Well, sixty years ago this month, Billboard magazine, a respected industry trade magazine, started doing the same thing. In an attempt to "organize music", i.e. determine what is "popular", etc, on August 6, 1958, the first "Hot 100" was born.
Sure, there have been popularity charts in the past, going all the way back to the "sheet music" area before radio stations started playing what's popular. It was a song popularity list at one time, that is, the song was the thing, more than the artists who performed them, as many cover versions of a song would come out at the same time. Billboard tracked what was popular going way back. And by the 1950's, they actually had three popularity charts.
These charts were "Most Played by Disc Jockeys", a ranked list of songs that were played by radio stations, obtained by calling the stations and getting a playlist; "Best Sellers in Stores", which is self-explanatory--calling record stores to see what the biggest selling 45's were; and "Most Played in Jukeboxes" as many people, namely teenagers would meet up at sock hops, restaurants, and other places and put their dimes in the jukeboxes.
After a while, Billboard found a way to combine all of these lists into one weekly "Top 100". It was that list which became the famed "Hot 100" chart, and on August 6, 1958, the first one was published. The first number one song? "Poor Little Fool", by then teen-sensation Ricky Nelson, who appeared every week on the sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
Sixty years and 1,076 songs later, the Hot 100 is still going strong. "In My Feelings" by Drake is the current #1 song on this chart (1077th overall), and as of the week ending August 25, it has held the top spot for six weeks, and was the top song on the sixtieth anniversary of the chart. And just as Ricky Nelson was a perfect example of what teens and other music fans were listening to in the 1950's, Drake's hip-hop style has dominated the pop charts, for a couple of years---actually it has for 25 years more or less, but this particular style: rap mixed with electronic dance music, has taken charge recently; the song is Drake's third #1 this year alone on that chart.
Of course, as the decades progressed, the way the chart information is gathered has changed drastically. Shortly after the Hot 100 was established, the "Most Played in Jukeboxes" chart was discontinued. Jukeboxes, though hey still existed (and in a modified form, still do today), were no longer a means of tracking a current popular song as many of them just contain classic songs and rarely anything new. However, radio airplay and sales continued although they, too, had many roadblocks. Stations that played "Top 40" music withered away around 1980, with many of them going to adult contemporary music (i.e. softer sounding music) to appeal to an older demographic, and some were album rock-oriented stations. 45's started selling less in favor of long-playing vinyl albums. But the charts were adjusted for all of this. The rise of MTV in the early 1980's revitalized the business as Top 40 stations (now called "contemporary hit radio", or CHR, came back with a vengeance, and the sounds once again appealed to younger listeners. The vinyl 45 was replaced by cassette singles and it was those two formats that persisted into the early 1990's.
Still there were issues: Billboard still relied on playlists submitted by radio stations. However, many records, "novelty" or "comedy" records, in particular, were played but not reported. Similarly, some songs on the station's survey, weren't played on the stations ('paper adds", as they were called). Also, the record companies manipulated the release and cut-off of singles, as they felt they were cannibalizing album sales (which by then were compact disc and the dwindling cassette and vinyl configurations).
In 1991, technology came to the forefront: Broadcast Data Systems, a company which, via "voice imprint", was able to detect what songs radio stations were playing, kept track of the number of times a song was played. Around the same time, Soundscan, was a "point-of-sale" system which immediately was able to track what singles and albums were selling; thus the human element of providing lists to Billboard was no longer needed.
As the nineties continued, however, more record companies, in an effort to sell albums, further curtailed physical singles sales, and in many instances, didn't release singles at all even though radio was playing the heck out of them. Due to a long standing policy that a song had to be available as a single to be included on the chart (a past example being Andy Williams' 1961 "Moon River", his signature song but didn't chart as it was available only on an album) . One big example of this erea was "Don't Speak" by No Doubt, which was #1 on the airplay chart for 15 weeks in late 1996 and early 1997, but as a result, wasn't on the Hot 100 as it was available only on an album.
Billboard changed that policy soon thereafter and included radio-only songs on that chart. A "backlash" of radio stations' "no singles" policy occurred with the advent of "Napster", a peer-to-peer file sharing service, which allowed users to share online (mp3) files with others, eliminating the need to buy an entire album. Obviously this was the record industry's worst fear, as sales dropped. Napster (as well as similar file-sharing systems) were sued and shut down, but it did change the way music was sold. Physical singles were history, but individual mp3's which were legally purchased (via iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, and others), were now included on the chart.
Eventually, streaming, via apps like Spotify, Rhapsody and others, became the dominant music source and have somewhat revitalized the industry. Today's Billboard Hot 100 includes streaming, digital downloads, views on YouTube videos and other sources, as well as monitored radio airplay on all formats. The result is a supposedly more accurate painting of what the most popular songs are from week to week. Unlike the past, records can jump up and down the chart in successive weeks, or stay at the top for ten weeks or more. In addition, many album cuts by artists are eligible to chart, whether they are the official 'singles' or not; artists have debuted as many as ten or more songs on the chart in the same week, usually when an album is released and listeners download certain individual tracks from it. Songs last much longer on the charts as well.
To celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Billboard Hot 100, Sirius XM satellite radio's Channel 3, from July 30 to August 5, played all one thousand and seventy-seven number one singles in chronological order from "Poor Little Fool" to "In My Feelings", making two passes thru the list. Unfortunately, as I only get Sirius XM via my car radio, I couldn't listen to it as only a few times I was driving in my car. So I missed all the 1960's and seventies music I grew up with.
When I turned on Sirius XM, they were playing "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield, which was #1 in August, 1981. When "Endless Love", by Diana Ross & Lionel Richie followed which was the next charttopper, I knew they were playing the songs in order. Very cool! A few hours later, I tuned in again...this time they were in August 1987 with "La Bamba", by Los Lobos which was a big Jersey Shore song in 1987, the first year I did a beach house there. It was followed by "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" by Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrertt, the lead single from the King of Pop's Bad set and a reminder of the end of that summer. "Didn't We Almost Had It All" by Whitney Houston, and "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake were next on that list.
Later that day, they were now up to early 1992, "Black or White", another lead single from Michael Jackson, this one was from Dangerous; "All 4 Love" by Color Me Badd, 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" by George Michael and Elton John, and finally, "To Be With You", by Mr. Big.
When I headed to work that night, they were in 2007 in the summer: "Hey There Delilah" (Plain White T's), "Beautiful Girls", Sean Kingston, "Big Girls Don't Cry" (Fergie), "Crank That (Souljah Boy)" (Souljah Boy Tell "Em), "Stronger" (Kanye West), and "Kiss Kiss" (Chris Brown).
When I headed home the next morning, they were back to 1963 and the more recognizable "Surf City" (Jan & Dean); "So Much In Love" (The Tymes); "Fingertips Pt 2" (Little Stevie Wonder); "My Boyfriend's Back" (The Angels); and "Blue Velvet" (Bobby Vinton).
Unfortunately when I turned in again, they were back in the 80's, thus missing the late sixties and seventies once again. Oh well. I then did a caching day down to South Brunswick NJ and listened to much of the late 2000's and 2010's, in which, with a few exceptions, the sound was totally unrecognizable, although several of them were added onto my SNS playlists over the past few years. Finally, Drake's "In My Feelings" was played and that was a wrap to the week of memories.
Of course, I wished I could have listened straight through, but of course, I actually have a life, and with 6600 songs on my iPod and counting, I think I have a good cross section of number one songs I can listen to at any time.
With that trip down memory lane behind me, I thought about my blog and my Scenes 'n' Soundwaves 100 list that I have been compiling. Next week will be the 8th anniversary of my blog and my list and I then made my own playlist of all my #1 songs, 131 of them (now 132 as we have a new #1 this week). On my next blog, I will take a look back at my eight years of doing this blog and my own chart toppers (of which eight of them were also Billboard #1's).
FORTY-LOVE: Tennis gets it's third #1 on my list as "My Emotions are Blinding" hits the top spot, giving the husband-and-wife duo their second number one in a row, following "Modern Woman". Meanwhile, St. Paul and the Broken Bones' 'Apollo" is knocking on the door at #2. Actually both songs have the same number of points, but Tennis gets the tiebreaker as it had more points in the previous week. Hegazy advances into the top 5 with "Smolder", the twins' third top five from their Young EP. Franz Ferdinand, Portugal. The Man, and Weezer storm into the top 20, the latter with their remake of Toto's "Africa", which is currently #1 on the alternative chart. A former charttopper on that chart is Two Feet's "I Feel Like I'm Drowning" which is a late bloomer here, moving 19-13 in its 14th chart week. Also of note is Donna Missal's "Keep Lying", which leaps 74-21.
FESTIVAL MUSIC: I have often talked about "up-and-coming" artists, usually those recommended by friends who are either related to them, or have known them all their lives. Hegazy, Christina Taylor, Phoebe Ryan, Offguard, and The Hounds of Winter are just a few of the artists I've been following.
And then there are the artists who I have seen perform at festivals. There was no connection with friends; I was just blown away by listening to them at outdoor events that I wound up purchasing their CD or downloading their songs. Several of these acts appear this week on the SNS 100, with three of the debuting this week.
The Big Takeover, led by Jamaican-born DeeDee Rushie, heard at the 2014 Rosendale (NY) Street Festival, drops 8-19 with "Rainboots". The Doughboys, a 1960's band out of Union County, NJ which reformed in the early 2000's, appears twice. The band, heard at the 2016 WNTI Summer Stage, drops 14-27 with "Sink or Swim" and debuts at #83 with a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Play With Fire". Shannon Marsyada, met at the 2013 Autumn Festival in Jim Thorpe, PA, enters with "Tough Girl"; the singer hit #1 in early 2014 with "What You Do To Me".
Finally, Spinn, a country band from New Jersey, debuts at #77 with "Crazy For You". The outfit played at the Chester (NJ) "Just Jersey Food Truck Festival'" which took place this past Saturday (8/18). They are the third country artist from the Garden State to be added to SNS, following Rachel Allyn and After the Reign. Like most acts, they played mainly covers at the festival but have recorded original material, of which "Crazy for You" is. Thoroughly enjoyable.
ELLE-SWHERE: The Top Debut is week is the new one by Elle King, "Shame". The singer, the daughter of comedian Rob Schneider, broke through in 2015 with her debut album and the song "Ex's and Oh's", which reached the Billboard top 10 as well as #2 here on SNS. The follow-up, "Under the Influence", reached the top spot here. Both songs were from her full-length debut, Love Stuff. The new song, a nice fresh outing which combines a bit of both of those songs, will be from a forthcoming album. It debuts at #55. Right behind that is the latest from Ed Sheeran's Divide set, "Happier". Only peaking at #59 on the Hot 100, it appears that radio is done with the album, but this is an awesome song and stands up to his best. Look for another winner with this killer ballad. "Also entering the list is the latest from The Kooks, "Four Leaf Clover". The song is from their forthcoming set, Let's Go Sunshine The British indie rockers were one of my favorite bands in the 2000's, and their Junk of the Heart set from 2011 yielded the memorable title rack which reached #2 here. But after a few other songs from that album which reached my top 20, their next few efforts stopped short. "Four Leaf Clover" seems to be a return to form...a very melodic, vintage-poppish, feel good romp. A welcome return. Look for a big jump next week. We only want to make you happy!
CORRECTIONS: In last week's tribute to Aretha Franklin, who passed last week, I had mentioned that "Try A Little Tenderness', a chart entry for the Queen of Soul in 1962, was written by Otis Redding. The song actually dates back to 1932 and was written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods, and was recorded by Ray Nobels Orchestra, Bing Crosby, and Ruth Ettling, among others who had a hits with it in 1933. Aretha's version is in that style. Redding's version was a drastically altered take on the song, making it his own; it is his version that has been covered since, particularly by Three Dog Night.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
August 19, 2018
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 3 | NUMBER ONE:
" My Emotions Are
Blinding"
Album: Yours Conditionally
|
8 |
| 2 | 4 | St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Apollo | 5 |
| 3 | 5 | Cigarettes After Sex - Apocalypse | 8 |
| 4 | 2 | Florence + the Machine - Hunger | 13 |
| 5 | 9 | Hegazy - Smolder | 9 |
| 6 | 1 | Kungs vs Cookin' on 3 Burners - This Girl | 10 |
| 7 | 6 | Neko Case - Bad Luck● | 15 |
| 8 | 7 | Nick Waterhouse - Straight Love Affair | 15 |
| 9 | 10 | Iration - Press Play | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | Interpol - The Rover | 7 |
| 11 | 13 | The Regrettes - Come Through | 13 |
| 12 | 15 | Courtney Barnett - Charity | 7 |
| 13 | 19 | Two Feet - I Feel Like Drowning | 14 |
| 14 | 17 | Lord Huron - Wait By the River | 13 |
| 15 | 26 | TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
"Paper
Cages"
Album: Always Ascending
|
5 |
| 16 | 25 | Portugal. The Man - Tidal Wave | 5 |
| 17 | 18 | Øffguard -Tension | 9 |
| 18 | 16 | Beach House - Lemon Glow | 11 |
| 19 | 8 | The Big Takeover - Rainboots | 13 |
| 20 | 34 | Weezer - Africa | 6 |
|
|
Songs
with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.
● Songs
with 25 or more plays on my iPod.
▲ Songs with 50 or more
plays on my iPod.
The “Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100” is a list
of current and recent song playlist which I am listening to.
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