Biggest Hits and Greatest Gainers of 1998

[top30countdown]

This is a list of the Top 25 songs of 1998 based on their best week of detections (rather than by chart run or by sum of detections). Since it is not uncommon for radio stations to change format from or to CHR/Pop, the number of stations fluctuates from week to week. In 1998, that number fluctuated from a low of 91 to a high of 108. Obviously, songs on the chart when 108 stations were being monitored would have a much better advantage over songs in a 91 week, so I account for that by dividing a song's detections for the week by the number of stations for the week to get an average number of detections per station per week. Over the next few weeks, I will post similar lists for each year from 1999 through 2003, and (hopefully) by the end of the year I will post a comprehensive list for 1998-2003. By the way, this info is based on the Mainstream Top 40 chart in Billboard's Airplay Monitor. (Sorry, R&R fans, but I already had a subbscription to Airplay Monitor when I discovered R&R, and it would be too expensive for me to subbscribe to both. I'm sure the lists for R&R would be quite similar, though.)

By the way, for Greatest Gainers, I only include a songs biggest 1-week gain, even if it had other weeks with a large enough of a gain to hit the Top 25. Once again, I divide detections by stations here.

Top 25 Songs of 1998 (Detections per Station)

1 - My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion - 59.85
2 - I Don't Want To Miss A Thing - Aerosmith - 59.05
3 - Iris - Goo Goo Dolls - 55.97
4 - Truly Madly Deeply - Savage Garden - 54.45
5 - One Week - Barenaked Ladies - 51.98
6 - All My Life - K-Ci & Jojo - 51.13
7 - Lullaby - Shawn Mullins - 50.81
8 - 3 AM - Matchbox Twenty - 50.59
9 - Uninvited - Alanis Morissette - 48.97
10 - Torn - Natalie Imbruglia - 48.80
11 - Sex And Candy - Marcy Playground - 47.67
12 - Walkin' On The Sun - Smash Mouth - 46.74
13 - You're Still The One - Shania Twain - 46.59
14 - As Long As You Love Me - Backstreet Boys - 45.76
15 - The Boy Is Mine - Brandy & Monica - 45.15
16 - Jumper - Third Eye Blind - 44.62
17 - The Way - Fastball - 42.80
18 - Crush - Jennifer Paige - 42.71
19 - Real World - Matchbox Twenty - 41.27
20 - Frozen - Madonna - 40.44
21 - Thank U - Alanis Morissette - 40.07
22 - I'll Never Break Your Heart - Backstreet Boys - 39.15
23 - Never Ever - All Saints - 38.80
24 - Too Close - Next - 38.08
25 - Together Again - Janet - 36.81


Top 25 Greatest Gainers of 1998

1 - Thank U - Alanis Morissette - 18.44
2 - Frozen - Madonna - 15.57
3 - My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion - 14.63
4 - Hands - Jewel - 9.22
5 - I Don't Want To Miss A Thing - Aerosmith - 8.44
6 - I Will Wait - Hootie & The Blowfish - 8.43
7 - Torn - Natalie Imbruglia - 7.77
8 - Are You Jimmy Ray? - Jimmy Ray - 7.1
9 - Ray Of Light - Madonna - 6.98
10 - To The Moon And Back - Savage Garden - 6.73
11 - Uninvited - Alanis Morissette - 6.68
12 - Are You Jimmy Ray? - Jimmy Ray - 6.66
13 - Crush - Jennifer Paige - 6.54
14 - The Boy Is Mine - Brandy & Monica - 6.32
15 - Searchin' My Soul - Vonda Shepard - 6.16
16 - One Week - Barenaked Ladies - 6.07
17 - My Father's Eyes - Eric Clapton - 5.99
18 - The Way - Fastball - 5.82
19 - Iris - Goo Goo Dolls - 5.79
20 - The Thanksgiving Song - Adam Sandler - 5.75
21 - I'll Never Break Your Heart - Backstreet Boys - 5.74
22 - I Know Where It's At - All Saints - 5.60
23 - Do You Really Want Me - Robyn - 5.57
24 - Tearin' Up My Heart - N Sync - 5.56
25 - Baby One More Time - Britney Spears - 5.44

[Edf85]

I miss 1998. Good music!

[Deleted]

I think 1998 was the worst year of music in the 90's.

[DuckHead]

That is an interesting list. I think you did an excellent job compiling those statistics.

# 1 is exactly what I would have expected, but I'm a little surprised that "Torn" is only # 10. Also "Sex And Candy" is a lot higher than I would expect.

Cool. I am interested in seeing this list for the other years.