By Roger Nead
POP CHART NEWS FOR WEEK ENDING 7/6/02
HOT NELLY IS "HERRE" TO STAY: Rapper Nelly spends a second week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Hot In Herre" his first number one hit, and 2002's first number one hit not to feature either Ja Rule or Ashanti. Kind of surprising, considering the year is half over! Nelly's previous high on the big chart was the #3 "Ride Wit Me" just over a year ago.
"Hot In Herre" keeps Eminem's "Without Me" stuck at the # 2 spot for a second week, a career high for Slim Shady, whose previous chart peak was the # 4 "The Real Slim Shady" back in June of 2000.
Shady can't feel too bad, though. His latest LP "The Eminem Show" holds the top spot on Billboard's Top 200 chart for a fifth week. After just over a month of release, "Show" is already the biggest selling album of 2002. Unfortunately for Marshall Mathers, his reign at number one is about to come to an end, as the artist who is keeping him at bay on the Hot 100 is likely to snatch the number one spot on the LP chart next week as well. Nelly's "Nellyville" album is a sure bet to debut at the top on the next chart.
CHILI PEPPERS ARE RED HOT ON MODERN ROCK: The Red Hot Chili Peppers collected their seventh number one hit on the Modern Rock chart last week, with their latest "By The Way," which only took 3 weeks to hit the summit. Impressive as that is, it's not the Peppers' quickest rise to the top of that chart; in 1993 their "Soul To Squeeze," from the soundtrack to the forgettable "Coneheads" movie, hit the mark in its second week. This week, the song cracks the top 50 on the Hot 100, making "By The Way" their biggest hit in years.
LONG LIVE THE KING: As the 25th anniversary of Elvis' death approaches, The King continues to make pop chart history. In the U.K. the new dance remix of Presley's 1968 hit "A Little Less Conversation", credited as Elvis Vs. JXL, holds at the number one spot. It's his 18th number one in that country, putting Elvis in a league of his own in England, breaking a 25-year tie with The Beatles for the most number ones. Ironically, in the U.S., The Beatles are so far ahead in number ones, with 20, that it's unlikely anyone will top them (Presley has also collected 18 number ones in the States). "Conversation" has just been released in the U.S. as a single, and although American radio stations are unlikely to play the tune, expect it become his 152nd Hot 100 hit (and first in 20 years), based solely on sales.
Elvis seems to be everywhere right now. Besides the new single (which is featured on a Nike commercial and is on the soundtrack to last year's "Ocean's 11"), he's mentioned twice in Eminem's "Without Me" single. The soundtrack to Disney's latest hit, "Lilo & Stitch," which features several of Presley's hits and two covers, sits at number one on Billboard's Top Soundtracks chart.
WILL SMITH HAVE ANOTHER HIT?......PROBABLY NOT!: Big Willie's latest, "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)," is off to a unimpressive start. The track from the soundtrack of his latest movie "Men In Black II" debuted last week on the Billboard Hot 100 at a measly #77, and drops this week to a pathetic #95. Bet Will hopes the film does better!
WHERE ART "BROTHER"? NOT AT #1 ANYMORE: On the Country Albums chart, Kenny Chesney's latest LP "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" unseats the Grammy-winning soundtrack to "O Brother Where Art Thou?" after a record 35 weeks. Man! Who the hell keeps buying this?
UNKNOWN ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Last summer, when Scapegoat Wax's debut LP "Okeeblow" was released on The Beastie Boys' "Grand Royal" label, very few people paid any attention. Later in the year, when the label folded, "Okeeblow" became lost in the shuffle, and may not even be available anymore, but next time you're on Kaaza or Morpheus or any of the other MP3 swapping sites stealing songs from rich rock artists, I highly recommend you look for some of this funky-hip-hop-alternative artist's songs. Best tracks include: "Hello Allison (Aisle 10)," the failed first single; groovy ballad "Perfect Silence;" and the 70's R&B influenced "Crawling." Maybe you'll like it enough to actually seek out the CD and buy it!
WHO'S DEAD?......APPARENTLY NO ONE IMPORTANT: Rumors that the upcoming latest Who comeback tour would be cancelled due to the death of co-founder/bass player John Entwistle turned out to be false, as surviving founders Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey decided to replace what's his name with someone else. More millions for them, I guess. During their career The Who only had one top 10 single, 1967's "I Can See For Miles," which reached #9. On the LP chart, they've had two albums reach the #2 spot - 1973's "Quadrophenia" and 1978's "Who Are You" - but the group missed the top of that chart, as well. I'm not denying The Who's contribution to Rock & Roll, but maybe these guys should just f-f-f-fade away, permanently. The Who's lost their bass player, and drummer, and The Beatles only have their bass player and drummer left. Hey! I've got an idea......
TIME WARP: Want to feel old? Here's a quick look at some charts from out past. See how many you remember!
Top 5 songs 6 years ago, July 6th, 1996:
#5) "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)" by Los Del Rio, one of the biggest selling singles of all time - hope you didn't buy it;
#4) "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman - who says the Best New Artist Grammy is the kiss of death?;
#3) "How Do U Want It" by 2Pac (Featuring KC & JoJo), his last hit while alive - 2Pac was even more successful dead;
#2) "You're Makin' Me High" by Toni Braxton - the lyrics to this song were completely rewritten just prior to recording;
#1) "Tha Crossroads" by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - the group dedicated this hit to their mentor Eazy-E, who died of AIDS
just a few months earlier.
Top 5 Songs 16 years ago, July 5th, 1986: #5) "Nasty" by Janet Jackson, Ms. Jackson's second top ten hit; #4) "No One Is To Blame" by Howard Jones, produced by Phil Collins, who seemed to have the Midas touch in '86; #3) "Who's Johnny" by El DeBarge, from the unlikely box office hit "Short Circuit;" #2) "Holding Back The Years" by Simply Red - this band hit the top less than a year after forming; #1) "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)" by Billy Ocean - strangely, all three of Ocean's number one hits had eight words in the title!
Top 5 Songs 26 years ago, July 4th 1976: #5) "Shop Around" by The Captain & Tennille, although Smokey Robinson wrote the song, and had the first hit version of it, "Shop Around" was originally written for a female vocalist; #4) "Sara Smile" by Daryl Hall & John Oates - the biggest pop duo of all time's first top 40 single; #3) "Misty Blue" by Dorothy Moore - country artist Eddy Arnold and R&B artist Joe Simon also had hit versions of this song; #2) "Afternoon Delight" by The Starland Vocal Band, a cutesy, sugary bubble gum hit about fucking; #1) "Silly Love Songs" by Wings, McCartney's slam at rock critics who called his solo hits "Muzak".
Top 5 Songs 36 years ago, July 9th, 1966: #5) "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" by Dusty Springfield, successfully covered by Elvis during the 70's; #4) "Hanky Panky" by Tommy James & The Shondells, a huge hit that the writers made up and recorded on the spot; #3) "Strangers In The Night" by Frank Sinatra, Ol' Blue Eyes' final solo number one hit; #2) "Red Rubber Ball" by The Cyrkle, song written by Paul Simon, group named by John Lennon; #1) "Paperback Writer" by The Beatles - this record jumped to #1 from #15, one of the biggest jumps to the top in Hot 100 history.
ROCK & ROLL TRIVIA QUESTION: Test your rock IQ and answer my question!
This pop artist has hit the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100, as a solo act, as part of a duo, as part of a trio, as part of a quartet, and part of a quintet, they are also the artist with the most combined number one hits, with 29. Who is it? (Answer next week)
SHOOT-BACK HERE! |
ARCHIVES
