# 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:** 5
**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, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/81 "2019-01-29T17:59:58Z")
Thanks! So I was (mostly) right. ---
**Author:** ![SayTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@SayTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SayTwo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/82 "2019-01-29T18:32:27Z")
> [@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. Then maybe they ought to control for that! ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/83 "2019-01-29T18:39:49Z")
2, 4, 9, 6, 10 - Never heard of them Marvin Gay, The Beatles, Johnny Cash - way under represented Where’s Herb Alpert? ---
**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, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/84 "2019-01-29T19:02:32Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I think DB’s blatant appeal to religion is what drove the song to such levels of popularity, helping, not hurting, the song. I meant, it was part of why it was a song we loved to hate at the time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2019, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/85 "2019-01-30T22:26:49Z")
They lost me at #10. That’s not even Olivia Newton-John’s best song, IMO, much less the 10th best song of the last 60 years. ---
**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 30, 2019, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/86 "2019-01-30T23:02:30Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > They lost me at #10. That’s not even Olivia Newton-John’s best song, IMO, much less the 10th best song of the last 60 years. Remember, the list isn’t claiming to name the best songs, just the most popular ones. ---
**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 30, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/87 "2019-01-30T23:13:18Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > 2, 4, 9, 6, 10 - Never heard of them > > Marvin Gay, The Beatles, Johnny Cash - way under represented > Where’s Herb Alpert? At #466 (“This Guy’s In Love With You”) and #544 (“Rise”), which makes some sense, as those are his only two #1 hits. (I’m actually surprised he had any. I do love me some Tijuana Brass, but I didn’t think he was a strong charter.) I’m actually almost surprised that Notorius B.I.G.'s “Hypnotize” (which samples “Rise”) didn’t hit the Top 600. Like Alpert, he also had two number ones, that and “Mo Money Mo Problems.” ---
**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:** [February 1, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/88 "2019-02-01T15:12:20Z")
Because I’m geeky this way, I copied this entire list to an Excel sheet so I can see some relationships: Top Years by # of entrants: 1976, 22 1990, 21 1985, 19 1973, 18 1991, 17 1982, 16 1980, 15 1959, 14 1960, 14 1978, 13 Worst Years, by # of entrants: 2018, 2 1966, 3 1965, 4 1963, 5 1992, 5 2002, 5 1964, 6 2017, 6 1958, 7 1971, 7 The Twenty-Two Deathless Classics of 1976, and their final rankings: 19, TONIGHT’S THE NIGHT (GONNA BE ALRIGHT) 40, SILLY LOVE SONGS 93, PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC 120, A FIFTH OF BEETHOVEN 175, DISCO DUCK (PART I) 185, I WRITE THE SONGS 218, (SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE) SHAKE YOUR BOOTY 247, DON’T GO BREAKING MY HEART 248, KISS AND SAY GOODBYE 266, DISCO LADY 269, LOVE ROLLERCOASTER 273, IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW 320, I’D REALLY LOVE TO SEE YOU TONIGHT 341, LOVE HANGOVER 385, DECEMBER, 1963 (OH, WHAT A NIGHT) 419, AFTERNOON DELIGHT 432, GET UP AND BOOGIE (THAT’S RIGHT) 453, THE RUBBERBAND MAN 547, MISTY BLUE 582, LOVE MACHINE (PART 1) 585, BOOGIE FEVER 591, RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARTED FROM The “1966, We Hardly Knew Ye” Awards: 62, I’M A BELIEVER 330, WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 369, THE BALLAD OF THE GREEN BERETS The “Billboard is our Bitch” Awards: Mariah Carey, 10 Madonna, 7 Whitney Houston, 7 Bee Gees, 6 The Beatles, 5 (“Get Back” is labeled “The Beatles with Billy Preston”.) Bruno Mars, 4 Elton John, 4 Katy Perry, 4 Taylor Swift, 4 Mariah! (Mariah Carey songs and their rankings) ALWAYS BE MY BABY, 493 DREAMLOVER, 348 EMOTIONS, 335 FANTASY, 263 HERO, 435 I DON’T WANNA CRY, 551 LOVE TAKES TIME, 199 SOMEDAY, 430 VISION OF LOVE, 209 WE BELONG TOGETHER, 14 John! Paul! George! Ringo! HEY JUDE, 12 I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND, 48 LET IT BE, 425 SHE LOVES YOU, 288 GET BACK, 327 Popular Music Styles: (Style, # of songs represented) Country, 23 Dance/Electronic, 27 Hip-Hop/Rap, 39 Jazz, 5 Latin, 3 Pop, 240 R&B, 155 Rock, 108 By Group Type: (Group Type, Count) Duo/Group, 233 Female, 143 Female/Duo/Group, 3 Male, 208 Male/Duo/Group, 1 Male/Female, 12 I uploaded it here: [BBoard Top 600.xlsx - Google Drive](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GHcDdm4anbxkD55jpEylRb2_aHV1F_os/view?usp=sharing) Pivot Charts seemed to have not made the transfer. Eh, they’re easy enough to recreate. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/89 "2019-02-03T01:32:36Z")
Well, I certainly learned some shit today. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/90 "2019-02-03T03:42:59Z")
Well, there you go. I know all the 1976 songs. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/91 "2019-02-03T15:39:15Z")
I don’t think I have ever heard 13 of the top 20. No Led Zeppelin. That list is a farce. ---
**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:** [February 3, 2019, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/92 "2019-02-03T15:46:09Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > I don’t think I have ever heard 13 of the top 20. No Led Zeppelin. That list is a farce. I don’t think Zeppelin songs much charted, though. Looks like they only had one top ten hit, Whole Lotta Love at #4. I wouldn’t expect to see them on a list like this, which presumably is based on individual song chart performance, given that it is compiled by Billboard. (Zep did great on the album charts, though.) ---
**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:** [February 3, 2019, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/93 "2019-02-03T18:16:15Z")
Actually, Mariah has 11 songs - I didn’t include “One Sweet Day” (#38), her duet with Boyz to Men. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/94 "2019-02-03T20:13:42Z")
It’s almost all the same sappy pop music, even if some of it’s technically in a different genre. The stuff that’s most like the stuff I listen to is the often the absolute worst of the songs by the artist, but I might just feel that way because their most pop-sounding songs are those most likely to be popular, and “pop-sounding” is the absolutely last thing I want in a song. I think the methodology is complete garbage, even if I think the music is also garbage, not because I think changing it would get songs I like on the list, but because it seems to value longevity near the top of the charts over actual sales and play time. If your hit record came out during a period that relatively few hit records were produced for that decade, then your song came out higher on the list. It ends up being nearly a random walk through songs that happened to be major hits, with the order nearly entirely at random. ---
**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:** [February 4, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/95 "2019-02-04T14:38:25Z")
> [@](#): > > If your hit record came out during a period that relatively few hit records were produced for that decade, then your song came out higher on the list. This, I’m sorry, makes no sense whatsoever. There are 52 weeks per year. Every week is going to have a #1 song. Every year has the same number of #1 slots (52), every decade has the same number of #1 slots (520), etc. There can literally be no period in which “relatively few hit records were produced” due to the nature of what is being measured which is, again, their rankings on the weekly _Billboard_ Top-100 chart from 1958-2018. So… 1976 had 22 songs, 1966 had 3 songs. By your logic, are there more “hits” in the 1960s or the 1970s? (As I said, I can’t really reconcile your logic with what the numbers are telling me - seems to have been a lot of hits in both the '60s and 70s.) ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/96 "2019-02-04T16:28:50Z")
I take it this list is just measuring the ubiquity of these songs? Because “Smooth” is not that good, but in '99-'00 you could not avoid it. Same for “How Do I Live” and “Party Rock Anthem” and basically the entire list. I mean, does anyone on planet Earth thing “Physical” is a _better_ song than “Hey Jude?” ---
**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:** [February 4, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/97 "2019-02-04T16:38:59Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > I take it this list is just measuring the ubiquity of these songs? Because “Smooth” is not that good, but in '99-'00 you could not avoid it. Same for “How Do I Live” and “Party Rock Anthem” and basically the entire list. I mean, does anyone on planet Earth thing “Physical” is a _better_ song than “Hey Jude?” The list is of “the 600 most massive smashes over the chart’s six decades.” There is no talk of quality. That said, never liked either of those songs (and I love the Beatles.) ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/98 "2019-02-05T05:34:53Z")
Anyone who has EVER equated charting on the Hot 100 with being a quality song is woefully uneducated about music, or just plain intentionally ignorant. Or they simply never listened to Macarena, though quite how they managed that, I’m uncertain. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Enlightening\_Meditation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecc23a/32.png) [@Enlightening\_Meditation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enlightening_Meditation)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/99 "2019-02-10T13:19:23Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > 1. What is the highest ranking song which you (never heard)/(have no memory of never hearing)? > 2. Who is underrepresented in your view? > 3. What is the “That song was THAT popular? Really?” champion in your opinion? 1. #3 I never heard “Mack the Knife” by Bobby Darin until searching for it after reading this list. 2. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana is not in the list of 600 songs. Perhaps this one is not technically an eligible single. That song was seriously popular and overplayed circa 1991-1992. Personally, it’s not among my top 10 favorite Nirvana songs. 3. #74 “WHOOMP! (THERE IT IS)” by Tag Team seems like an outlier to me since it didn’t even hit #1 on the Hot 100. Apparently, spending 7 weeks at #2 somehow enabled this tune to outrank hundreds of #1 hits. Overplayed annoying songs are well represented on the list. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2019, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938/100 "2019-02-10T14:18:42Z")
> [@Enlightening\_Meditation](#): > > 1. #3 I never heard “Mack the Knife” by Bobby Darin until searching for it after reading this list. Surprising. > [@](#): > > 1. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana is not in the list of 600 songs. Perhaps this one is not technically an eligible single. That song was seriously popular and overplayed circa 1991-1992. Personally, it’s not among my top 10 favorite Nirvana songs. It peaked at #7 on the Hot 100, so that probably explains it. A lot of the ubiquitous grunge and alternative music of the early-to-mid-90s did not chart as high as you would think. And some of it wasn’t released as singles, but Smells Like Teen Spirit was. Nirvana actually had six singles that charted better than “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” > [@](#): > > 1. #74 “WHOOMP! (THERE IT IS)” by Tag Team seems like an outlier to me since it didn’t even hit #1 on the Hot 100. Apparently, spending 7 weeks at #2 somehow enabled this tune to outrank hundreds of #1 hits. > > Overplayed annoying songs are well represented on the list. Yes, it would be nice to see what the methodology for Billboard is in compiling this list. I would probably have started with a weighted point system of some sort, with #1 equal to 1/1 point and #100 equal to 1/100 points (so two weeks at number 2 would be equal to one week at number 1), or something less finely tuned that would create a graph that exhibits characteristics similar to 1/x. (A more precise way would be to actually see what %age of sales/plays #1 typically corresponds to vs #2 vs #3 vs #4, etc., and weigh that way. Or just use raw sales numbers, somehow normalized for the time period they’re being used in, and figure out a scoring system based on that.) But, anyhow, point being, as remarked earlier in the thread, it’s a pity the methodology wasn’t available. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billboards-top-100-songs-of-the-past-60-years/827938.md?page=6)