)

Maurice Gibb / Robin Gibb (4 each)

"How Deep Is Your Love," Bee Gees (No. 25 rank all-time)
"Night Fever," Bee Gees (No. 42)
"Shadow Dancing," Andy Gibb (No. 49)
"Stayin' Alive," Bee Gees (No. 59)

Lionel Richie (4)

"Endless Love," Diana Ross & Lionel Richie (No. 18 rank all-time)
"Lady," Kenny Rogers (No. 60)
"Say You, Say Me," Lionel Richie (No. 94)
"All Night Long (All Night)," Lionel Richie (No. 96)

Babyface (3)

"We Belong Together," Mariah Carey (No. 14 rank all-time)
"I'll Make Love to You," Boyz II Men (No. 22)
"End of the Road," Boyz II Men (No. 55)

John Lennon (3)

"Hey Jude," The Beatles (No. 12 rank all-time)
"I Want to Hold Your Hand," The Beatles (No. 48)
"(Just Like) Starting Over," John Lennon (No. 68)

[Gary]

Hot 100 Turns 60! Sir George Martin, David Foster & Giorgio Moroder Among Top Producers
by Trevor Anderson
August 03, 2018, 1:23pm EDT

Lionel Richie is also among the most frequent producers of the top 100 all-time Hot 100 hits.

As we celebrate the Billboard Hot 100's 60th anniversary, Billboard looks at those behind the hits: the most prominent producers who have shaped the chart's top smashes, dating to the chart's Aug. 4, 1958, inception.

Among the Hot 100's all-time top 100 hits, Albhy Galuten, Barry Gibb, Karl Richardson and Sir George Martin have each produced or co-produced five titles.

Galuten, Gibb and Richardson collaborated on the same five tunes, including three smash hits by the Bee Gees, of which Gibb was a member. "How Deep Is Your Love," which ranks at No. 25 on the all-time list, "Night Fever" (No. 42) and "Stayin' Alive" (No. 59). In addition, they also had a hand in two hits by Gibb's younger brother, Andy, that make the all-time top 100: "I Just Want to Be Your Everything" (No. 29) and "Shadow Dancing" (No. 49).

Martin, meanwhile, is best known for his extensive work with The Beatles. Two of his Fab Four productions land among the all-time top 100: "Hey Jude" (No. 12) and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (No. 48). After the band's 1970 breakup, Martin produced two all-star duets with Paul McCartney that both crack the top 100 list: "Say Say Say," a McCartney/Michael Jackson team-up (No. 44), and "Ebony and Ivory," by McCartney and Stevie Wonder (No. 76).
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Martin's other entry in the top 100 also involves a British music legend, Elton John. Martin produced the reworked version of "Candle in the Wind" for the 1997 funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. That "Wind" rendition, paired with the double-sided single "Something About the Way You Look Tonight," ranks as the No. 52 Hot 100 hit of all-time.

Beyond those prolific producers, Lionel Richie boasts four production credits in the top 100 titles, while David Foster, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Giorgio Moroder and Barry Gibb's brothers Maurice and Robin all claim three each.

Here is a look at the most common producers among the Hot 100's top 100 hits of the chart's first 60 years.
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Albhy Galuten (5) / Barry Gibb (5) / Karl Richardson (5)

"How Deep Is Your Love" Bee Gees (No. 25)
"I Just Want to Be Your Everything," Andy Gibb (No. 29)
"Night Fever," Bee Gees (No. 42)
"Shadow Dancing," Andy Gibb (No. 49)
"Stayin' Alive," Bee Gees (No. 59)

George Martin (5)

"Hey Jude," The Beatles (No. 12)
"Say Say Say," Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson (No. 44)
"I Want to Hold Your Hand," The Beatles (No. 48)
"Candle in the Wind 1997"/"Something About the Way You Look Tonight," Elton John (No. 52) [Martin produced only "Candle in the Wind"]
"Ebony and Ivory," Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder (No. 76)

Lionel Richie (4)

"Endless Love," Diana Ross & Lionel Richie (No. 18)
"Lady," Kenny Rogers (No. 60)
"Say You, Say Me," Lionel Richie (No. 94)
"All Night Long (All Night)," Lionel Richie (No. 96)

David Foster (3)

"Un-break My Heart," Toni Braxton (No. 15)
"I Will Always Love You," Whitney Houston (No. 54)
"I Swear," All-4-One (No. 98)

Maurice Gibb (3) / Robin Gibb (3)

"How Deep Is Your Love," Bee Gees (No. 25)
"Night Fever," Bee Gees (No. 42)
"Stayin' Alive," Bee Gees (No. 59)

Robert John "Mutt" Lange (3)

"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You," Bryan Adams (No. 21)
"You're Still the One," Shania Twain (No. 85)
"Waiting for a Girl Like You," Foreigner (No. 100)

Giorgio Moroder (3)

"Flashdance…What a Feeling," Irene Cara (No. 34)
"Call Me," Blondie (No. 57)
"Hot Stuff," Donna Summer (No. 87)

[Gary]

Rewinding the Charts: In 1958, the Billboard Hot 100 Debuted With Ricky Nelson at No. 1

News

By Gary Trust | August 03, 2018 12:13 PM EDT



"Poor Little Fool" became the first of over a thousand hits that have topped Billboard's trademark songs chart.

The first-ever Billboard Hot 100 chart made a relatively modest debut on page 36 of the Aug. 4, 1958, issue, where the magazine's editors touted "the fastest, most complete and most sensitive index to the popularity of recorded music in America."

The new tally, the story continued, would "list the 100 most popular recorded sides" each week and serve as "a guide to potential as well as the current hits."

The chart's architects were editors Paul Ackerman and Tom Noonan, with an assist from Seymour Stein, then a high school student and an obsessive music fan who worked at Billboard's offices after (and sometimes instead of) class. He would go on to co-found Sire Records and rise to chairman of Warner Bros. Records.

The Hot 100 supplanted Billboard's Top 100, which, by the time it was phased out, was a pure sales chart. The new list used a formula to weight radio and jukebox plays, as well as sales, to determine a single's popularity. "Record stores reacted favorably; radio stations, too," Stein told Billboard in 2015.

At the top of that first ranking: "Poor Little Fool," by then-17-year-old Ricky Nelson, who had begun his show-business career in 1949 in radio and, later, on TV, playing himself in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, a sitcom that starred his family.

During his career, Nelson landed 43 more songs on the Hot 100, which quickly became the most-cited pop chart in the U.S. music industry and gave Billboard added cachet. "Through the success of the chart," recalled Stein, "more executives were drawn to the offices, often with their artists in tow."

Nelson died at age 45 in a plane crash on New Year's Eve in 1985. In 1990, 32 years after he had topped the inaugural Hot 100, his twin sons Matthew and Gunnar, billed as Nelson, reached No. 1 with their debut single, "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection."

Stein departed Sire and Warner Bros. in July at age 76 but has hinted that he'll be "back in action soon."

[Gary]

Hot 100 Turns 60: How the 'Macarena' Predicted Trends That Were Years Away

8/3/2018 by Patrick Lyons

"

As part of Billboard's celebration of the 60th anniversary of our Hot 100 chart this week, we're taking a deeper look at some of the biggest artists and singles in the chart's history. Here, we revisit Los del Rio’s "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)," which finished at No. 8 in our all-time Hot 100 singles ranking.

Few people remember the “Macarena” fondly today. If you were alive when the Spanish-language song swept the globe in ‘96, the accompanying dance is emblazoned in your mind forever, but it probably doesn’t cause any nostalgia flare-ups. Mostly, Los del Rio’s “Macarena” is memory-banked into the same corner of the brain as leg warmers, pet rocks, planking, and other fads that make us question the herd mentality of our species. As Jon Stewart once said, “You have to remember one thing about the will of the people: It wasn't that long ago that we were swept away by the ‘Macarena.’”

But there’s no denying that this dance-driven hit by two over-the-hill Spaniards was as massive as it was unlikely. Perhaps more interesting than the song itself was its road to success. After all, cultural artifacts don’t become popular in a vacuum. The “Macarena” wasn’t wholly groundbreaking -- the “Bayside Boys Mix” that charted in the States was basically a Vengaboys-style dance-pop remix of a traditional rumba song -- but in many ways, it rewrote the rulebook for what can top the charts, and how.



Today marks exactly 22 years since Los del Rio’s “Macarena” hit No. 1 in the U.S. In the interim, we’ve seen its influence exerted on the charts -- not necessarily stylistically, but rather in fundamental changes to the way songs are marketed, how they pick up steam, and how they reach listeners. It’s about the furthest thing from The Velvet Underground & Nico, which Brian Eno famously claimed was responsible for tens of thousands of kids starting new bands, but when it came to the charts, the “Macarena” had a game-changing legacy too.

It was popularized by a dance craze

In one sense, nationwide dance crazes are almost as old as the Hot 100 itself. In fact, the No. 1 song on the list of the biggest Hot 100 singles of all time, Chubby Checker’s 1960 hit “The Twist,” has a signature move to thank for much of its popularity. Others followed in the years between “The Twist” and the “Macarena” -- think of Van McCoy’s 1975 smash “The Hustle” or Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” from 1978. Both were iconic moments from the disco craze, which itself was one of the most dance-driven musical trends of the 20th century.

But the way those dances were originally spawned and then popularized differs from those in the post-“Macarena” world. Chubby Checker took an existing song called “The Twist” and made his own version, adding the instantly recognizable dance step. “The Hustle” was named and modeled after an existing dance that McCoy had seen Puerto Rican teens doing in a Manhattan club. Village People’s Randy Jones recently called the “Y.M.C.A.” dance “purely audience-generated,” the product of an American Bandstand crowd. These songs didn’t create dance moves on their own, they either tacked them on, borrowed them, or picked them up along the way.

Compare that to the “Macarena,” which arrived in the States with a video featuring dancers performing the multi-step routine. This type of readymade, pre-packaged instruction manual soon became the go-to delivery format for songs with dances embedded in their DNA. Look at Soulja Boy’s “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” GS Boyz’ “Stanky Leg,” or Cupid’s “Cupid Shuffle,” all staples of mid-2000s dancefloors. Whether it was through their videos or their lyrics, the songs all function as step-by-step guides to the moves with which they’re associated.

Not only has the idea of the “dance song” changed, but there are more pathways for it to succeed thanks to the internet and social media. Whether it’s a mid-2000s “ringtone rapper” trying to make their name with a signature move, a “Gangnam Style” viral event, or even a fan-driven phenomenon à la Drake’s #InMyFeelingsChallenge, accompanying dances have been a frequent presence on the Hot 100 in the years since “Macarena.”

The remix was more popular than the original

Nobody bats their eyes when they see “[Insert DJ] Remix” tacked onto the end of track today, but seeing that Bayside Boys parenthetical on the end of the chart-topping version of the “Macarena” was a more unusual sight back then. By 1996, remixes were hardly new, as DJs had been churning out disco edits, 12” versions, and customized mixes for decades at that point -- yet very few of these were more pop-savvy than the originals.


The Bayside Boys’ “Macarena” was engineered specifically for mass appeal. A Miami radio DJ brought the original song to his bosses, who requested an English-language version, and he then enlisted Mike Triay and Carlos de Yarza to rewrite and remix it for him. Their version, with its additional lyrics and electronic beat, is the one everybody knows today.

Scour the rest of our list of the biggest Hot 100 singles, and you’ll find that “Macarena” is the first remix, chronologically speaking, on the list. It’s not the last though. The version of Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” that charted in the States (and appears at No. 33) had a similar remix treatment, adding Justin Bieber to appeal to English-speaking audiences. OneRepublic originally released their song “Apologize” in 2006, but it was a remix from hip-hop veteran Timbaland (coming in at No. 64 on the all-time list) that ultimately got it to the Hot 100. Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” (No. 91) hit No. 3 on its own but was propelled to No. 1 by a remix that added Beyoncé. (Both versions being factored into its total performance.) While you still won’t hear many knotty extended remixes on the radio today, existing songs finding a second life with more pop-friendly versions is hardly out of the ordinary.

Politicians referenced it to seem hip

Barack Obama’s presidency was filled with nods to popular music: brushing the dirt off his shoulder like JAY-Z, shouting out OutKast and Black Keys on Twitter. During her 2016 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton engaged with even more trendy pop music phenomena, appearing on Ellen first to Whip/Nae Nae, then to Dab.

There are a few precedents in the pre-Clinton years, such as Richard Nixon posing for a photo with Elvis or Jimmy Carter introducing the Allman Brothers before one of their shows. But in recent years, politicians have become much more transparent in their use of popular culture to court the youth vote. An early indicator of this was the 1996 Democratic National Convention, which took place just weeks after “Macarena” hit No. 1. C-SPAN aired a video of delegates attempting the trendy dance (you’ve probably seen it memed before), and Al Gore even cracked a self-deprecating joke referencing the song.

Its lead artists were barely emphasized

Perhaps because both members of Los del Rio were in their late 40s (and, well, not exactly silver foxes) when the “Macarena” began to chart, the video wisely sidelined them while foregrounding a diverse, colorfully-dressed group of female dancers. Antonio Romero Monge and Rafael Ruíz Perdigones both still appear in the video, wearing suits and singing into a vintage microphone, but they’re clearly not the focal point.

This can be viewed as part of a much longer-seated trend in music of artists’ appearances becoming deemphasized, or at least less necessary in order to sell their music it. Not much of this has anything to do with the “Macarena” directly. Instead, it has its roots in the ‘60s, when album covers gradually began shifting from straightforward photos of artists to more abstract artwork. (You can also draw a throughline from there to other forms of anonymity, such as Daft Punk’s helmets or Gorillaz’s cartoon band.) Music videos eventually followed suit: Think of Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” video, which almost entirely comprises news footage, or Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice” video with a dancing Christopher Walken -- videos where artists themselves are decidedly not the point. The idea of an artist-less video has also become prevalent as “lyric videos” and “dance videos,” in addition to the traditional music video, have become routine parts of a song’s rollout and promotion.

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Today, faceless presentation of music isn’t an obstacle to launching new artists or music, but often a selling point. The “Macarena” video isn’t exactly Daft Punk’s trippy “Around the World” video, but it is almost exactly Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” video, which leaves the Biebs out in favor of a brightly-dressed, diverse group of female dancers -- and succeeded not just in spite of his absence, but arguably because of it.

It presaged the late ‘90s Latin pop boom

In 1996, two songs by Latinx artists on appeared on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 list. Both were “Macarena,” with No. 1 being the Bayside Boys Mix, and No. 98 being Los del Rio’s original version. By 1999, Billboard’s year-end chart contained eight songs by Latinx artists, including Santana, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, and Enrique Iglesias. (There was also the infamous “Mambo No. 5,” sung by a half-Italian, half-Ugandan singer from Germany named Lou Bega). The Latin pop boom was in full effect.


While it’s true that the “Macarena” needed a remix with some English to become such a massive hit, its success helped open the floodgates. Consider previous Latin music stars like Selena, who despite being enormous throughout Latin America, never cracked the top 20 in the States. Julio Iglesias -- Enrique Iglesias’ father and one of the most successful Latin artists of all time -- needed guest appearances from English-speaking artists Diana Ross and Willie Nelson to notch the only two top 20 hits of his career.

The Latin pop boom of ‘99 only lasted a few years, but the after-effects are still visible today. Even after radio moved on from the likes of Ricky Martin, Latin rhythms persisted in many of The Neptunes’ biggest hits, such as Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” and *NSYNC's “Girlfriend.” More recently, we’ve experienced a second Latin pop boom. While artists such as Shakira, Sean Paul, and Pitbull certainly held their own in the late 2000s and early 2010s, what we’ve seen happen since “Despacito” has been much bigger. Compare Latin music’s growing chart presence between 1996 to 1999 to this: In 2015, only three Spanish-language songs entered the Hot 100; in 2017, there were 17; in 2018, there have already been 13. The success of tracks like J Balvin’s “Mi Gente” and Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and Balvin’s “I Like It” means that we’re currently in the midst of another Latin boom, and hopefully this time it’s more than just a passing fad for English-speaking ears.

[Gary]

Hot 100 Turns 60: The Black Eyed Peas, LMFAO and an Apology for Party Rocking

8/3/2018 by Jonathan Bradley



As part of Billboard's celebration of the 60th anniversary of our Hot 100 chart this week, we're taking a deeper look at some of the biggest artists and singles in the chart's history. Here, we revisit The Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" and LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem," which finished at No. 7 and No. 6 in our all-time Hot 100 singles ranking, respectively.

There wasn’t a lot to celebrate when the Black Eyed Peas released their Hot 100-topping behemoth “I Gotta Feeling.” But some parties are so inescapable you end up attending them whether you like it or not, and you certainly didn’t need an invite to the Peas’ Hot 100-topping behemoth to listen to it and even love it -- particularly not in 2009.

That was the year the Black Eyed Peas occupied the top spot of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart from April to October -- a total of 26 weeks, a full half of the year -- first with their electro-rap ode to onomatopoeia “Boom Boom Pow” for 12 weeks and then with “Feeling" for another 14. It was a song so ubiquitous that it was easy not to notice how much America needed it.

As a composition, it’s a paradox, existing at once as a brazenly craven exercise in shameless hedonism and lowest-common-denominator songwriting, yet at the same time imbued with an enduring and pervasive ache. Even when the song’s thumping 4/4 drum pound kicks in, the wistful lilt of its opening new-wave guitar riff courses on, a film of sadness that clings to the tune’s insistent joy.

“Feeling” is a song about partying, but it is so committed to the excitement and pleasure offered by its subject matter that it detaches itself entirely from any sense of narrative or temporal continuity. “Tonight’s gonna be a good night,” the Peas promise, at the same time as they dance and pour shots and blow their paychecks, at the same time as they, exhausted, look forward to doing it again. None of this is about the experience of partying; it is about the promise of a pleasure sufficiently uncomplicated that they can forget anything else. The joy the band is pursuing has passed before it has properly arrived: a fireworks show where each soaring rocket has begun to drift into luminescent confetti even before it has exploded.

“Party every day” doesn’t sound like a threat, exactly, but it does sound like an obligation: in the grand Black Eyed Peas cycle of simultaneous anticipation, carousal, and come-down, the unasked question is of what exactly all this single-minded pursuit of happiness is keeping at bay.

America embraced electronic dance music while its economy was falling apart; the National Bureau of Economic Research dates the beginning of the Great Recession to December 2007, and the first Hot 100 number one of 2008 was Flo Rida’s “Low,” an insistent club clarion call that came dressed in the clothes of hip-hop but prefigured EDM in its construction and concern. The dance floor would get more attention with ensuing number ones that year, with disco-minded hits like Rihanna’s “Disturbia” and Lady Gaga’s debut “Just Dance” following.

The American housing market had collapsed, Wall Street was falling apart, and jobs were vanishing so fast that the unemployment rate was heading towards double digits. Amid the fear and uncertainty of the economic collapse, pop music gave the only answer it could: just dance. Against all evidence, it promised, tonight’s gonna be a good night. Then, before reality could set back in, do it again.

America invented modern dance music -- disco in the north-east, house in Chicago, techno in Detroit -- but as a mainstream concern, the nation had long seen repetitive rhythms and electronic accents as something distinctly foreign, a European eccentricity. The sudden rise of pop-EDM changed that, putting simple beats and simpler pleasures squarely in the middle of the national consciousness. As the downturn dragged on and the hedonism extended, pop’s embrace of the dancefloor turned darker. “We found love in a hopeless place,” Rihanna sang in a collaboration with Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, and, on another hit from the turn of the decade, she wanted to feel like the “Only Girl (In the World).” The apocalyptic sentiment extended on hit singles by Kesha (“Die Young”), Britney Spears (“Till the World Ends”), and Pitbull (“Give Me Everything,” in which hook singer Ne-Yo qualifies “For all we know, we might not get tomorrow”).

But then came LMFAO to inject some levity back into proceedings. Parties are wont to attract big, dumb, and drunk intruders, and the sounds that the duo of RedFoo and SkyBlu thrusted into the party were some of that moment’s biggest, dumbest, and, if possible, drunkest. Their best song was their 2008 debut, a dirty leer called “I’m in Miami Bitch,” and it established the template for their subsequent hits. Like the South Florida city, “Miami” is very lurid, a bit crass, and a lot of fun.

There are no hidden depths to LMFAO. If anything, there is less to mega-seller “Party Rock Anthem” than meets the eye: it is a collection of catchphrases, along with riffs that are the synth equivalent of a catchphrase. It is the center of a Venn diagram encompassing club banger, jock jam, and frat party, and baser than that suggests. RedFoo and SkyBlu presented as slithering spectacles of vulgar masculinity: preposterously dressed goofballs who succeeded entirely because of their clownishness.

But “Party Rock Anthem” was so blunt and obnoxious that it worked. The bass-heavy thud of the beat was perfect for dancefloors, and the stadium-sized riff was perfect for advertisements, film soundtracks, and marching bands. The rapping didn’t need to be any better than it was and the hooks were interjections built to be memes or hashtags: “Every day I’m shuffling”; “Shake that”; “Everybody just have a good time.” It was certified as a Diamond seller by the RIAA and the second biggest hit of 2011, topping the chart for six weeks and lasting on the tally for 68 weeks total, kept off the top of Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 only by Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.”

It is a bad look in 2018 to celebrate crassness and idiocy as a public spectacle, which is why it’s unlikely LMFAO would be received the same way today. It was gauche even in 2011, but much the way the joyful simplicity of bro-country quickly hardened into a set of obnoxious tropes, the blithe ignorance of songs like “I Gotta Feeling” and “Party Rock Anthem,” as well as the stand-outs from fellow travelers like Taio Cruz (“Dynamite”) and David Guetta (“Where Them Girls At,” “Sexy Bitch”), began to accumulate an unwelcome toxicity. Only looking back does their ebullience endure, and it came at a time when ebullience was needed.

The pop charts today tend towards moodiness and muted affect, from the navel-gazing gloom of Drake or The Weeknd, to the minor-key drag of hits from artists like Camila Cabello, Alessia Cara, or Halsey. EDM has moved from novelty to genuine pop movement, packing festivals and making superstars of its top performers whose hits are less obvious and more diverse, but its sentiments have strayed into more emotive territory, and its prevailing sound has transformed into trop-house: an evocation of placeless vacation destinations and the restoration we hope to discover there.

But in the late ‘00s and early ‘10s, when America was just discovering the true potential of banging beats and glowing synths, pop dared to be silly and simplistic. The party has been over long enough for us to look back on the photos and think, yep, we enjoyed ourselves. Tonight was gonna be a good night.

[jenglisbe]

Aug 3, 2018 15:00:35 GMT -5 Gary said:

Hot 100 Turns 60: How the 'Macarena' Predicted Trends That Were Years Away

I feel like most of these points made could have been said about "The Twist" (it was a fad, it had what were essentially remixes).

[fhas]

Aug 3, 2018 15:26:26 GMT -5 Gary said:

Hot 100 Turns 60: The Black Eyed Peas, LMFAO and an Apology for Party Rocking