“Christmas is the Time to Say ‘I Love You’” - Billy Squier (1981) #9 (1984 Christmas chart re-issue)

Written by Squier, this song starts out slow and then rocks like a typical Squier song would. It was first released as the B-side of Squier’s late 1981 hit single “My Kinda Lover,” and the video for it was his first video ever (with him in a cozy sweater and backed by a chorus of MTV staffers…which isn’t nearly as embarrassing as him in that pink tank top dancing around in his 1984 video “Rock Me Tonite.”) He would later include the song in a collection of Christmas music he assembled in 1994 called A Rock ‘n’ Roll Christmas, featuring songs from the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s by various artists. The song was later covered by the Baltimore pop-punk band SR-71 for 2001’s A Very Special Christmas 5 compilation album produced to benefit the Special Olympics. Loudon Wainwright III’s youngest sister Sloan also covered it in 2005 on her live album On a Night Before Christmas. (more…)

 
As of this week, T.I. is the king of the Billboard Hot 100.  “Live Your Life” (with Rihanna) spends a fourth non-consecutive week at #1 with a bullet…which means that he has spent more weeks at #1 than any other artist in 2008 (”Life,” combined with his other #1, “Whatever You Like,” makes 11 weeks at #1, beating Flo Rida featuring T-Pain’s 10-week stay with their song “Low.”)  I’m predicting one more week for “Life” though next week, because last week’s threats, Kanye West’s “Heartless” and Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold,” both dropped positions.  “Hot N Cold” slipped one position to #4 (but retains its bullet), while “Heartless” drops from #4 to #12 and loses its bullet.  The only threat this week is Beyoncé Knowles’ “If I Were a Boy,” which rises two spots to #3 with a bullet and is the Sales Gainer of the week.  This is possibly because of her performance of the song on MTV’s “Total Finale Live” special last week, which included her other single, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” which is ironically the Airplay Gainer of the week (it rises from #39 to #28 this week.) (more…)

Christmas is right around the corner, so in honor of the holiday season, I am bringing you the 40 Blogs of Christmas! From November 15 to December 24, I will count down the 40 biggest Christmas-themed hits of the Billboard Pop Singles/Hot 100 and/or the Christmas charts (beginning in 1963, Billboard relegated seasonal re-releases to a separate Christmas chart, ending their strings of appearances on the Hot 100. A Christmas song can only appear on the Hot 100 once; if it is re-released the following year, it charts on the Christmas chart.) Keep in mind…several favorites didn’t make the list because they only appeared on other charts (R&B, Country, Adult Contemporary, etc.), or they were ineligible for the Hot 100 because they didn’t have a commercially available single (the most infamous of this was Mariah Carey’s 1994 song “All I Want for Christmas is You,” which would have been a top 10 hit if it had a commercially available single.) I also want to pull the Band-Aid (pun unintended, referring to the #40 song) off quickly and tell you songs #41-#60 (based on my research) so you won’t be disappointed later (I will give you their highest original chart position and which chart it appeared on):

41. “The Little Drummer Boy (Carol of the Drum)” - Harry Simeone Chorale (1958) #13 (1959 Hot 100 re-issue)

42. “A Holly Jolly Christmas” - Burl Ives (1964) #13 (Christmas chart)

43. “Pretty Paper” - Roy Orbison (1964) #15 (Hot 100)

44. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” - Brenda Lee (1958) #16 (1960 Hot 100 re-issue)

45. “Silent Night” - Bing Crosby (1935) #16 (1941 Pop Singles re-issue)

46. “Christmas Blues” - Canned Heat (1968) #18 (Christmas chart)

47. “Sleigh Ride” - Boston Pops Orchestra (1949) #24 (Hot 100)

48. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” - The Brothers Four (1966) #26 (Christmas chart)

49. “If We Make it Through December” - Merle Haggard (1973) #28 (1974 Hot 100 re-issue)

50. “Better Days” - Goo Goo Dolls (2005) #36 (Hot 100)

51. “Green Chri$tma$” - Stan Freberg (1958) #44 (Hot 100)

52. “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” - Nat “King” Cole (1946) #65 (1962 stereo Hot 100 re-issue)

53. “Where Are You, Christmas?” - Faith Hill (2000) #65 (Hot 100)

54. “This Time of the Year” - Brook Benton (1959) #66 (Hot 100)

55. “Run Rudolph Run” - Chuck Berry (1958) #69 (Hot 100)

56. “Please Come Home for Christmas” - Charles Brown (1960) #76 (1961 Hot 100 re-issue)

57. “White Christmas” - The Drifters (1954) #80 (Pop Singles)

58. “All Alone on Christmas” - Darlene Love (1992) #83 (Hot 100)

59. “Christmas Dream” - Perry Como (1974) #92 (Hot 100)

60. “I Believe in Father Christmas” - Greg Lake (1975) #95 (Hot 100) (more…)

We have come to the end of our exploration of the 50 years of the Billboard Hot 100. The beginning of the last decade starts with two songs that never went to #1, but ended up winning the Year-End #1 chart of their years. It ends with a solo #1 from a singer of one of the most successful girl groups of the new millennium. Unlike the ‘90s, the 2000’s rocked a little more. It’s now time to delve into the Year-End #1’s from 2000 to 2007 (my prediction…in case you were curious…is that the #1 tune of 2008 will go to “Low” by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain, which spent 10 weeks at #1 earlier this year.) Hey…if Go-Go’s lead singer Belinda Carlisle, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, country singers Marty Stuart and Alan Jackson, Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon, and Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx can all turn 50…why can’t the Hot 100? (more…)

This week the Billboard Hot 100 is going to rock! If you don’t include her collaboration with Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, and Mýa on the 2001 cover version of Labelle’s “Lady Marmalade” from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, “So What” is Pink’s first solo #1. Thanks to digital sales of 253,000 units in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan (it keeps its bullet and is actually the Sales Gainer for the week), the rocker takes the top spot, knocking T.I.’s “Whatever You Like” down to #2 (though it retains its bullet and is the Airplay Gainer for the week.) I’m happy!! I haven’t heard it on terrestrial radio yet, but I have heard it on VH1 (which I guess is the only place that will play videos currently, now that MTV’s “TRL” is going bye-bye) and of course, here on AllNumberOneRadio.com! I also liked her performance of it on the 2008 MTV Music Video Awards. I would love to say that it will keep its position for a second week, but there are just too many contenders for next week. With the exception of Chris Brown’s “Forever,” all of the songs in the top 10 have a bullet. Not all of them are going to make it, but several of them are ready to take over. T.I. could easily slide back into its former position. M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” inches its way up one position from #5 to #4, and the Hot Shot Debut for the week is “Swagga Like Us” by Jay-Z & T.I. featuring Kanye West & Lil Wayne, which enters the chart at #5. Unlike the Disney Channel/”American Idol” acts (Jonas Brothers/David Archuleta, etc.), I think this one may stick around for a few weeks. (more…)

It’s the end of an era! MTV’s video countdown show, TRL will end its 10-year run in November. According to the Associated Press, the music video show will conclude in a two-hour special, hopefully with some of the acts that helped make it the successful show it was! Maybe they’ll bring back *NSYNC or Britney, maybe Eminem and Casron Daly, too!

I have hilarious memories of trying to get tickets to TRL when I was 14 and in New York for vacation…can you believe I even made a poster!? What a nerd.

Do you think MTV will ever play another music video? I feel like TRL was the last hope…

In case you missed it… here’s T.I.’s live performance of the number-one-song “Whatever You Like” on the VMA’s:

Since I’ve been blogging about the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards for weeks, I thought I would give you my impressions of the show.  The host, British comedian Russell Brand (the new boyfriend in this year’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall), wasn’t very funny in my opinion.  He starts off with stumping for Barack Obama and bagging on Bush.  I’m not on anyone’s side politically, but I don’t know why a comedian who can’t even vote in this country has any say at all.  He then goes on to make fun of tween dreamboat rock act The Jonas Brothers mercilessly.  He joked about their purity rings, which they each wear vowing not to have sex before marriage.  I could maybe understand him poking fun of them once…but those poor boys were picked on for most of the show!  After fellow purity ring wearer Jordin Sparks responded that “not every guy and girl wants to be a slut, OK?,” Brand sort of apologized, but he made one last jab by saying, “Promise rings, I’m well up for it. [But] a bit of sex, it never hurt anybody.”  I’m no prude or all that religious, but if the Brothers Jonas made a decision to abstain, it shouldn’t be ridiculed so heavily.  This is the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, so I wouldn’t deny Brand his right to free speech, but I think that he could have spread the snark around a little to other celebrities instead of ganging up on the J-Bros. (more…)

MTV announced last Thursday four more artists that will be performing on the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards show: Rihanna, Pink, Paramore, and T.I.  They will be joining the previously announced artists…The Jonas Brothers, Lil Wayne, and Kid Rock…onstage for the show.  Rihanna, who performed last year with Chris Brown to perform her song “Umbrella,” will most likely be performing her current chart-topper “Disturbia.”  Pink is slated to perform her new song “So What,” while Paramore will be performing “Misery Business.”  T.I. is making a return to an awards show stage after being arrested last October before the BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta and accused of trying to buy machine guns and silencers; he was sentenced earlier this year to serve about a year in prison after completing at least 1,000 hours of community service.  I’m going to give you the chart history of these four performers on the Billboard charts. (more…)

The nominations for the final two categories of the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, airing September 7, were announced last week on their Friday night video show “FNMTV.”  In addition, a surprise extra category had its’ nominations announced.  I am going to give you the chart achievements of the nominated songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in the Best Rock Video, Video of the Year, and Best UK Video categories:

Best Rock Video

Fall Out Boy (featuring John Mayer) — “Beat It” (#19)
Foo Fighters — “The Pretender” (#37)
Linkin Park — “Shadow of the Day” (#15)
Paramore — “Crushcrushcrush” (#54)
Slipknot — “Psychosocial” (currently #2 on the “Bubbling Under” chart, a.k.a. #102)

Video of the Year

Chris Brown — “Forever” (currently #2)
Jonas Brothers — “Burnin’ Up” (#5)
Pussycat Dolls — “When I Grow Up” (#9)
Britney Spears — “Piece of Me” (#18)
The Ting Tings — “Shut Up and Let Me Go” (#55)

Best UK Video

Coldplay — “Violet Hill” (#40)
Duffy — “Warwick Avenue” (hasn’t charted yet in America)
Estelle (featuring Kanye West) — “American Boy” (#12)
Leona Lewis — “Bleeding Love” (#1)
The Ting Tings — “Shut Up and Let Me Go” (#55) (more…)