Too bad I didn't get this posted earlier in the day. August 4 is the anniversary of the debut of the Billboard Hot100 singles chart. Pretty historic day for all lovers of "modern" music. I used to follow the charts religiously (even had a subscription to Billboard for many years), and have to admit I'm saddened that the charts aren't really worth paying attention to due to the poor state of the music industry. I can still even remember going to the main branch of the library in my hometown and looking at old copies of Billboard on microfilm (the old-timers on this board will surely appreciate that!).

Here is the article that made me aware of this-
https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/ ... fool-song/

And certainly the first #1 deserved to get posted right in this thread!

Ricky Nelson - Poor Little Fool



A real shame the way Ricky left us. Not only a great, charismatic voice, but I also really enjoyed his acting in films such as Rio Bravo.

I used to follow the Billboard charts too. I haven't followed them for some time though. With streaming and other calculations added in they really don't seem the same.

The start of the Hot 100 in 1958 was actually a smaller historical event than most people realize, or even know about.

The shift to the Top 100 starting in 1955 was much bigger, and was the first combo of (only) the Best Sellers chart, the DJ Airplay Chart, and the Juke Box chart. From 1955 to 1958, Billboard was constantly tweaking the Top 100, for a while removing the Juke Box chart, and then the DJ Airplay chart, bouncing around so that by the end it was basically now more record sales oriented.

But then with the Hot 100, they reverted back to the original vision of the Top 100 !! Again combining those same 3 charts, even if some of them were no longer published weekly.

Either way you slice it, a chart with 100 positions was the big news overall.

But probably the biggest secret of Billboard combo charts was the Honor Roll of Hits chart, which ran from 1945 to 1963. At one point in time, Billboard considered this their granddaddy chart, as it combined the 3 charts above with sheet music sales, and songs played in movies and TV programs, thru some magic formula. Only a Top 30 chart though...

And that's the way it was. Class dis--missed...

And thank you for the lesson. I was under the impression that the "Hot 100" was the first time that Billboard had combined sales and airplay into one chart.

Modern day counting of music hits just isn't what it used to be. Teens subscribe to a service and those services let us know how many times a recording has been listened to. Sales of physical music on LP and CD also isn't what it used to be. If I haven't said it before (actually I'm sure I have) I will never understand why the industry and buyers of physical music have reverted to LPs and are leaving the CD behind. Those of us still buying CDs are the ones who joyously made the leap in the mid eighties.

Also sadly, the Record Research Company in Menomonee Falls,Wisconsin, which has been publishing Billboard charts in book form since 1970, looks like it's about to close up shop forever. I suppose that too is because of the changes in how we listen, how we purchase, and how information about the hits is compiled.