I kept a weekly Top Ten Singles chart for seventeen and a half years from late 1983 to early 2001. In the nineties, as record companies issued fewer songs as singles, songs had exceedingly long stays in my top ten, for no other reason than there were simply no other singles that I liked to replace them with. Song turnover was greatest in the eighties and chart runs were thus shorter. The majority of the songs to have runs in my top ten for twenty weeks or more are from the nineties or later.

Number of Weeks in Top Ten Song title–Artist Peak Position (weeks at #1) / Year Song was Last in Top Ten

54 ray of light–Madonna 1 (21) / 1999
49 American Pie–Madonna 1 (5) / 2001
38 don’t call me baby–madisonavenue 1 (1) / 2001
36 If You Could Read My Mind–Stars on 54: Ultra Naté, Amber, Jocelyn Enriquez 1 (10) / 1999
34 my love is your love–Whitney Houston 1 (13) / 2000
33 believe–Cher 1 (14) / 2000
32 Heartbreak Hotel–Whitney Houston feat. Faith Evans & Kelly Price 1 (6) / 1999
32 Sandstorm–darude 1 (6) / 2001
31 if i were you–k. d. lang 4 / 1996
30 ooh aah…Just a little bit–Gina G 1 (7) / 1997
30 I Will Go With You (Con Te Partiro)–Donna Summer 2 / 2000
29 Wrong–Everything But the Girl 2 / 1997
29 How Do I Live–LeAnn Rimes 3 / 1998
29 frozen–Madonna 1 (7) / 1998
29 Crying at the Discoteque–Alcazar Starring Annikafiore Andreas Lundstedt Tess 1 (4) / 2001
29 feel the beat–darude 2 / 2001
28 Only Happy When it Rains–Garbage 3 / 1997
28 It Feels So Good–Sonique 1 (11) / 2000
27 Star People–George Michael 1 (1) / 1997
26 Go West–Pet Shop Boys 1 (3) / 1994
25 Is There Something I Should Know?–Duran Duran 2 / 1984 [1]
25 I Want You–Juliet Roberts 1 (5) / 1994
25 Livin’ La Vida Loca–Ricky Martin 1 (7) / 1999
25 It’s Not Right But It’s Okay–Whitney Houston 3 / 2000
24 Don’t You (Forget About Me)–Simple Minds 2 / 1988
24 Wicked Game–Chris Isaak 1 (5) / 1991
24 Wrap Me Up–Alex Party 1 (2) / 1996
24 Candle In The Wind 1997–Elton John 1 (10) / 1998
24 strong enough–Cher 4 / 2000
23 Say Say Say–Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson 1 (13) 1984 [2]
23 i want you–Savage Garden 1 (5) / 1997
23 Just a Freak–Crystal Waters Featuring Dennis Rodman 2 / 1998
23 My All–Mariah Carey 2 / 1999
23 beautiful stranger–Madonna 1 (6) / 1999
23 “Music”–Madonna 1 (4) / 2001
22 Moving on Up–M People 2 / 1994
22 Baby Baby–Corona 1 (4) / 1995
22 Stupid Girl–Garbage 1 (1) / 1997
22 look at me–Geri Halliwell 2 / 1999
22 When the Heartache is Over–Tina 3 / 2000
21 Nobody Told Me–John Lennon 1 (11) / 1984
21 Tubthumping–Chumbawamba 3 / 1998
21 Stop–Spice Girls 2 / 1998
21 Sun is Shining–Bob Marley 3 / 2000
21 Proud.–Heather Small 2 / 2001
20 The Safety Dance–Men Without Hats 2 / 1984 [3]
20 Express Yourself–Madonna 1 (9) / 1989
20 I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind of Thing–Pet Shop Boys 1 (3) / 1994
20 Melody of Love (Wanna Be Loved)–Donna Summer 1 (4) / 1995
20 Bedtime Story–Madonna 2 / 1995
20 You Oughta Know–Alanis Morissette 3 / 1996
20 My Heart Will Go On–Celine Dion 2 / 1998
20 don’t let this moment end–Gloria Estefan 2 / 1999

I stopped compiling a Top Ten Singles chart on 7 April 2001. During those fourteen weeks of 2001 no new singles entered my Top Ten at all. The dearth of commercially-available singles led me to finally allow album tracks to chart on 10 February. The last commercially-available single of new music to chart was Original Prankster by the Offspring, which entered my chart on 30 December 2000. Vot Vot ja Niin Niin by Värttinä was released as a single in Finland in 1991, but had been long out of print by the time I charted it ten years later on 24 February 2001.

[1] Is There Something I Should Know? had already been in release for about eight months and was on my chart when I started it in November 1983. It would remain on my chart for 25 weeks.

[2] Say Say Say had already been in release for one month and was on my chart when I started it in November 1983. It would remain on my chart for 23 weeks.

[3] The Safety Dance had already been in release for about nine months and was on my chart when I started it in November 1983. It would remain on my chart for twenty weeks.