Recurrent Hot 100 Breakouts - List & Compendium

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With it taking a few days for especially "Master of Puppets" to gain steam last week, this full week with slight decline was enough for both Stranger Things songs to manage bullets, with "Master of Puppets" landing a new peak in the process!

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Taking advantage of a weaker market, "Running Up That Hill" manages a new peak of #3, while "Master of Puppets" just barely survives with a 35-50 slip!

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In a big ol' catchup:

-"Running Up That Hill" lasted 20 weeks, bringing its total to 40. A radio juggernaut for most of its run, a heavy burn led to its quick collapse after hovering around its peak.
-3 of last year's 4 Halloween songs re-entered, led by the expected "Thriller".
-2 weeks into the Christmas wave, 12 songs are already charting, compared to 6 in the equivalent 2021 week. This is going to be a monster wave...

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With the third week of the wave underway, Blue Christmas and Here Comes Santa Claus return after being absent in 2021's run, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, and Deck the Halls make their earliest ever appearances, with the latter getting a new peak for the first time in the top 40, and Jingle Bells repeaks at #33.

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Unlike the 2020 holiday season, where Here Comes Santa Claus dropped to #69 and was allowed on because it would return, holiday songs below the top 50 thanks to Metro Boomin's album bomb got punted back to Hot 100 Recurrents, in this case Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (49-RC01) and You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (42-RC03). The rest of the wave stagnates and dips a bit outside of both the top zone (where the usual top 4 take roost) and Jingle Bells, which jumps to a new peak of #29.

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Once again, an album bomb impedes things, this time by SZA, but the wave for the most part held firm. A new peak was had for Last Christmas (up 9-6, old peak of #7), and we're back to 23 total songs as Santa Claus is Comin' to Town returns again at #48 and Run Rudolph Run makes its first appearance this chart year at #46!

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In what's likely the peak week for the wave, a record 33 holiday recurrents chart, including a first-timer from last year's debut crop: Ed Sheeran & Elton John's "Merry Christmas", which spends its first ever week in the top 50! Also making notable appearances are "Happy Xmas (War is Over)", which last appeared in 2018's wave and spends its first ever week in the top 40, and "This Christmas", which last appeared in 2020's wave.

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While the previous chart week was the points peak, the partial tracking week of benefit comprised of December 23-27 led to a stronger core of streaming-fueled Christmas songs holding (plus a handful with new peaks, like the annual peak quartet being disrupted by Last Christmas at #4 and The Christmas Song finally reaching the top 10 at #9) and unique ones for the season coming in, bringing the season total to 36 (though the simultaneous total peak to 35, as Vince Guaraldi Trio's "Linus & Lucy" fell out in favor of "Christmastime is Here" just like the 2021 season).

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Spurred by usage on TikTok, Miguel's Sure Thing, a decent hit from 2011 (#36 peak, snuck into the year-end), has returned, so far reaching back into the hit zone at #39. It'll be worth keeping an eye on whether it fizzles out soon ala My Boo or maintains a longer run akin to Baby Shark.

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With a brief appearance from this year's Super Bowl crop of Rihanna chart-toppers, Sure Thing has been the big thing amongst breakouts this year, gradually gaining steam and far outpeaking its original #36 high from 2011 to get to #13 as of this writing, topping the Pop Airplay ranking. As of this week, a 2nd song potentially in it for the long run arrives: Taylor Swift's Cruel Summer, having built up streams ever since the now-underway Eras tour was announced. If Republic Records decides to shift gears on current singles Karma and Anti-Hero to push this one to radio, a lengthy run may be secure.

Also, speaking of Cruel Summer, it's worth noting that Recurrent Songs is now defunct, so in some cases, whether a song started as a recurrent and shifted to active will have to be a bit more touch 'n' go (Canada isn't always a reliable barometer, as Cruel Summer started as an active below the top 50 there yet was on the US' Recurrent Songs list first).

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It's been a while since I've last updated, but the list and compendium have been updated, mainly comprising Sure Thing and Cruel Summer but also including first holiday appearances for Miley Cyrus and Danny Elfman (as a composer), a death spurring Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville" back onto the list, and the Eras tour (along with the announcement of 1989's rerecord) getting "Blank Space" back briefly.

As to the annual holiday wave, it's pacing above last year's, with 3 more songs and complete overlap with the equivalent week in 2022.

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In the end, the Christmas wave ended up being the biggest yet, totalling 38 songs and bringing 2 new standards into the fold: Jonas Brothers' relatively recent throw into the mix "Like It's Christmas" (reaching the top 40 for the first time ever) and Jackson 5's rendition of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" (debuting at #43 at the metaphorical 11th hour). There was a 3rd debut, but it's a big old asterisk: for the first time in the streaming era, the combined 1954 and 1959 versions of "(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" shifted in ratio such that the former took the majority of consumption and thus the credit. It does indeed seem to be that the two combine (as they don't seem to have ever coexisted on the Holiday 100), so in the compendium I've listed them in the same entry.

New Peaks (Italicized Peaks Occurred Before Peak Christmas, the chart dated 01/06/2024)
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (#2 -> #1)
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow (#8 -> #7)
Sleigh Ride (#10 -> #8)
Santa Tell Me (#12 -> #11)
Underneath the Tree (#12 -> #11)
Jingle Bells (#20 -> #16)
Blue Christmas (#24 -> #18)
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas [Buble] (#20 -> #19)
Santa Baby (#35 -> #20)
Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane) (#25 -> #21)
Little Saint Nick (#29 -> #25)
Wonderful Christmastime (#28 -> #26)
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (#33 -> #30)
This Christmas (#37 -> #34)
Christmastime is Here (#41 -> #39)
Like It's Christmas (#44 [pre-recurrent] -> #40)
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (#47 -> #41)
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (#43 debut)

New Peaks Only as a Seasonal
White Christmas (#16 -> #14; full run #12)
Please Come Home for Christmas (#40 -> #28; full run #18)
Mistletoe (#44 -> #37; full run #11)