They said the old record from April 1964 would never be broken. Maybe during those times it would indeed be impossible to break, but I knew better, given the way the charts are compiled in the age of digital downloads and especially streaming.
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| Canadian hip-hop/pop artist Drake sets several Billboard Hot 100 records this week as he has the top 5 (equaling the Beatles), 9 of the top 10 and 21 songs in the top 40, all from his new album Certified Lover Boy |
If you are wondering what I am talking about, look at the Billboard Hot 100 from April 5, 1964:
1. "Cant Buy Me Love" - Beatles
2. "Twist And Shout" - Beatles
3. "She Loves You" - Beatles
4. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" - Beatles
5. "Please Please Me" - Beatles
6. "Suspicion" - Terry Stafford
7. "Hello Dolly" - Louis Armstrong
8. "Shoop Shoop Song" - Betty Everett
9. "My Heart Belongs to Only You" - Bobby Vinton
10. "Glad All Over" - Dave Clark Five
Now, let's look at the current Billboard Hot 100 for week ending September 18, 2021:
1. "Way 2 Sexy" - Drake (featuring Future and Young Thug)
2. "Girls Want Girls" - Drake (featuring Lil Baby)
3. "Fair Trade" - Drake (featuring Travis Scott)
4. "Champagne Poetry" - Drake
5. "Knife Talk" - Drake (featuring 21 Savage and Project Pat)
6. "Stay" - The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber
7. "In the Bible" - Drake (featuring Lil Durk and Giveon)
8. "Papi's Home" - Drake
9, "TSU" - Drake
10. "Love All" - Drake (featuring Jay-Z)
Yes, this is the current week's Billboard Hot 100 Top 10. The Canadian rapper Drake sets a record this week for chart domination, with the top 5 (equaling the Beatles feat in April 1964), and nine songs in the top 10. In addition, he has #11, 12, 14, 16 and 18, and several others further down the chart..in fact, all 21 songs from his new album debut in the top 40 of the chart.
So, does this mean that Drake is bigger than the Beatles? Many music fans have pointed to the Beatles sweeping the top five as Beatlemania was in full force the first half of 1964, as a record that will never be broken.
Wrong.
With the way the chart is currently compiled, I knew, even a few years ago, that conditions would be favorable for this to be equaled or even broken. After all, Ariana Grande pulled off the top 3 in 2019, and Drake did the trick in March of this year. I had thought that, if a superstar of the caliber of Drake, who, let's face it, has been the most popular artist of the last 10 years, released a new album, that all these songs off of it could break a record. And while, he only tied The Beatles' domination of the top 5, nine songs of the top 10 is something that probably was impossible in the past but opens up the real possibility of this happening again. I wouldn't be surprised if an artist of his caliber (or Justin Bieber, Grande, BTS, for that matter) would dominate the entire top 10 on Billboard.
So, has Drake "revolutionized" popular music? Actually, no...it's the technology used to gather charts that has revolutionized the way we measure popular music. I've touched about the methods in recent weeks, when discussing long-running chart songs like The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" (more on that song below). Let me equate this to what the Beatles did in April of 1964.
If every Beatles song (or actually two--front and back) was released on a 45 rpm single (as well as on a vinyl album), and there was some mechanism that, whenever you play the song on a record player, that it would count the song that is eligible for chart action, then you would probably have a similar situation to Drake's accomplishment. But, that wasn't feasible back in the day.
Unlike today, record labels would release one single at a time, and when it ran its course after 12 weeks or so, another would be released. So, how did The Beatles grab the top five spots? Back in those days, "A" and "B" sides of singles charted separately, so you could have two songs on the charts at the same time. The Beatles did that frequently...in fact they were affected in 1969 when Billboard changed this policy late that year when they combined both sides of a 45 rpm vinyl record (since when you buy the 45, both songs are on it), and "Come Together" and "Something" were co-number one songs.
But that wasn't the case with The Beatles during the start of their 1964 chart dominance. You need to remember that when the band first started in 1962 and created the first wave of "Beatlemania" in the UK the following year, that Capitol Records, the EMI branch of the UK's Parlophone Records, refused to release any Beatles records here. Hence, they loaned them out to other small record labels. When it was apparent that The Beatles were going to become the phenomenon in the end of 1963, Capitol released "I Want to Hold Your Hand", which hit #1 at the end of January, 1964. Realizing that the labels that received these older Beatle songs had somewhat of a gold mine in the wake of "I Want to Hold Your Hand", and their Ed Sullivan Show appearance, many of them released their own singles. And while Capitol did have two songs among the top 5 ("I Want to Hold Your Hand" and its Capitol follow-up "Can't Buy Me Love"), they were released ten weeks apart. The other labels were Vee-Jay, Tollie and Swan. Capitol of Canada released "Roll Over Beethoven" which was on the charts as well, along with other Vee-Jay releases. It also might be added that the charts probably took a few weeks to compile, as record stores would "manually" phone in what songs were selling, and radio stations would submit their most requested songs, as well as that from record store surveys that reported to that station.
Fast forward to 2021. Vinyl 45's are long gone (as are their replacement cassette and CD singles). You can buy a digital song on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby and other places, or better yet, you can stream the song on various platforms; each time you do stream, it counts towards the charts. Combined with "song detection" that recognizes a song when it's played on the radio, you have instant information. The song no longer has to be a "single"; if a song is available individually (and that is almost always the case---you can pick songs from an album you want), it counts. That is the case with Drake's new album, Certified Lover Boy. The album has 21 tracks and they all debuted on the Hot 100's top 40, including 9 of the top 10. Just like that. You could play a classic rock album several times but it doesn't count on the charts; but stream the songs on an album repeatedly, that DOES count!
And, since all of Drake's new songs were from that new album, that broke a record that was set originally by Michael Jackson's Thriller, Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation, and Drake himself with his 2018 album Scorpion. Of course, back when the Jackson siblings and Bruce released their albums, the hits came one at a time, over a span of a year and a half, as opposed to Drake doing it in one week.
If it's any consolation to The Beatles, the song "Champagne Poetry" (#4) credits John Lennon and Paul McCartney as among the writers as the song incorporates portions of "Michelle" into it.
So, is it possible to say that Drake is bigger than the Fab Four given this week's chart action? Because the method of compiling the chart has changed in 57 years, it's hard to say. If we had the technology back then, perhaps the Beatles would continue to rule, but we'll never know. However, I do have to say this: These current charts are far more accurate than the charts of the 1960's and subsequent decades. Back then, songs would gradually rise up the charts, seemingly increasing every week, hitting its peak then descending down the chart. It seems very unlikely that a song would be consistent like that from week to week. Songs in reality can increase one week, and drop suddenly the next. "Can't Buy Me Love" reached #2 in two weeks, but nowadays songs debut regularly at #1 as people buy and stream the song right away as, thanks to the Internet, and social media, the public knows about a new release, and not from a radio station.
There is, however one record that comes to an end this week. If you remember me talking about "Blinding Lights" scoring its 90th week on the Hot 100, all the Drake songs were able to push the song out of the top 25. Songs are removed from the chart if they have been around for 26 weeks and descended below #25. Next week should be interesting. The Kid LAROI's song which was the only non-Drake tune in the Top 10 is #6, and the next highest is Ed Sheeran's "Bad Habits" which drops from #3 to #13. As the song remains at #1 on my chart, any chance of it becoming the tenth song to top both my playlist and Billboard's (and the third involving Sheeran) has diminished. But that could change next week as most likely, a good chunk of the Drake songs would drop out. And, could "Blinding Lights" re-enter the list?
For the heck of it, I checked back to see if I had ever added a Drake song to my playlist. Turns out yes, I did: "In My Feelings" peaked at #59 in 2018, and was featured vocalist on Rihanna's "Work" (#95, 2016), and Bad Bunny's "MIA" (#71). So the question is, should I add one of these to my playlist? After all, I plunged into The Weeknd's music early this year after his Super Bowl performance. It could be "Way 2 Sexy" which is the #1 song and which is based on Right Said Fred's 1991 "I'm Too Sexy" which was a #1 song back then. Stay tuned.
THIS WEEK'S ACTION: Okay, so unlike the "real" charts these days, I still rank songs the old fashioned way. I rank them low and move them up as I hear the songs more and more. That is because songs either grow on me or burn out fast. It took, for example, it took Ed Sheeran nine weeks to ascend to the top of the SNS 100 playlist, and it remains there for a second week. Cold War Kids remains in the runner-up spot, as does Nick Waterhouse in the #3 position. It's a pretty stagnant top of the charts. Jade Bird and Ian Roberts round out the top 5 with "Now is the Time" and the resurgent "So Fine Summertime", respectively. Jade has the best chance of being the next number one, but it might take a couple weeks to do so. Manaskin's "Beggin'" as a good chance of being there as well, as it garners Impact honors, and the song is doing well at alternative. Middle Kids, Einstein's Dad, Dua Lipa and Tim Izzard all enter the top 20, all coming off Top 10 songs, with their follow-ups.
DEBUTS: Seven adds this week, headed by Bakar's "The Mission". This is the British singer's follow-up to "1st Time" which had a six-week run atop of the SNS 100 at the beginning of this year. The new song is a nice easy-going, lightly produced, with a nice tropical-style beat. A worthy follow-up that should bring him his third blog top 10. Speaking of tropical music, King Tappa quickly follows his "Lost In Thought" with "Love Spell". The reggae artist is in fine form, even with a Bob Marley-influenced groove here. This should top the #31 position of his previous song. Very nice.
Christina Taylor is back again with her third new release this year, with "Damn Boy". Although she had just released the summer-themed "Destination", just a few weeks ago, it was because the season was winding down, and she had wanted to get it out there before Labor Day. However she is putting all the promotion to the new one, and she again is in fine form. While "I Got That From You", still on my list, was disappointing in that she didn't chart with it, "Damn Boy" might give her another chance. It was among the site American Country Music Chatter's top new songs, ranked at #2, along with established artists like Sam Hunt, Kasey Musgraves, and Cole Swindell. Let's hope this is the one to break her big.
Remember Kungs, the French-born dance music DJ/producer who hit #1 here with "This Girl" in 2018? He is back with "Never Going Home". Unlike some of his previous songs with featured artists, he goes it alone this time. It is good enough for several spins and streams. Clairo impressed earlier this year with "Sofia"; she returns with "Amoeba", which has a bit of a pop sensibility about it. It is mellow but emotional at the same time, even somewhat of a lounge feeling. Brandi Carlile debuts with "Right On Time", a slow, somber but powerful ballad which should garner some major chart presence.
And last, but certainly not least, is "Don't Shut Me Down" by Abba. Yes, that's right, the famed Swedish quartet has reformed after forty years apart! Has it been that long? Abba was one of my "guilty pleasures" in the 1970's, and even had two of my top five songs on my 1977 year-end list ("Dancing Queen", #2, and "Knowing Me Knowing You" , #5). The song is along the lines of their later material, and reminds me a bit of "La Isla Bonita" by Madonna. Not as immediate as some of their early hits, but could catch on with several listens.
WAS THE LIVING EASY?: Next week, I will reveal my "Song of the Summer" for 2021. This week's blog playlist is the last one before I tabulate the results. It was a pretty interesting summer with many themed seasonal songs on the SNS 100. I will be posting my top 20 of the season then. Stay tuned!
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist
September 12, 2021
|
This Week |
Last
Week |
ARTIST-Title |
Weeks
on List |
|
1 |
1 |
NUMBER ONE:  Album: = (2 weeks at #1) |
10 |
|
2 |
2 |
12 |
|
|
3 |
3 |
8 |
|
|
4 |
4 |
9 |
|
|
5 |
7 |
16 |
|
|
6 |
8 |
11 |
|
|
7 |
13 |
9 |
|
|
8 |
5 |
15 |
|
|
9 |
16 |
6 |
|
|
10 |
18 |
9 |
|
|
11 |
10 |
17 |
|
|
12 |
9 |
14 |
|
|
13 |
6 |
16 |
|
|
14 |
12 |
15 |
|
|
15 |
30 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:  "Beggin'" Album: Chosen (EP) |
4 |
|
16 |
24 |
6 |
|
|
17 |
28 |
9 |
|
|
18 |
15 |
11 |
|
|
19 |
26 |
5 |
|
|
20 |
27 |
9 |
|
|
21 |
32 |
5 |
|
|
22 |
17 |
16 |
|
|
23 |
11 |
13 |
|
|
24 |
21 |
11 |
|
|
25 |
35 |
5 |
|
|
26 |
14 |
15 |
|
|
27 |
20 |
19 |
|
|
28 |
33 |
6 |
|
|
29 |
29 |
11 |
|
|
30 |
34 |
6 |
|
|
31 |
40 |
6 |
|
|
32 |
19 |
15 |
|
|
33 |
37 |
8 |
|
|
34 |
42 |
10 |
|
|
35 |
39 |
9 |
|
|
36 |
22 |
9 |
|
|
37 |
25 |
20 |
|
|
38 |
23 |
17 |
|
|
39 |
44 |
7 |
|
|
40 |
46 |
10 |
|
|
41 |
48 |
8 |
|
|
42 |
50 |
Christina Alessi and the Toll Collectors - Stone Meets the Sea |
7 |
|
43 |
31 |
10 |
|
|
44 |
51 |
6 |
|
|
45 |
52 |
6 |
|
|
46 |
43 |
12 |
|
|
47 |
41 |
8 |
|
|
48 |
45 |
14 |
|
|
49 |
55 |
10 |
|
|
50 |
56 |
5 |
|
|
51 |
36 |
12 |
|
|
52 |
47 |
15 |
|
|
53 |
38 |
14 |
|
|
54 |
74 |
MOVER OF THE WEEK:  Album: If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power |
2 |
|
55 |
61 |
3 |
|
|
56 |
64 |
3 |
|
|
57 |
49 |
18 |
|
|
58 |
57 |
11 |
|
|
59 |
68 |
3 |
|
|
60 |
60 |
4 |
|
|
61 |
72 |
3 |
|
|
62 |
--- |
TOP DEBUT:  (Single Only) |
1 |
|
63 |
63 |
4 |
|
|
64 |
53 |
15 |
|
|
65 |
78 |
2 |
|
|
66 |
58 |
15 |
|
|
67 |
62 |
13 |
|
|
68 |
67 |
4 |
|
|
69 |
59 |
13 |
|
|
70 |
65 |
10 |
|
|
71 |
54 |
12 |
|
|
72 |
73 |
4 |
|
|
73 |
76 |
3 |
|
|
74 |
75 |
5 |
|
|
75 |
81 |
2 |
|
|
76 |
71 |
4 |
|
|
77 |
79 |
3 |
|
|
78 |
86 |
2 |
|
|
79 |
70 |
7 |
|
|
80 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
81 |
83 |
2 |
|
|
82 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
83 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
84 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
85 |
88 |
2 |
|
|
86 |
85 |
4 |
|
|
87 |
69 |
15 |
|
|
88 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
89 |
89 |
7 |
|
|
90 |
66 |
18 |
|
|
91 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
92 |
87 |
5 |
|
|
93 |
77 |
10 |
|
|
94 |
80 |
13 |
|
|
95 |
84 |
8 |
|
|
96 |
97 |
Elle King and Miranda Lambert - Drunk (And I Don'tWant to Go
Home) |
24 |
|
97 |
92 |
5 |
|
|
98 |
82 |
10 |
|
|
99 |
95 |
28 |
|
|
100 |
90 |
11 |
|
|
Songs with the greatest increase in
favorite points over the prior week. ●
Songs with
25 or more plays on iTunes/iPods ▲ Songs with 50 or more plays.
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