The Hot 100 in the 90’s

and Why I Won’t Be Going There for a While

Since it’s inception in Aug. 1958, the Hot 100 combined airplay and single sales to determine the most popular songs in the country. It made sense then that one of the criteria to be eligible for the chart was that a song had to be released as a commercial single. (That meant a 7” vinyl record if I have any younger readers who didn’t know that.) Now and then a song would come along that would get a significant amount of airplay but would not be released as a single and would therefore not be eligible. Songs like “Stairway to Heaven” and “Isn’t She Lovely” didn’t make the chart for that reason. But such instances were few and far between.

In the 90’s, record labels started to get the idea that they could sell more albums if they withheld singles from the market. It was a strategic trickle at first, starting with “Do the Bartman” by the Simpsons (Yes, those Simpsons). I remember reading an item in Billboard about the decision to not release a single. A Geffen respesentative said that their goal wasn’t to have a hit song. Their goal was to get people who would buy a Simpsons t-shirt or lunchbox to buy a CD as well. When A&M released the 8^th song from Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 to radio, their philosophy was, “Forget the single this time, let’s sell some more albums.” “State of the World” reached #5 on the airplay chart and “Bartman” made it to #11, both in 1991. The primary configuration for singles was cassettes now.

By 1994, the singles market was primarily 2-4 track CDs, and rock artists in particular started to get into the business model of not using them. Counting Crows, Green Day, Soundgarden, Gin Blossoms, Stone Temple Pilots, Cranberries and more all had big hits at top 40 radio without corresponding singles. The trend continued. In 1996, No Doubt spent 16 weeks at #1 on the airplay chart with “Don’t Speak,” and was not eligible for the Hot 100.

By 1998, 2/3 of the songs on the airplay chart were not released as singles. Furthermore, sometimes a label would hold back the release of a single, allowing for airplay and demand to increase, so that when the single was released, it would debut at #1. It worked, but it also shortened the chart run of those songs. We also saw a return of the double A-sided single. If a single had two songs that were both getting airplay (for example “You Were Meant for Me” and “Foolish Games” by Jewel), the airplay points of both songs would be combined to determine the single’s position on the main chart, which would of course be higher than either song would be on its own. What else could they do? Divide the sales points equally between the two songs? Basically, the Hot 100 was virtually useless.

Finally, for the chart year 1999, Billboard changed its rules, allowing radio-only tracks onto the big chart.

You can see how all of this might make it difficult to calculate the top 150 hits of most years in the 90’s.

The first full year for which I could accurately make up a list under the new chart methodology was 2000. I’ll be posting that in a couple days.