Sunday, April 06, 2008

Billboard Hot 100, 4/12/2008

1. Touch My Body - Mariah Carey

Another great week for the Hot 100! The delayed availability of "Touch My Body" as a download pays off this week, as the track soars 14 spots this week to give Mariah Carey her historic 18th #1 hit. The track sold 286,000 digital copies in its first week, a new record. As I noted in an earlier post, this puts her above the 17 #1 hits collected by Elvis Presley to make Mariah Carey the solo artist with the most #1 hits, second among all acts only to The Beatles, who had 20. Prognosticators are now speculating as to whether (or more like when) she'll best The Beatles. While I agree it's possible, I don't expect it to happen soon. She'll need three more #1 hits to beat them, and only once--with her debut--has Mariah managed to score four number ones from one album. So while it's a good bet she may have another #1 hit from E=MC², it's unlikely there will be more, and given that she's now doing albums about once every 3 years, it could be 2011 or later until she would accomplish this feat. One last point, many, including me (and this week Entertainment Weekly) have acknowledged Leona Lewis as "the new Mariah Carey," but with Mariah knocking Leona's "Bleeding Love" from #1, this week it would appear that the reverse is true.

3. 4 Minutes - Madonna & Justin Timberlake

The King takes not one, but two hits this week. In addition to Mariah Carey beating his #1s record, Madonna scores her 37th top 10 hit this week, replacing Elvis as the artist with the most top 10 hits. It's worth noting that a top 10 hit in the U.S. is a rarity for Madonna these days. In heyday from 1984 to 1990, she scored three or four top 10 hits every year (save for 1988, the year she took a break from music). That started to slow through the '90s, and lately she's had one top 10 single every 3 years, the last being "Hung Up" (#7 in 2005), and previous to that, "Die Another Day" (#8 in 2002). No doubt Madonna is hoping the more American sounding Hard Candy will turn this trend around for her. In Britain, where she's continued to consistently land top 10 hits, "4 Minutes" is her 61st top 1o single. As for Justin Timberlake, this is his 9th top 10.

5. No Air - Jordin Sparks Featuring Chris Brown

Despite getting leap-frogged by Mariah Carey and Madonna, Jordin Sparks manages to hold her own, moving up another spot to #5 with "No Air," a new peak, after spending the last month locked at #6.

22. Beat It - Fall Out Boy (Featuring John Mayer)

The Michael Jackson resurrection continues, although probably not as expected. While the Thriller 25th Anniversary re-release failed to chart any major hits with its remixes, this live version of his "Beat It" by Fall Out Boy and John Mayer does so instead. This is Fall Out Boy's 5th top 40 hit and John Mayer's 6th.

38. Pocketful of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield

Natasha Bedingfield jumps 19 spots to score her fourth top 40 hit with "Pocketful of Sunshine," the title track and second single from her second album. Nat has now scored twice as many top 40 hits as her brother Daniel.

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