To Fred:
You said that Mariah Carey spent 53 weeks at No. 1. Well, to be picky, it was 54 weeks
altogether. And I just want to mention that it is unfair to compare this amount to that of the Beatles
and Elvis since the Beatles and Elvis achieved this before the SoundScan era. Notice in the
SoundScan era, there are many more long running No. 1 hits. For example, straight after
SoundScan and BDS were used, Boyz II Men ("End Of The Road") and Whitney Houston ("I Will
Always Love You") beat Elvis' record. And I have a question (I really hope you'll answer this).
[What were] the peaks of Whitney Houston's "Count On Me" and "Why Does It Hurt So Bad" on
the sales and airplay charts? How many weeks did "Count On Me" stay in the top 40? Also, which
airplay peaks did the radio-only singles "Something In Common" and "Queen Of The Night" reach?
Also, have you heard about Whitney's new single "My Heart Is Calling," which only entered at No.
2 on the Bubbling Under chart in the June 28 issue? It will become Whitney's lowest charting single
if it enters the Hot 100. Because of absolutely no promotion at all for this single, its chart life may
remain bleak. Thanks for listening. I really hope you'll answer my questions. Sorry for bombarding
so many at you!
Bryan
Dear Bryan,
Adding up the number of weeks Mariah Carey has spent at No. 1 and you will
definitely come up with 54. Don't know why I had 53, Bryan. As for your SoundScan and BDS
comments, see my comments in the reply to the above letter. But to elaborate just a little bit, it's a
myth that it is only because Billboard is now using SoundScan and BDS data that singles are
remaining No. 1 longer. You would have to look at the whole picture of the record and radio
industry in the '60s to understand why singles had such short runs at No. 1 during this turbulent
decade. Radio stations didn't play recurrents in those days; they played a song for 10-12 weeks
and then dropped it from their playlists. Artists were releasing new singles every few weeks as well,
to keep up with this demand for new material. So it's not surprising that a huge-selling single like
"Can't Buy Me Love" was only on the entire Hot 100 for 10 weeks. Further, because many singles
were not tied in to albums, record labels were anxious to get the next piece of product on the
market. Today, radio stations will play popular hits like "Un-Break My Heart" and "One Sweet
Day" forever, which in turns helps them to keep selling. Blaming SoundScan and BDS is like
blaming the messenger; if anything, we should be grateful that the charts are more accurate than
ever.
As for Whitney Houston's chart positions, let's take them one at a time. "Count On Me" peaked at No. 29 on Hot 100 Airplay the week of May 18, 1996, and at No. 5 on Hot 100 Sales the week of May 25, 1996. "Count On Me" was on the Hot 100 for 20 weeks, and in the top 40 portion of the chart for 15 weeks. "Why Does It Hurt So Bad" peaked at No. 69 on Hot 100 Airplay the week of Aug. 31, 1996, and at No. 19 on Hot 100 Sales the same week. "Something In Common" peaked at No. 32 on Hot 100 Airplay the week of Nov. 27, 1993. "Queen Of The Night" peaked at No. 36 on that same chart the week of Feb. 19, 1994. As for "My Heart Is Calling," it certainly is struggling up the Hot 100. It debuted at No. 81 the week of July 5, 1997, then moved to No. 80, and this week inches up to No. 77. I think it's a great song, but one thing that might be hampering it is that it is from "The Preacher's Wife" soundtrack, and that is not exactly a hot current item. It's been a long time since the movie was released, and even the home video has been on our Top Video Rentals chart for nine weeks.
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