The Top 150 Hits of… 1991
This was the last year before Billboard switched to new
methods of formulating sales and airplay for the Hot 100. Instead of using
playlists from radio stations and best seller lists from stores, Billboard
would now use actual monitored airplay supplied by Broadcast Data Systems and
at-the-register sales data from UPC scans. The first official week for the new
chart was Nov. 30, 1991. But on that chart, in the spaces where rankings for
the previous two weeks were shown, the rankings of songs from the previous two
weeks of the test charts Billboard made before the switch were listed, not
their positions on the published chart using the old. So chart geeks like me
could compare the published versions of Nov. 16 & 23 vs. what they would
have been under the new system. Comparing the new and old charts, there were
some sizeable differences. In the official published chart for the week of Nov.
23, “Get a Leg Up” by John Mellencamp was #14. If the new chart had been in
place, it would have been #42!
This made compiling my own list a little challenging in
regards to songs that bridged the ’91 and ’92 chart years. In general, it was
harder to get into the upper regions of the new chart, and chart life tended to
be longer. So while “Get a Leg Up” wouldn’t have peaked as high, it likely
would have had a few more weeks on the chart. So for these songs I did my best
to construct what their remaining chart life would have been like under the old
system. Given that I could easily be off by a bit, and two of these songs are
at #149 and 150, I extended that chart two more places in the case the songs at
151 & 152 should really have been 149 & 150.
Billboard instituted a new rule in which if a song had been
on the chart for 20 weeks and had dropped below the top 20 (quickly changed to
the top 40, and later, top 50) it was removed from the chart and given
recurrent status the following week. “Recurrent” is when a song is no longer on
a station’s playlist per se, but it still gets played as an older tune amongst
the more current songs. Thing was, if a song was very popular, and many
stations were playing it as a recurrent, it could maintain sufficient airplay
points to remain in the lower reaches of the chart until doomsday. Hence the
new rule.
There are also three special cases on this chart. Two songs
that were not available as singles, and therefore ineligible for the Hot 100,
in which case I used points from the old airplay chart (#’s 92 & 137), and
one whose single release was withheld until after its radio play had already
peaked, in which case I used airplay chart points before its single release,
and its Hot 100 points after (#95). All three cases were successful attempts to
garner album sales. Had commercial singles been available, I'd be willing to bet these songs would have had much higher year-end positions.
- (Everything I Do) I Do It for You – Bryan Adams 347.5
- Because I Love You (The Postman Song) – Stevie B 301.5
- From a Distance – Bette Midler 300.5
- Gonna Make You Sweat – C&C Music Factory 298.5
- High Enough – Damn Yankees 295.5
- I Wanna Sex You Up – Color Me Badd 292.5
- Rush Rush – Paula Abdul 291.5
- One More Try – Timmy T 288
- The First Time – Surface 285.5
- More Than Words – Extreme 281
- Unbelievable – EMF 280.5
- I Like the Way (The Kissing Game) – Hi-Five 278.5
- Motownphilly – Boyz II Men 271.5
- Baby Baby – Amy Grant 259.5
- Right Here, Right Now – Jesus Jones 252
- Love Will Never Do (Without You) – Janet Jackson 250.5
- I’m Your Baby Tonight – Whitney Houston 248.5
- All the Man That I Need – Whitney Houston 248
- Someday – Mariah Carey 247
- Romantic – Karyn White 245.5
- Good Vibrations – Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch w/ Loleatta Holloway 240.5
- Do Anything – Natural Selection feat. Niki Haris 240
- I Adore Mi Amor – Color Me Badd 239.5
- Emotions – Mariah Carey 238.5
- Sensitivity – Ralph Tresvant 237.5
- Hold You Tight – Tara Kemp 234.5
- Cream – Prince & the N.P.G. 234
- Can’t Stop This Thing We Started – Bryan Adams 233.5
- Justify My Love – Madonna 233
- I Don’t Wanna Cry – Mariah Carey 228.5
- Joyride – Roxette 227
- Every Heartbeat – Amy Grant 226
- You’re in Love – Wilson Phillips 224.5
- Touch Me (All Night Long) – Cathy Dennis 224
- Where Does My Heart Beat Now – Celine Dion 223
- I’ve Been Thinking About You – Londonbeat 222
- Impulsive – Wilson Phillips 222
- Losing My Religion – R.E.M. 218.5
- Wind of Change – Scorpions 218.5
- Coming Out of the Dark – Gloria Estefan 215.5
- Tom’s Diner – DNA feat. Suzanne Vega 215.5
- Here We Go – C&C Music Factory 213
- It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over – Lenny Kravitz 212.5
- The Way You Do the Things You Do – UB40 209.5
- Summertime – DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince 207.5
- Love of a Lifetime – Firehouse 205.5
- Hole Hearted – Extreme 202.5
- P.A.S.S.I.O.N. – Rythm Syndicate 198
- This House – Tracie Spencer 197.5
- Something to Talk About – Bonie Raitt 197
- Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave) – Roxette 196
- Promise of a New Day – Paula Abdul 192.5
- After the Rain – Nelson 192
- Rhythm of My Heart – Rod Stewart 191.5
- Power of Love/Love Power – Luther Vandross 190.5
- Love Is a Wonderful Thing – Michael Bolton 188.5
- Iesha – Another Bad Creation 188.5
- I Touch Myself – Divinyls 187.5
- Things That Make You Go Hmmmm… - C&C Music Factory 183.5
- I Can’t Wait Another Minute – Hi-Five 182.5
- Temptation – Corina 182
- Play That Funky Music – Vanilla Ice 180.5
- I’ll Be There – The Escape Club 178.5
- Around the Way Girl – LL Cool J 177.5
- O.P.P. – Naughty by Nature 177.5
- Here I Am (Come and Take Me) – UB40 177
- Show Me the Way – Styx 174
- 3A.M. Eternal – The KLF 173.5
- Cry for Help – Rick Astley 172.5
- Time, Love and Tenderness – Michael Bolton 171.5
- Set the Night to Music – Roberta Flack & Maxi Priest 171.5
- Sadeness Part 1 – Enigma 171
- Now That We Found Love – Heavy D & the Boyz 170.5
- Wicked Game – Chris Isaac 170
- Signs – Tesla 167.5
- I’ll Give All My Love to You – Keith Sweat 167.5
- Round and Round – Tevin Campbell 166.5
- Too Many Walls – Cathy Dennis 164.5
- Place in This World – Michael W. Smith 163.5
- Don’t Cry – Guns n’ Roses 162.5
- Get Here – Oleta Adams 160.5
- The One and Only – Chesney Hawkes 159
- Crazy – Seal 158.5
- Just Another Dream – Cathy Dennis 157.5
- Everybody Plays the Fool – Aaron Neville 156
- With You – Tony Terry 154.5
- I’m Not in Love – Will to Power 154
- Silent Lucidity – Queensryche 152.5
- Miles Away – Winger 152.5
- Real Real Real – Jesus Jones 151.5
- Freedom ’90 – George Michael 151.5
- State of the World – Janet Jackson 150
- I Wonder Why – Curtis Stigers 150
- Do You Want Me – Salt-n-Pepa 147
- Rescue Me – Madonna 146
- Piece of My Heart – Tara Kemp 146
- Disappear – INXS 145.5
- Strike It Up – Black Box 144.5
- Let’s Talk About Sex – Salt -n- Pepa 139.5
- Rico Suave – Gerardo 138
- All This Time – Sting 136.5
- I Saw Red – Warrant 136.5
- Don’t Want to Be a Fool – Luther Vandross 135
- Wiggle It – 2 in a Room 131.5
- Walking in Memphis – Marc Cohn 130.5
- The Motown Song – Rod Stewart 130
- Enter Sandman – Metallica 128.5
- Playground – Another Bad Creation 127.5
- Shiny Happy People – R.E.M. 125
- Voices that Care – Voices that Care 125
- Written All Over Your Face – Rude Boys 123.5
- Miracle – Jon Bon Jovi 122.5
- Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless) – Crystal Waters 119
- If You Needed Somebody – Bad Company 118.5
- Don’t Treat Me Bad – Firehouse 118.5
- I’ll Never Let You Go – Steelheart 116.5
- Unfogettable – Natalie Cole with Nat “King” Cole 114
- Street of Dreams – Nia Peeples 113.5
- How Can I Ease the Pain – Lisa Fischer 113
- Lily Was Here – David A. Stewart & Candy Dulfer 113
- Love Makes Things Happen – Pebbles with Babyface 112
- Love… Thy Will Be Done – Martika 111.5
- Hard to Handle – The Black Crowes 111
- Miracle – Whitney Houston 109.5
- Just the Way It Is, Baby – The Rembrandts 107.5
- You Don’t Have to Go Home Tonight – The Triplets 106.5
- The Dream Is Still Alive – Wilson Phillips 106
- Running Back to You – Vanessa Williams 105.5
- More Than Ever – Nelson 105.5
- Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)/I Want You – Robert Palmer 105.5
- Couple Days Off – Huey Lewis & the News 103
- For You – The Outfield 102.5
- Waiting for Love – Alias 99.5
- I’ll Be By Your Side – Stevie B 95.5
- Love and Understanding – Cher 95.5
- Something in My Heart – Michel’le 95.5
- Do the Bartman – The Simpsons 95
- Mama Said Knock You Out – LL Cool J 93.5
- Never Gonna Let You Down – Surface 93.5
- One and Only Man – Steve Winwood 93.5
- Save Some Love – Keedy 93
- I’ll Do 4 U – Father M.C. 90.5
- What Comes Naturally – Sheena Easton 89
- Hey Donna – Rythm Syndicate 87.5
- On the Way Up – Elisa Fiorillo 87.5
- Heat of the Moment – After 7 86
- A Better Love – Londonbeat 83.5
- Deeper Shade of Soul – Urban Dance Squad 83
- Ring My Bell – DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince 82.5
- Get a Leg Up – John Mellencamp 81.5
- Moneytalks – AC/DC 81.5
- You Could Be Mine – Guns n’ Roses 76.5
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