https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/ Copyright (c) 2006-2013 Web Wiz Forums - All Rights Reserved. Mon, 04 May 2026 00:26:14 +0000 Tue, 14 Mar 2023 04:33:58 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Web Wiz Forums 12.07 360 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/RSS_post_feed.asp?TID=9732 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum//images/Top-40-Music-on-CD-Forum-Logo.png https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/ https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62730&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62730 Author: AndrewChouffi
Subject: 9732
Posted: 14 March 2023 at 4:33am

Paul Haney wrote: IMO, there were no "shenanigans" with the Eagles single in 1978. It was a legit Top 40 hit across all 3 major trades at the time. It was a combo of a popular band with a solid performance of a classic tune. I heard it and the flip side ("Funky New Year") plenty on the radio at the time.

Yes, no dispute it was a very legitimate hit at that
time; I heard it on Pop, AC and Rock (album) formats in
regular rotation that season. And it always received
seasonal airplay every year thereafter!

Andy]]> Tue, 14 Mar 2023 04:33:58 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62730&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62730 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62729&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62729 Author: Paul Haney
Subject: 9732
Posted: 14 March 2023 at 3:31am

As I posted earlier, Billboard didn't allow Christmas singles on the Hot 100 from 1962-73, but
other trades did. For example, "Step Into Christmas" by Elton John peaked at #56 in Cash Box
and at #90 in Record World. The Lennon single did even better in 1971, when it peaked at #28 in
Record World and at #36 in Cash Box.

IMO, there were no "shenanigans" with the Eagles single in 1978. It was a legit Top 40 hit
across all 3 major trades at the time. It was a combo of a popular band with a solid performance
of a classic tune. I heard it and the flip side ("Funky New Year") plenty on the radio at the time.

Edited by Paul Haney]]> Tue, 14 Mar 2023 03:31:46 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62729&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62729 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62724&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62724 Author: AndrewChouffi
Subject: 9732
Posted: 13 March 2023 at 7:11am

Hykker wrote: Both of you make good points. It never occurred to me that the Eagles' management could have somehow convinced BB to treat their Christmas song differently. I'm a bit surprised that John Lennon's management didn't think of that in 1971, especially given that in the early 70s a solo release by a Beatle was a big event.

Well, the 'Imagine' LP was then-currently top 10 on the
Billboard LP chart and maybe they were thinking of
pulling a second 45 off of it (which I don't think
ultimately happened). Conjecture on my part.

And between 1963 and 1972 Billboard published their
special Christmas chart, apparently not allowing
Christmas-themed singles to chart on the Hot 100.

Andy

]]> Mon, 13 Mar 2023 07:11:04 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62724&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62724 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62722&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62722 Author: Hykker
Subject: 9732
Posted: 13 March 2023 at 5:29am

Paul Haney wrote: Frankly, I'd like to see Billboard allow only brand new Christmas songs to make the Hot 100 and for the older ones to be accounted for on the Holiday 100 chart only. After all, I think most people consider them to be "re-currents" and no one would confuse Andy Williams, Perry Como and the like to be "hot" artists.

AndrewChouffi wrote: Most likely the reason why the Eagles hit the Hot 100 was the Eagles' management (possibly Irving Azoff) wanted it to be treated as a "regular" release (it came out right in between the 'Hotel California' and 'The Long Run' eras). Oftentimes great Christmas singles such as "Step Into Christmas" were issued when there were contemporaneous "regular" singles being worked and albums active in the marketplace.Andy

Both of you make good points. It never occurred to me that the Eagles' management could have somehow convinced BB to treat their Christmas song
differently. I'm a bit surprised that John Lennon's management didn't think of that in 1971, especially given that in the early 70s a solo
release by a Beatle was a big event.]]> Mon, 13 Mar 2023 05:29:23 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62722&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62722 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62721&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62721 Author: AndrewChouffi
Subject: 9732
Posted: 13 March 2023 at 3:43am

People tend to forget that Billboard, at that time, was a
newspaper for the Record and Radio industries. It was not
targeted for the consumer (note the out-of-whack
subscription price & lack of availability on most
magazine racks).

Most likely the reason why the Eagles hit the Hot 100 was
the Eagles' management (possibly Irving Azoff) wanted it
to be treated as a "regular" release (it came out right
in between the 'Hotel California' and 'The Long Run'
eras).

Influential people in the industries could conceivably
contact Billboard in advance of the record's release and
discuss the action plan.

Oftentimes great Christmas singles such as "Step Into
Christmas" were issued when there were contemporaneous
"regular" singles being worked and albums active in the
marketplace.

Andy]]> Mon, 13 Mar 2023 03:43:00 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62721&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62721 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62716&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62716 Author: Paul Haney
Subject: 9732
Posted: 12 March 2023 at 5:48am

From 1963 thru 1973, and from 1983 thru 1985, Billboard published a separate Christmas Singles chart and did not
chart Christmas singles on the Hot 100. Yes, the Band Aid song was considered an exception. Remember, this was an
era before the all Christmas music stations started popping up. Starting around Thanksgiving, Top 40 stations would
slowly start sprinkling in some Christmas music, gradually increasing the frequency as Christmas got closer. It's my
guess that Billboard didn't like the fact that a few songs (such as White Christmas) would come back every year for a
few weeks on the Hot 100, thus the change in policy in 1963. There were a smattering of Christmas singles to make
the Hot 100 from 1974-82, with the Eagles song being the most popular, by far.

Frankly, I'd like to see Billboard allow only brand new Christmas songs to make the Hot 100 and for the older ones to
be accounted for on the Holiday 100 chart only. After all, I think most people consider them to be "re-currents" and
no one would confuse Andy Williams, Perry Como and the like to be "hot" artists.]]> Sun, 12 Mar 2023 05:48:13 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62716&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62716 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62709&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62709 Author: EdisonLite
Subject: 9732
Posted: 11 March 2023 at 6:16pm

Yes, but those are not US peaks in 1979 or 1984.

Those 2 songs didn't chart in Billboard until the past few years.]]> Sat, 11 Mar 2023 18:16:41 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62709&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62709 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62698&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62698 Author: davidlg1971
Subject: 9732
Posted: 11 March 2023 at 4:55pm

EdisonLite wrote: Speaking of Christmas songs on Billboard's Hot 100, a friend and I recently noted that there was only about 1 Top 40-charting Christmas song in the '70s (Please Come Home for Christmas by the Eagles) and 1 Top40-charting Christmas song in the '80s (Band-Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas). I might be forgetting a few.

Two 70s/80s Christmas songs that always spring to mind for me are Paul McCartney's 'Wonderful Christmastime', which hit #28 on the Top 40 in 1979, and Wham! with 'Last Christmas', which hit #4 in 1984/5. It was also #2 for like 10+ weeks straight in the UK, behind 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'.

Edited by davidlg1971]]> Sat, 11 Mar 2023 16:55:33 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62698&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62698 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62695&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62695 Author: EdisonLite
Subject: 9732
Posted: 11 March 2023 at 4:38pm

Speaking of Christmas songs on Billboard's Hot 100, a friend and I recently
noted that there was only about 1 Top 40-charting Christmas song in the '70s
(Please Come Home for Christmas by the Eagles) and 1 Top40-charting
Christmas song in the '80s (Band-Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas). I might
be forgetting a few. But basically - Christmas songs weren't allowed to chart in
those 2 decades, so how did these 2 manage to slip through the rules? I guess
the Band-Aid one could be argued that it was a charity single. But the Eagles..
well, they were superstars by then but that's not a reason to make an
exception for that one 45. Surely, Lennon's "Happy Xmas" would have charted
high, and Elton's "Step Into Christmas" would have made top 40 or 100. Has
anyone read why these 2 songs slipped through the cracks, so to speak?]]> Sat, 11 Mar 2023 16:38:38 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62695&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62695 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62691&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62691 Author: EdisonLite
Subject: 9732
Posted: 11 March 2023 at 4:13pm

Hykker wrote: Not that anyone asked me, but to me allowing non-current-release Christmas songs to chart is BS. Makes a mess of the year-end rankings when a 40 year old song could get enough plays in one month to "count" as one of the top hits of the year.

I agree! According to Billboard, one of the top 100 artists of the year (in '22
or '21) was Andy Williams!

By no metrics should he have been considered one of the top 100 artists of
the year (no offense to Andy Williams, and I actually like some of his stuff).
But unless someone specifically looked at Billboard's weekly charts and saw
"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" in Billboard's top 10 portion of
the Hot 100, most people would ask, "Did Andy Williams have a comeback I
missed???"

Also, this past season, besides Christmas songs, there were weeks when
Taylor Swift and other artists released albums that had 15-17 songs chart.
As a result, Jax's "Victoria's Secret" had a #35 peak on the Hot 100, right
before about 6 weeks of all the "craziness" happening. Yet, it peaked at #8
on the all-genre radio charts, about that high on Pop Radio / Mainstream
chart, #1 or #2 Hot AC, #15 AC - so I feel it got slighted for its hot 100 peak
of #35. If it weren't for the Christmas songs, and weekly debuts of album
cuts by superstar acts, I believe this would have gotten much higher. And
then having reached higher #s (like, say, top 20), it could have even led to
more radio stations playing it more (from seeing how well it was doing on
the Hot 100) and it becoming an even bigger hit.

Edited by EdisonLite]]> Sat, 11 Mar 2023 16:13:42 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9732&PID=62691&title=christmas-songs-on-the-hot-100#62691