Top 10 Hits That Missed the AT40 Year-End Chart!

[trekkielo]

Carpenters had three...

Goodbye to Love (1972) #7
Yesterday Once More (1973) #2
Sing (1973) #3

[dth1971]

Did Bryan MacGregor's "Americans" not make the 1974 AT40 year-end countdown despite peaking at #4 on Billboard/AT40?

Did Dickie Goodman's "Mr. Jaws" not make the 1975 AT40 year-end countdown despite peaking at #4 on Billboard/AT40?

And why did the 1992 re-release of "Bohemian Rhaspody" by Queen get shut out of the Shadoe Stevens 1992 AT40 year end countdown despite reaching #9 on AT40 which used the Billboard Top 40 Radio Monitor chart source at the time?

[Hervard]

Dec 28, 2021 8:44:49 GMT -5 dth1971 said:

Did Bryan MacGregor's "Americans" not make the 1974 AT40 year-end countdown despite peaking at #4 on Billboard/AT40?

Did Dickie Goodman's "Mr. Jaws" not make the 1975 AT40 year-end countdown despite peaking at #4 on Billboard/AT40?

And why did the 1992 re-release of "Bohemian Rhaspody" by Queen get shut out of the Shadoe Stevens 1992 AT40 year end countdown despite reaching #10 on AT40 which used the Billboard Top 40 Radio Monitor chart source at the time?

Actually, "Bohemian Rhapsody" peaked at #9 on the T40RM chart, and it didn't make the year-ender for pretty much the same reason that the two other songs you mentioned above didn't make it - both zipped up and down the chart too quickly to gain enough points. Heck, "Erotica", which peaked at #2 (and had a chart run not much shorter than BR), only came in as high as #90, so it did not surprise me that the Queen song missed the mark.

Moreover, "Bohemian Rhapsody", which peaked at #3 on the R&R chart, registered way down at #80 in its year-ender, an unusually low placing for a mid-year record that hit the Top Three. But, again, the song's popularity was fleeting, because of its inclusion in "Wayne's World", so it only lasted nine weeks on the chart, rather than 21 in its original 1976 chart run.

[johnnywest]

Did “Nadia’s Theme” make the Top 100 of 1976 or 1977?

[vince]

Dec 28, 2021 23:27:06 GMT -5 johnnywest said:

Did “Nadia’s Theme” make the Top 100 of 1976 or 1977?

"Nadia's Theme" did not make either BB's 1976, 1977 or AT40's 1977 year-end survey. Its points were split between 1976 and 1977 on BB, not getting enough to rank in either year. It was probably an error of omission on AT40's 1977 survey, since AT40 counted full runs. It peaked in December which would put it in the 1977 survey period. The point total for "Nadia Theme" would have placed it at #26 in AT40's 1977 YE survey, had it been included.

[Mike]

Sept 16, 2009 15:13:38 GMT -5 mkarns said:

1988- Love Will Save the Day (Whitney Houston)
Hysteria (Def Leppard)
I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man (Prince)
Alphabet St. (Prince)
Rush Hour (Jane Wiedlin)
Some Kind of Lover (Jody Watley)
Two Occasions (The Deele)
It Would Take a Strong, Strong Man (Rick Astley)
I Saw Him Standing There (Tiffany)
Tunnel of Love (Bruce Springsteen)
Please Don't Go, Girl (New Kids on the Block)

For whatever reason, the late 1980s were a time of rather high chart turnover, so there are a lot of #9s and #10s, and some that went higher, that didn't make the yearend top 100 due in part to fast, short chart runs. And I'm sure I missed quite a few.

And consequently, this means, of course, that years such as 1988 simply had more Top 10s than there were spaces in the Top 100. (Other "reasons why" Top 10s wouldn't rank in the year-end Top 100 have been discussed, this one has not as yet.)

And besides not wanting to quote the entire lengthy post, I also single out 1988 here as I believe it may just hold the record for the fewest ever non-Top 10s to rank in a given year's Top 100: Just one, Brenda K. Starr's "I Still Believe" (which peaked at #13, and ranked #93 for the year).

From 1985 to 1989 (assuming these don't contain any other missing Top 10s besides the ones I point out here):
1985 had four non-Top 10s in the Top 100, versus 7 Top 10s that missed.
1986 had five non-Top 10s in the Top 100, versus 9 Top 10s that missed.
1987 had two non-Top 10s in the Top 100, versus 10 Top 10s that missed.
1988 had one non-Top 10 in the Top 100, versus 12 Top 10s that missed. (Your list missed one: "Circle in the Sand" by Belinda Carlisle.)
1989 had three non-Top 10s in the Top 100, versus 14 Top 10s that missed. (Your list missed one: "Cry" by Waterfront.)

[dth1971]

Two Madonna songs made the top 10 but failed to make an AT40 year end countdown: "Hanky Panky" (reached #10 in 1990) and "Rescue Me" (reached #9 in 1991 despite a late commercial single release).

[trekkielo]

The New Seekers - I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony) (1972) #7

[trekkielo]

The Temptations - Papa Was a Rollin' Stone (1972) #1

[trekkielo]

Paul Simon - Kodachrome (1973) #2

[at40petebattistini]

The DeFranco Family's "Heartbeat, It's A Lovebeat" peaked at #3 in 1973, 17 weeks on the Hot 100. (Also not ranked among Billboard's Top 100 of 1973.)

[Mike]

From 1990:

These also missed Billboard's survey that year - "Tonight" by New Kids on the Block (#7), "Keep it Together" by Madonna (#8), and "This Old Heart of Mine" by Rod Stewart & Ronald Isley (#10).

These missed AT40's survey, but did rank in Billboard's - "Whole Wide World" by A'me Lorain (#9, #95 for the year), "Just a Friend" by Biz Markie (#9, #94 for the year), and "This One's For the Children" by the New Kids (#7, #90 for the year). (And, of course, "Thieves in the Temple", which has already been spoken for.)

A'me Lorain must have barely, and I mean barely, missed, as she got 12 weeks in the countdown - her 20 overall weeks on the Hot 100 were ostensibly enough to put her in Billboard's rankings. Much the same can be said for Biz Markie, who got 11 weeks in the countdown and 22 on the Hot 100. As for "This One's For the Children", that can probably be chalked up to Billboard's survey period for 1990 - which ran from 11/18/89 to 11/17/90, allowing "Children" to get all but one of a 16-week Hot 100 run in the chart year.

Lastly, I count five non-Top 10s in AT40's 1990 rankings - which means just two Top 10s were going to end up left out regardless. That's still as high as the mid-to-late 80s, but it's also a noticeable drop from 1988 & 1989's peak.

[dth1971]

Dec 30, 2021 5:20:28 GMT -5 Mike said:

From 1990:

These also missed Billboard's survey that year - "Tonight" by New Kids on the Block (#7), "Keep it Together" by Madonna (#8), and "This Old Heart of Mine" by Rod Stewart & Ronald Isley (#10).

These missed AT40's survey, but did rank in Billboard's - "Whole Wide World" by A'me Lorain (#9, #95 for the year), "Just a Friend" by Biz Markie (#9, #94 for the year), and "This One's For the Children" by the New Kids (#7, #90 for the year). (And, of course, "Thieves in the Temple", which has already been spoken for.)

A'me Lorain must have barely, and I mean barely, missed, as she got 12 weeks in the countdown - her 20 overall weeks on the Hot 100 were ostensibly enough to put her in Billboard's rankings. Much the same can be said for Biz Markie, who got 11 weeks in the countdown and 22 on the Hot 100. As for "This One's For the Children", that can probably be chalked up to Billboard's survey period for 1990 - which ran from 11/18/89 to 11/17/90, allowing "Children" to get all but one of a 16-week Hot 100 run in the chart year.

Lastly, I count five non-Top 10s in AT40's 1990 rankings - which means just two Top 10s were going to end up left out regardless. That's still as high as the mid-to-late 80s, but it's also a noticeable drop from 1988 & 1989's peak.

Then how did the 1990 re-release of "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers fair on Billboard's 1990 year end survey though it was ranked high in the #50-#40-#30 range on the AT40 1990 year end countdown?

[Hervard]

Dec 30, 2021 6:53:36 GMT -5 dth1971 said:

Dec 30, 2021 5:20:28 GMT -5 Mike said:

From 1990:

These also missed Billboard's survey that year - "Tonight" by New Kids on the Block (#7), "Keep it Together" by Madonna (#8), and "This Old Heart of Mine" by Rod Stewart & Ronald Isley (#10).

These missed AT40's survey, but did rank in Billboard's - "Whole Wide World" by A'me Lorain (#9, #95 for the year), "Just a Friend" by Biz Markie (#9, #94 for the year), and "This One's For the Children" by the New Kids (#7, #90 for the year). (And, of course, "Thieves in the Temple", which has already been spoken for.)

A'me Lorain must have barely, and I mean barely, missed, as she got 12 weeks in the countdown - her 20 overall weeks on the Hot 100 were ostensibly enough to put her in Billboard's rankings. Much the same can be said for Biz Markie, who got 11 weeks in the countdown and 22 on the Hot 100. As for "This One's For the Children", that can probably be chalked up to Billboard's survey period for 1990 - which ran from 11/18/89 to 11/17/90, allowing "Children" to get all but one of a 16-week Hot 100 run in the chart year.

Lastly, I count five non-Top 10s in AT40's 1990 rankings - which means just two Top 10s were going to end up left out regardless. That's still as high as the mid-to-late 80s, but it's also a noticeable drop from 1988 & 1989's peak.

Then how did the 1990 re-release of "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers fair on Billboard's 1990 year end survey though it was ranked high in the #50-#40-#30 range on the AT40 1990 year end countdown?

"Unchained Melody" ranked so high on the AT40 year-ender because they combined the points of both versions of the song, while Billboard apparently counted the two individually. Apparently, neither song gained enough points by themselves within the survey period to register on the chart.

[Mike]

Correct - Billboard counted each single release (the re-issue of the original 1965 record versus the 1990 re-recording) individually. The re-issue only had the 45 (7-inch) available, and with that as a dying medium for single releases, that translated to precious little sales. ("U Can't Touch This", available individually only as a 12-inch, had a similar result - but had the lasting airplay to carry it into being enough of a Hot 100 hit to rank around the middle of both AT40's and Billboard's 1990 surveys.)