Billboard Top 100 Songs Of 1980

[jdelachjr2002]

Since this weekend's 1980 show was tabulated by AT40 and not necssarily Billboard, I figured I'd put a guess as to what their Top 100 Songs would have been (I can't access the charts so any help is necessary). My criteria is a basic scoring system (100 pts for a week at #1; 2.5 points fo a week at #40) with no bonus points. This is the first of two different lists with the first being any songs that peaked between 12/1/1979 and 11/29/1980. Full chart runs count for 1979 songs but not for 1980 songs that still charted after the cut-off date (tiebreakers marked with an asterisk):

#100: "Misunderstanding" - Genesis (peaked 8/16; 450 pts)
#99: "I Can't Help It" - Andy Gibb & Olivia Newton-John (peaked 5/24; 457.5 pts)
#98: "Breakdown Dead Ahead" - Boz Scaggs (peaked 5/17; 462.5 pts)
#97: "Look What You've Done To Me" - Boz Scaggs (peaked 10/25; 465 pts)
#96: "All Over The World" - ELO (peaked 10/4; 472.5 pts)
#95: "Hold On To My Love" - Jimmy Ruffin (peaked 5/3; 480 pts)
#94: "Pilot Of The Airwaves" - Charlie Dore (peaked 5/3; 487.5 pts)
#93: "You're The Only Woman" - Ambrosia (peaked 9/20; 492.5 pts)
#92: "Broken Hearted Me" - Anne Murray (peaked 12/1/79; 495 pts)
#91: "I Wanna Be Your Lover" - Prince (peaked 1/26; 515 pts)
#90: "Hot Rod Hearts" - Robbie Dupree (peaked 10/11; 540 pts)
#89: "Daydream Believer" - Anne Murray (peaked 2/23; 542.5 pts)
#88: "An American Dream" - Dirt Band (peaked 3/1; 545 pts)
#87: "One Fine Day" - Carole King (peaked 7/26; 547.5 pts)*
#86: "Take The Long Way Home" - Supertramp (peaked 12/15/79; 547.5 pts)*
#85: "Romeo's Theme" - Steve Forbert (peaked 2/23; 550 pts)
#84: "Off The Wall" - Michael Jackson (peaked 4/12; 557.5 pts)
#83: "Into The Night" - Benny Mardones (peaked 9/6; 570 pts)
#82: "Dreaming" - Cliff Richard (peaked 11/22; 590 pts)
#81: "Don't Do Me Like That" - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (peaked 2/2; 597.5 pts)
#80: "Better Love Next Time" - Dr. Hook (peaked 1/19; 600 pts)**
#79: "Ships" - Barry Manilow (peaked 12/1/79; 600 pts)**
#78: "Xandau" - Olivia Newton-John & ELO (peaked 10/11; 607.5 pts)
#77: "Jesse" - Carly Simon (peaked 11/1; 610 pts)***
#76: "She's Out Of My Life" - Michael Jackson (peaked 6/21; 610 pts)***
#75: "Let My Love Open The Door" - Pete Townshend (peaked 8/16; 610 pts)***
#74: "Brass In Pocket" - The Pretenders (peaked 5/31; 617.5 pts)
#73: "Let Me Love You Tonight" - Pure Prarie League (peaked 7/12; 625 pts)
#72: "Sara" - Fleetwood Mac (peaked 2/2; 630 pts)
#71: "I'm Coming Out" - Diana Ross (peaked 11/15; 637.5 pts)
#70: "Cool Change" - The Little River Band (peaked 1/19; 640 pts)
#69: "Tired Of Toein' The Line" - Rocky Burnette (peaked 7/26; 642.5 pts)
#68: "You're Only Lonely" - J.D. Souther (peaked 12/15/79; 662.5 pts)
#67: "You May Be Right" - Billy Joel (peaked 5/3; 682.5 pts)
#66: "The Long Run" - The Eagles (peaked 2/2; 695 pts)****
#65: "The Second Time Around" - Shalamar (peaked 3/22; 695 pts)****
#64: "Stomp!" - The Brothers Johnson (peaked 5/24; 695 pts****
#63: "Real Love" - The Doobie Brothers (peaked 10/25; 695 pts)****
#62: "Lady" - Kenny Rogers (peaked 11/15; 695 pts)****
#61: "How Do I Make You" - Linda Ronstadt (peaked 3/22; 710 pts)*****
#60: "Him" - Rupert Holmes (peaked 3/29; 710 pts)*****
#59: "Let's Get Serious" - Jermaine Jackson (peaked 7/12; 715 pts)
#58: "Hurt So Bad" - Linda Ronstadt (peaked 5/24; 720 pts)******
#57: "I'm Alright" - Kenny Loggins (peaked 10/11; 720 pts)******
#56: "Fire Lake" - Bob Seger (peaked 5/3; 720 pts)******
#55: "With You I'm Born Again" - Billy Preson & Syreeta (peaked 4/12; 725 pts)
#54: "We Don't Talk Anymore" - Cliff Richard (peaked 1/19; 740 pts)
#53: "This Is It" - Kenny Loggins (peaked 2/9; 745 pts)
#52: "Lookin' For Love" - Johnny Lee (peaked 9/20; 747.5 pts)
#51: "I Can't Tell You Why" - The Eagles (peaked 4/19; 750 pts)
#50: "The Wanderer" - Donna Summer (peaked 11/15; 757.5 pts)
#49: "Ladies Night" - Kool & The Gang (peaked 1/12; 775 pts)
#48: "More Love" - Kim Carnes (peaked 8/16; 792.5 pts)
#47: "On The Radio" - Donna Summer (peaked 3/8; 800 pts)*******
#46: "Against The Wind" - Bob Seger (peaked 6/14; 800 pts)*******
#45: "Drivin' My Life Away" - Eddie Rabbit (peaked 10/4; 810 pts)
#44: "Special Lady" - Ray, Goodman & Brown (peaked 4/19; 815 pts)
#43: "Fame" - Irene Cara (peaked 9/13; 847.5 pts)
#42: "Never Knew Love Like This Before" - Stephanie Mills (peaked 11/15; 852.5 pts)********
#41: "Late In The Evening" - Paul Simon (peaked 9/27; 852.5 pts)********
#40: "Shining Star" - The Manhattans (peaked 7/19; 867 pts)
#39: "Desire" - Andy Gibb (peaked 3/8; 875 pts)
#38: "Cars" - Gary Numan (peaked 6/7; 882.5 pts)*********
#37: "Too Hot" - Kool & The Gang (peaked 4/5; 882.5 pts)*********
#36: "He's So Shy" - The Pointer Sisters (peaked 10/25; 885 pts
#35: "Give Me The Night" - George Benson (peaked 9/27; 887.5 pts)
#34: "Take Your Time (Do It Right)" - SOS Band (peaked 8/16; 905 pts)
#33: "Longer" - Dan Fogelberg (peaked 3/15; 910 pts)
#32: "Sailing" - Christopher Cross (peaked 8/30; 912.5 pts)
#31: "Coward Of The County" - Kenny Rogers (peaked 1/26; 932.5 pts)
#30: "Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer" - Kenny Rogers & Kim Carnes (peaked 5/24; 935 pts)
#29: "Yes I'm Ready" - Teri De Sario with KC (peaked 3/1; 955 pts)
#28: "Steal Away" - Robbie Dupree (peaked 7/12; 972.5 pts)**********
#27: "Sexy Eyes" - Dr. Hook (peaked 5/24; 972.5 pts)**********
#26: "Send One Your Love" - Stevie Wonder (peaked 12/22/79; 985 pts)#
#25: "Emotional Rescue" - The Rolling Stones (peaked 9/6; 985 pts)#
#24: "Cupid" - The Spinners (peaked 7/19; 1002.5 pts)##
#23: "Woman In Love" - Barbra Streisand (peaked 10/25; 1002.5 pts)##
#22: "Biggest Part Of Me" - Ambrosia (peaked 6/7; 1020 pts)
#21: "Lost In Love" - Air Supply (peaked 5/3; 1047.5 pts)
#20: "Funkytown" - Lipps Inc. (peaked 5/31; 1065 pts)
#19: "Cruisin'" - Smokey Robinson (peaked 2/2; 1067.5 pts)
#18: "Babe" - Styx (peaked 12/8/79; 1070 pts)
#17: "The Rose" - Bette Midler (peaked 6/28; 1075 pts)
#16: "Working My Way Back To You" - The Spinners (peaked 3/29; 1087.5 pts)
#15: "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" - Rupert Holmes (peaked 12/22/79; 1110 pts)
#14: "Ride Like The Wind" - Christopher Cross (peaked 4/26; 1167.5 pts)
#13: "Magic" - Olivia Newton-John (peaked 8/2; 1172.5 pts)
#12: "All Out Of Love" - Air Supply (peaked 9/13; 1175 pts)
#11: "Little Jeannie" - Elton John (peaked 7/19; 1192.5 pts)
#10: "Please Don't Go" - KC & The Sunshine Band (peaked 1/5; 1200 pts)
#9: "Another One Bites The Dust" - Queen (peaked 10/4; 1212.5 pts)
#8: "Rock With You" - Michael Jackson (peaked 1/19; 1235 pts)
#7: "Coming Up" - Paul McCartney (peaked 6/28; 1285 pts)
#6: "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" - Queen (peaked 2/23; 1322.5 pts)
#5: "It's Still Rock 'N Roll To Me" - Billy Joel (peaked 7/19; 1332.5 pts)
#4: "Another Brick In The Wall" - Pink Floyd (peaked 3/22; 1405 pts)
#3: "Upside Down" - Diana Ross (peaked 9/6; 1407.5 pts)
#2: "Call Me" - Blondie (peaked 4/19; 1532.5 pts)
#1: "Do That To Me One More Time" - Captain & Tennille (peaked 2/16; 1540 pts)

* = Supertramp peaked at #10; Carole King peaked at #12
** = Barry Manilow peaked at #9; Dr. Hook peaked at #12
*** = Pete Townshend peaked at #9; Michael Jackson #10 and Carly Simon #11
**** = Peaks: Kenny Rogers #1; Doobie Brothers #5; Brothers Johnson #7; Shalamar #8 (4 weeks in Top 10); Eagles #8 (3 weeks in Top 10)
***** = Rupert Holmes peaked at #6; Linda Ronstadt peaked at #10
****** = Bob Seger peaked at #6; Kenny Loggins #7; Linda Ronstadt #8
******* = Bob Seger peaked at #5 (3 weeks); Donna Summer #5 (2 weeks)
******** = Paul Simon peaked at #6 (3 weeks); Stephanie Mills #6 (2 weeks)
********* = Kool & The Gang peaked at #5; Gary Numan #9
********** = Dr. Hook peaked at #5; Robbie Dupree #6
# = The Rolling Stones peaked at #3; Stevie Wonder #4
## = Barbra Streisand peaked at #1; The Spinners #4

[Caseyfan4everRyanfanNever]

You had some good guesses on your chart but I think that the survey period for the 1980 year end was Nov 3, 1979-Nov 1, 1980. Many of the songs that you include from later in Nov 1980 would be represented in the Top 100 of 1981.

Speaking of the 1980 survey period, it must have taken some creativity to get "Lovin Touchin Squeezin" into the Top 100 of 1980 since the song actually peaked the last week of October 1979. I used to think that the survey period for the Top 100 of 1980 had been arranged in a manner to cut as many disco hits out as possible. Now that I look at the charts in more depth, I realize that Disco had begun to decline as far as the Hot 100 was concerned by August or September 1979 and by October there weren't as many disco hits on the top 40 as there had been in June and July. As a result, such an arrangement would not have been necessary.

[jdelachjr2002]

Really? I thought it was the first weekend in December to the last weekend in November (I'm sure they use this now). Does anybody know the survey periods for all years 1955 to present?

[Caseyfan4everRyanfanNever]

The best description of AT40 year end shows can be found on the old American Top 40 Celebration page located at:
leemichaelwithers.tripod.com/at40_yearend.htm

Check the site out and you'll find answers to some of your questions, although a study of Billboard Top 40 chart data from Joel Whitburn's books, will show that the 1980 chart was based upon a November to November survey period and the December to December period actually started later. In short, the survey period varies depending upon the judgement of AT40 staff on whether the Billboard year end chart was suitable for a given year.

The best indicator of survey period is going to be the descriptions given by Casey and Shadoe at the beginning, during or at the end of most year end countdowns.

[vince]

These are Billboard's survey periods from 1955 to 1991 as best I can tell.

1955 - 1961 it was hard to tell the exact weeks, but it seemed to have run from the first chart in January to the last chart in November for the respective year.

1962: 1/6/62 - 10/27/62

1963 Originally published version: 1/5/63 - 11/30/63 (Surfin' U.S.A. is #1)
1963 Revised version: 1/5/63 - 12/28/63 (Sugar Shack is #1)

1964: 1/4/64 - 12/12/64

1965: 1/2/65 - 10/30/65

1966 Originally published version: 1/1/66 - 12/10/66 (California Dreamin' is #1)
1966 Revised version: 1/1/66 - 12/31/66 (The Ballad Of The Green Berets is #1)

1967: 1/7/67 - 12/16/67

1968: 1/6/68 - 12/21/68

1969: 1/4/69 - 12/13/69

1970: 1/3/70 - 11/28/70

1971: 1/2/71 - 11/27/71

1972: 12/4/71 - 11/18/72

1973: 11/25/72 - 11/17/73

1974: 11/24/73 - 10/26/74

1975: 11/2/74 - 11/1/75

1976: 11/8/75 - 10/30/76

1977: 11/6/76 - 10/29/77

1978: 11/5/77 - 10/28/78

1979: 10/21/78 - 10/20/79

1980: 10/6/79 - 9/27/80

1981: 11/1/80 - 10/24/81

1982: 10/31/81 - 10/30/82

1983: 11/6/82 - 10/29/83

1984: 11/5/83 - 11/17/84

1985: 11/17/84 - 11/30/85*

1986: 12/7/85 - 11/29/86*

1987: 12/6/86 - 11/28/87*

1988: 12/5/87 - 11/26/88*

1989: 12/3/88 - 11/25/89*

1990: 11/18/89 - 11/17/90

1991: 11/24/90 - 11/23/91

I stopped following the chart in 1992, but I think the survey periods ran the first week of December to the last week of November since then.

* These years BB credited a song's entire chart run so there is overlap with the survey periods.

[vince]

This is Billboard's Top 100 of 1980

*1 CALL ME Blondie (#1, April)
*2 ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL (Part 2) Pink Floyd (#1, March)
*3 MAGIC Olivia Newton-John (#1, Aug)
*4 ROCK WITH YOU Michael Jackson (#1, Jan)
*5 DO THAT TO ME ONE MORE TIME The Captain and Tennille (#1, Feb)
*6 CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE Queen (#1, Feb)
*7 COMING UP (Live At Glasgow) / COMING UP Paul McCartney and Wings (#1, June)
*8 FUNKYTOWN Lipps Inc. (#1, May)
*9 IT'S STILL ROCK & ROLL TO ME Billy Joel (#1, July)
10 THE ROSE Bette Midler (#3, June)
*11 ESCAPE (The Pina Colada Song) Rupert Holmes (#1, Dec 1979)
12 CARS Gary Numan (#9, June)
13 CRUSIN' Smokey Robinson (#4, Feb)
14 WORKING MY WAY BACK TOYOU/FORGIVE ME GIRL (Medley) The Spinners (#2, March)
15 LOST IN LOVE Air Supply (#3, May)
16 LITTLE JEANNIE Elton John (#3, July)
17 RIDE LIKE THE WIND Christopher Cross (#2, April)
*18 UPSIDE DOWN Diana Ross (#1, Sept)
*19 PLEASE DON'T GO K.C. and the Sunshine Band (#1, Jan)
*20 BABE Styx (#1, Dec 1979)
21 WITH YOU I'M BORN AGAIN Billy Preston and Syreeta (#4, April)
22 SHINING STAR The Manhattans (#5, July)
*23 STILL The Commodores (#1, Nov 1979)
24 YES, I'M READY Teri De Sario with K.C. (#2, March)
25 SEXY EYES Dr. Hook (#5, May)
26 STEAL AWAY Robbie Dupre (#6, July)
27 BIGGEST PART OF ME Ambrosia (#3, June)
28 THIS IS IT Kenny Loggins (#11, Feb)
29 CUPID/I'VE LOVED YOU FOR A LONG TIME (Medley) The Spinners (#4, July)
30 LET'S GET SERIOUS Jermaine Jackson (#9, July)
31 DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH A DREAMER Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes (#4, May)
*32 SAILING Christopher Cross (#1, Aug)
33 LONGER Dan Fogelberg (#2, March)
34 COWARD OF THE COUNTY Kenny Rogers (#3, Jan)
35 LADIES NIGHT Kool and the Gang (#8, Jan)
36 TOO HOT Kool and the Gang (#5, April)
37 TAKE YOUR TIME (Do It Right) (Part 1) The S.O.S. Band (#3, Aug)
*38 NO MORE TEARS (Enough Is Enough) Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer (#1, Nov 1979)
39 MORE LOVE Kim Carnes (#10, Aug)
*40 POP MUZIK M (#1, Nov 1979)
41 BRASS IN POCKET (I'm Special) The Pretenders (#14, May)
42 SPECIAL LADY Ray, Goodman and Brown (#5, April)
43 SEND ONE YOUR LOVE Stevie Wonder (#4, Dec 1979)
44 THE SECOND TIME AROUND Shalamar (#8, March)
45 WE DON'T TALK ANYMORE Cliff Richard (#7, Jan)
46 STOMP The Brothers Johnson (#7, May)
*47 HEARTACHE TONIGHT The Eagles (#1, Nov 1979)
48 TIRED OF TOEIN' THE LINE Rocky Burnette (#8, July)
49 BETTER LOVE NEXT TIME Dr. Hook (#12, Jan)
50 HIM Rupert Holmes (#6, March)
51 AGAINST THE WIND Bob Segar and the Silver Bullet Band (#5, June)
52 ON THE RADIO Donna Summer (#5, March)
53 EMOTIONAL RESCUE The Rolling Stones (#3, Sept)
*54 RISE Herb Alpert (#1, Oct 1979)
55 ALL OUT OF LOVE Air Supply (#2, Sept)
56 COOL CHANGE The Little River Band (#10, Jan)
57 YOU'RE ONLY LONELY J.D. Souther (#7, Dec 1979)
58 DESIRE Andy Gibb (#4, March)
59 LET MY LOVE OPEN THE DOOR Pete Townsend (#9, Aug)
60 ROMEO'S TUNE Steve Fobert (#11, Feb)
61 DAYDREAM BELIEVER Anne Murray (#12, Feb)
62 I CAN'T TELL YOU WHY The Eagles (#8, April)
63 DON'T LET GO Isaac Hayes (#18, Feb)
64 DON'T DO ME LIKE THAT Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (#10, Feb)
65 SHE'S OUT OF MY LIFE Michael Jackson (#10, June)
66 FAME Irene Cara (#4, Sept)
67 FIRE LAKE Bob Segar and the Silver Bullet Band (#6, May)
68 HOW DO I MAKE YOU Linda Ronstadt (#10, March)
69 INTO THE NIGHT Benny Mardones (#11, Sept)
70 LET ME LOVE YOU TONIGHT The Pure Praire League (#10, July)
71 MISUNDERSTANDING Genesis (#14, Aug)
72 AN AMERICAN DREAM The Dirt Band (with Linda Ronstadt) (#13, March)
73 ONE FINE DAY Carole King (#12, July)
74 DIM ALL THE LIGHTS Donna Summer (#2, Nov 1979)
75 YOU MAY BE RIGHT Billy Joel (#7, May)
76 SHOULD'VE NEVER LET YOU GO Neil Sedaka and Dara Sedaka (#19, June)
77 PILOT OF THE AIRWAVES Charlie Dore (#13, May)
78 HURTS SO BAD Linda Ronstadt (#8, May)
79 OFF THE WALL Michael Jackson (#10, April)
80 I PLEADGE MY LOVE Peaches and Herb (#19, April)
81 THE LONG RUN The Eagles (#8, Feb)
82 STAND BY ME Mickey Gilley (#22, Aug)
83 HEARTBREAKER Pat Benatar (#23, March)
84 DEJA VU Dionne Warwick (#15, Feb)
85 DRIVIN' MY LIFE AWAY Eddie Rabbitt (#5, Oct)
86 TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME Supertramp (#10, Dec 1979)
87 SARA Fleetwood Mac (#7, Feb)
88 WAIT FOR ME Daryl Hall and John Oates (#18, Jan)
89 JO JO Boz Scaggs (#17, Aug)
90 SEPTEMBER MORN' Neil Diamond (#17, March)
91 GIVE ME THE NIGHT George Benson (#4, Sept)
92 BROKEN HEARTED ME Anne Murray (#12, Dec 1979)
93 YOU DECORATED MY LIFE Kenny Rogers (#7, Nov 1979)
94 TUSK Fleetwood Mac (#8, Nov 1979)
95 I WANNA BE YOUR LOVER Prince (#11, Jan)
96 IN AMERICA The Charlie Daniels Band (#11, Aug)
97 BREAKDOWN DEAD AHEAD Boz Scaggs (#15, May)
98 SHIPS Barry Manilow (#9, Dec 1979)
99 ALL NIGHT LONG Joe Walsh (#19, July)
100 REFUGEE Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (#15, March)

[Adrian]

Dec 27, 2008 20:56:59 GMT -5 vince said:

These are Billboard's survey periods from 1955 to 1991 as best I can tell.

1955 - 1961 it was hard to tell the exact weeks, but it seemed to have run from the first chart in January to the last chart in November for the respective year.

1962: 1/6/62 - 10/27/62

1963 Originally published version: 1/5/63 - 11/30/63 (Surfin' U.S.A. is #1)
1963 Revised version: 1/5/63 - 12/28/63 (Sugar Shack is #1)

1964: 1/4/64 - 12/12/64

1965: 1/2/65 - 10/23/65

1966 Originally published version: 1/1/66 - 12/10/66 (California Dreamin' is #1)
1966 Revised version: 1/1/66 - 12/31/66 (The Ballad Of The Green Berets is #1)

1967: 1/7/67 - 12/16/67

1968: 1/6/68 - 12/21/68

1969: 1/4/69 - 12/13/69

1970: 1/3/70 - 11/28/70

1971: 1/2/71 - 11/27/71

1972: 12/4/71 - 11/18/72

1973: 11/25/72 - 11/17/73

1974: 11/24/73 - 10/26/74

1975: 11/2/74 - 11/1/75

1976: 11/8/75 - 10/30/76

1977: 11/6/76 - 10/29/77

1978: 11/5/77 - 10/28/78

1979: 10/21/78 - 10/20/79

1980: 10/6/79 - 9/27/80

1981: 1/1/80 - 10/24/81

1982: 10/31/81 - 10/30/82

1983: 11/6/82 - 10/29/83

1984: 11/5/83 - 11/17/84

1985: 11/17/84 - 11/30/85*

1986: 12/7/85 - 11/29/86*

1987: 12/6/86 - 11/28/87*

1988: 12/5/87 - 11/26/88*

1989: 12/3/88 - 11/25/89*

1990: 11/18/89 - 11/17/90

1991: 11/24/90 - 11/23/91

I stopped following the chart in 1992, but I think the survey periods ran the first week of December to the last week of November since then.

* These years BB credited a song's entire chart run so there is overlap with the survey periods.

For 1981, did you mean to type 1/1/81 - 10/24/81? If so, they left quite a gap of 3 months in 1980 when tabulating the year-end rankings for 1981.

The revised versions of 1963 and 1966, but also a few of the other 60s years seemed to be the most accurate rankings for their respective years. You would think that with advanced computations and the internet we have today, Billboard could have come up with a revised and more accurate representation of the year-end lists by just posting them online.

[shadster]

I also 'recreated' the AT40 year end chart website that used to be on a .jp (Japan) website/page, on my website: You can check that out here: shad.is.dreaming.org/www/mnet/ne/jp/at40/yearend.htm (you can tell by the long name where the site used to be, by removing the /'s)


p.s. I'll work on getting the '08 survey up soon.

[vince]

Dec 28, 2008 10:48:42 GMT -5 Adrian said:

Dec 27, 2008 20:56:59 GMT -5 vince said:

These are Billboard's survey periods from 1955 to 1991 as best I can tell.

1955 - 1961 it was hard to tell the exact weeks, but it seemed to have run from the first chart in January to the last chart in November for the respective year.

1962: 1/6/62 - 10/27/62

1963 Originally published version: 1/5/63 - 11/30/63 (Surfin' U.S.A. is #1)
1963 Revised version: 1/5/63 - 12/28/63 (Sugar Shack is #1)

1964: 1/4/64 - 12/12/64

1965: 1/2/65 - 10/23/65

1966 Originally published version: 1/1/66 - 12/10/66 (California Dreamin' is #1)
1966 Revised version: 1/1/66 - 12/31/66 (The Ballad Of The Green Berets is #1)

1967: 1/7/67 - 12/16/67

1968: 1/6/68 - 12/21/68

1969: 1/4/69 - 12/13/69

1970: 1/3/70 - 11/28/70

1971: 1/2/71 - 11/27/71

1972: 12/4/71 - 11/18/72

1973: 11/25/72 - 11/17/73

1974: 11/24/73 - 10/26/74

1975: 11/2/74 - 11/1/75

1976: 11/8/75 - 10/30/76

1977: 11/6/76 - 10/29/77

1978: 11/5/77 - 10/28/78

1979: 10/21/78 - 10/20/79

1980: 10/6/79 - 9/27/80

1981: 1/1/80 - 10/24/81

1982: 10/31/81 - 10/30/82

1983: 11/6/82 - 10/29/83

1984: 11/5/83 - 11/17/84

1985: 11/17/84 - 11/30/85*

1986: 12/7/85 - 11/29/86*

1987: 12/6/86 - 11/28/87*

1988: 12/5/87 - 11/26/88*

1989: 12/3/88 - 11/25/89*

1990: 11/18/89 - 11/17/90

1991: 11/24/90 - 11/23/91

I stopped following the chart in 1992, but I think the survey periods ran the first week of December to the last week of November since then.

* These years BB credited a song's entire chart run so there is overlap with the survey periods.

For 1981, did you mean to type 1/1/81 - 10/24/81? If so, they left quite a gap of 3 months in 1980 when tabulating the year-end rankings for 1981.

The revised versions of 1963 and 1966, but also a few of the other 60s years seemed to be the most accurate rankings for their respective years. You would think that with advanced computations and the internet we have today, Billboard could have come up with a revised and more accurate representation of the year-end lists by just posting them online.

1/1/80 was a typo. Billboard's 1981 survey period ran from Nov. 1 , 1980 to Oct. 24, 1981. October 1980 was not counted in either survey period.

[Hervard]

I have no idea why the heck the cutoff date for the 1980 chart was the last weekend of September. I realize that they can't stretch it all the way out to the end of the year for deadline purposes, but come on, was 1980's year-end chart really so difficult to tabulate that it took three months?

[vince]

Jan 7, 2009 11:57:27 GMT -5 Hervard said:

I have no idea why the heck the cutoff date for the 1980 chart was the last weekend of September. I realize that they can't stretch it all the way out to the end of the year for deadline purposes, but come on, was 1980's year-end chart really so difficult to tabulate that it took three months?

I don't know why BB had such a weird survey period for 1980. It was not anymore difficult to calculate than any other year. The weird survey period may be why AT40 did their own ranking that year. "Another One Bites The Dust" didn't make BB's year end top 100 of 1980 and "Upside Down" is only at #18.

BB reverted back to the early 70s methodology for 1980 for some unknown reason too.

[Caseyfan4everRyanfanNever]

From taking a look at the Billboard charts, AT40's cutoff date for inclusion into the 1980 survey period would have to be November 1 when the song peaking the latest on the 1980 year end ("Jesse") peaked. Ironically, Casey gives a hint to the end of the survey period in his description of "Real Love", noting that the "Doobie Brothers almost missed the year end countdown". Real Love peaked a week before-on Oct 25-and maintained its position on November 1.

[Hervard]

My favorite method was the one Billboard used in the latter half of the 1980s - which was very similar to the one AT40 was using at the time - crediting a song's entire chart run, which was convenient for songs that started their run in the previous chart year and using projected points for songs charting near the end of the year. Unfortunately, Billboard didn't use this method for long, as they went back to a time-frame format in 1990 (of course, they wouldn't have been able to use the AT40 method for long anyway, as in 1992, the figuring system for the Hot 100 underwent a major change).

[cpastrick]

I never did like beginning and end the various years in November. I realize the deadline aspect, but being in the newspaper business I realize that you can work overtime to make the calculations and such without compromising the charts' accuracy (with regard to the time element).

I also never agreed with the frozen charts. It seemed to give a lift to too many songs and skewed the YE charts. (It's a practice that's long since dead, right? They have 52 charts a year now, don't they?)

[mstgator]

Jan 17, 2009 15:50:30 GMT -5 cpastrick said:

I also never agreed with the frozen charts. It seemed to give a lift to too many songs and skewed the YE charts. (It's a practice that's long since dead, right? They have 52 charts a year now, don't they?)

Yep... BDS and SoundScan provide data 52 weeks a year, so Billboard is able to compile charts 52 weeks a year. Dance/Club Play may be the only chart that's still frozen for a week at year end.