Top CHR chart toppers (pre 1994)?

[jebsib]

Before the 1994 switchover, when suddenly songs had massive stays at #1, does anyone have the list of top songs from 1973 - 1994? How many weeks on top did the # 1 song have?

[Cerebro]

I'm not, exactly, sure what you're asking for, here. I do have a list of all the #1s on the R&R pop chart since the magazine's inception. If you're, specifically, wondering about long stays at #1 then, yes, those have increased dramatically since the PPW era began.

Here's a rundown of all of the songs that have spent more than a month (4 weeks) at #1 prior to the PPW era. Songs in bold were #1 for that year.

1974
Terry Jacks - Seasons In The Sun (6 weeks)
Olivia Newton-John - I Honestly Love You (6 weeks)

1975
Olivia Newton-John - Have You Never Been Mellow (5 weeks)
Elton John Band - Philadelphia Freedom (6 weeks)
The Captain and Tennille - Love Will Keep Us Together (6 weeks)
Bee Gees - Jive Talkin' (5 weeks)

1976
Wings - Silly Love Songs (6 weeks)
Elton John and Kiki Dee - Don't Go Breaking My Heart (7 weeks)
Rod Stewart - Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright) (5 weeks)

1977
Leo Sayer - When I Need You (5 weeks)
Debby Boone - You Light Up My Life (6 weeks)

1978
Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive (6 weeks)
Bee Gees - Night Fever (6 weeks)
The Commodores - Three Times A Lady (6 weeks)
Exile - Kiss You All Over (5 weeks)

1979
Rod Stewart - Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? (6 weeks)

1980
Blondie - Call Me (6 weeks)
Kenny Rogers - Lady (5 weeks)

1981
Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes (5 weeks)
Diana Ross and Lionel Richie - Endless Love (5 weeks)
Foreigner - Waiting For A Girl Like You (6 weeks)
Daryl Hall and John Oates - I Can't Go For That (No Can Do) (6 weeks)

1982
Journey - Open Arms (7 weeks)
Rick Springfield - Don't Talk To Strangers (5 weeks)
Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger (5 weeks)

1983
Men At Work - Down Under (5 weeks)
Irene Cara - Flashdance...What A Feeling (5 weeks)
The Police - Every Breath You Take (8 weeks)
Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson - Say Say Say (5 weeks)

1984
Van Halen - Jump (5 weeks)

(Yes, turnover was very quick for the rest of the 80s)

1989
Phil Collins - Another Day In Paradise (5 weeks)

1991
Paula Abdul - Rush Rush (5 weeks)
Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You (6 weeks)

1992
Mariah Carey featuring Trey Lorenz - I'll Be There (6 weeks)
Boyz II Men - End Of The Road (6 weeks)
Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You (7 weeks)

1993
Janet Jackson - That's The Way Love Goes (6 weeks)
Mariah Carey - Dreamlover (9 weeks)
Janet Jackson - Again (5 weeks)
Mariah Carey - Hero (5 weeks)

1994
Ace Of Base - The Sign (8 weeks, before PPW changeover)

That's 41 long running #1s in a 20 year period. 6-plus weekers makes it an even more exclusive group at 23 songs. Scanning my archives, I count almost 30 6-plus weekers just going through the remaining 6 years of the 90s.

[Hervard]

You might want to change "Seasons In The Sun" to bold type. Even though R&R didn't post a year-end list in 1974, in one of their special anniversary issues, they had a Top 20 of the year list for each year, including 1974 and "Seasons In The Sun" topped that one.

I don't understand how "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" or "Silly Love Songs" didn't top the year-end list of 1976, nor do I know how that list was compiled. I tried several formulas and none of those matched up to their list. "If You Leave Me Now" by Chicago was #1 for that year and it spent three weeks at the top. However, it was still on the chart (in fact, just falling from the top spot) the week the chart was trimmed to 30 positions. It's possible that they included its chart run even below #30. Plus, I don't believe they gave extra points to a song for each week at #1. If they had, then "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" would have likely won the top spot of 1976.

The turnover rate was indeed quick for the rest of the 1980s. In fact, from early 1986 (the week "Say You Say Me" by Lionel Richie fell from the top after a four-week stay) through February, 1988 (when "Father Figure" by George Michael began a four-week run at the top), no song had spent more than three weeks on top. The top songs of 1986, 1987, and 1989 spent three weeks on top, and 1985 and 1988 both showed two-week chart toppers at #1 for the year. 1989 almost had an unprecedented one-week chart topper at #1, with "Cold-Hearted" at #2 for the year. Not sure how close it came, but had it had a longer chart run, or the run of "Miss You Much" been shorter, it would have happened. Long stays at the top very briefly resumed in early 1990, but they were here to stay as of 1991, with two songs at #1 for five weeks or longer and then, of course, starting with the PPW era, they became relatively commonplace.

[Cerebro]

Jun 25, 2010 11:23:11 GMT -5 Hervard said:

I don't understand how "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" or "Silly Love Songs" didn't top the year-end list of 1976, nor do I know how that list was compiled. I tried several formulas and none of those matched up to their list. "If You Leave Me Now" by Chicago was #1 for that year and it spent three weeks at the top.

Yeah, I scratched my head at that one, too. It was also bizarre given that "If You Leave Me Now" hit #1 in October, near the end of the chart year. I don't know what R&R's cut-off date was at that time but I'd've thought that that would've been a big mark against it getting top honors.

Jun 25, 2010 11:23:11 GMT -5 Hervard said:

You might want to change "Seasons In The Sun" to bold type. Even though R&R didn't post a year-end list in 1974, in one of their special anniversary issues, they had a Top 20 of the year list for each year, including 1974 and "Seasons In The Sun" topped that one.

Thanks. I wouldn't have known about 1974 since, as stated, the first year-end chart wasn't published until 1975.

By that rationale, I suppose "The Sign" should probably have an asterisk next to it. With the PPW changeover, R&R started publishing a combined CHR chart as well as separate Pop and Rhythmic charts. With the changeover, the countdown shows that used R&R (Casey's Top 40, Rick Dees' Weekly Top 40), naturally, started using the Pop chart. When the year-end charts were released, R&R only published year-end rankings for the combined chart (on which, Boyz II Men's "I'll Make Love II You" led the list). I always assumed that Casey used the unplublished Pop rankings for his year-end show (on which, "The Sign" led). Rick Dees, however, used the combined chart for his year-end show. I believe the combined chart was discontinued some time in 1995.

[jebsib]

Thank you Cerebro - that is exactly what I was interested in.

Amazing how things changed after PPW. Obviously monitoring was more accurate, but I feel that the new information changed the way radio stations were programmed, with stations holding onto recurrents and current hits longer then they ever did before.

[Whi$tlin' Pete]

Remembering some long running number 2 hits, I can think of "All That She Wants" spending 5 weeks at number 2, and "If" spending 6 weeks at number 2.

[Hervard]

Jun 27, 2010 9:53:15 GMT -5 Cerebro said:

Jun 25, 2010 11:23:11 GMT -5 Hervard said:

I don't understand how "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" or "Silly Love Songs" didn't top the year-end list of 1976, nor do I know how that list was compiled. I tried several formulas and none of those matched up to their list. "If You Leave Me Now" by Chicago was #1 for that year and it spent three weeks at the top.

Yeah, I scratched my head at that one, too. It was also bizarre given that "If You Leave Me Now" hit #1 in October, near the end of the chart year. I don't know what R&R's cut-off date was at that time but I'd've thought that that would've been a big mark against it getting top honors.

Back in 1976, the cutoff date was the second-to-last chart of 1976 (in this case, I believe it would be December 10). It was only a few years later that the cutoff date was moved to late November. This would also account for how "You Light Up My Life" by Debby Boone managed to top the 1977 year-ender despite topping the chart in October.

I believe the combined chart was discontinued some time in 1995.

It was, in fact, the very first week of 1995. In June of that year, Rick Dees began using a chart that looked to be very similar to that chart. I wonder how close it would have been had R&R kept that chart up.