Consie

One of the things I'm taking away from all this (in addition to Adele's incredible accomplishment) is just how otherworldly Candle In the Wind 1997 is. Only a year ago we were all shocked at how Taylor Swift's 1989 had bucked every trend and set 10 year records. 21 shocked us a few years back. 21 could happen again. Hello could happen again. But I can't see any situation in which Candle in the Wind 1997 could ever be topped. The internet and media have changed and fragmented pop culture so much that I don't see any situation ever again arising in which we buy a single therapeutically, at least to the extraordinary degree as we did in 1997/8.

I'm excited that Cheerleader is Ultra Records' first no. 1 on the Hot 100! They've pretty much been THE dance music label in the US for the last 15 years.

While Wrecking Ball beat it (#1) and We Can't Stop tied it (#2) in chart placing, you're right that Party in the USA sold around 2 million more copies than either of those (Stateside). Hard to argue it's not far and away her biggest hit.

I see this as a structural problem with the Hot 100 at the moment. Strictly sales or airplay charts likely see higher turnover at the top, but since the Hot 100 combines them, you see songs climb to the top 5 on big sales and then linger there for AGES (long after sales decline) on the strength of airplay, which can peak weeks or months after the sales peak. EDIT: I should say there are certainly exceptions. Uptown Funk had gigantic sales for the entirety of its run. There's little use in arguing that song didn't deserve a very long run at #1.

Four #1s in 6 months. So we're on track to tie 2005 for lowest number of #1s in one year (eight).

Please. We made Laffy Taffy #1 in 2006 and This is Why I'm Hot #1 in 2007. We made the Black Eyed Peas sit at #1 for six straight months in 2009. We have much worse to be ashamed of (but I do hate See You Again soooo much).

156. Jess Glynne - Hold My Hand

I never realized (or completely forgot) Break Your Heart made such an impressive leap to #1 back in 2010. It is hard to believe any debut act could make such an impact today.

Cheerleader is rising quickly on iTunes with virtually no airplay which bodes well. But I worry about timing -- I see another Rather Be where radio takes MONTHS AND MONTHS to come around and airplay finally peaks well after sales/hype/streaming has reached its peak. Radio is just such a dinosaur. I can easily see it being August before Cheerleader reaches top 10 airplay, which could mean Cheerleader will be lucky to make top 10 on the Hot 100. Hope I'm wrong though.

Would have never believed back then that out of this crop of "new" (circa 1999-2000) female singers, Pink would be scoring #1 hits 13+ years later (and tie Britney for most #1s). There You Go seemed like such derivative crap, the worst kind of "swagger jacking" (white pop singers mimicking black singers).

Thanks for these, Euphorique. 1996 was just amazing -- the only one I didn't like out of the whole 20 was Natalie Merchant (AWFUL).

I agree that One Sweet Day is not a great song and hasn't aged well, but I don't like the idea of its record being broken mostly because I hate these ultra long running #1s. We're back to 10 years ago when only 8-10 singles reach #1 every year...

To be fair it's up to #9 now, but I agree that this didn't smash like Kelly would have five years ago. It could just be diminishing returns (she's been in the biz for over 12 years now), but my honest opinion is the single really falls flat... sounds like a million other songs and doesn't really have a lot of Kelly's personality. Just my unsolicited opinion tho.

This is a really interesting question. Anyone have any data on this? It seems to me songs blow up much earlier and faster in the UK, but then again there are the release delays...

I certainly can't think of any German Hot 100 entries since then. German acts have had a huge influence and a lot of prominence in several genres (especially electronic, Eurodance, and metal) but these don't often align with American Top 40 pop tastes, except in the early-mid 90s when Eurodance was huge and the chart was flooded with German acts. And it seems lately German tastes have skewed away from bad, English-singing ripoffs (sorry Sarah Connor) and more toward authentic, homegrown German language stuff. Which is great. But still it's kind of a shame to see such a lack of German acts on the Hot 100 given the number of entries representing the UK, Ireland, Sweden, even France and Norway lately...

This isn't exactly the same situation as Born This Way, but I'm hearing a lot that 1989's huge opening is because of Taylor's lack of cooperation with Spotify and the resulting inability of consumers to stream the album. I don't think it necessarily devalues the achievement but it has caused a number of people to shrug it off with an (overly) simple explanation.

I think 1989's success is a validation of some things I've been reading about for a while regarding the traditional, strict separation of country and non-country audiences. Namely that the line is blurred today. Young country listeners also listen to pop and don't feel so protective of their artists as before. Taylor is only one of many artists in the last five years that hasn't just crossed over, but hops back and forth all the time. I think gone are the says of a pop That Don't Impress me Much with synths and country one with twang. It's also the result of an extraordinary branding and marketing campaign as you say. She went from singing about the mean 14 year old popular girl stealing her boyfriend only a few years ago to... MULTIPLE front page reviews and articles in the New York Times for 1989. She always had fans in young people and parents who want to let their children listen to wholesome music... but something happened with 1989 where she was suddenly viewed as an adult, as a serious artist. This is a reflection of how her music has improved, to be sure, especially lyrically. But it's also the result of an incredibly smart and world class promotional campaign (you can read more about that at Hits Daily Double).

Monica was huge on radio for a couple years -- I think Angel of Mine was her third consecutive #1. No one here will agree with me but the Hex Hector mix of Nobody's Supped to Be Here is a TOTAL classic... one of the best of the 90s.

I'm kinda surprised Alt-J only made #4 after two of their instant grats topped the iTunes chart for a little while... GaGa and Tony Bennett are not my thing but I guess I'm glad they're selling well if it encourages artists to experiment more and pursue less traditional pop projects.

FINALLY top 10 for Clean Bandit. I've been waiting for this since May but it was especially frustrating in the last few weeks. And meanwhile Tove Lo just sneaks right in at #7 which I never would have predicted three weeks ago. Unreal.

True but if there's one artist who breaks the rules it is certainly her. If 24 (or whatever) does for 21 what 21 did for 19 (dammit Adele!), who knows? :)

When was the last time an album sold 11 million copies? I know Wikipedia may not be accurate but it suggests she's already passed Usher's Confessions (2004) and is 9,000 short of Norah Jones' Come Away with Me (2002). If this is the case, the last album to sell as much as 21 in the US would be 'N Sync's No Strings Attached (2000) which at 12.6 million would surely take Adele a couple more years to surpass I'd think. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-...e_United_States

I believe the remix was played more often over the summer but it is the original that is blowing up at radio now. I'm not sure what explains its gains on iTunes except that airplay is growing, she's touring the States as we speak, and media buzz has begun to pick up with TIME, Entertainment Weekly, Spin, and others publishing reviews over the last couple weeks. I couldn't be more thrilled. I never really liked the remix (it might have been ok if they hadn't sped up the vocals).

He's not on drugs, he's just in love.

Funny to see Ryan Adams and Interpol debuting top 10... feels a bit like I'm in college again, circa 2004. Anyone know how Billboard will deal with the latest U2 album? I think it was automatically downloaded into in every iTunes account holder's playlist. At least it seemed to suddenly appear in mine! :D