Billboard Top Chart Listings Question

[Huffstutler]

This isn't directly related to disco but does relate to Billboard Charts I am sure many are familiar with here.

In attempting to create compilations of music from various early Rock -N- Roll years, currently 1957 and 1958, I have run across some variables between charts. I am using the Billboard Top 100 that many can find online usually having mp3 references. One would assume these would be in correct order but not so.

Looking at the actual year end charts from the physical pages of Billboard I find a few songs have been "replaced" or out of order. For example, the (mp3) chart shows for 1958 the song "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis at #6 while the physical chart has it at #36. The song "Ginger Bread" by Frankie Avalon is shown at #11 while the actual chart doesn't even show it within the top 40 - if at all. Then you have the Cash Box charts which for the most part agrees but songs within the top 25 may be in different positions yet usually the same except for one or two that seem to be also wildly out of place as well.

Why the discrepancies? What should I do in compiling a Top 25 list for each year?

Eric

[markydefad]

Eric,

There's a Joel Whitburn book with the lists by year. Might be the easiest thing to do: buy the book. Billboard had different charts in the early days "Jukebox" and "Retail"...something like that. :icon_confused: So sometimes a record has 2 different peak positions. Don't have the book in front of me....but that could account for the discrepancies.....

[Huffstutler]

Eric,

There's a Joel Whitburn book with the lists by year. Might be the easiest thing to do: buy the book. Billboard had different charts in the early days "Jukebox" and "Retail"...something like that. :icon_confused: So sometimes a record has 2 different peak positions. Don't have the book in front of me....but that could account for the discrepancies.....

You are correct, in those days they had several charts such as Top 100 Sides, Honor Roll of Hits, Best Sellers in Stores, Most Played by Jockeys, Jukebox and so on. There was the year end list come December called "1957's Best Selling Records" then changed to "Chart Toppers of 1958" which is what I am referring to when I say physical chart which I have access to.

Today I am off from work and the state library is only a couple blocks away so I'll take a look for the book and make some comparisons then post my finds to see if he even varies from the printed year end list in the actual magazine.

I also wonder sometimes if the physical charts are even correct because their numbering becomes off (no proof readers?) and will often run to end up with 101 songs rather than 100 or goes in sequence like 19, 20, 20, 22, 23, 24, 24, 26, ... you get the idea.

Eric

[Huffstutler]

OK Mark, I am back and now even more confused than when I started!!! :icon_confused:

First, I looked through 3 different Billboard series books. One called "Top 40 Hits" by Joel Whitburn was of no use since it only lists the #1 charted songs in chronological order.

Next, I looked at the "Hottest Hot 100 Hits" by Fred Bronson who makes some interesting observations. He cites that the Billboard year end charts published in the magazine in December is not a true "calendar year" representation of songs from that particular year but reflect songs from the December of the previous year to November of the current year. He bases his findings upon several charts and uses a complex point system similar if not identical to the one you use for the Disco Charts. Though his method seems to be the most fair, it may also slight some songs. His method also includes songs that charted in December and may have only been at the 80th position in 1957 and charted to #2 in 1958 but includes it in the 1957 year and tallies its entire chart run but includes the rating in the year first charted as he believes this to be a true calendar year representation of "titles".

The last book is "Pop Annual 1955-1977" by Joel Whitburn but it too uses a different way to total up the "top" songs. He references only one chart and then uses the method of the song's highest position charted, number of weeks there, then the rank. But this also goes against what Bronson above is doing as he rates the songs from 1-100 based on when it charted so that song that Bronson listed in the overall top 40 which debut in December 1957 but became a major hit in 1958, may only rank #98 in Whitburn's chart because it was on his charts only for a week or two for that current year.

So now which chart should I use to get a true representation for the top 25 songs of 1957 and 1958?

So, example...

"The Purple People Eater" by Sheb Wooley (1958)

The Billboard Chart Toppers of 1958 (page 44, December 15, 1958) shows it at #12

Fred Bronson has it at #5

Joel Whitburn has it at #3

Further down the list things get really screwy and not very synched so...

Suggestion?

Eric

[markydefad]

Eric,

You might do as I did when I did the first round of Disco Compilation Consensus charts. Assign points for the positions given on each list and add the points up and using the compiled data make your own list. I think it will be impossible to get any definitive information otherwise, because they used like 5 or 6 different ways of measuring a record's popularity back then.

God bless the child that makes his own list.

[Huffstutler]

Eeek!!! I hear what you are saying because I ran into the same kind of problem when doing the top Disco hits of 1974 and 1975 prior to finding this forum. I used not only the disco charts which showed up later but also club play on each coast as well as store sale figures but didn't assign points - just used the highest position for each song and then shared spots.

PM me and give me a hint about "assigning points" for the songs so I can do a ranking of my own...

Many Thanks!

Eric