Pete's Number One Hits of 1998

      Date SONG
      Artist      		 Weeks
      at No. 1
      1/2 LIGHT IN YOUR EYES
      Blessid Union Of Souls
      		 3
      1/23 AT THE BEGINNING
      Donna Lewis & Richard Marx
      		 2
      2/6 TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY
      Savage Garden
      		 2
      2/20 I WANT YOU BACK
      'N Sync
      		 4
      3/20 FROZEN
      Madonna
      		 1
      3/27 DO YOU REALLY WANT ME
      Robyn
      		 3
      4/17 TORN
      Natalie Imbruglia
      		 4
      5/15 THE WAY
      Fastball
      		 4
      6/12 IRIS
      Goo Goo Dolls
      		 1
      6/19 CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF YOU BABY
      Smash Mouth
      		 2
      7/3 I'LL BE
      Edwin McCain
      		 2
      7/17 CRUSH
      Jennifer Paige
      		 13
      10/16 TEARIN' UP MY HEART
      'N Sync
      		 3
      11/6 BECAUSE OF YOU *
      98 Degrees
      		 2
      11/13 LULLABY
      Shawn Mullins
      		 1
      11/20 MY FAVORITE MISTAKE *
      Sheryl Crow
      		 3
      12/18 HUMAN BEINGS
      Seal
      		 1
      12/25 YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE
      New Radicals
      		 1
          * Non-consecutive weeks

        TRENDS: There were two big trends in 1998 for my number one hits. The biggest one is the female presence at the top. In 1997, just three female artists hit No. 1 only totaling a combined 5 weeks. In 1998, however, six female artists hit No. 1 totaling a combined 26 weeks, or half the year!

        In 1997, the only female artist to land in the year's top 10 was Ronna Reeves whose duet with Peter Cetera, "S.O.S." ended up at No. 10. In 1998, three female artists -- Jennifer Paige and Natalie Imbruglia -- cracked the year's top 10, landing at No. 1 and 5 respectively. This is a marked improvement from 1997 where no solo female artists made the year's top 10.

        Jennifer Paige broke a new barrier when "Crush" was crowned as the No. 1 song of 1998. Remarkably, she is the first female solo artist to claim the song of the year.

        Just two groups with females have claimed the song of the year -- The Thompson Twins and Roxette, who both topped the yearly chart twice. The Thompson Twins grabbed the song of the year in 1984 with "The Gap" and in 1986 with "King For A Day." Roxette topped the year-end chart in 1989 with "Listen To Your Heart" and in 1991 with "Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)."

        The second major trend of 1998 was the continued success of debut singles. In 1997, six No. 1 songs were the first single from a new artist, totaling a combined 23 weeks at the top. Two of them made the year's top 5:

        No. 3 - Smash Mouth/Walkin' On The Sun (6 weeks)
        No. 5 - Savage Garden/I Want You (4 weeks)

        In 1998, eight No. 1 songs were the first single from a new artist, totaling a combined 32 weeks at the top. Four of them made the year's top 5:

        No. 1 - Jennifer Paige/Crush (13 weeks)
        No. 2 - 'N Sync/I Want You Back (4 weeks)
        No. 3 - Fastball/The Way (4 weeks)
        No. 4 - Natalie Imbruglia/Torn (4 weeks)

        As you can see, the top 4 songs of 1998 were the first singles from new artists, two of them females -- representing the two biggest trends of the year.

        SIMILARITIES: Despite the differences between 1997 and 1998's chart-topping hits, there are some interesting similarities. Each year had just one duet to hit No. 1, Peter Cetera & Ronna Reeves's "S.O.S." and Donna Lewis & Richard Marx's "At The Beginning." Both duets were the second No. 1 song of the year.

        In both 1997 and 1998, one group had two songs in the year's top 10, Savage Garden in 1997 and 'N Sync in 1998. Both groups hit No. 1 with their first two singles.

        Madonna had a No. 1 hit in both 1997 and 1998, "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" and "Frozen." Both songs hit No. 1 in March and spent just one week at the top. Six artists had chart toppers in both years. They are as follows:

        Savage Garden (3 songs/9 total weeks)
        Smash Mouth (2/8)
        Richard Marx (2/7)
        Blessid Union Of Souls (2/5)
        Sheryl Crow (2/4)
        Madonna (2/2)

        Savage Garden's three No. 1 hits over the past two years is the most by any artist. Blessid Union Of Souls is the only group or artist to have No. 1 hits over the past three years with "Oh Virginia" in 1996, "Humble Star" in 1997, and "Light In Your Eyes" in 1998.

        Both Savage Garden and Smash Mouth had a No. 1 hit in the past two year's top 10. Savage Garden had two No. 1 hits in 1997's top 10 with "I Want You" (No. 5) and "To The Moon & Back" (No. 7), and one in 1998 with "Truly, Madly, Deeply" (No. 7). Smash Mouth topped the chart with "Walkin' On The Sun" (No. 3 in 1997) and "Can't Get Enough Of You Baby" (No. 10 in 1998).

        The Backstreet Boys also had a song in each year's top 10, "Quit Playing Games" (No. 9 for 1997) and "As Long As You Love Me" (No. 8 for 1998). Both Backstreet Boys' songs peaked at No. 2 and were the only songs in each year's top 10 not to hit No. 1.



      Pete's Home Page *** Pete's Top 50 of 1998