Out Of The Vault

2011: The Final "Hot 100" Round-Up

Here are a few of my observations on last year's "Hot 100" charts.

2011 proved to be the busiest year on the chart since 1976. There were 510 entries on the "Hot 100" plus 240 entries on the "Bubbling Under the Hot 100" for a total of 750 pop hits for 2011! And the Cast of Glee was responsible for 100 hits: 75 on the "Hot 100" and 25 on Bubbling.

A whopping 45% of all songs on these charts, for a total of 340, were only on the chart for one week! Of these, 182 had their short stay on the "Hot 100" and 158 on the "Bubbling Under" chart.

Although Rihanna’s “We Found Love” beat out Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep” for the most weeks at #1 (10 versus 7), Adele’s hit was a bigger #1 hit across several chart genres: Adult Contemporary (19 weeks at #1), Triple A (14 weeks) and Adult Top 40 (13 weeks). That’s a total of 53 weeks at #1 on four main Billboard charts. Adele followed that up with back-to-back #1 hits on the "Hot 100": “Someone Like You” and “Set Fire To The Rain.”

Rihanna continued her strong chart dominance with 14 appearances: 2 #1’s; 4 Top 10’s and 9 Top 40 hits. In fact, since 1940, she now ranks, among the elite artists with the most Top 10 hits in the past 72 years. With 21 Top 10 hits and 11 #1 hits, Rihanna ranks at #29, between Paul McCartney and George Michael.

Four other artists had sensational success in the Top 10 this year: Lady Gaga (4 Top 10’s), Lil Wayne (3 Top 10’s plus 3 more as a featured artist), Britney Spears (3 Top 10’s, plus 1 featured) and Bruno Mars (3 Top 10’s, plus 1 featured). Also worthy of mention are Drake (2 lead, 2 featuring), Pitbull (2 lead, 1 featuring), Wiz Khalifa (2 lead, 1 featuring) and Katy Perry (2 lead).

Only three artists that debuted on the "Hot 100" in 2011, climbed all the way into the Top 10: Foster The People “Pumped Up Kicks” (#3 for 8 weeks!), Bad Meets Evil “Lighters” (#4) and Hot Chelle Rae “Tonight Tonight” (#7).

The following famous names graced the "Hot 100": Donald Trump, Barbra Streisand, President Carter, Jack Sparrow, Tony Montana and Charlie Brown. None of them recorded a "Hot 100" hit in 2011, but, their names were titles of hits! Here are a few more names that appeared in pop titles this year: Jagger (Mick), Judas, Otis (Redding), Marvin (Gaye), John (Lennon), Mona Lisa, Cinderella, Gucci and Aston Martin.

There were 55 digital recordings that were certified platinum with two earning five-time platinum: Adele “Rolling In The Deep” and Cee Lo Green “F**k You”! Digital gold certification was bestowed on 39 recordings.

Thirteen songs stayed at their peak position for four weeks at more, all at positions #1, 2 or 3, except for Kenny Chesney’s “You And Tequila” which peaked at #33 and held that position for 5 weeks!

The average playing time of a Top 10 hit in 2011 was 4:13, the shortest being “No Sleep” by Wiz Khalifa at 3:11 and the longest being “The Edge Of Glory” by Lady Gaga at 5:17.

The average life of a Bubbling Under-only chart hit was one to two weeks. Only two titles lingered for three weeks: “This City” by Patrick Stump at #102 and at #123 “Light Up The Sky” by The Afters.

Thirteen Christmas songs lit up the holiday season, led by the only Top 40 entry “Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber, peaking at #11. The last Christmas song that peaked higher than that was “This One’s For The Children” by New Kids On The Block in 1989 (#7). Going all the way back to 1955, only four other Christmas songs have made the Top 10 on the Hot 100: “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby (#7 in 1955), “Nuttin’ For Christmas” by Barry Gordon (#7 in 1955), “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms (#6 in 1957) and the all-time champ “The Chipmunk Song” by The Chipmunks (#1 for 4 weeks in 1958).

So, there you have it. I'm looking forward to all that 2012 holds in store.

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