R&R/Billboard Big Song Peak Differences (Pre-1991)

[jaxxalude]

mst3k1 said:

And LL Cool J had his share as well, right up to the last year of the old-school Hot 100:

Around The Way Girl (#9 Billboard, #24 R&R)
Mama Said Knock You Out (#17 Billboard, nc R&R)

You can also add "I'm That Type Of Guy" to the list.

#15 Hot 100
#25 R&R


And "Going Back To Cali" too, while we're at it.

#31 Hot 100
N/A R&R

[Hervard]

In 1983, there were several songs that hit the Top 20 in R&R, but missed the Billboard Top 40 entirely:

"I Gotta Try" by Michael McDonald - #17 R&R/#44 BB
"Take The Short Way Home" by Dionne Warwick - #17 R&R/#41 BB
"All Those Lies" by Glenn Frey - #20 R&R/#41 BB

There was also "Fool Moon Fire" by Walter Egan, which peaked at #29 in R&R and barely touched the upper half of the Billboard chart (#48 peak I believe)

These chart differences weren't limited to the early 80s. In 1986, "Another Heartache" by Rod Stewart hit #38 in R&R but peaked somewhere in the 50s on R&R.

[mst3k]

ulij20 said:

In 1983, there were several songs that hit the Top 20 in R&R, but missed the Billboard Top 40 entirely:

"I Gotta Try" by Michael McDonald - #17 R&R/#44 BB
"Take The Short Way Home" by Dionne Warwick - #17 R&R/#41 BB
"All Those Lies" by Glenn Frey - #20 R&R/#41 BB

One of my favorite songs of 1983 almost qualifies too: "Minimum Love" by Mac McAnally hit #25 in R&R but stalled at #41 in Billboard (I remember taping it off of Dick Clark's National Music Survey).

[Libra]

ulij20 said:

These chart differences weren't limited to the early 80s.  In 1986, "Another Heartache" by Rod Stewart hit #38 in R&R but peaked somewhere in the 50s on R&R.

So, ummm...which was it in R&R, #38 or in the 50s? ;)

[Hervard]

D'OH! I meant it peaked in the 50s on Billboard (of course, I'm sure many people knew what I meant, since there were no 50s in R&R back in 1986)

[tico]

I seem to recall "Glamour Boys" by Living Colour hitting R&R's top 40 (upper 30s, I think), but not charting on Billboard's top 40. Also, I recall "The Way To Your Heart" by Soul Sister hitting the 30s on R&R (#33?), but just missed Billboard's top 40, peaking at #41.

[mst3k]

^ "Glamour Boys" peaked at #31 on the Hot 100, #26 in R&R.

[Whi$tlin' Pete]

I'm greatly surprised that no one mentioned the following:

From 1982: "I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World)" by Donald Fagen. It hit number 6 on the R&R chart, but only reached number 26 on Billboard.

From 1984: "The Curly Shuffle" by Jump 'N' The Saddle. It reached number 36 R&R, but hit number 15 on Billboard, obviously due to sales.

[Whi$tlin' Pete]

Also from 1983, "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" by Asia reached #17 R&R, but only #34 Billboard.
From that same year: "Bad Boy" by Ray Parker Jr. hit number 21 R&R and #35 Billboard. Same positions both charts, the same year: "What Am I Gonna Do" by Rod Stewart.
Did someone mention "Allentown" by Billy Joel? #3 R&R, #17 Billboard.
"Whirly Girl" by Oxo, number 14 R&R, Number 28 Billboard

[John77]

mikek102 said:

Can't top that, but can give a couple other examples:

Fleetwood Mac's "Gypsy":

#1 R&R
#12 Billboard

Glenn Frey "The One You Love":

#2 R&R (which, oddly enough, was the very same week that "Gypsy" was #1!)
#15 Billboard

Usually, such differences are from singles that just didn't sell well.

True... also interesting to note though that the albums that spawned these (and other) singles that didn't sell well, did very well though... perhaps people that bought the albums didn't need/want the singles since they already had them, you think?

[John77]

mst3k1 said:

ulij20 said:

One of my favorite songs of 1983 almost qualifies too: "Minimum Love" by Mac McAnally hit #25 in R&R but stalled at #41 in Billboard (I remember taping it off of Dick Clark's National Music Survey).

I wish I could find that song somewhere... been looking for it for years...

[John77]

johnnywest said:

"Into The Groove" - Madonna (N/A BB, #15 R&R)

The airplay only hits are always fun to study... a couple of others:

Bon Jovi - "Edge Of A Broken Heart" (#39 R&R -1987)
Bon Jovi - "Never Say Goodbye" (#35 R&R -1987)


I also remember Daryl Braithwaite's "Higher Than Hope" peaking at #32 in 1991 in R&R, but it only got into the 60's or 70's on the Hot 100 - it was released as a casette single, but VERY hard to find by my recollection....

[John77]

Another artist I somehow forgot...

Don Henley - "I Can't Stand Still" (#25 R&R, #48 Billboard -1983)...
Don Henley - "How Bad Do You Want It" (#33 R&R , #48 Billboard - 1990)

Thanks to mst3k for correct BB positions.

[mst3k]

john77 said:

Another artist I somehow forgot...

Don Henley - "I Can't Stand Still" (#25 R&R - 1983, peaked at #41 or #42 in Billboard I believe)...
Don Henley - "How Bad Do You Want It" (#33 R&R -1990, unknown below 40 peak in Billboard)

Both of those Henley songs peaked at #48 in Billboard.

[John77]

mst3k1 said:

john77 said:

Another artist I somehow forgot...

Don Henley - "I Can't Stand Still" (#25 R&R - 1983, peaked at #41 or #42 in Billboard I believe)...
Don Henley - "How Bad Do You Want It" (#33 R&R -1990, unknown below 40 peak in Billboard)

Both of those Henley songs peaked at #48 in Billboard.

Thanks! I just knew they didn't get to the "hallowed ground"...

[John77]

Journey has a bunch of them:

Lovin', Touchin' Squeezin' (#6 R&R, #16 BB - '79)
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) (#1 - 2 wks R&R, #8 BB - '83)
Faithfully (#4 - R&R, #12 BB - '83)
Send Her My Love (#12 - R&R, #23 BB -'83)
After The Fall (#15 - R&R, #23 BB - '83)

The album rock crowd that bought a lot of Journey albums wasn't buying the singles, you think???

[Libra]

john77 said:

The airplay only hits are always fun to study... a couple of others:

Bon Jovi - "Edge Of A Broken Heart" (#39 R&R -1987)
Bon Jovi - "Never Say Goodbye" (#35 R&R -1987)

There's also Madonna's "Spotlight" from '88 - #31 R&R.

[John77]

mikek102 said:

john77 said:

The airplay only hits are always fun to study... a couple of others:

Bon Jovi - "Edge Of A Broken Heart" (#39 R&R -1987)
Bon Jovi - "Never Say Goodbye" (#35 R&R -1987)

There's also Madonna's "Spotlight" from '88 - #31 R&R.

Thanks... completely missed that one...

[Libra]

Here's an interesting one that I just found:

Stevie Wonder, "Skeletons": #19 Billboard, #30 R&R

And it's from 1987, when differences like these weren't that common.

[John77]

mikek102 said:

Here's an interesting one that I just found:

Stevie Wonder, "Skeletons": #19 Billboard, #30 R&R

And it's from 1987, when differences like these weren't that common.

This one sold quite a lot, according to Billboard's Book of Top 40 hits, it peaked at #11 in sales... actually, this type of thing wasn't all that uncommon in the late 80's and early 90's as vinyl singles (and later cassette singles) became harder and harder to find.

This one struggled to get airplay as it was a little too unique sounding for CHR radio to give it a fair shot IMHO...

[Hot AC Archiver]

Slaughter's Fly to the Angels in 1990: Billboard #19, R&R Did not chart

Due to sales. It peaked at #9 on the BB singles sales chart.

[jdcfan]

I was surprised to find out that "99" by Toto made it to #5 on the R&R CHR chart. Toto also had another single with a simliar difference:

"Make Believe"
#10 R&R
#30 Hot 100

"Make Believe" was the 2nd single from Toto IV. "Africa" was the 3rd single.

"Make Believe" doesn't get any airplay these days.

[Libra]

"Fall in Love With Me" by Earth, Wind, and Fire - #17 for three weeks on Billboard, did not chart on R&R. From 1983.

[John77]

mikek102 said:

"Fall in Love With Me" by Earth, Wind, and Fire - #17 for three weeks on Billboard, did not chart on R&R. From 1983.

Yeah... I remember that one - and it did VERY well here locally in L.A... I actually have this on the "Powerlight" CD... a very hard one to find.

[Libra]

1978:

"Every Kinda People" by Robert Palmer - #16 Billboard, DNC R&R. That one was probably solely based on sales, as it fell off the Top 40 from its #16 peak.

[johnnywest]

I may be mistaken, but I don't recall "Pac-Man Fever" hitting the R&R charts. But it hovered around #10 somewhere in the early 80s on the Billboard Hot 100.

[Hervard]

Yeah, I believe "Pac Man Fever" charted almost exclusively on sales. Since Pac Man was the hot game back then, everyone was buying the record, but the song wasn't played on very many radio stations - in fact, I only remember hearing it once or twice on the radio. The other times I've heard it were on the record (which I played over and over, much to my family's chagrin) and pretty much everywhere there was a jukebox back in early-mid 1982.

[dth1971]

Here's some from me:
"Before the Next Teardrop Falls" by Freddy Fender - 1975 (Billboard #1, R&R #11)
"Do The Bartman" by Bart Simpson - 1990/1991 (Billboard Did Not Chart, R&R #9)
"State of the World" by Janet Jackson - 1991 (Billboard Did Not Chart, R&R #4)
"Into The Night" - Benny Mardones - 1980/1989 (1980 Billboard #11, R&R #5; 1989 reissue Billboard #20, R&R Did Not Chart due to some chart error or something)
"House of Pain" by Faster Pussycat - 1990 (Billboard #28, R&R Did Not Chart)
"OOOPS Up" by Snap - 1990 (Billboard #35, R&R Did Not Chart)
"Jump Around" by House of Pain - 1992 (Billboard #3, R&R Did Not Chart, made Top 30 on Shadoe Stevens' AT40?)
"Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang - 1980 (Billboard #36, R&R Did Not Chart)
"Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring - 1983 (Top 10 Billboard, R&R Did Not Chart)
"Point of No Return" by Nu Shooz - 1986 (#28 Billboard, R&R Did Not Chart)
"All My Love" by Led Zepplin - 1979 (Top 20 or Top 10 R&R, Did Not Chart on Billboard?)
"Pinball Wizard" by Elton John - 1975 (Billboard Did Not Chart, R&R #9)
"More Than a Woman" by the Bee Gees - 1978 (Billboard Did Not Chart, R&R #23)
"Earth Angel" by New Edition - 1986 (Billboard #23, R&R Did Not Chart)
"Tempted" by Squeeze - 1981 (Billboard #48, R&R New and Active)
"Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder - 1977 (Billboard Did Not Chart, R&R New and Active?)

[areyoureadytojump]

Jermaine Jackson, Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming

R&R: #6
BB: Did not chart because it wasn't released as a single

[areyoureadytojump]

Madonna, Into The Groove

R&R: #6
BB: Did not chart because it wasn't released as a single (it was on the B-Side of the Angel 12-inch)