In my post from November 2012 I shared a list of all the songs that hit number one on my personal Top Ten charts from 1983 to 2001. Within that post I remarked that I could recite a myriad of chart statistics about these songs, not limiting those statistics just to number ones. In eighteen years of compiling a weekly Top Ten list I noticed some interesting facts and fun coincidences. I kept lists in the following categories during the years I compiled my charts. The more standardized kind of statistics come first and the fun stuff follows.
Most Top Ten Hits
I maintained an “honour roll” of artists who had achieved five or more Top Ten hits. 58 artists attained honour roll status. The record holders are:
Number of Top Ten Hits–Artist
52–Madonna
29–Janet Jackson
28–Pet Shop Boys
26–Prince
23–Duran Duran
23–Paul McCartney
20–Michael Jackson
18–Simple Minds
18–Whitney Houston
17–R.E.M.
15–Pointer Sisters
Most #1’s
It is interesting to compare this list with the list of artists who have attained the most Top Ten hits.
Number of #1’s–Artist
18–Madonna
10–Pet Shop Boys
9–Paul McCartney
8–Duran Duran
8–Janet Jackson
7–Pointer Sisters
6–Simple Minds
6–Michael Jackson
5–Prince
4–Whitney Houston
4–George Michael
4–U2
4–Rick Astley
4–The B-52’s
4–R.E.M.
Longest Runs at #1
The record holders:
Weeks at #1–Song title–Artist
21–ray of light–Madonna
14–believe–Cher
13–Say Say Say–Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson [a]
13–my love is your love–Whitney Houston
11–Nobody Told Me–John Lennon
11–No More Lonely Nights–Paul McCartney
11–She Sells Sanctuary–The Cult
11–Black or White–Michael Jackson
11–It Feels So Good–Sonique
10–Don’t Walk Away–Pointer Sisters
10–Free As A Bird–The Beatles
10–Candle In The Wind 1997–Elton John
10–If You Could Read My Mind–Stars on 54: Ultra Naté, Amber, Jocelyn Enriquez
Weeks when both the Billboard #1 single and album were the same on my chart
I compiled an albums chart for twenty years, yet had a singles chart for only eighteen. In those eighteen years when I had both charts there were occasions when both the Billboard #1 album and #1 single coincided with my own #1 album and #1 single during the same week:
Date: Album–artist / Single–artist
29 September 1984: Purple Rain–Prince and the Revolution / Let’s Go Crazy–Prince and the Revolution
13 July 1985: Songs from the Big Chair–Tears For Fears / A View to a Kill–Duran Duran
20 July 1985: Songs from the Big Chair–Tears For Fears / A View to a Kill–Duran Duran
16 August 1986: True Blue–Madonna / Papa Don’t Preach–Madonna
23 August 1986: True Blue–Madonna / Papa Don’t Preach–Madonna
6 September 1986: True Blue–Madonna / Venus–Bananarama
25 April 1987: The Joshua Tree–U2 / I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me)–Aretha Franklin and George Michael
17 February 1990: Forever Your Girl–Paula Abdul / Opposites Attract–Paula Abdul Duet with the Wild Pair
14 December 1991: Dangerous–Michael Jackson / Black or White–Michael Jackson
21 December 1991: Dangerous–Michael Jackson / Black or White–Michael Jackson
28 December 1991: Dangerous–Michael Jackson / Black or White–Michael Jackson
4 January 1992: Dangerous–Michael Jackson / Black or White–Michael Jackson
7 October 2000: “Music”–Madonna / “Music”–Madonna
Same Title But Different Song
Sometimes different songs which happened to have the exact same title appeared in my Top Ten. The titles below are not listed in any specific order:
Song title–Artists to chart that title listed in chronological order
Real Love–Jody Watley / The Beatles
Secret–OMD / Madonna
Head Over Heels–The Go-Go’s / Tears For Fears
Alright–Janet Jackson / Kris Kross
Baby Baby–Amy Grant / Corona
Open Your Heart–Madonna / M People
Notorious–Duran Duran / Loverboy
Tell it to My Heart–Taylor Dayne / Pointer Sisters
The Flame–Arcadia / Cheap Trick
Round and Round–Ratt / Tevin Campbell
Crazy–Icehouse / Seal
One–Bee Gees / U2
I Want You–Juliet Roberts / savage garden
Too Much–Bros / Spice Girls
Almost the same title:
Who’s That Girl? by Eurythmics and Who’s That Girl by Madonna
Freedom–Wham! / Pointer Sisters / George Michael:
The only example within eighteen years of chartmaking where the same title occurred three times. The weirdest coincidence is that each song attained the same peak position, and stayed there for the same length of time: one week at #2.
Same Title and Same Song
The shortest list of all covers the cover. Two songs appeared on my chart as full-length covers while two occurred as part of medleys. The titles below are not listed in any specific order:
Song title–Artists to chart that title listed in chronological order (peak position)
Where the Streets Have No Name–U2 (2) / Pet Shop Boys (in a medley with I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You) (1)
These Boots Are Made for Walkin’–Nancy Sinatra (1) / Kon Kan (in a medley with Puss N’ Boots) (4)
Kiss–Prince (4) / The Art of Noise featuring Tom Jones (2)
A third version of Kiss almost hit my Top Ten. I bought the 12″ EP of the version by Age of Chance, but never charted it.
Keep on Jumpin’–The Lisa Marie Experience (2) / Todd Terry Presents Martha Wash and Jocelyn Brown (1)
Although I was the force behind every song’s inclusion in my charts and know how subjective maintaining such a list was, I nevertheless am fascinated when I take a step back to look at the interesting situation that occurred with the above song. Unlike the first two examples, the two separate versions of Keep on Jumpin’ not only were complete songs but they were also in my Top Ten chart at the same time. Their chart runs overlapped for three weeks, but they never ranked at #1 and #2 concurrently. The first version had already started to descend the chart when the second version entered. This is reminiscent of the early days of the Billboard singles chart and the Hot 100, when the same song performed by different artists would often share spaces within the top ten during the same week.
Same Title and Same Song and Same Artist
Don’t You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds charted as both a studio version and a live version. The studio version peaked at #2 in 1985, while the live version, the B-side of All the Things She Said peaked at #3 the following year.
Top Ten Songs Sung in a Language Other Than English
More non-English albums appeared on my charts than singles, for two reasons. My chart rules required a physical single retail release in order to be eligible, and many of the foreign hits I liked had long been deleted from their regional catalogues by the time I discovered them, so the physical singles were by then long out of print. The second reason is that for the final two years I maintained a chart it was an album chart only. I listened to no new English music during these final years and no English-language album found a place on my chart for months at a time. During the final months of my singles chart I lifted the retail requirement and then my singles chart became overrun with Finnish album tracks. Prior to this period, when a retail release was still required, a small number of foreign-language songs reached my top ten. I am only counting songs sung entirely in a foreign language. Songs that feature a line or chorus in a foreign language, or songs that have only a foreign language title are not on this list.
Song title–Artist (Peak Position) Language
99 Luftballons–Nena (10) German
Ou est le Soleil?–Paul McCartney (2) French
This song was written for dance clubs and has minimal vocals, yet they are sung entirely in French. The record label does not show the accent grave over the U in Ou.
Bye Bye Mon Cowboy–Mitsou (1) French
This song and Ou est le Soleil? were in the Top Ten concurrently for eight weeks. A French invasion!
Macarena–Los Del Mar (9) Spanish
Sleepy Maggie–Ashley MacIsaac featuring Mary Jane Lamond (1) Scots Gaelic
In spite of the title, the song features no English.
shanti/ashtangi–Madonna (3) Sanskrit
A rare B-side, that of frozen
Vitun Suomirokki–Petri Nygård (5) Finnish
Itkin–Värttinä (3) Finnish
Äijö–Värttinä (4) Finnish
Seelinnikoi–Värttinä (1) Finnish
Hyvä Tyttönä Hypätä–Värttinä (6) Finnish
Pihi Neito–Värttinä (3) Finnish
Laiska–Värttinä (6) Finnish
Leppiäinen–Värttinä (2) Finnish
Linnunmieli–Värttinä (4) Finnish
Oi Dai–Värttinä (3) Finnish
Kiiriminna–Värttinä (4) Finnish
Vot Vot ja Niin Niin–Värttinä (5) Finnish
Ukko Lumi–Värttinä (6) Finnish
Kylä Vuotti Uutta Kuuta–Värttinä (9) Finnish
all of the Värttinä songs are album tracks
Most Top Tens Without a #1
The top spot eluded the following artists:
Number of Top Tens / Artist (Highest Position the Artist Achieved)
9 / Def Leppard (2)
8 / Sting (3)
7 / Culture Club (2)
7 / Eurythmics (3)
7 / Alanis Morissette (3)
6 / Men Without Hats (2)
6 / Spice Girls (2)
In Town. One Week Only!
Hundreds of artists appeared on my Top Ten. Most of these artists had multiple hits while some were one-hit wonders. This category highlights those artists that appeared on my chart for one week only–and that’s it. They made no other appearance within the Top Ten before or since. Their entire history over eighteen years of charts was confined to one solitary week:
Artist / Song title (Peak Position) / Date of Chart Appearance
Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack / Tonight, I Celebrate My Love (10) / 26 November 1983
Re-Flex / The Politics of Dancing (10) / 4 February 1984
The Pretenders / Middle of the Road (9) / 3 March 1984
Nena / 99 Luftballons (10) / 24 March 1984
The Icicle Works / Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly) (9) / 16 June 1984
Scandal featuring Patty Smyth / The Warrior (10) / 15 September 1984
Midge Ure / If I Was (10) / 1 February 1986
Perfect World / Vacation in Black (10) / 15 November 1986
Sway / Hands Up (Give Me Your Heart) (9) / 19 March 1988
Bryan Ferry / Kiss and Tell (10) / 30 April 1988
Roxette / The Look (9) / 29 April 1989
Blue Rodeo / Diamond Mine (10) / 3 June 1989
[a] Say Say Say had already been in release for one month and was the first #1 on my chart when I started it in November 1983.