Finding 1986 Radio Non-Hot 100 Hits

I'm trying to put an airplay list together of huge radio hits from 1986 that never made the Hot 100. Stuff that was huge on the radio and we all thought they were Billboard Hits.

An example would be Whitney Houston's All At Once which while released in numerous other countries was never released as a single here. I remember hearing it here in New York on the radio in 1986.

I know freestyle was taking off as well, I just can't find any listing or charts that would help identify these classic non-hot 100 hits. Any help is appreciated

Here's what I have for "Non-Hot 100 Charted Radio Hits" prior to 1990:

1975 - Pinball Wizard - Elton John (#9 in Radio & Records)
1978 - More Than A Woman - Bee Gees (#21 in R&R)
1979 - All My Love - Led Zeppelin (#10 in R&R)
1984 - Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' - Jermaine Jackson & Michael Jackson (#6 in R&R)
1985 - Into The Groove - Madonna (#6 in R&R)
1987 - Never Say Goodbye - Bon Jovi (#28 in Billboard (Hot 100 Airplay) & #35 in R&R)
1987 - Edge Of A Broken Heart - Bon Jovi (#38 in Billboard & #39 in R&R)
1988 - Spotlight - Madonna (#32 in Billboard & #31 in R&R)

I'm currently working on The Gavin Report and have found more, including some prior to when R&R
started in 1973. But as you can see, it's overall a pretty small list.

Michaeldila wrote: I was very surprised to learn that "All At Once" never charted, as it seemed to be on near-constant rotation on Z-100 and WPLJ...

"All At Once" did manage to make it to #23 A/C in Radio &
Records. It got some CHR airplay as well, just not enough
on a national scale to make the Top 40.

Edited by Paul Haney

Hi People,

Please don't forget in the pre-BDS days, songs that were
not worked (promoted) by the record company were
oftentimes not on the reported playlist of the station to
make room for a lamer cut the Promotion Label or
Independent Promoter WAS working.

Occasionally the record company would be vehemently
against the charting of a specific cut they weren't
promoting at that time.

Therefore, if you remember an album cut getting played
for a while on your CHR station, it was probably because
it was "undeniable" to the audience (as in behaving like
a top-ten record).

I would welcome a list of most/all of the LP cuts from
1968 to 1990 that received regular rotation for a brief
period on select Top-40 stations, even if it was compiled
from people's memories only as documentation & airchecks
are scant.

For example, when 'Teaser And The Firecat' by Cat Stevens
came out a couple of Top-40 stations in my area
programmed "Bitterblue" for a while, while a friend in
The Bronx told me that "Tuesday's Dead" got the extra
play where he tuned in. Of course, I'm confident that
"Morning Has Broken" received advanced airplay before
single release in other markets, but this is just
conjecture as there is little real documentation of this
for reasons explained earlier in my post.

Andy

Michaeldila wrote: I was very surprised to learn that "All At Once" never charted, as it seemed to be on near-constant rotation on Z-100 and WPLJ...

Yep, glad I am not the only one who remembers! It was played all the time on rotation in 1986 after her big #1 hits of 1985 had charted already. That one and Nice & Wild's Diamond Girl were in heavy rotation.