Pick a Day

Music History Events: Charts

February 2, 1985 "I Want To Know What Love Is" by Foreigner begins a two-week run at #1 in the US, the first song with a gospel choir to top the chart. The song was written by Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones and inspired by the woman who would later become his wife: Ann Dexter-Jones.

June 30, 1984 The Huey Lewis & the News album Sports claims a week at #1 in the US. It's one of just five albums to top the chart in 1984, the others being Thriller, Purple Rain, Born in the U.S.A., and the Footloose soundtrack.

May 19, 1984 The song "Thriller" falls off the Hot 100, ending a run of hits from the Thriller album that started on November 6, 1982, when "The Girl Is Mine" entered the tally. In that stretch, only two weeks went by without a Thriller song on the chart.

March 17, 1984 Van Halen's 1984 rises to #2 on the US albums chart, held off by Michael Jackson's Thriller, which has already topped the tally for 31 weeks. 1984 stays one spot behind Thriller for two more weeks before dropping down. Perhaps it would have hit #1 if Eddie Van Halen hadn't done the guitar solo on "Beat It."

October 8, 1983 "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" by Bonnie Tyler stays at #1 in America, with "Making Love Out Of Nothing At All" by Air Supply at #2, a configuration that holds for three weeks. Both songs were written and produced by Jim Steinman, making him the first solo writer and producer to hold the top two spots.

September 17, 1983 Howard Jones' debut single, "New Song," is released in the UK, where it will go on to chart at #3.

July 16, 1983 Twenty of the songs in the US Top 40 are by British acts, the most since 1965. The Police are at #1 with "Every Breath You Take," followed by Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue."

June 2, 1983 The 12-inch remix of "The Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats goes to #1 on the Billboard Dance chart. MTV begins playing the huzzah-worthy video, and the song soon rises up the Hot 100.More

May 28, 1983 "Candy Girl" by New Edition goes to #1 in the UK, becoming the first song with a rap to top the chart in that territory.

May 21, 1983 "Little Red Corvette" goes to #6 in the US, giving Prince his first Top 10 hit on the Hot 100. The video is one of the first by a black artist to go in hot rotation on MTV.

November 6, 1982 The first single from Michael Jackson's Thriller album, the Paul McCartney duet "The Girl Is Mine," enters the Hot 100 at #45. With the exception of a two-week stretch between "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" and "Thriller," at least one song from the album is on the chart every week until May 19, 1984.

October 16, 1982 Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," a #1 Country hit in 1974, goes back to the top spot thanks to its use in the movie The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. This makes it the first song to top that chart twice.

December 26, 1981 The AC/DC album For Those About to Rock We Salute You goes to #1 in America for the first of three weeks. It's their first #1 album in that country (their previous album, Back In Black, was a slow build and reached just #4), and their last until Black Ice in 2008.

October 3, 1981 Two months after MTV's debut, Blue Öyster Cult's "Burnin' For You" reaches its peak of #40 in the US - their first Top 40 since "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" - thanks to a video shot in a Los Angeles culvert. Few American acts are making videos, so established rockers like BÖC and REO Speedwagon can get airtime. This changes a few years later when more photogenic artists make videos on a regular basis.

October 2, 1981 The Police's fourth album is the last in a sequence of four annual autumn releases. The title, Ghost in the Machine, is taken from a psychology book by Arthur Koestler and breaks their erstwhile tradition of giving their records French-sounding titles. It is a #2 hit in the US, led by the hit single "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic."

August 15, 1981 Pat Benatar spends the only week of her career at #1 on the US albums chart when Precious Time takes the top spot.

August 15, 1981 "Endless Love," a duet between Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, tops the Hot 100 for the first of nine weeks. It's the theme song from a movie of the same name, starring Brooke Shields.More

September 20, 1980 With a re-released "Modern Girl" reaching #8 in the UK, Sheena Easton becomes one of the few British female singers to place two songs in the Top 10 simultaneously ("9 To 5" is also on the charts.)

August 2, 1980 Olivia Newton-John's "Magic," from the Xanadu soundtrack, hits #1 in America.

July 19, 1980 "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me" hits #1 in the US, giving Billy Joel his first chart-topper on the Hot 100.

March 29, 1980 Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of The Moon spends its 303rd week on the US album chart beating the record by Carole King's 1971 long player Tapestry.

February 2, 1980 The Specials hit #1 in the UK for the first time with "Too Much Too Young," but they're busy touring America, where their ska sound has yet to find much of an audience.

January 5, 1980 "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang becomes first rap song to hit the Top 40 when it reaches #37 on the chart.

July 28, 1979 "I Don't Like Mondays" by The Boomtown Rats, a song about a real-life school shooting in America, goes to #1 in the UK for the first of four weeks.

May 5, 1979 Peaches and Herb's "Reunited" hits #1 in America.

April 7, 1979 Minute By Minute by The Doobie Brothers claims the top spot on the US albums chart, thanks in part to "What A Fool Believes," written by Kenny Loggins and Doobies frontman Michael McDonald.

February 3, 1979 "Y.M.C.A." by The Village People goes to #2 in America, where it stays for three weeks, unable to overtake fellow disco stalwarts "Le Freak" and "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" In many other territories, including Australia, Canada and the UK, the song goes to #1.

January 29, 1977 Rose Royce's "Car Wash" hits #1 in America.

November 20, 1976 "Muskrat Love," a song by Captain & Tennille about the amorous adventures of two rodents, peaks at #4 on the Hot 100.

August 30, 1975 The disco-riffic "Get Down Tonight" by KC & The Sunshine Band goes to #1 in America, the first of five chart-toppers for the group.