Top 40 Million Sellers of the 1980s

[corey]

As you know Casey's Top 40 based on Radio & Record chart.
In 1990, they broadcasted Top 40 Million Sellers of the 1980s.
How they compile the chart ? Normally Casey says at the end credit the rankings based on R&R. R&R was an airplay chart. So they can't use R&R to compile the sales rankings. What Casey said about how to compile their rankings ?

[Deleted]

It may have just been directly from the record companies themselves and they compiled the list from there.

[Hervard]

I would think it was based on the total number of copies sold up to December 31, 1989, as "We Are The World" was number one and that was the song that sold the most in the 1980s. Perhaps they partially weighted the chart using the R&R charts, since as I recall, every song on it hit the Top Ten on the R&R chart. I could be wrong, though, as it's been 20+ years since I heard the show, so I don't remember all that was on the chart. All I remember was that "We Are The World" was on top.

[jlthorpe]

Here's the list, Hervard:

www.oldradioshows.com/ct40/112490ct40.html

[OldSchoolAT40Fan]

I find it weird that of the top 40 million sellers of the 1980s, only one song was from 1987 (Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"), and not a single entry from 1986. And to me, 1986 and 1987 were the best years for my taste of music.

[Deleted]

Oct 14, 2012 11:35:51 GMT -5 OldSchoolAT40Fan said:

I find it weird that of the top 40 million sellers of the 1980s, only one song was from 1987 (Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"), and not a single entry from 1986. And to me, 1986 and 1987 were the best years for my taste of music.

If there were not any million selling singles from those years or if they didn't sell a couple million it's not surprising. And honestly since not many songs even spent 3 weeks at #1 it's not all that surprising at all.

[mstgator]

Yep, sales of singles dropped quite a bit from the beginning to the end of the eighties (with a few rap hits propping up the numbers near the end of the decade). That's why the RIAA lowered the sales requirements for gold and platinum singles in 1988.

[UnknownEric]

Oct 18, 2012 17:43:34 GMT -5 mstgator said:

Yep, sales of singles dropped quite a bit from the beginning to the end of the eighties.

I'm not surprised, since it seemed like cassette singles and CD singles never caught on like the good ol' 45.

[doomsdaymachine]

Oct 10, 2012 13:07:54 GMT -5 jlthorpe said:

Here's the list, Hervard:

www.oldradioshows.com/ct40/112490ct40.html

Where the hell is Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll?"

[Deleted]

The show begins with Casey Kasem stating only about 100 singles went platinum in the 80s. So I assume it's in the other 60 or so under "Celebration."