Most Career-Starting #1s at Radio/Frustratingly Close Misses
Jun 30, 2019 15:34:40 GMT -5
Post by Wackadoodle on Jun 30, 2019 15:34:40 GMT -5
I searched and didn't find a thread for this, so if there is one, mods please delete this, but this thread is for artists who have come painfully close to earning the record for most career-starting hits to reach #1, but missed it due to one or two close #2 peaks. There's a ton.
-Darius Rucker's first three solo singles, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It," It Won't Be Like This for Long," and "Alright" all went to #1. He then had "History in the Making" peak at #3. His next two songs, "Come Back Song" and "This" went to #1. So he would be tied with Luke Combs for most career-starting #1 songs at five if not for that one #3 peak. Ouch.
-FGL had seven of their first eight songs reach the top. "This Is How We Roll" was #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart and clearly should've reached the top, but missed the #1 spot several weeks in a row by the tiniest amount of audience on the Billboard chart. It spent three weeks at #2, two of which it was behind Luke Bryan's "Play It Again" by a hair, one of which it was behind label mate Thomas Rhett's "Get Me Some of That." Clearly there was some tomfoolery going on with the duo's label Big Machine pushing smaller hits from label mates Thomas Rhett and Rascal Flatts ahead to get these to #1 before Luke Bryan's monster hit got there, which caused them to delay the push for "This Is How We Roll" several weeks past when it naturally should have occurred, causing the song to miss the top spot altogether. So close, yet so far.
-Old Dominion has had six of their first seven songs hit the top spot, and has still only missed #1 once to date, with their second single "Snapback." Again, this could've hit #1, but Old Dominion ran into bad timing with a monster lead single from Dierks Bentley, "Somewhere on a Beach," and label mate Chris Young's "Think of You." "Snapback" spent four weeks at #2 before the bottom caved in on this. It ended up spending more than three months in the top ten, the longest top ten run I can remember since I started following the charts like ten years ago. Womp womp.
-Cole Swindell has only missed the top 2 once in his career. He's had nine of his first eight singles reach the top 2 and doesn't look to be snapping that trend any time soon. He's had a few close misses, including "Chillin' It," "Let Me See Ya Girl," and "Flatliner." "Flatliner" may have been his first song that really didn't even come close to the top and didn't really have the numbers to merit a "true #1 hit." "Stay Downtown" also could've come close to the top spot, but Warner Music Nashville chose to pull the song in the lower 20s and forgo another long trek into the top 5 for reasons unknown. Several close #2 peaks. Not bad for an artist who still seems to fly under the radar pretty often. His songs mostly just sneak their way up the charts without really making much noise. Some manage to reach the top spot, others come up a little bit short. But if not for a few close misses, he could hold the record for most career-starting #1s.
-Jordan Davis may be another one soon. "Singles You Up" went to #1. "Take It from Me" got blocked by one of the biggest songs to ever be released to country radio and the guy who holds the record for most career-starting #1s right now (Luke Combs with "Beautiful Crazy"). TIFM peaked at #2, and now "Slow Dance in a Parking Lot" seems likely to be another top 2 in the future. This guy, like Cole Swindell, still seems to really fly under the radar for the most part, though. I'm not sure either of them really deserves the record and I think when you have an artist who just continues to release safe song after safe song that tests well but never really makes waves, the odds are high that a few of them are going to end up peaking at #2. It's not so much bad luck as it is a few songs that just didn't quite have enough gas in the tank to make it all the way to the top spot.
-Zac Brown Band took eight of its first nine songs to #1. The only one that missed the top was their second single, "Whatever It Is." Got blocked by Kenny Chesney's "Out Last Night but reached #1 on Mediabase. Their first song that couldn't do it on either chart was "No Hurry." Damn. Not sure how close this one came to the Billboard #1, but it must've been close if this even hit the top on Mediabase. Must be frustrating, lol.
-Carrie Underwood hadn't missed the top 3 with her first 22 songs, but her second single "Don't Forget to Remember Me" peaked at #2. Holy sh*t. That's close. It wasn't until just last year that she started to see diminishing returns at country radio. I have my reservations about artists who launch their careers by being on reality TV, but that's quite an impressive string of career-launching hits, no denying it. Clearly there was a high demand for her music at radio and she would have the record for most career-launching #1s at radio by far if it weren't for a few close hangups. Impressive. That's someone whose success you can't just write off because she was on Idol.
-Kelsea Ballerini's first three singles went to #1. Her fourth, "Yeah Boy" ran out of gas at #3. Her fifth, “Legends," went to #1. It wasn't until single #6, "I Hate Love Songs," that Kelsea truly flamed out way before the top 10.
So Luke Combs holds the record for most career-launching #1s at five, while FGL has the record for most multi-week #1s to launch a career at four. Luke Combs' "One Number Away" came close, but some tomfoolery from Capitol Nashville and Darius Rucker with obvious non-deserving #1 "For the First Time" screwed Luke out of a second week at the top spot. Brooks & Dunn is tied with FGL for most career-launching #1s for a duo at four. Feel free to add to this list if you can think of any other super close cases of an act that had a bunch of songs go to #1 in a row at the beginning of their career, and one or two that came so close but peaked at #2 due to bad timing or simply not quite having enough gas in the tank. I think Darius and Jordan clearly didn't have enough gas in the tank, while Old Dominion, FGL, and Cole probably deserved their missed #1s but the label didn't handle radio promotion well enough. I was watching when "Chillin' It" missed #1 and I thought his label clearly should've pushed for the top a few weeks earlier instead of letting Universal push foolishly undeserving songs like "Friday Night" ahead. Same goes for "Let Me See Ya Girl." Cole's team could've pushed that one a little earlier when "Break Up in the End" was getting two weeks at #1 and gotten the Billboard #1 before Chris Young's "I'm Comin' Over" got close enough to block it. "Flatliner" was the first song that I think couldn't have reached #1 and by the numbers truly didn't deserve it. Honestly, the song was a garbage record that didn't belong getting released as a single anyway.
-Darius Rucker's first three solo singles, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It," It Won't Be Like This for Long," and "Alright" all went to #1. He then had "History in the Making" peak at #3. His next two songs, "Come Back Song" and "This" went to #1. So he would be tied with Luke Combs for most career-starting #1 songs at five if not for that one #3 peak. Ouch.
-FGL had seven of their first eight songs reach the top. "This Is How We Roll" was #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart and clearly should've reached the top, but missed the #1 spot several weeks in a row by the tiniest amount of audience on the Billboard chart. It spent three weeks at #2, two of which it was behind Luke Bryan's "Play It Again" by a hair, one of which it was behind label mate Thomas Rhett's "Get Me Some of That." Clearly there was some tomfoolery going on with the duo's label Big Machine pushing smaller hits from label mates Thomas Rhett and Rascal Flatts ahead to get these to #1 before Luke Bryan's monster hit got there, which caused them to delay the push for "This Is How We Roll" several weeks past when it naturally should have occurred, causing the song to miss the top spot altogether. So close, yet so far.
-Old Dominion has had six of their first seven songs hit the top spot, and has still only missed #1 once to date, with their second single "Snapback." Again, this could've hit #1, but Old Dominion ran into bad timing with a monster lead single from Dierks Bentley, "Somewhere on a Beach," and label mate Chris Young's "Think of You." "Snapback" spent four weeks at #2 before the bottom caved in on this. It ended up spending more than three months in the top ten, the longest top ten run I can remember since I started following the charts like ten years ago. Womp womp.
-Cole Swindell has only missed the top 2 once in his career. He's had nine of his first eight singles reach the top 2 and doesn't look to be snapping that trend any time soon. He's had a few close misses, including "Chillin' It," "Let Me See Ya Girl," and "Flatliner." "Flatliner" may have been his first song that really didn't even come close to the top and didn't really have the numbers to merit a "true #1 hit." "Stay Downtown" also could've come close to the top spot, but Warner Music Nashville chose to pull the song in the lower 20s and forgo another long trek into the top 5 for reasons unknown. Several close #2 peaks. Not bad for an artist who still seems to fly under the radar pretty often. His songs mostly just sneak their way up the charts without really making much noise. Some manage to reach the top spot, others come up a little bit short. But if not for a few close misses, he could hold the record for most career-starting #1s.
-Jordan Davis may be another one soon. "Singles You Up" went to #1. "Take It from Me" got blocked by one of the biggest songs to ever be released to country radio and the guy who holds the record for most career-starting #1s right now (Luke Combs with "Beautiful Crazy"). TIFM peaked at #2, and now "Slow Dance in a Parking Lot" seems likely to be another top 2 in the future. This guy, like Cole Swindell, still seems to really fly under the radar for the most part, though. I'm not sure either of them really deserves the record and I think when you have an artist who just continues to release safe song after safe song that tests well but never really makes waves, the odds are high that a few of them are going to end up peaking at #2. It's not so much bad luck as it is a few songs that just didn't quite have enough gas in the tank to make it all the way to the top spot.
-Zac Brown Band took eight of its first nine songs to #1. The only one that missed the top was their second single, "Whatever It Is." Got blocked by Kenny Chesney's "Out Last Night but reached #1 on Mediabase. Their first song that couldn't do it on either chart was "No Hurry." Damn. Not sure how close this one came to the Billboard #1, but it must've been close if this even hit the top on Mediabase. Must be frustrating, lol.
-Carrie Underwood hadn't missed the top 3 with her first 22 songs, but her second single "Don't Forget to Remember Me" peaked at #2. Holy sh*t. That's close. It wasn't until just last year that she started to see diminishing returns at country radio. I have my reservations about artists who launch their careers by being on reality TV, but that's quite an impressive string of career-launching hits, no denying it. Clearly there was a high demand for her music at radio and she would have the record for most career-launching #1s at radio by far if it weren't for a few close hangups. Impressive. That's someone whose success you can't just write off because she was on Idol.
-Kelsea Ballerini's first three singles went to #1. Her fourth, "Yeah Boy" ran out of gas at #3. Her fifth, “Legends," went to #1. It wasn't until single #6, "I Hate Love Songs," that Kelsea truly flamed out way before the top 10.
So Luke Combs holds the record for most career-launching #1s at five, while FGL has the record for most multi-week #1s to launch a career at four. Luke Combs' "One Number Away" came close, but some tomfoolery from Capitol Nashville and Darius Rucker with obvious non-deserving #1 "For the First Time" screwed Luke out of a second week at the top spot. Brooks & Dunn is tied with FGL for most career-launching #1s for a duo at four. Feel free to add to this list if you can think of any other super close cases of an act that had a bunch of songs go to #1 in a row at the beginning of their career, and one or two that came so close but peaked at #2 due to bad timing or simply not quite having enough gas in the tank. I think Darius and Jordan clearly didn't have enough gas in the tank, while Old Dominion, FGL, and Cole probably deserved their missed #1s but the label didn't handle radio promotion well enough. I was watching when "Chillin' It" missed #1 and I thought his label clearly should've pushed for the top a few weeks earlier instead of letting Universal push foolishly undeserving songs like "Friday Night" ahead. Same goes for "Let Me See Ya Girl." Cole's team could've pushed that one a little earlier when "Break Up in the End" was getting two weeks at #1 and gotten the Billboard #1 before Chris Young's "I'm Comin' Over" got close enough to block it. "Flatliner" was the first song that I think couldn't have reached #1 and by the numbers truly didn't deserve it. Honestly, the song was a garbage record that didn't belong getting released as a single anyway.