Cash Box chart question

Hello everyone - I've been having a great time looking through the Record Research book on the Cash Box charts, and it got me thinking of a question I bet someone here might know. What's the highest charting song during the rock era on Cash Box that didn't chart on the Hot 100?

I found an awesome song, "Walkin' The Fence" by Couchois, which reached #83 in March 1979 and failed to hit the Hot 100. This got me thinking.

I hope you all are having a great weekend!

Frank

LOL I had forgotten about that! Their charts were truly out of touch with reality by that point. Wow. Thanks!

Or called in a favor through Western Union. ;-)

If anyone else knows of another Cash Box hit in this category that doesn't appear to be completely ridiculous like the Wayne Newton example, let me know. Thanks!

According to the Cash Box book, no. It lists "The Letter" as a Curb album cut.

The best part of this story is that "The Letter" interrupted Whitney's "I Will Always Love You" during its 13 week reign at the top of the Cash Box charts. Did they not think that people might question how this completely unknown song could knock one of the biggest hits of the rock era out of the #1 spot? lol Oh, what money can do.

This appears to be the only weird #1 during the last few years of Cash Box. All of the other #1 hits from the 1990s were also big hits on Billboard.

musicmanatl wrote: Hello everyone - I've been having a great time looking through the Record Research book on the Cash Box charts, and it got me thinking of a question I bet someone here might know.

I, too, bought RR's new book, Cash Box Pop Hits 1952-1996; it arrived in my mailbox back in early February. In fact, during the first couple of weeks that I had it, I spent hours poring over it, page-by-page, even though I've owned Pat's book, Cash Box Pop Singles Charts, 1950-1993, since it practically first came out in 1994 (that was actually my introduction to his work). And while I spotted several errors in the new RR book along the way, and also formed some questions/observations/criticisms based on what I read in it, curiosity regarding the Cash Box-exclusive hits vs. Billboard got the better of me, too, especially since RR made it easy to pick them out w/ that "star" symbol next to the song titles that qualified...

So not once, but TWICE, I sifted through every listing in the book, and compiled a COMPLETE chronological list on my pc of those Cash Box-exclusive hits, from January 1, 1975, to November 16, 1996 (end of publication). In addition, I made a COMPLETE ranked list of all Cash Box-exclusive songs that cracked the magazine's top 80 from September 18, 1965 (end of the "coat-tail" era), to November 16, 1996 (end of publication). Both lists include numerous tag-along B-sides and Christmas hits from the '60s, '70s, & '80s, as well as album cuts (i.e., non-singles) from the '90s...

At the request of Paul Haney, I won't post any of the actual songs/artists/chart info from my lists here. However, just to tantalize you (and anyone else who may be "Walkin' the Fence" about buying RR's new book, lol), here's a list of the NUMBER of songs that cracked the top 100 in Cash Box, but failed to make either the "Hot 100" or "Bubbling Under" charts in Billboard for each year, from 1975-1996 (figures based on when they actually PEAKED in Cash Box):

1975: 37
1976: 24
1977: 23
1978: 16
1979: 16 (inc. "Walkin' the Fence" by Couchois)
1980: 4
1981: 6
1982: 7
1983: 3
1984: 0 (+1 re-entry)
1985: 1 (+1 re-entry)
1986: 6
1987: 2
1988: 7
1989: 10
1990: 4
1991: 25
1992: 22
1993: 1
1994: 4
1995: 2
1996: 0

Note: The re-entry from both 1984 and 1985 was a Christmas hit that first charted in 1983. So there was a total of 220 songs from that 22-year period - not counting the two re-entries of that one Christmas hit...

What's the highest charting song during the rock era on Cash Box that didn't chart on the Hot 100?

Since it's no secret, I can confirm that yes, the crown definitely goes to Wayne Newton's 1992 hit, "The Letter", which went all the way to #1 in Cash Box during a 31-week run. (You'll see there's even a footnote under the song stating so, on pg. 278...)

I can't speak for any hits that charted between October 25, 1952 (first chart researched for the book), and September 18, 1965 (end of the "coat-tail" era), as the number of non-Billboard hits was WAY more numerous back then - not to mention it's a period of time that is of little interest to me personally - but thanks to my research & ranked list, I can also say that there were 89 songs that cracked the top 80 in Cash Box w/o making an appearance in Billboard ("Hot 100" or "Bubbling Under"), from 09/18/65-11/16/96. If you omit tag-along B-sides and Christmas hits, there was only ONE other song (besides "The Letter") that cracked the top 40 in Cash Box, but failed completely in Billboard. :-) Oh, and here's a hint, since you already have the book: It was a commercial single (not album cut) that hit #34 in 1992, and you'll find it on pg. 339. ;-) (If you include tag-along B-sides and Christmas hits, this song actually falls to fifth overall...)

[The Cash Box] charts were truly out of touch with reality by [the early '90s]. Wow.

I will strongly disagree. Brian W. is right - in the case of Wayne Newton and "The Letter", yes, something underhanded clearly took place. :-) In fact, in addition to Billboard, I actually bought Cash Box on a weekly basis for a two-year period, from 1989-91 (which is the era in question), and still have them to this day. And actually, the only reason I stopped buying Cash Box was because I relocated from SoCal to Long Island at the time, and could no longer find CB on newsstands in NY (CB being an L.A.-based publication, of course). I can't deny that as far as coverage of the music biz, the size of Billboard trumped Cash Box - but when it came to the charts, were BB's infinitely superior to CB??? I've never thought so, and that applies to every era, including the '90s. In fact, I know on more than one occasion that Pat has lamented here on this chat board about how most folks seem to put the Billboard charts on a pedastal above everyone else's (inc. Cash Box), but I'm w/ him - I don't get it! For me, the charts merely make a great starting point for trying to find more good "hits" from the past (especially since I find most of the popular music of roughly the last 15-20 years so unappealing). Let's face it, the numbers & hits achieved in Billboard certainly aren't set in stone, either - IMHO, some people are just a bit too "by-the-numbers"...

I found an awesome song, "Walkin' The Fence" by Couchois, which reached #83 in March 1979 and failed to hit the Hot 100.

I've had the group's 1979 s/t debut on cassette for about 20 years now, and first discovered their chart entry in Pat's original 1994 Cash Box book. There are indeed some forgotten low-charting/non-charting gems from that era - and I certainly haven't heard them all, and am always looking to discover more - but personally, I've always been kinda lukewarm on "Walkin' the Fence". (Not bad, but I can tell why it didn't crack the top 40.) For those who've never heard it, here it is on YouTube, as posted by the group's guitarist, Patrick Couchois: Couchois - "Walkin' the Fence"