By Frank “Smokin” Truat
Most of the time that I reference a hit record, I rely on the dependable Billboard Magazine and their famous Hot 100 chart, with the biggest pop songs of the week that are charted in order of their popularity. It’s one of many charts that Billboard features every week and this week I would like to focus on the Adult Contemporary chart. This chart includes only those songs that are on the lighter side, something you could call easy listening. The chart originated in this month of July back in 1961. These so-called soothing songs are from every genre and most would also appear somewhere on the hot 100 chart. This Easy Listening chart was renamed Middle-Road, then Pop Standard, and now, for many years, Adult Contemporary. To commemorate the 50th anniversary back on July 17th, 2011, Billboard counted down the top 100 songs through that date. At number ten was “Lonely No More” by Rob Thomas. Number 9 was “Hero” by Enrique Iglesias. Next was “Change the World” with Eric Clapton, “You Needed Me” from Anne Murray, “Hello Dolly” by Louis Armstrong and “Born Free” from Roger Williams. At number 4 you’ll find “Heaven” by Los Lonely Boys then “Drift Away” by Uncle Kracker featuring the original artist Dobie Gray. Maxine Nightingale placed at number 2 with “Lead Me On” and Savage Garden topped the list with “Truly, Deeply, Madly.” It’s quite a list with some big artists mixed in with artists whose careers were not as stellar.
Today, not as many songs make it to the Adult Contemporary charts, and when they do, they tend to spend a long time there. Last week, Miley Cyrus had the number one song with “Flowers.” You’ve probably heard the song a ton of times, and remember it being released quite a while ago. As a matter of fact, the song has been number one for 55 weeks and it has been on the charts for 77 weeks! Is it that good of a song, or are they releasing fewer tunes for us to listen to than they did in the past? Many songs in the top 10 have been there for a year and one song, “Unstoppable” by Sia, the number 4 song last week has charted for 109 weeks, that’s over 2 years! Let’s get those songwriters out there to get creative so we can hear a bigger selection, like in the good old days!
