Top Hits of the 1980s

[mycool44]

While 'AT40' never did assemble a Top 50 of the 80's countdown (I was interning there at the time and felt ripped off at the thought), "Casey's Top 40" did a Top 40 #1's of the 80's, Top 40 Million-Sellers of the 80's, Top 40 Movie Hits of the 80's, Top 40 British Hits of the 80's, Top 40 Dance Hits of the 80's, and possibly even a Top 40 Summer Hits of the 80's. Definitely not the same as a true AT40 countdown, but dare I say - life is NOT like a box of chocolates.

[torcan]

While I certainly think long chart runs should be reflected in a song's overall popularity, there were a lot of good songs in the late '80s that probably wouldn't rank in a Top 100 of the decade chart.

Part of it had to do with single sales - sales of 45s dropped significantly in the late '80s and songs just didn't have the staying power that they did earlier in the decade. There were very few gold singles after about 1985.

Radio formats changed. I read somewhere that the CHR back then required new singles by big-name artists every few weeks, which would usually mean radio would drop the previous single and start playing the newer one instead, resulting in a shorter chart run.

Also, the way the charts were compiled probably had a lot to do with it as well. After several years of static charts, songs were allowed to move up and down more freely (not being required to "lose its bullet" first) and radio probably didn't feel the need to play the songs as long if they were already headed down the charts.

Overall, if the songs from the early '80s sold more and were played more than the songs from the later '80s, then I think they're more deserving of being on a Top 100 of the decade list.