Since AllNumberOneRadio.com began in May of 2008, I’ve been predicting that the #1 song of 2008 would be the one that ended up being the number one song on the Billboard Year-End chart (see the #1 song at the end of this list to know what I’m talking about.) You may notice that not all of the songs on this top 20 list peaked at #1 originally. You have to keep in mind that the Year-End chart is calculated based on the number of weeks on the chart…so a #3 song could rank higher than a #1 song if the #3 song stayed on the chart longer. Not to act like an old fogey, but as a lover of the Hot 100, I think that digital downloads really skewed the chart in 2008 as the arbiter of what music is popular. Since MTV has stopped playing music videos in favor of reality shows, the main way to hear new music is through the old fallback…radio. With the popularity of digital downloads though, we are seeing songs make the chart that don’t ever get played on the radio until well after they have peaked on the Hot 100 (look at the “hits” by alumni from FOX’s “American Idol” and The Disney Channel.) While Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long” became the third highest charting song of his career on the Hot 100 by peaking at #23 based on radio airplay alone, “Hit Masters,” a karaoke company whose version was made available in the iTunes Store, eclipsed Rock’s version on the chart when it peaked at #19. This was because Rock decided not to make the song available for digital download. I’ve heard the Rock version several times on both pop and country radio (it peaked at #4 on the Hot Country Songs chart), but I’ve never heard the Hit Masters version on the radio (I had to listen to it on YouTube for an editorial comparison.) Thanks to YouTube and the ever popular NOW That’s What I Call Music! compilation series, almost all of these songs are available for purchase through the old-fashioned method of buying the CD (I will indicate if a song on this top 20 list is on one of the NOW CD’s.) (more…)

Not to seem “Heartless”…but yay!! Kanye West’s annoying auto-tune hit “Heartless” has slipped from #2 to #4 and has lost its bullet. Unfortunately, last week’s #1…Eminem, Dr. Dre, and 50 Cent’s “Crack a Bottle”…has slipped down to #3 and has lost its bullet as well (it’s a song that I like.) Fortunately, the song that has taken its place is another song that I like…Flo Rida’s second #1, “Right Round.” It jumps from #58 to #1 with a bullet based on sales of 636,000 digital copies in a single week…making it the biggest first week sales in digital history, ironically breaking the previous record set by Flo Rida’s first #1, “Low,” with 467,000 downloads in December of 2007. Part of the reason I like the song is that the chorus of the song is based on Dead or Alive’s 1985 hit “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”…another song I like (sue me…I’m a child of the ‘80s.) A huge threat for #1 next week is “Dead and Gone” by T.I. featuring Justin Timberlake, which jumps from #9 to #2 with a bullet and is the Greatest Gainer and Airplay Gainer this week. (more…)

Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of this “lovely” holiday, I am going to do a countdown list of the top ten greatest #1 songs with the word “love” (or “lover,” or “loving,” etc.) in the title. I’m restricting this list to only the songs that have hit #1 in the post Billboard Hot 100 era. Keep in mind…this list is based on Hot 100 chart stats and not on my own personal choices (I am The Chart Guy after all…not Mr. Loverman.) (more…)

If anyone was going to make Kelly Clarkson’s life “suck,” I’m glad it was the reunion of Eminem, Dr. Dre, and 50 Cent (since their collaboration on the title track of Eminem’s Encore) with their song “Crack a Bottle.” The song jumps from #78 to #1 (the fourth biggest jump to #1 in Billboard Hot 100 history) based on a Nielsen SoundScan record for opening week download sales of 418,000 (topped only behind “Low” by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain, which had 467,000 downloads, and “Just Dance” by Lady GaGa featuring Colby O’Donis, which had 419,000 downloads.) It’s Eminem’s second #1 (behind the Oscar-winning “Lose Yourself”), Dr. Dre’s third (behind his collaboration with BLACKstreet on “No Diggity” and his duet with 2Pac on “California Love”), and 50 Cent’s fourth (behind “In Da Club,” “21 Questions,” and “Candy Shop.”) It sends Clarkson’s song, “My Life Would Suck Without You,” to #4, and she loses her bullet. My old nemesis…”Heartless” by Kanye West, which slides up a position to #2 and has a bullet…is the only threat to the top spot next week. (more…)

Life doesn’t “suck” for Kelly Clarkson! Her song, “My Life Would Suck Without You,” spends a second week at #1 after selling 216,283 digital copies. Not only does life not suck for her on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but the song jumps from #38 to #19 on the Airplay chart, which is the fastest leap into the top 20 of that chart that she has ever had in her career so far. It has lost its bullet back on the Hot 100, but I think that the “American Idol” first season winner will spend a third week at #1 next week. The only contenders for next week are two older songs. While “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” by Beyoncé Knowles hasn’t been on top of the Hot 100 since succumbing to “My Life” and “Just Dance” by Lady GaGa featuring Colby O’Donis, it has rebounded from #3 to #2. The pesky “Heartless” by Kanye West inches back up to #3 and has a bullet. (more…)

Wow…after last week’s complaint that January hasn’t been too interesting on the Billboard Hot 100…February is certainly changing that. The #1 song this week is “My Life Would Suck Without You” by “American Idol“ first season winner Kelly Clarkson, which replaces Lady GaGa featuring Colby O’Donis’ “Just Dance” at the top after three weeks and is the second chart topper of her career (it’s also the first one not associated with “AI.” As a matter of fact, it’s also the only #1 song by an “AI” alum not connected to the show at all. Clay Aiken’s “This is the Night,” Fantasia Barrino’s “I Believe,” Carrie Underwood’s “Inside Your Heaven,” and Taylor Hicks’ “Do I Make You Proud” all were connected to their seasons’ “AI” season finale.) It makes an amazing jump from #97 to #1 after selling 280,000 digital downloads in its first week of availability, beating the #96 to #1 record set by Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” for the largest jump to #1 on the Hot 100. It’s also Clarkson’s second time she has beaten that record, because her debut single, “A Moment Like This,” jumped from #52 to #1 in 2002…breaking the 38-year-old record set by the Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love,” which jumped from #27 to #1 on the week of April 5, 1964. She is the leader of any “AI” alum top any Billboard chart, because the song tops the Hot Digital Songs chart and the Hot Digital Tracks chart, bringing Clarkson’s total to 48 (Underwood is in second place with 36.) Kanye West’s “Heartless” threatens to be a contender again though for next week because…even though it dropped from #3 to #4…it has retained its bullet and is the Airplay Gainer for the week. (more…)

I guess I will have to face it…“Just Dance” isn’t going anywhere too soon.  Lady GaGa featuring Colby O’Donis’ hit is #1 for a third week with a bullet on the Billboard Hot 100. I don’t see it being in any other position next week either. The next song with a bullet is Kanye West’s “Heartless,” which is at #3 again, but I don’t see it being a threat to “Dance.” I also don’t see “Gives You Hell” by The All-American Rejects being a threat either, even though it jumped from #10 to #6 with a bullet this week. (more…)

Okay…I was wrong. “Just Dance” by Lady GaGa featuring Colby O’Donis didn’t get bounced by either “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” by Beyoncé Knowles or Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.” “Dance” has a bullet based on 213,000 downloads in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, while “Single Ladies” also retains its bullet. “Love Story,” unfortunately, dashed my hopes for a country song topping the Billboard Hot 100 by slipping one spot to #5 and losing its bullet. Now the only contenders this week are a return to #1 for “Single Ladies,” or Kanye West’s “Heartless,” the latter one of which is currently at #3 and is the Airplay Gainer for this week. (more…)

The Chart Guy is back from his “40 Blogs of Christmas” series to delve into the weekly Billboard charts. Since my last Billboard charts blog, the #1 slot has gone back and forth between “Live Your Live” by T.I. featuring Rihanna and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” by Beyoncé Knowles. This week though, we have a new #1, and it is “Just Dance” by Lady GaGa featuring Colby O’Donis, which sold 279,000 downloads in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Now that we have a new year, we also have a new prediction for next week. “Dance” may have a bullet this week…but it took 22 weeks to get to #1 (it entered the Hot 100 on August 16, 2008 at #76.) My prediction is that either “Single Ladies” will go back to #1, or Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” currently at #4 with a bullet, will be the first country single to top the Hot 100 since Lonestar did it with their hit “Amazed” back in 2000. (more…)

“White Christmas” - Bing Crosby (1942) #1 (Pop Singles; 30 weeks)

Prolific songwriter Irving Berlin wrote the song in early 1940 while sitting poolside at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Arizona. The original opening verse pokes fun at a well-off Los Angeleno who, amid orange and palm trees, longs for a traditional Christmas “up north.” Berlin later dropped the verse but kept the now-famous chorus. The “There’s never been a day in old L.A.” verse regarding Los Angeles can be heard on the famous 1963 album A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector in a soulful rendition performed by Darlene Love. Bing recorded it for the 1942 movie musical Holiday Inn with the Kim Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra on May 29, 1942 in 18 minutes (Crosby starred in the movie with Fred Astaire.) In the film, he sings it in a duet with Marjorie Reynolds. Though Reynolds was the actress playing Linda Mason, her voice was dubbed by Martha Mears for the movie, and in the script as originally conceived, Reynolds, not Crosby, was to sing the song. Bing’s record producer Jack Kapp thought that original opening verse about the sun, the palm trees in Beverly Hills, and it being December the 24th, would be meaningless outside of the film and persuaded Bing not to release it, and he never did. The song went on to win the Best Song Academy Award of 1942. “White Christmas” was also reprised as the title theme for the 1954 musical White Christmas, starring Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. In spite of its similarity to the earlier film, this was the highest-grossing film of 1954. (more…)