Biggest Events In Music Chart History

[EvanJ]

Can somebody provide the dates for these?
R and R starts using spins
Billboard adds many formats to Hot 100 panel
Billboard Hot 100 allows songs without singles to chart
R and R makes CHR into two formats
What else?

[chebingeo]

Billboard Hot 100 allows songs without singles to chart

December 5, 1998 was the first chart to include non-singles.

[FreakyFlyBry]

EvanJ said:

Can somebody provide the dates for these?
R and R starts using spins
R and R makes CHR into two formats

I think both of those were in 1994.

[mst3k]

EvanJ said:

R and R starts using spins
R and R makes CHR into two formats

April 22, 1994

[mst3k]

chebingeo said:

Billboard Hot 100 allows songs without singles to chart

December 5, 1998 was the first chart to include non-singles.

That was also the week Billboard greatly expanded their Hot 100 Airplay panel to include R&B, Country, and Mainstream Rock in addition to Mainstream Top 40, Rhythmic Top 40, Adult Top 40, AC, and Modern Rock. Latin was added a few months later.

[Hervard]

mst3k1 said:

April 22, 1994

Actually, the week of January 6, 1995 was the week that R&R began ranking the chart with spins.  From April 22, 1994 to the end of that year, R&R ranked songs by points.  They used two different weighting systems that year, which explains the psycho chart runs from April through early September, which was when they came up with a better system.

EDIT: Omitted 1995 from January 6 - some people probably thought I meant January 6, 1994.

[Libra]

EvanJ said:

Can somebody provide the dates for these?
R and R starts using spins
Billboard adds many formats to Hot 100 panel
Billboard Hot 100 allows songs without singles to chart
R and R makes CHR into two formats
What else?

How about R&R starts using a recurrent rule? That was somewhere in 1996, and it brought an end to Name's monster run.

*EDIT*

Checked, the date is the 6-21-96 chart.

[mst3k]

November 30, 1991:

Billboard begins compiling the Hot 100 using monitored airplay and Soundscan sales figures. Chartwatchers either love it or hate it.

[Hervard]

MikeK102 said:

How about R&R starts using a recurrent rule? That was somewhere in 1996, and it brought an end to Name's monster run.

*EDIT*

Checked, the date is the 6-21-96 chart.

That's when the first of several recurrent rules came about. That one lasted for exactly three years, then on June 25, 1999, they modified it to 20/20, which it is now. There was a brief three-month period in which the rule was 25/-3, which started on August 10, 2001. If a song was down in plays for three consecutive weeks, it was gone once it went below #24. Now, while this benefitted songs like "Drive" by Incubus (which would have otherwise disappeared from #14), it was nonetheless a stupid rule. R&R realized this pretty quickly and brought back the 20/20 rule at the beginning of November, 2001. I made charts for that time period using the 20/20 rule. Surprisingly, the date that R&R brought back 20/20, there were no songs left that would have stayed around otherwise. Actually, for some songs, especially near the bottom of the chart, I had to make a few rough estimations (for instance, songs like "You Rock My Body" by Michael Jackson, dropped out via the 15/-3 rule, but it didn't appear on the recurrent list, so I had to guesstimate where that song would have wound up), but I'm sure the estimations were pretty close.
These "Pop Charts sans 15/-3 Recurrent Rule but with 20/20" were more or less to use for my homemade version of the charts and the only song that could have possibly still been on the chart (but probably wasn't) was "Start The Commotion" by the Wise Guys, which I hated and dropped from the chart sooner than R&R did anyway. So that's why the 11/2/01 chart was the last one I made up like that.

[Hervard]

mst3k1 said:

November 30, 1991:

Billboard begins compiling the Hot 100 using monitored airplay and Soundscan sales figures. Chartwatchers either love it or hate it.

Many chartwatchers hated AT40's switching over to the Top 40 Radio Monitor chart, too. A lot of them were looking forward to hearing AT40 using the first new Billboard chart and were quite frustrated when they found out Shadoe wasn't using that chart at all. They also didn't like how Shadoe didn't explain the chart movement at all (especially if they'd missed part of the show the previous week), but I understand why it would have been a problem for him to do (i.e. "The Scorpions, re-entering the chart this week at number 32 with 'Wind Of Change'" or "That's Extreme with 'Hole Hearted', moving back up seventeen notches to number fourteen"
I wonder if Casey Kasem would do this if there were a new figuring system, causing a lot of radical changes in the chart. He didn't in 1994, when R&R began using monitored airplay, but he has explained weird chart moves in the past, like when Diamond Rio dropped out for one week from a rather high position with "One More Day", only to return the next week around the same position. That would be weird if there was a chart like 11/30/91 and Casey said in the intro to the show, "Well, we have three debuts this week and ten re-entries (I don't have the 11/30/91 BB chart in front of me - that's just an estimation), that means we have to say goodbye to thirteen droppers..."

[BillboardBoy]

How about that brief time period last year when Billboard stopped publishing the AC chart?

[Slinky]

mst3k said:

November 30, 1991:

Billboard begins compiling the Hot 100 using monitored airplay and Soundscan sales figures. Chartwatchers either love it or hate it. 

Hate it.  It marked the end of the "fast" AT40, and the beginning of an era in which songs would spend months in the top 10 and the biggest gainer in the top 40 would move up 5 spots.  It also meant the songs I was hearing on pop radio were not the songs charting on Billboard.  This weekend my CHR (Philly's "Eagle 106") dropped AT40 for Casey's Top 40, and when I listened later to the out-of-market AT40 affiliate (Trenton's WPST), I was taken aback at the odd chart.  This is when R&R became the chart I followed over Billboard.

Of course, the R&R chart slowed just a few years later after the move to PPW.

[BillboardBoy]

How about that week in the summer of 1995 when the Pop chart expanded from 40 to 50 positions? I think they also added an extra column for like "3 weeks ago" or something."

[Hervard]

BillboardBoy said:

How about that week in the summer of 1995 when the Pop chart expanded from 40 to 50 positions? I think they also added an extra column for like "3 weeks ago" or something."

Actually, not long after R&R started out in 1973, they had columns for "3 weeks ago" and "2 weeks ago" as well as "last week" and "this week". In 1999, they dropped the 2 and 3 weeks ago columns and instead, added one for "weeks on chart", which I think was better.

BTW, it was May 12, 1995 when the chart extended to 50.

[Hervard]

BillboardBoy said:

How about that brief time period last year when Billboard stopped publishing the AC chart?

No idea, but I was so PO'ed about that, as well as its only showing the Top 20 when it returned, that I've boycotted reading Billboard magazine altogether.

[johnnywest]

ulij20 said:

In 1999, they dropped the 2 and 3 weeks ago columns and instead, added one for "weeks on chart", which I think was better.

BTW, it was May 12, 1995 when the chart extended to 50.

I do like seeing the "weeks on" column, but I think they still had enough room to leave in the "2 weeks ago" column.

If they'd've had the "weeks on" column back in 1996, you could see that R&R cheated with "Because You Loved Me." They left it on their for an unearned 27th week.

[BillboardBoy]

If you go by charts on radio shows, there was the week early last year when AT20 (AC) went from R&R to an unpublished Mediabase chart that ranks songs based on audience impressions and without spins from Delilah.

[Libra]

Hmm...with Billboard adding in paid downloads soon, that's something to put in here.

[Libra]

ulij20 said:

Actually, the week of January 6 was the week that R&R began ranking the chart with spins.  From April 22, 1994 to the end of that year, R&R ranked songs by points.  They used two different weighting systems that year, which explains the psycho chart runs from April through early September, which was when they came up with a better system.

Elaborate. :)

[Hervard]

I don't really know what the new system was but I do know that it put an end to the odd chart runs (for the most part).

[Hervard]

johnnywest said:

If they'd've had the "weeks on" column back in 1996, you could see that R&R cheated with "Because You Loved Me." They left it on their for an unearned 27th week.

It's been said that was done to block a song by the Butthole Surfers from being in the Top 40 so Casey Kasem wouldn't have to mention it. However, that sounds rather far-fetched. He had to mention that song anyway when he was naming the number one songs from other charts. The week "Pepper" was #1 on the Alternative chart (or maybe the Rock chart), he referred to them as the B.H. Surfers.

[BillboardBoy]

It's been said that was done to block a song by the Butthole Surfers from being in the Top 40 so Casey Kasem wouldn't have to mention it. However, that sounds rather far-fetched. He had to mention that song anyway when he was naming the number one songs from other charts. The week "Pepper" was #1 on the Alternative chart (or maybe the Rock chart), he referred to them as the B.H. Surfers.

I must have missed that first week. However, I do remember in the weeks after when Casey stopped mentioning "#1 on the Alternative Rock Chart" and instead went back to "#1 on the Country Chart" for a brief period of time.

[BillboardBoy]

I'd say the creation of the Pop 100 in Billboard is quite an event. Although flip-flopping it with the layout of the Billboard Hot 100 is quite odd.

[Michael1973]

billboardboy said:

I'd say the creation of the Pop 100 in Billboard is quite an event. Although flip-flopping it with the layout of the Billboard Hot 100 is quite odd.

I think it's sad that such a chart needed to be created at all...

[BillboardBoy]

I agree. The folks at Billboard acted like it was the biggest thing to come along all year. I still don't see what all the excitement is about.

[Libra]

ulij20 said:

johnnywest said:

If they'd've had the "weeks on" column back in 1996, you could see that R&R cheated with "Because You Loved Me." They left it on their for an unearned 27th week.

It's been said that was done to block a song by the Butthole Surfers from being in the Top 40 so Casey Kasem wouldn't have to mention it.  However, that sounds rather far-fetched.  He had to mention that song anyway when he was naming the number one songs from other charts.  The week "Pepper" was #1 on the Alternative chart (or maybe the Rock chart), he referred to them as the B.H. Surfers.

It seems like it took quite a few months before R&R was finally accurate with when to send a song to recurrent at that time.

A glaring example is both the Bodeans and Sheryl Crow ("If it Makes You Happy") being cheated out of three weeks each on the chart.

So the Butthole Surfers incident would just be an odd coincidence.[/font]

[Hervard]

mikek102 said:

The Butthole Surfers incident would just be an odd coincidence.

[/color][/font][/quote]
Besides, "Pepper" peaked at number 42, and not even the same week that "Because You Loved Me" was given that extra week, so it wouldn't have made any difference.

There was one week in late 1996 or early 1997 when they dropped "C'mon And Ride It" by the Quad City DJ's a week early and instead, kept "You're Making Me High" by Toni Braxton, even though it had been on longer than 26 weeks. But that was fine with me, since I hate that "Train" song and like "You're Makin' Me High".

[Michael1973]

billboardboy said:

I agree. The folks at Billboard acted like it was the biggest thing to come along all year. I still don't see what all the excitement is about.

My whole problem with the creation of the "Pop 100" is this. I really hate it when the powers-that-be decide to drastically change something from its original premise -- then, as a response to the thousands of people they've ticked off, they create something totally new that kinda resembles the original (but is in no way the same thing.)

For example, I assumed that the Pop 100 was created to satisfy those of us who missed the classic era of the Hot 100. But from what I hear, it barely resembles it.

Another example would be the creation of MTV2 for people who actually want to see music videos on MTV. From what I've heard, it wasn't the same thing at all. If so many people were missing videos on MTV, here's a thought -- go back to playing them!

I could give other examples, but it'd be too off topic.

[chartboy]

mikek102 said:

ulij20 said:

It's been said that was done to block a song by the Butthole Surfers from being in the Top 40 so Casey Kasem wouldn't have to mention it.   However, that sounds rather far-fetched.  He had to mention that song anyway when he was naming the number one songs from other charts.  The week "Pepper" was #1 on the Alternative chart (or maybe the Rock chart), he referred to them as the B.H. Surfers.

It seems like it took quite a few months before R&R was finally accurate with when to send a song to recurrent at that time.

A glaring example is both the Bodeans and Sheryl Crow ("If it Makes You Happy") being cheated out of three weeks each on the chart.

So the Butthole Surfers incident would just be an odd coincidence.

[/font][/quote]

Yes, there were alot of problems after the 25/26 rule was introduced - songs were being yanked off too early or left on for too long - I've indicated when that happens on the website with an annotation.
As for the 25 / -3 rule; ALOT of weird stuff happened because of the 'phantom' 9/11 chart - there was an upblished chart the week of 9/11 because of all radio stations+formats switching to news/talk/etc and they never published it. AND the spin gains/losses were thus skewed (almost every song experiencing a loss of course) and so they DIDNT remove songs after that week that 'lost' spins for 3 weeks in a row because of the phantom chart. They remained loosey goosey with the rule into October anyway and then switched back to 20/20 in November.

ALso, as for "R+R started using spins to determine the chart in 1995", they had essentially been using spins to determine their chart all along in the 70's + 80's, it's just that a) they didn't publish the chart with any data like that on it and b) the 'data' was the inverse point totalling system of all radio stations own charts. For kicks I once tried to determine 'points' for a 1986 chart using all the individual radio station charts but gave up. :)

[johnnywest]

ulij20 said:

I wonder if Casey Kasem would do this if there were a new figuring system, causing a lot of radical changes in the chart.  He didn't in 1994, when R&R began using monitored airplay, but he has explained weird chart moves in the past, like when Diamond Rio dropped out for one week from a rather high position with "One More Day", only to return the next week around the same position.  That would be weird if there was a chart like 11/30/91 and Casey said in the intro to the show, "Well, we have three debuts this week and ten re-entries (I don't have the 11/30/91 BB chart in front of me - that's just an estimation), that means we have to say goodbye to thirteen droppers..."

I didn't hear the first show of Casey's Top 40, so I don't know if he mentioned last week's positions or not.

The next radical change came in the spring of 1994. When R&R debuted their new pop chart, Casey made no mention of it. The show was written very poorly. Almost everything was "survey song #XX this week," however, the debuts and some of the songs moving upward were mentioned.

The next chart fluctuation came in the late summer/fall of 2000 when they started using the unpublished Mediabase charts with the whacky recurrent rule. There was no mention of a new chart, but at least he referrenced last week's positions.

The next shake-up came about a year later when all three of Casey's shows returned to the R&R charts. Casey mentioned last week's positions in the Top 40 (not sure about Hot AC). On the AC show, which my station was airing at the time, he did mention that there were 2 re-entries from old songs. (A week or two later, another song that had been gone for 6 months also re-entered.)

Sometime in 2003, AT20 (AC) started using a new chart that went by audience impressions and didn't include spins from Delilah's shows (as mentioned in a previous post). But this time, Casey DID point out that they were using a new chart. It wasn't at the top of the show, but later on going into a commercial break. He said that the new chart better reflected what their affiliates were playing, and he ended by saying something like, "...just in case you were wondering."

In 2005, AT10 (as it was now called), went back to the R&R Top 10. I did hear that first show and Casey did reference last week's positions. Whether they were based on R&R or something else, I don't know.