Ask Billboard: Canadians Control the Hot 100 With 7 of the Top 10
From Justin Bieber to Drake, The Weeknd & more, Canada is responsible for seven of the current chart's top 10. But, is that a record for one country?
As always, submit questions about Billboard charts, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the U.S. Or, tweet @gthot20
Before we get to this week’s mailbag, two notes:
1, Billboard‘s year-end charts post this Wednesday, Dec. 9, so get ready for all the year-end No. 1s, and much, much more.
2, Along those lines … what are your personal favorites of 2015? It’s almost time for your year-end charts in the annual readers’ favorites “Ask Billboard.” Email your top songs, albums, concerts and more from 2015 to askbb@billboard.com and we’ll celebrate the best of the year, in your own words (and lists), in the final “Ask Billboard” of 2015.
First, hello to this week’s questions and answers.
CANADIANS CONTROL THE HOT 100 WITH 7 OF THE TOP 10
@gthot20 I know we have talked recently about all the Canadians in the Top 5 but there are 7 Canadians this week in the Top 10!!
jake dimaria ?@jakedimariaa
Hi Jake,
We’ve certainly been covered in the avalanche of Adele records, with 25 having just become the first album ever to sell at least 1 million copies in two different weeks, according to Nielsen Music. And, lead 25 smash “Hello” has topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks so far.
But, beyond Adele, seven songs in the Hot 100’s top 10 the past two weeks have indeed belonged to Canadians. Their rankings on the Dec. 12 chart:
No. 2, “Sorry,” Justin Bieber
No. 3, “Hotline Bling,” Drake
No. 4, “What Do You Mean?,” Justin Bieber
No. 5, “The Hills,” The Weeknd
No. 6, “Stitches,” Shawn Mendes
No. 7, “Love Yourself,” Justin Bieber
No. 10, “Here,” Alessia Cara
As you note, we’ve covered potential reasons here and here (to quote Cara) behind the onslaught of Canadian content, with factors perhaps ranging from Drake’s influence (having helped launch The Weeknd’s career via their 2011 track “Crew Love”) to the ebb and, right now, flow of Canadian hits over the years.
But, has any country ever dominated the top 10 in a week like Canada has the past two weeks?
U.S.-born acts have monopolized the region entirely, beginning on the Oct. 25, 1958, Hot 100, nearly three months after the chart’s inception. With Italian Domenico Modugno slipping 6-12 that week with “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare),” the top 10 (and top 11, in fact) were all by U.S.-born artists, led by Tommy Edwards with “It’s All in the Game.” Other beloved acts in that top 10: the Everly Brothers, Conway Twitty and Big Bopper.
By the time Beatlemania hit in 1964, U.K. acts put their stamp on the Hot 100’s top 10. On April 4, 1964, the Beatles famously held the entire top five. And, with fellow Brits the Dave Clark Five at No. 10 with “Glad All Over,” English artists combined for six of the top 10 … still one song shy of this week’s Canadian count.
Then … we get to May 1, 1965. That week, these songs were all by British performers:
No. 1, “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter,” Herman’s Hermits
No. 2, “Game of Love,” Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders
No. 3, “I Know a Place,” Petula Clark
No. 4, “I’m Telling You Now,” Freddie and the Dreamers
No. 6, “Tired of Waiting for You,” the Kinks
No. 8, “Silhouettes,” Herman’s Hermits
No. 9, “The Last Time,” the Rolling Stones
That’s seven, led by Peter Noone’s cutesy and extremely British pronunciations at No. 1.
The following week, May 8, 1965, brought two new top 10s … by the Beatles and Sounds Orchestral, both British acts, although the Kinks departed the tier … making for this top 10:
No. 1, “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter,” Herman’s Hermits
No. 3, “Ticket to Ride,” the Beatles
No. 4, “Game of Love,” Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders
No. 6, “I Know a Place,” Petula Clark
No. 7, “Silhouettes,” Herman’s Hermits
No. 8, “I’m Telling You Now,” Freddie and the Dreamers
No. 9, “The Last Time,” the Rolling Stones
No. 10, “Cast Your Fate to the Wind,” Sounds Orchestral
So, that’s eight – with the Beatles and Stones in the mix, of course. Thus, Canada hasn’t broken a record for the most simultaneous Hot 100 top 10s for a country (thwarted by the U.K., just as Brit Adele keeps Canada from No. 1 this week …)
Still, Canada’s current run is extraordinary, and it could still swell to more than seven concurrent top 10s. Perhaps another Bieber song will add to the sum, or another by Drake. Plus, Canadian newcomer Tory Lanez lands his first top 40 hit on the Hot 100 this week, as “Say It” surges 51-37.
As for The Weeknd …
HOW MANY WEEKS FOR THE WEEKND?
Dear Gary,
I noticed that, thanks to “Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey),” “Can’t Feel My Face” and “The Hills,” The Weeknd has spent 41 consecutive weeks in the Hot 100’s top 10. How does that stack up as far as records go?
Thanks,
Thomas Mayer
Waltham, Massachusetts
Hi Thomas,
Let’s recap The Weeknd’s streak of top 10 weeks. “Earned It” set up shop in the top 10 on March 7 and stayed in the bracket through July 4. The next week, while “Earned It” fell to No. 16, “Face” flew 12-6 and remained in the top 10 through the Nov. 14 chart. “The Hills” notched a week at No. 10 on Aug. 1, then spent three straight weeks at No. 11 and has since been a top 10 mainstay, through the latest Hot 100 dated Dec. 12.
In all, as you point out, that’s 41 consecutive weeks with The Weeknd in the Hot 100’s top 10.
He still has a ways to go before he can think about breaking the record, but his run is among the best historically:
69 weeks, Katy Perry, 2010-11
48 weeks, Ace of Base, 1993-94
42 weeks, Santana, 1999-2000
42 weeks, Mariah Carey, 1995-96
41 weeks, The Weeknd, 2015
Perry, of course, strung together her record streak with the first five singles from Teenage Dream. The set famously tied another iconic mark, as those songs all reached No. 1, matching Michael Jackson’s Bad (1987-88) as the album with the most Hot 100 leaders.
We should note another streak that’s ongoing, in addition to The Weeknd’s: Fetty Wap has spent 38 weeks and counting in the Hot 100’s top 10, thanks to his first three top 10s: “Trap Queen” (which entered the region March 28), “My Way” and “679,” the lattermost hit at No. 9 on the Dec. 12 chart.
Among other notable rolls since Perry’s: Taylor Swift linked 34 weeks in the top with “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space” and “Style,” from 1989.
And, because Adele seems to (deservedly) make her way into every part of every Billboard chart story lately, she totaled 30 consecutive top 10 weeks in 2011-12 with the 21 No. 1s “Someone Like You” and “Set Fire to the Rain.”
With “Hello” possibly in for an exceptionally long run at No. 1 on the Hot 100, maybe songs like “When We Were Young” and “Water Under the Bridge” (my picks for the second and third singles from 25; no official second single has yet been chosen, according to Columbia Records) will put her in position to earn yet more chart history.
As for the last word on Adele in the mailbag, from the mind (and Facebook page) of this radio air personality:
HELLO?
My phone is showing that I’ve only missed 999 calls from Adele. Guess I’m just not that special …
Harmon Dash
New Orleans, Louisiana