I’m developing a theory that the Hot 100 over the last two decades has been a lot more stagnant than in previous years. In other words, fewer songs are spending a longer amount of time in the upper echelons of the chart.
I’m basing this admittedly half-baked idea on the fact that the 2013 edition of Throwback Thursdays has produced the most repeats by far. Just take a look at the chart on the week of July 27, 2013.
Throwing back to the week of July 26, 2003, we find Beyoncé in the #1 spot with ‘Crazy in Love,’ her second single and first to top the Hot 100. I featured ‘Crazy in Love’ all the way back at Song of the Day #139, so sadly I can’t revisit it here.
That brings us to #2, where Lil’ Kim and 50 Cent pair up on ‘Magic Stick.’ The song spent a total of 24 weeks on the chart but never made it higher than the second slot, unable to best Beyoncé.
In addition to inducting artists into the Performers category, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honors musical acts under the Musical Excellence and Early Influences banners. I’m not sure what differentiates Musical Excellence inductees from Performers.
The definitions on the Rock Hall’s site say that the former group “have had a dramatic impact on music” while the latter have “changed the course of rock & roll,” but I don’t think every “Performer” in the Hall satisfies that lofty criteria.
The final performer inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class of 2022 is the great songwriter and performer Carly Simon. Simon has been eligible for Hall inclusion since 1997 but was nominated for the first time last year.
Simon made it into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994, and is certainly among the best of her generation in that regard, but she is equally deserving of recognition as a performer. She has released dozens of albums, several going platinum, and has nine top 20 hits under her belt. Her sole #1 release, ‘You’re So Vain,’ is among the most iconic American pop songs.
I think there’s little debate over whether Lionel Richie belongs in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but a better question is whether he should have made it as a member of the Commodores before (or instead of) making it as a solo artist.
To be fair, Richie has had a stellar solo career: five #1 hits, another eight in the top 10, two multi-platinum albums, one diamond album, and all of that in the course of just six years. He also had a beautiful blind woman create a photorealistic sculpture of his head in the oddly creepy video for ‘Hello.’
Meet Me In Montauk 