The Frozen Fourteen

[Hervard]

May 7, 2021 17:03:40 GMT -5 Mike said:

May 7, 2021 13:59:24 GMT -5 dth1971 said:

Maybe these 6 1/19/1991 double digit movers might have been boosted by post Christmas season airplay and/or sales?

Probably part of it, but there was definitely enough chart inertia/turnover so as to facilitate there being as many as six such movers

Plus, the week before had an extremely slow chart - the biggest movers within the Top 40 were "I Saw Red" (40-35) and "All The Man That I Need" (37-33). All the other songs moved up three, two, or one spots. The large chart jumps on the following week's chart looked to be a matter of catching up.

[jgve1952]

Aug 23, 2013 22:20:50 GMT -5 woolebull said:

Aug 23, 2013 19:03:54 GMT -5 davewollenberg said:

woolebull, you're right. From the 6-18-83 chart, thru the end of Sept., Billboard reverted back to its black star-only bullets.

It looks like the whole "you have a star, you can't drop" ended with the 5.28.83 show. With the white stars disappearing,as Dave said by the end of June, and stars for bullets by the end of September (thank you for pointing that out, Dave).


I wonder if the switch over on 5.28.83 didn't cost David Bowie an extra week at 1. Isn't it interesting that in the very first week of changing what the star meant, we had a 1 drop to 2 and keep its star. I think that only happened one other time until the end of 1991, when Paul Young would do it a couple of years later. Or maybe it just would have lost its star all together when it dropped to 2 if the old system had been in place. Still interesting that Bowie did that in the first week of the new methodology.

Yes, I know this is from 8 years ago, but now retired, I am catching up on chart movements, so please indulge me. Was "Mr. Roboto" the first song with a "black star" to drop when it descended from #3 o #4 on 4-30-83? I think it had been six years (1977 to 1983) since a song with a star dropped at all (except #1). That of course was "Couldn't Get It Right." Prior to that it was "Oh Very Young" in 1974. Did I miss any others?

One more interesting item was in 1983 when "She Works Hard From the Money" dropped from #3 to #4 and had a star. Was that the lowest positioned song to drop with a star?

[dth1971]

May 8, 2021 6:35:42 GMT -5 Hervard said:

May 7, 2021 17:03:40 GMT -5 Mike said:

Probably part of it, but there was definitely enough chart inertia/turnover so as to facilitate there being as many as six such movers

Plus, the week before had an extremely slow chart - the biggest movers within the Top 40 were "I Saw Red" (40-35) and "All The Man That I Need" (37-33). All the other songs moved up three, two, or one spots. The large chart jumps on the following week's chart looked to be a matter of catching up.

On that slow chart week (1/12/1991) Matt and Gunnar Nelson was guest hosting for Shadoe Stevens on AT40.

[doofus67]

May 8, 2021 6:52:15 GMT -5 jgve1952 said:

Was "Mr. Roboto" the first song with a "black star" to drop when it descended from #3 o #4 on 4-30-83? I think it had been six years (1977 to 1983) since a song with a star dropped at all (except #1). That of course was "Couldn't Get It Right." Prior to that it was "Oh Very Young" in 1974. Did I miss any others?

There was "Mr. Roboto" and also "Whirly Girl" in the same week. It held at #28 with a star on 4/23, then dropped to #36 on 4/30.

[jgve1952]

May 8, 2021 13:48:49 GMT -5 doofus67 said:

May 8, 2021 6:52:15 GMT -5 jgve1952 said:

Was "Mr. Roboto" the first song with a "black star" to drop when it descended from #3 o #4 on 4-30-83? I think it had been six years (1977 to 1983) since a song with a star dropped at all (except #1). That of course was "Couldn't Get It Right." Prior to that it was "Oh Very Young" in 1974. Did I miss any others?

There was "Mr. Roboto" and also "Whirly Girl" in the same week. It held at #28 with a star on 4/23, then dropped to #36 on 4/30.

Thanks Doofus! I do feel like I am insulting you by calling you that but.....

[doofus67]

May 8, 2021 14:47:41 GMT -5 jgve1952 said:

Thanks Doofus! I do feel like I am insulting you by calling you that but.....

No worries. That's just me trying to have a sense of humor about myself.

[Mike]

Aug 23, 2013 22:20:50 GMT -5 woolebull said:

With the white stars disappearing,as Dave said by the end of June, and stars for bullets by the end of September (thank you for pointing that out, Dave).

They started calling them "bullets" the same week the Star/Superstar system was dispensed with (June 25) - they just continued to use "stars" as the picture until October 1.

[doofus67]

Happy 44th anniversary to my favorite chart event of all time!

[doofus67]

I love this thread.  The insights of all the members who have jumped in over the years have been amazing.  I'm adding another element to the discussion tonight.

As I do every year at this time, I listened to all 14 songs in my car today.  About halfway through, it occurred to me that the previous week's chart, 8/12/78, was really the problematic one.  For most of that summer, Bill Wardlow had been pushing new songs up the chart higher and faster than necessary.  The chart of the 12th was no exception.  My idea, staying in my Fantasy chart mindset, was to do some hand positioning of my own to calm it down.  Of course, a trickle-down effect was inevitable, as you'll see.

Also, in the AT40 '70s thread, in the chart comparison on page 1,425, I've added the numbers from Radio & Records.

Here's my re-thought chart for 8/12/78.  Songs that had stars on the official chart didn't lose them.  Songs that didn't have stars didn't get them.  Changes are marked with an asterisk:

TW	LW	Title
1	2	Three Times a Lady
2	1	*Miss You
3	3	*Grease
4	4	*Last Dance
5	8	Hot Blooded
6	5	*Shadow Dancing
7	9	Love Will Find a Way
8	6	*Baker Street
9	12	*Copacabana
10	11	*Magnet and Steel
11	17	*Boogie Oogie Oogie
12	13	Life's Been Good
13	16	*An Everlasting Love
14	14	*My Angel Baby
15	15	*I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight
16	18	*Hopelessly Devoted to You
17	19	King Tut
18	27	Kiss You All Over
19	23	Shame
20	21	Stay / The Load-Out
21	26	Fool, If You Think It's Over
22	7	Use Ta Be My Girl
23	10	Still the Same
24	34	Hot Child in the City
25	27	I've Had Enough
26	28	Stuff Like That
27	30	You
28	33	You and I
29	39	Got to Get You into My Life
30	32	Two Tickets to Paradise
31	37	Macho Man
32	40	Love Is in the Air
33	35	Rivers of Babylon
34	-->	Reminiscing
35	36	Mr. Blue Sky
36	38	You're a Part of Me
37	20	The Groove Line
38	22	Runaway
39	-->	Just What I Needed
40	-->	Close the Door

And here's my re-thought chart for (no longer) Frozen 14 week, 8/19/78.  After all, it would make no sense to have two huge hits dropping 24 or 25 notches:

TW	LW	Title
1	1	Three Times a Lady
2	3*	Grease
3	4*	Last Dance
4	2*	Miss You
5	5	Hot Blooded
6	11*	Boogie Oogie Oogie
7	7	Love Will Find a Way
8	9*	Copacabana
9	10*	Magnet and Steel
10	13*	An Everlasting Love
11	16*	Hopelessly Devoted to You
12	12	Life's Been Good
13	14*	My Angel Baby
14	15*	I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight
15	19	Shame
16	18	Kiss You All Over
17	17	King Tut
18	21	Fool, If You Think It's Over
19	29	Got to Get You into My Life
20	20	Stay / The Load-Out
21	24	Hot Child in the City
22	6*	*Shadow Dancing
23	26	Stuff Like That
24	28	*You and I
25	8*	*Baker Street
26	27	*You
27	32	*Love Is in the Air
28	30	*Two Tickets to Paradise
29	31	*Macho Man
30	34	*Reminiscing
31	33	Rivers of Babylon
32	-->	*Summer Nights
33	40	*Close the Door
34	39	Just What I Needed
35	-->	You Needed Me
36	36	You're a Part of Me
37	-->	A Rock and Roll Fantasy
38	-->	Hollywood Nights
39	-->	Whenever I Call You "Friend"
40	-->	Oh! Darling

[doofus67]

Today I caught this countdown, the Premiere B show, via 98.7 WPAC in Ogdensburg, NY. Thanks so much, jmack19, for the affiliate list and the streaming links. Even after so much experience with these shows (though absolutely none in the past couple of years, I'm ashamed to say), somehow I was able to take this show in from a 1978 perspective. Two things struck me: one having to do with the chart action, of course, and one with the listening experience.

The only songs that dropped within the top 40 were the two that had been in lockstep a month earlier -- "Shadow Dancing" and "Baker Street." The former went 15 to 30, the latter 16 to 33. Had this episode been my introduction to AT40 (which actually occurred seven months later), I would have been thrown for a huge loop. Shouldn't there be a mix of climbers and fallers?, I would have wondered sometime in hour two. Not to mention how much more confusing hour three would be! And, had I made a note of the previous week's position for each song, wouldn't I have wanted to know what happened to numbers 22, 23, and 25? They each should have stuck around at least one more week. How does a record become so unpopular so quickly?

To enjoy this program, I used the aforementioned Internet stream, my Android phone, and the Bluetooth connection in my Toyota RAV4. Very mid-2020s, right? But to me, the music sounded a lot like it did in my mom's '76 Ford Granada. Often muddy, often distorted, always compressed, and in fact, the hum of the studio turntable was audible throughout the opening of "Three Times a Lady." The debut song at #38, "Hollywood Nights," certainly was from the promo 45 that Capitol shipped. It was obviously in mono, a disappointment considering it's my favorite song of one of my favorite artists. All of that said, my ears were also opened to the standout, crystal-clear production on all four records that had Bee Gees ties, including George Martin's work on "Oh! Darling."

Overall, this AT40 thing is still a whole lot of fun. It's comforting to know that I can jump back into it at any time -- and at what better point than the greatest chart event ever? I even celebrated with a childhood meal of a Quarter Pounder with cheese, medium French fries, and a Hi-C orange drink!