Friday, February 17, 2012

Whitney and Madonna in the top 10 together again

Madonna enters the Billboard Hot 100's top 10 this week, climbing three notches with her new hit single, "Give Me All Your Luvin." With Billboard allowing Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" to reappear in the Hot 100 this week an amazing thing happened on the chart: two pop icons of the '80s and '90s spend time together in the top 10 for the first time in over 16 years.

Madonna and Whitney appeared on the scene within a few years of each other and went on to dominate pop charts for the next 20 years or so. During that time, they frequently appeared in the top 10 at the same time. Here's a look at those instances:

July 6, 1985. Whitney Houston's first top 10 hit, "You Give Good Love," enters the top 10 at #7 the same week that Madonna's sixth top 10 hit, "Angel," spends its last week in the top 10 at #10.

September 28-October 12, 1985. Madonna's final Like a Virgin single, "Dress You Up," and Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love for You" spend 3 weeks together in the top 10. Madonna's single peaks at #5 while Whitney's becomes her first #1 hit--the first of seven consecutive chart-toppers.

May 17-June 14, 1986. On May 17, Whitney's last Whitney Houston single "Greatest Love of All" hits #1 the same week Madonna's first True Blue Single "Live to Tell" enters the top 10. For 2 weeks, the songs are #1 and #2 and, on June 7, "Live to Tell" knocks "Greatest Love of All" from #1. The singles spend 5 weeks together in the top 10.

[August 8, 1987. A near miss: Madonna's "Who's That Girl" enters the top 10 the same week Whitney's former #1 "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" drops out of the top 10.]

August 29-September 12, 1987. Whitney's second Whitney single, "Didn't We Almost Have It All," enters the top 10 at #8 the same week Madonna's "Who's That Girl" falls from #1 to #2. The singles spend 3 weeks together in the top 10.

[October 17, 1987. Another near miss. Madonna's second Who's That Girl Soundtrack single, "Causing a Commotion," climbs six notches to #5 the same week Whitney former #1 hit "Didn't We Almost Have It All" makes its exit from the top 10.]

December 8, 1990-January 5, 1991. Madonna's "Justify My Love" from her greatest hits set, The Immaculate Collection, enters the top 10 the same week Whitney Houston's "I'm Your Baby Tonight" falls from #1 to #2. The singles spend 5 weeks together in the top 10.

[March 23, 1991. Yet another near miss. Madonna's "Rescue Me" spends its only week in the top 10 at #9 the same week Whitney Houston's ninth #1 hit, "All the Man That I Need," falls out of the top 10.]

January 16-February 6, 1993. On January 16, Madonna's second Erotica single "Deeper and Deeper" enters the top 10 at #10 the week that Whitney's massive Bodyguard Soundtrack hit "I Will Always Love You"spends its 8th week at #1. Two weeks later "Deeper and Deeper" peaks at #7; "I Will Always Love You" is still #1. Two weeks later, "Deeper and Deeper" is gone from the top 10; "I Will Always Love You" is still #1 (and will be for another 2 weeks--it was such a huge hit).

December 9, 1995-December 23, 1995. Madonna's Something to Remember single "You'll See" enters the top 10 at #8 during Whitney's "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)'s" second week at #2, which had debuted at #1 just two weeks earlier, becoming only the third single to ever achieve that feat. The Waiting to Exhale Soundtrack's single was Houston's 11th and final #1 hit. Until this week, this was the last time the two icons spent time together in the top 10.

[March 1, 1997. A near miss. Madonna's Evita hit "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" enters the top 10 at its #8 peak the same week Whitney's The Preacher's Wife Soundtrack hit "I Believe in You and Me" exits the top 10.]

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