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1982
Sept 30, 2010 20:57:08 GMT -5
Post by 80sfreak on Sept 30, 2010 20:57:08 GMT -5
Was 1982 the oddest year in the countdown's history (basing it on the 70s and 80s)
Just odd to see so many songs either hold their positions for an eternity, fall down the chart real slowly and then bullet down and off the charts, high debuts, big movers and droppers, a bunch of of songs falling out of the countdowns from high positions (even the nights are better #6, somebody's baby #13, vacation #11).
real weird. I was so used to 1983+ countdowns where songs moved up and down at a steady pace.
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1982
Sept 30, 2010 21:24:26 GMT -5
Post by mkarns on Sept 30, 2010 21:24:26 GMT -5
For the 1980s, I'd say that 1982 (and late 1981 and early 1983) may have been the strangest inasmuch as you'd expect songs to simply go up and down. Instead during this time there were lots of hits that moved up to a peak, getting stuck there for weeks (often with a bloc of several songs not moving for weeks at a time), and then suddenly falling off the cliff.
But the 1970s had some odd moves as well, notably late 1974 when several songs inched up to #1 and then plunged right out of the top 10, and early 1975 when there were 12 one week #1's in a row, more than ever before or since, and most of those had pretty rapid rises and falls. I've also noticed that at AT40's beginning, in 1970-71, there were a lot of hits that fell right off the Hot 100 from within the top 40.
And if we go into the 1990s and 2000s, with Radio & Records and Mediabase, well, then it's Fun With Recurrent Rules (or lack thereof) time.
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1982
Oct 1, 2010 8:23:32 GMT -5
Post by jgve1952 on Oct 1, 2010 8:23:32 GMT -5
Tained Love by Soft Cell sure has to be one of the "weird" chart movers of 1982. I believe it almost dropped off the chart and then started a resurgence and took very very long to hit the Top 10 and became one of the biggest hits of the year and didn't even reach the Top 5!
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1982
Oct 3, 2010 23:35:06 GMT -5
Post by Josh Joel's Top 40 on Oct 3, 2010 23:35:06 GMT -5
I was just listening to AT40 9/13/1986 this morning on Ipod driving to work and I fondly remembered on little segment on that episode. One letter came in asking about the biggest drop from a high position and they played the clip of "Even The Nights Are Better" as sung by Air Supply. I just thought it was a pure coincidence since there was talk about this recently on this board. I just wanted to hear that story about Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis termination from the band The Time in reference to "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On" by Robert Palmer which debuted at #38 at the time written by the fabulous team. It never crossed my mind that I'd also hear that Q&A segment about "the biggest drop out of the top 40". OK, I'm done.
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1982
Oct 4, 2010 16:41:16 GMT -5
Post by torcan on Oct 4, 2010 16:41:16 GMT -5
I think that basically, the chart director for Billboard got a bit lazy in 1982. He actually left the magazine in early '83 and maybe was just tired of the job(?)
The way the charts were run from mid-81-early '83 don't make much sense. A lot of it has to do with the bullets (or "stars" as Billboard referred to them back then). If a song had a star, it couldn't fall down the chart the next week. If a song had a "superstar", it usually meant at least two additional weeks before it could drop down.
Quite frequently you'd see bunches of superstarred songs stuck together and none of them could fall until they all lost their stars, taking big plunges down the chart.
Couldn't have been too accurate - could it.
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1982
Oct 4, 2010 23:17:03 GMT -5
Post by number39 on Oct 4, 2010 23:17:03 GMT -5
Interesting comparing some of the odd Billboard chart movements with Cash Box. While Billy Joel's "Allentown" spent 6 weeks at #17 on Billboard's chart, it moved 19-17-15-14-15-21 on Cash Box.
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1982
Apr 15, 2011 19:31:38 GMT -5
Post by dukelightning on Apr 15, 2011 19:31:38 GMT -5
Bumping up this thread because it is rather interesting. I think the most recent post before mine sums it up. Billboard was not very accurate during that period. Having that superstar rule makes about as much sense as communism. Someone made a point about big movers and the 11/20/82 show that aired last year is a case in point. There was a debut at #19, Sexual Healing and 3 songs that were up at least 18 notches, The Girl is Mine, Dirty Laundry and Rock This Town. Not one of them managed to hit #1.
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1982
Apr 15, 2011 20:20:10 GMT -5
Post by shadoeargentina on Apr 15, 2011 20:20:10 GMT -5
I remember Billy Vera talking about his song "At this moment" on VH1's 100 One Hit Wonders and it refers to the second run of the song owed much to "Family Ties" but also mentions that came to N ยช 1 without having to pay anyone, or the radio or MTV. That suggests that it was customary in those years pay to have high rotation in the media (and still happens today ) In the 80's Billboard charts was made in their traditional way, with phone calls and calling only part of the marketplaces Maybe this will produce this kind of charts, with slow movements and songs rooted in the No. 1 or Top 10
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1982
Apr 15, 2011 20:28:22 GMT -5
Post by bestmusicexpert on Apr 15, 2011 20:28:22 GMT -5
I know that one of the reasons that Radio Ga Ga abruptly stopped and fell off the charts was because the song had started getting airplay and no one was paid to promote it so the promo men ignored it.
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1982
Apr 16, 2011 4:51:21 GMT -5
Post by bigal on Apr 16, 2011 4:51:21 GMT -5
there was one year (1973?) where you had songs that peaked, then started to drop on the top 40, the nit started to raise again, back to its oriignal peak position, then drop again! Songs like AND I LOVE YOU SO, NO MORE MR NICE GUY, etc.
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1982
Apr 16, 2011 10:53:08 GMT -5
Post by dukelightning on Apr 16, 2011 10:53:08 GMT -5
That can be explained by the major chart methodology change Billboard made on 6/9/73. I don't have the specifics as to what changes they made but it caused all kinds of havoc on the HOT 100. It was a change similar in scope to the change to Soundscan in 1991 causing similar havoc.
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1982
Apr 17, 2011 11:10:15 GMT -5
Post by johnnywest on Apr 17, 2011 11:10:15 GMT -5
But the 1970s had some odd moves as well, notably late 1974 when several songs inched up to #1 and then plunged right out of the top 10, and early 1975 when there were 12 one week #1's in a row, more than ever before or since, and most of those had pretty rapid rises and falls. I believe that 1975 also holds the record for most consecutive weeks at #1 without a bullet. I don't remember the exact count but I think it was between 30 and 40 weeks.
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1982
Apr 17, 2011 11:51:48 GMT -5
Post by artsmusic on Apr 17, 2011 11:51:48 GMT -5
At This Moment was originally released on Alfa records. Alfa was a small label without its own dedicated promotion staff, and they would have employed independent promoters. Since independent promoters represent multiple artists and labels, they would naturally "work" the titles most likely to result in payment to them as a result of positive momentum, additional adds and trend. If Alfa lacked funds to pay promoters, the record wouldn't necessarily get added on its own merits, as that's never been how the charts worked.
The system isn't explicitly payola, rather it's more the influence and relationships being sold. Most of what we judge as shoulda-been records (pre Soundcan/BDS) are a result of label and station ownership policy and politics than actuality. Then toss in the Billboard chart editors' changes to policy, and era become difficult to compare.
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1982
Apr 17, 2011 23:15:40 GMT -5
Post by bandit73 on Apr 17, 2011 23:15:40 GMT -5
I think another problem in the early '80s is that dying AM stations had too much influence over the chart. They'd hang on to songs for too long, and wouldn't take any chances with adding new music.
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1982
Apr 18, 2011 20:30:50 GMT -5
Post by artsmusic on Apr 18, 2011 20:30:50 GMT -5
That is an interesting point. I've seen quotes that 1979 was the first year that FM radio listening exceeded AM. I wonder if I can dig up how many of Billboard's Hot 100 panel was still AM-only in 1982.
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