# Billboard's Top 100 songs of the past 60 years... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2019, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938 "2019-01-17T18:10:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/61 "2019-01-20T16:33:44Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > I do not begin to think that this represents relative popularity, although I accept that it purports to do this. > > You only have to look at the relative positions and years of song release to understand how skewed this is toward stuff from post 2010 years. > > Their metric is simply wrong, or rather they have it right in the sense that the Billboard 100 has always been marketing tool, and it makes little sense to further promote material whose revenue stream has largely dried up. There has been a trend on the Billboard Hot 100 for the last roughly three decades that songs stay on the list longer, and go higher, faster than they did in days of yore. Where there used to be only occasional songs lasting at #1 for more than a couple weeks, now, it happens with regular frequency, and IIRC, the list of songs staying at #1 the longest is topped by several from the last 20 years. Partly, if I remember correctly, it has to do with fewer songs being played, and top songs being ridiculously popular by comparison to what else is out. Still, it’s clear from looking at the list that it was compiled in SOME fashion by weighting each week on the Hot 100 for position, and then summing the results. That’s why Lee Ann Rimes’ version of “How Do I Live” ranks so highly, despite never making #1. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/62 "2019-01-20T18:44:31Z")
1. The first song I really didn’t recognize was #23, “Theme from A Summer Place.” Never heard of it. 2. The first thing I noticed was that there were very few Beatles songs near the top. Their top rankings are 12, 48, and 288. Impressive, but I’m shocked they didn’t do better, and I’m not even a big fan. 3. Honestly, I was amazed by most of the list. I don’t understand how this is figured. “Smooth” is the #2 song of all time? “Closer” is even on the list at all? ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/63 "2019-01-21T11:52:29Z")
I wonder how many of us can remember that classic ‘Disco Duck’ ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/64 "2019-01-21T12:23:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > 1. The first song I really didn’t recognize was #23, “Theme from A Summer Place.” Never heard of it. You really have to be of a certain age to have heard this song a lot. I was born in 1954, and it would get played over the stations my parents would listen to when I was a kid in the early 1960s, the stations that didn’t play any rock n’ roll, even the pre-Beatles variety. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Mine is all the way up there with number 2, _Smooth_. I counted 25 more that I didn’t recognize before hitting item # 70 and getting bored. That one was hard to avoid if you were listening to the radio around 1999-2000, almost regardless of format. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/65 "2019-01-21T13:53:56Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > You really have to be of a certain age to have heard this song a lot. I was born in 1954, and it would get played over the stations my parents would listen to when I was a kid in the early 1960s, the stations that didn’t play any rock n’ roll, even the pre-Beatles variety. I was born in 1975, and I feel like the song is a cultural cliche in the US used in the background to signify a quiet, peaceful scene. I didn’t know the song by name, nor do I know of “A Summer Place” (apparently, a movie), but I’m aware of the song because of its trope-like status. I can’t quite pinpoint all the places I’ve heard it, but in my experience well after the song’s popularity, I recognize it as I would many other instrumentals I keep forgetting the name of. Looks like TVTropes mentions it [in an article](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RelaxOVision), characterizing “A Theme from a Summer Place” as "more commonly known as the ubiquitous ‘peaceful music’ ". This may very well be US culture centric (though I see it’s been used in Monty Python, as well), but one need not have grown up in the 50s to be aware of it. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/66 "2019-01-21T21:51:19Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I was born in 1975, and I feel like the song is a cultural cliche in the US used in the background to signify a quiet, peaceful scene. I didn’t know the song by name, nor do I know of “A Summer Place” (apparently, a movie), but I’m aware of the song because of its trope-like status. I can’t quite pinpoint all the places I’ve heard it, but in my experience well after the song’s popularity, I recognize it as I would many other instrumentals I keep forgetting the name of. > > Looks like TVTropes mentions it [in an article](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RelaxOVision), characterizing “A Theme from a Summer Place” as "more commonly known as the ubiquitous ‘peaceful music’ ". > > This may very well be US culture centric (though I see it’s been used in Monty Python, as well), but one need not have grown up in the 50s to be aware of it. The “Theme from A Summer Place” is also considered quintessential “[Muzak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muzak)” (or “elevator music”) even though it doesn’t strictly meet the definition of the term. That’s how most people who are familiar with the song think of it today. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/67 "2019-01-21T22:00:54Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > #4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 13 and 16. don’t register with me. That’s just from the top 20. #2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 20 for me with 2 caveats: I have heard #4 once because of the SDMB and I’m pretty sure I know #6 because I own both LMFAO albums, but the only songs I know by name (and riff) are _Sexy And I Know It_ and _I’m in Miami Bitch_. All the rest aren’t just songs I’ve never heard, they are songs I’ve never even heard _of_. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/68 "2019-01-21T22:32:01Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > A lot of the recentness of some of the top songs here is just due to the fact that the audience for pop music now is so much _bigger_ than it’s ever been. > > The official video for “Uptown Funk” has 3.4 billion views on YouTube. There weren’t even that many people _living_ in Elvis’ day, let alone people with access to American pop music. I mean, that seems like the kind of thing a reasonably intelligent person could adjust for. If I told you that literally nineteen pf the top twenty highest grossing films of all time was released in the last ten years, the only exception being one from 1997, I am quite confident you would say “Uh, Rick, I don’t think you adjusted for inflation, chief” and you’d be right. It is still literally true but obviously not in any way an accurate estimation of actual box office performance. It’s weird, really, not to consider that kind of thing; the Top 600 list seems more arbitrary and random than logical. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/69 "2019-01-22T00:07:16Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > The “Theme from A Summer Place” is also considered quintessential “[Muzak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muzak)” (or “elevator music”) even though it doesn’t strictly meet the definition of the term. That’s how most people who are familiar with the song think of it today. For literal elevator music – as in what I think of when I step into an elevator and think of the most cliche piece of music that could be playing – it’s “Girl from Impanema.” I don’t quite think of “Theme from A Summer Place” in that category, but I could see that. To me, it’s more vibes of old-timey romance, idyllic scenes, serenity, that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/70 "2019-01-22T02:24:27Z")
Of the top 100: _Only know the title because of The Simpsons, like hogarth:_ **#23** “Theme from A Summer Place” \*Didn’t recognize by title, but knew the song: \ ***#29** “I Just Want to Be Your Everything” and **#99** “Family Affair” \*Knew of the song and its title, but wouldn’t recognize it: \ ***#30** “Too Close” and **#70** “The Girl Is Mine” _Never heard of:_ **#47** “It’s All in the Game” and **#71** “Because I Love You (The Postman Song)” (unless the former’s by Zac Efron and the latter starts with “I got your letter from the postman just the other day / I opened and read it, it said they were suckers”) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/71 "2019-01-29T01:48:40Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > A song selling many millions during its era of release is not nesassarily an indication of its popularity across generations. > > Reason for this is that something selling 1 million in 1960 and getting to the top of the charts is not the same as selling 1 million in 1969, or a song selling 500k and getting to the top of the charts in 1980. > > It depends upon the size of the market at the time, in addition its worth noting that sales across eras are not like for like, sales at one time were physical and did not include copies that were on albums, nowadays even ringtones count as sales. Things such as streaming count toward the rating of songs these days, and its hardly surprising that this list is heavily weighted toward modern means of music consumption. > > So of we are going to rate songs, then some adjustment needs to be made to account for this. > [@JohnT](#): > > The Billboard charts have made four major adjustments to how they measure the charts, from tabulating jukebox plays in 1958 to radio and sales in the 1960s-onward, to streaming in 2019. The various methods are weighted - 1 stream doesn’t equal 1 sale which doesn’t equal 1 radio play - but I haven’t the slightest idea what the formula is (I once heard 10 streams = 1 sale, but that was quite a while ago and I bet the ratio is more tilted nowadays, like 20:1, more). > [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > This is all quite irrelevant. The issue isn’t total popularity numerically, it’s relative popularity. A song that was #1 for one week in 1958 is the equivalent of a song that was #1 for one week in 2017. They aren’t comparing sales/plays/streams/whatevers; they are comparing total time on the chart, weighted for the position each week. > [@casdave](#): > > I do not begin to think that this represents relative popularity, although I accept that it purports to do this. > > You only have to look at the relative positions and years of song release to understand how skewed this is toward stuff from post 2010 years. > > Their metric is simply wrong, or rather they have it right in the sense that the Billboard 100 has always been marketing tool, and it makes little sense to further promote material whose revenue stream has largely dried up. I think this is one of those situations where we are all correct here: 1. It is a relative list of song popularity - the only thing which matters for _this_ list is the position the song had on the _original_ Billboard charts. 2. It is also hopelessly skewed, for the thing the “original” Billboard charts measured changed over time, so that it is difficult to draw a 1-to-1 comparison. For example… and while it’s not the pop charts, it’s still indicative of the changes made… the most popular country act of all time, is…? Johnny Cash? Loretta Lynn? Shania Twain? Garth Brooks? George Strait? Hank Sr? Hank Jr? No. The most popular country act of all time, ranked by weeks @ #1, according to the Billboard charts, is: [Florida-Georgia line.](http://theboot.com/florida-georgia-line-billboard-record-no-1/) I mean, that’s bullshit. But it’s also true. 🙂 The article was written in June of 2018. Their then-current hit, “Meant to Be”, _debuted_ at #1 and stayed there for 51 weeks (and is still #3). [I even started a thread about this song and its Billboard success](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=861393) (and looking at it, I see it got 1 reply - a great one by **InstalLLC** which goes into this issue. How did I miss that?). So, to wrap up too many words, y’all are both right. This chart both does and does not measure the same thing, depending on the years the songs were released. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_Raygun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c67d28/32.png) [@Ronald\_Raygun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_Raygun)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/72 "2019-01-29T02:12:01Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I’m certain that those of you who say you’ve never heard of #4 and 7 have heard those songs before, you just don’t know them by name. They were _everywhere_. You’d have to be living in a cave and never watch TV, movies, commercials, go into stores that play music, etc. > > Of course, this is the SDMB, where people think claiming to have never heard of “popular thing” makes you somehow better. This is the post that actually got me to look at the song list. What obscure songs could these possibly be? Oh, Uptown Funk and I Gotta Feeling? Wo-o-o-o-o-ow. I’ve heard these both on the radio multiple times in the past week. (I Gotta Feeling, I remember, because I was like, this song is 10 years old. Why are they playing it? Wait, why are they playing it again?) Then again, I listen to a lot of trash. I wouldn’t expect my parents to recognize these either. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/73 "2019-01-29T03:05:44Z")
Question 1. The highest song I’ve never heard of is #129 Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis in 2008. The highest song I’ve heard OF, but can’t say I’ve actually HEARD: #37 Battle of New Orleans. The highest song that I’ve definitely heard, but damn if I could recognize if I heard it again: #11 You Light Up My Life. Question 3: I’m shocked that Too Close made it to #30. I’ve heard it many times (and hate it), but I had no idea it was so popular. Kesha has her rightful place in the top 100 with Tik Tok. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/74 "2019-01-29T15:57:33Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Question 1. The highest song I’ve never heard of is #129 Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis in 2008. The highest song I’ve heard OF, but can’t say I’ve actually HEARD: #37 Battle of New Orleans. The highest song that I’ve definitely heard, but damn if I could recognize if I heard it again: #11 You Light Up My Life. > > Question 3: I’m shocked that Too Close made it to #30. I’ve heard it many times (and hate it), but I had no idea it was so popular. > > Kesha has her rightful place in the top 100 with Tik Tok. I’m sure you’ve heard “Bleeding Love”; it was tremendously popular and played quite a lot. It has a very recognizable repetitive rhythm. It’s a classic example of 2000s pop music (loud, repetitive, unimaginative). Leona Lewis was a winner of England’s “The X Factor” in its third season (another of the seemingly endless Simon Cowell productions). Not shockingly, this song represents her only true contribution to anything really popular; she’s a classic one-hit wonder in America. As for “You Light Up My Life”, you’d recognize it instantly if the Debbie Boone version started playing. It was so cloyingly sappy, and stayed on the charts so long in 1977/78 that it has few peers among top hits you love to hate, but feel bad that you do. Of course, it didn’t help any that Debbie Boone strongly asserted that, in her version (which was an almost simultaneous cover of the original by Kasey Cisyk, done for the move of the same name) the “you” in question was God. That sort of message was not popular during the stagflation meltdown days of the late-70s. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/75 "2019-01-29T16:02:40Z")
I think DB’s blatant appeal to religion is what drove the song to such levels of popularity, helping, not hurting, the song. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/76 "2019-01-29T16:22:34Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > I’m sure you’ve heard “Bleeding Love”; it was tremendously popular and played quite a lot. It has a very recognizable repetitive rhythm. It’s a classic example of 2000s pop music (loud, repetitive, unimaginative). Leona Lewis was a winner of England’s “The X Factor” in its third season (another of the seemingly endless Simon Cowell productions). Not shockingly, this song represents her only true contribution to anything really popular; she’s a classic one-hit wonder in America. > > As for “You Light Up My Life”, you’d recognize it instantly if the Debbie Boone version started playing. It was so cloyingly sappy, and stayed on the charts so long in 1977/78 that it has few peers among top hits you love to hate, but feel bad that you do. Of course, it didn’t help any that Debbie Boone strongly asserted that, in her version (which was an almost simultaneous cover of the original by Kasey Cisyk, done for the move of the same name) the “you” in question was God. That sort of message was not popular during the stagflation meltdown days of the late-70s. You’re right–I listened to “Bleeding Love” right after writing my post. I didn’t recognize the intro or first verse at all, but I did (somewhat vaguely) recognize the chorus. I just consider the song background noise that I might hear at a dentist’s office or grocery store. It’s probably one of those songs that makes me change the radio station in two seconds when it comes on due to its extremely boring quality. For “You Light Up My Life,” I was too young at the time to listen to pop music, so I missed the initial mass wave of popularity of the song. Mercifully, the song seemingly had no staying power after that, and it is almost never played on the radio anymore. That’s why I can’t hum the melody or recognize it, even though I have heard it a few times. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/77 "2019-01-29T16:25:11Z")
Yeah, in 1978 people were like “Remember when we got religion for a couple of months last year?” “Shut up and dance. Got any blow?” … and that was it for any memory or impact of YLUML. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/78 "2019-01-29T17:35:51Z")
Being an old fart, and typically not knowing any of the top ten songs in any given week, I was surprised that I knew 8 out of the top ten on this list. But I was even more surprised by what they were. #7, _I Gotta Feeling_ by the Black Eyed Peas, is a song I remember only as a great example of why I hardly ever listen to pop music any more. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/79 "2019-01-29T17:44:28Z")
Also weird that I know and like #28 (Lo by Flo Rida) when so many people who clearly know pop music much better than I, say they’ve never heard it. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/80 "2019-01-29T17:57:34Z")
Methodology: The Greatest of All-Time 60th Anniversary Billboard Hot 100 Songs and Artists rankings are based on weekly performance on the Hot 100 (from its inception on Aug. 4, 1958, through July 21, 2018). Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower spots earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates during various periods. Artists are ranked based on a formula blending performance, as outlined above, of all of their Hot 100 chart entries. > **[The Hot 100’s Top Artists of All Time](https://www.billboard.com/pro/hot-100-top-artists-all-time-list/)** > > On Aug. 4 1958, Billboard launched the Hot 100, forever changing pop music — or at least how it’s measured. Incidentally, the list of the top 100 artists at that link looks MUCH more like what you would expect, e.g.: 1. The Beatles 2. Madonna 3. Elton John 4. Elvis Presley 5. Mariah Carey 6. Stevie Wonder 7. Janet Jackson 8. Michael Jackson 9. Whitney Houston 10. Rihanna although I expect Michael is spinning like a lathe to be ranked below Janet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938.md?page=5)