'HURT': SO GOOD

Dear Fred,

The song "Hurt" by Johnny Cash is No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles Sales chart and is showing 2 million in sales. Since it has only been on the sales charts a short while, how could it have accumulated this number of sales?

Nolan Haan
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Dear Nolan,

Excellent question. I called on Billboard's country charts manager, Wade Jessen, for an explanation, but before I pass along his comments, one important note. Our charts never show sales figures. The "2 million" figure you're referring to is the indication of platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), represented by the triangle and the superscript number "2."

What this actually indicates is that the RIAA has certified the single "Hurt" for U.S. shipments of 2 million copies shipped to retailers, not what has been sold to consumers and tracked by Nielsen SoundScan, whose data informs Billboard's sales charts.

Now, for Wade's explanation. The single is only available as a video single - specifically, a DVD single. It was originally attached as a retail premium to Johnny Cash's album "American IV: The Man Comes Around." Nevertheless, the RIAA allowed certification for the single. That explains why the DVD single was certified at two million in April 2003 (the album was released in November 2002).

Because the DVD single of "Hurt" was not available for purchase as a stand-alone retail single, it was ineligible for any of Billboard's sales charts. Recently, the DVD single was released for separate purchase, and at that point became eligible to appear on the sales charts. That is why "Hurt" is only in its 11th chart week, yet still shows a multi-platinum certification at two million.


THIS 'MELODY' LINGERED ON

Dear Fred,

I was trying to check where the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody" peaked on the Hot 100. I found out that "Unchained Melody" never hit No. 1, but "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" did. The former peaked at No. 4, and the latter was No. 1 for two weeks in February 1965.

I also saw something more unusual: "Unchained Melody" re-entered the Hot 100 in 1990 at No. 13. I believe this may have been because the song was featured on the "Ghost" soundtrack.

Was the original peak of "Unchained Melody" at No. 4 included on the 1990 re-entry and is it against chart policy for an artist or group to have a song that charted on the Hot 100 some 40 years ago re-enter the Hot 100 in 2004?

Torrey Pitchford
Benton Harbor, Mich.

Dear Torrey,

The Righteous Brothers had two No. 1 songs on the Hot 100, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin;" (composed by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and in my opinion, one of the best songs ever written) and "(You're My) Soul & Inspiration" (which Mann and Weill have said is "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" sideways).

The follow-up to "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was "Just Once in My Life" (a personal favorite, written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin), which peaked at No. 9. The next single was a double-sided hit, "Unchained Melody" and "Hung on You." I preferred the B-side (also written by Goffin and King), but obviously "Unchained Melody" was a popular choice, and as you said, it peaked at No. 4.

You're also correct in your assumption that "Unchained Melody" returned to the Hot 100 because of its inclusion in the film "Ghost." In 1990, the original recording, produced by Phil Spector, was reissued, and thanks to radio airplay and sales, went to No. 13. At the same time, the Righteous Brothers recorded a new version of the song. Issued on Curb, that single sold well enough to peak at No. 19.

The Righteous Brothers' Spector-produced recording of "Unchained Melody" gets credit for an overall career peak of No. 4.

If an old song were to receive heavy current rotation at radio and sell in sufficient amounts, it could return to the Hot 100, as "Unchained Melody" did. If, for example, Capitol re-issued the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" for its 40th anniversary and it received enough airplay at monitored stations, it could re-enter.

It's a rare occurrence, but it has happened. The most successful return was Chubby Checker's "The Twist," which was No. 1 in 1960, and then had a separate chart life at the end of 1961, peaking at No. 1 again in early 1962.


DOWN KAST

Hi Fred,

I was wondering if the download sales of "Hey Ya!" by OutKast count towards the sales of "The Way You Move" by OutKast featuring Sleepy Brown in regard to chart position on the Hot 100? Since Billboard's chart policy gives all of the sales of a single to the song which charts first (in this case it is "The Way You Move") does the download sales of "Hey Ya!" count towards the chart position of "The Way You Move"?

I believe that the Billboard chart policy currently counts the download sales of a single towards the chart position on the Hot 100 if there is a commercial single available, which there is for "Hey Ya!" and "The Way You Move." Since "Hey Ya!" has consistently been at the top of the digital tracks chart this would seem to have an impact on the chart position of either song if it is counted.

If the download sales are not counted toward the chart position of "Hey Ya!" it would be interesting to see if it would have made a difference in how long "Hey Ya!" remains No. 1.

Thanks,

Mario Ortega
Huntington Beach, Calif.
marioortega2000@aol.com

Dear Mario,

To give you an idea of how strong a No. 1 song "Hey Ya!" is, the OutKast song has been No. 1 for nine weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 without any sales points, and without any credit for its digital downloads.

You're correct that "The Way You Move" receives all of the sales credit for singles sold, but it's because that is the side that was receiving the most airplay when the single was released.

Silvio Pietroluongo, manager of the Hot 100, answers your question about the digital downloads of "Hey Ya!":

"Digital sales of the 'Hey Ya' track do not count toward the Hot 100. If some of the music services offer both 'The Way You Move'/'Hey Ya' for sale together as a single equivalent to the retail product (with the same SKU code), the sales points go towards 'The Way You Move' as is the case with the DVD and 12-inch vinyl singles. "Hey Ya!" is not eligible for any points from retail as "The Way You Move" had the higher audience at the time of the single release and therefore became the linked title for that product."


MORE KAST

Dear Fred,

"The Way You Move" by OutKast featuring Sleepy Brown is poised to become the 900th No. 1 in the history of the Hot 100, which made its debut the week of Aug. 4, 1958. The first No. 1 on the Hot 100 was Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool."

In the U.K., "Lady Marmalade" by Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, Mya & Pink became the 900th No. 1 in the history of the British pop singles chart, which made its debut the week of Nov. 14, 1952.

Julio Pabon
Bogota, Colombia

Dear Julio,

For the purposes of "The Billboard Book of Number One Hits," I count from Bill Haley & His Comets' "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock," the first No. 1 of the rock era. That makes "The Way You Move" the 939th No. 1 of the rock era in my book (that's how it will be listed in the sixth edition).

But since the first 39 No. 1 songs in my book pre-date the Hot 100, you are absolutely right that "The Way You Move" is the 900th chart-topper on this specific survey, a plateau worth commemorating.

It isn't quite fair matching the counts in the U.S. and the U.K., since the British chart started in 1952. Billboard started publishing a singles chart in 1940.


OUTKAST MOVES

Dear Fred,

The rap duo OutKast breaks a couple of records this week in its climb to No. 1 [on Billboard's Hot 100] with "The Way You Move," featuring singer Sleepy Brown.

In addition to making them the first lead group to replace itself at No. 1 since Boyz II Men in 1994 ("On Bended Knee," "I'll Make Love to You"), OutKast's third No. 1 Hot 100 single gives them the distinction of having the only song in history to spend as many as eight weeks in the runner-up position before moving to No. 1. "Move" eclipses the mark set in 1993 when Silk's "Freak Me" spent five weeks at No. 2 before topping the chart.

Additionally, "The Way You Move" now owns the mark for most weeks spent in the top 40 portion of the chart in a single run, 19, before reaching the summit. At this rate, in a few weeks, it could also become the first song to spend more than 17 weeks in the top 10 since Nelly's "Dilemma" culminated a 19-week run in November 2002.

Since then, four songs have joined the 17-week top 10 club: No. 1 hits "In Da Club" by 50 Cent and "Get Busy" by Sean Paul; and the No. 5 songs, "Unwell" by matchbox twenty and this week's newcomer, "Here Without You," by 3 Doors Down. This week, "The Way You Move" stands at 15 top 10 weeks.

Darrell Roberts
Bethesda, Md.

Dear Darrell,

"The Way You Move" made a lot of chart news this week. See "Chart Beat Bonus" to find out more.


GOOD JOB, BUT...

Hi Fred,

It's an outstanding feat that OutKast held the top two positions of the Hot 100 for the past eight weeks, but I think it's a little unfair that the duo is receiving credit for both songs when both songs are really solo efforts by OutKast members Andre 3000 and Big Boi. This is another example of chart manipulation a la Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real (remix)".

I'm happy Andre 3000 and Big Boi are both doing well, but let's give credit where credit is due. These are both solo records [and] neither one appears in each other's videos. What is Billboard's policy on this?

Thanks,

Mike Yuen
myuen@book.com

Dear Mike,

To answer your question about Billboard policy, our charts list credits as they appear on records. "Hey Ya!" is credited to OutKast and "The Way You Move" to OutKast featuring Sleepy Brown, so that's how you see those songs credited on our charts. In the same manner, Billboard wouldn't have arbitrarily listed "Yesterday" as a Paul McCartney single, even though he is the only Beatle on the record, and we wouldn't have credited "Someday We'll Be Together" to Diana Ross, even though no Supremes are singing on the track.

I'm not sure why you feel that the two OutKast songs being on the chart together is a result of chart manipulation, and I don't agree that is. Whatever decision Andre 3000 and Big Boi made about releasing their latest album as OutKast is probably based on creative and legal decisions. But chart manipulation?

That presumes they were clairvoyant enough to know that they would have simultaneous hits with "Hey Ya!" and "The Way You Move" and that they would hold down the top two positions for eight weeks, and that one would succeed the other at No. 1. It also presumes that this would be the deciding factor in releasing their latest album as OutKast, which is extremely unlikely.

Had "Hey Ya!" been credited to Andre 3000 and "The Way You Move" to Big Boi, that would have been chart news, too, since two members of a duo would have the top two songs on the Hot 100, and one would have succeeded the other at No. 1.


SENSING A PATTERN

Hi Fred,

That mischievous chart muse is at it again. With Simply Red's "Fake" topping Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart this week, it succeeds Madonna's "Nothing Fails" which succeeded Annie Lennox's "Wonderful." At the end of last summer, Simply Red's "Sunrise" succeeded Madonna's "Hollywood" which succeeded Annie Lennox's "Pavement Cracks."

Now if only Sarah Brightman was back in the top 10 to make it four-for-four. Another amusing chart coincidence to add to the books.

Take care,

Jim Maino
italoboy64@yahoo.com

Dear Jim,

Coincidences involving Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart abound this week. See "Chart Beat Bonus" for a Blondie co-inky-dink.


IRENE AND MONA: GAL PALS?

Dear Fred,

In last week's "Chart Beat Chat," David Dana-Bashian asked what was the record for the most consecutive weeks the same two songs held the No. 1 and No. 2 positions on the Hot 100. And you gave the correct answer for the Hot 100. But, as you have probably figured out from all the E-mails I've sent you, I do not like to confine myself to the Hot 100.

So, here's another case that matches that one. Starting the week of Aug. 19, 1950, for 11 consecutive weeks on the Best Sellers chart, the No. 1 song was "Goodnight Irene" by Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra and the Weavers, and the No. 2 song was "Mona Lisa" by Nat King Cole, which had just spent the previous five weeks at No. 1.

Larry Dhooghe
Forest Grove, Ore.

Dear Larry,

Even when I was writing my response to David, I had a feeling that if there was an incidence before the rock era of two songs holding down the top two spots for 11 weeks or more, I would hear from you. Perhaps that makes you predictable, but it's a good predictable.