This portal is focused on music production within the era of written records through sound recordings, digital downloads, and beyond. Its scope includes articles that document the considerations and mechanisms used by, and consistent with, the purview of the production element. As an art form, music predates transcription and simultaneously transcends descriptive limitations. As an industry, music has demonstrated consistent viability over time. The record producer conjoins these potential, and serves as a broker to bridge the demand (spawned by their aspirations) with supply and satisfaction. The results are measurable and attributable, derived from effort and skillful application of craft, to a manifestation of the art in its melodic form. (Read more)
Aries is the ninth studio album by Mexican recording artist Luis Miguel. It was released by WEA Latina on 22 June 1993. After attaining commercial success in 1991 with his previous album, Romance, Luis Miguel decided to return to a style similar to his earlier work, featuring pop ballads and dance numbers with R&B influences. The record was produced by Miguel, who was assisted by Kiko Cibrian, Rudy Pérez, David Foster, and Juan Luis Guerra.
Three singles were released to promote the album. The first two singles, "Ayer" and "Hasta Que Me Olvides," topped the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and the third, "Suave," peaked at number nine. Two other songs were released as promotional singles, "Hasta el Fin" and "Tú y Yo"; both peaked at number four on the Hot Latin Songs chart. To further promote the record, Luis Miguel launched the 1993 Aries Tour to some Latin American countries and the United States. (Full article...)
Since its inception, Godsmack has toured with Ozzfest on more than one occasion and has toured with many other large tours and festivals, including supporting its albums with its own arena tours. They released three consecutive number-one albums (Faceless, IV and The Oracle) on the Billboard 200, and have had 25 top-ten rock radio hits and 12 at number one. In honor of the band's success and the release of their sixth studio album, 1000hp, Mayor Marty Walsh declared August 6 as "Godsmack Day" in the city of Boston. (Full article...)
Control is the third studio album by American singer Janet Jackson, released on February 4, 1986, by A&M Records. Her collaborations with the songwriters and record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis resulted in an unconventional sound: a fusion of rhythm and blues, rap vocals, funk, disco, and synthesized percussion that established Jackson, Jam, and Lewis as leading innovators of contemporary R&B. The distinctive triplet swing beat used on the record is a precursor to the new jack swing genre. The album became Jackson's commercial breakthrough, helped her transition into the popular music market, and made Control one of the defining albums of the 1980s and contemporary music.
With its autobiographical themes, most of the album's lyrics reflected a series of changes in her life: a recent annulment of her marriage to singer James DeBarge, severing business ties with her father and manager Joseph and the rest of the Jackson family, hiring A&M executive John McClain as her new manager, and her subsequent introduction to Jam and Lewis. Critics have praised the album as both an artistic achievement and a personal statement of self-actualization. It has also been regarded as a template for numerous female artists, particularly Black women, to model their careers. (Full article...)
Final rehearsal for the world premiere in the Neue Musik-Festhalle in Munich
The Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major by Gustav Mahler is one of the largest-scale choral works in the classical concert repertoire. As it requires huge instrumental and vocal forces it is frequently called the "Symphony of a Thousand", although the work is normally presented with far fewer than a thousand performers and Mahler greatly disapproved of the name. The work was composed in a single inspired burst at his Maiernigg villa in southern Austria in the summer of 1906. The last of Mahler's works that was premiered in his lifetime, the symphony was a critical and popular success when he conducted the Munich Philharmonic in its first performance, in Munich, on 12 September 1910.
The fusion of song and symphony had been a characteristic of Mahler's early works. In his "middle" compositional period after 1901, a change of style led him to produce three purely instrumental symphonies. The Eighth, marking the end of the middle period, returns to a combination of orchestra and voice in a symphonic context. The structure of the work is unconventional: instead of the normal framework of several movements, the piece is in two parts. Part I is based on the Latin text of Veni creator spiritus ("Come, Creator Spirit"), a ninth-century Christian hymn for Pentecost, and Part II is a setting of the words from the closing scene of Goethe's Faust. The two parts are unified by a common idea, that of redemption through the power of love, a unity conveyed through shared musical themes. (Full article...)
Rumours is the eleventh studio album by the British and American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 4 February 1977, by Warner Bros. Records. Largely recorded in California in 1976, it was produced by the band with Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut. The recording sessions took place as the band members dealt with breakups with one another and struggled with heavy drug use, both of which shaped the album's direction and lyrics.
Recorded with the intention of making "a pop album" that would expand on the commercial success of the 1975 album Fleetwood Mac, Rumours contains a mix of electric and acoustic instrumentation, accented rhythms, guitars, and keyboards, with lyrics concerning personal and often troubled relationships. Its release was postponed by delays in the mixing process. The band promoted the album with a worldwide concert tour. (Full article...)
New York Dolls is the debut studio album by the American rock band New York Dolls, released on July 27, 1973, by Mercury Records. An influential precursor to the 1970s punk rock movement, the eponymous album has been acclaimed as one of the best debut records in rock music and one of the greatest rock albums ever.
In early 1973, the two-year-old band had developed a local fanbase by playing regularly in New York City's Lower Manhattan, but most music producers and record companies were reluctant to work with them because of their vulgarity and onstage fashion as well as homophobia in New York. Still, the Dolls signed a contract with Mercury and recorded their first album at the Record Plant in New York with producer Todd Rundgren, who was known for his sophisticated pop tastes and held a lukewarm opinion of the band. Despite stories of conflicts during the recording sessions, lead singer David Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain later said Rundgren captured how the band sounded live. The resulting music on the album – a mix of carefree rock and roll, influences from Brill Building pop, and campy sensibilities – explores themes of urban youth, teen alienation, adolescent romance, and authenticity, as rendered in Johansen's colloquial and ambiguous lyrics. The album cover featured the members in drag for shock value. (Full article...)
Diorama is the fourth studio album by Australian rock band Silverchair, released on 31 March 2002 by Atlantic and Eleven. It won the 2002 ARIA Music Award for Best Group and Best Rock Album. The album was co-produced by Daniel Johns and David Bottrill. While Bottrill had worked on albums for a variety of other bands, Diorama marked the first production credit for lead singer Johns.
Johns wrote most of the album at the piano instead of his usual guitar, while the band took a 12-month break following their previous studio album, Neon Ballroom. Silverchair worked with composer Van Dyke Parks on Diorama; the album contains numerous orchestral arrangements and power ballads, a change from the grunge music typical of their earlier work, but consistent with the band's previous orchestrations on Neon Ballroom. The album's title refers to "a world within a world". Four singles were released: "The Greatest View", "Without You", "Luv Your Life", "Across the Night". All appeared on the Australian singles chart. (Full article...)
Californication marked the return of guitarist John Frusciante, who'd previously appeared on Mother's Milk and Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and shifted the band's style. The lyrics incorporated the sexual innuendos already associated with the band, but added themes including death, California, suicide, drugs, globalization and travel. (Full article...)
The lyrics express longing, alienation, and sardonic criticism of the music industry. The bulk of the album is taken up by "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", a nine-part tribute to Syd Barrett, a Pink Floyd co-founder who had left seven years earlier due to his deteriorating mental health; Barrett coincidentally visited the studio during recording. As with their previous release, The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Pink Floyd employed studio effects and synthesisers. Guest singers included Roy Harper, who sang lead on "Have a Cigar", and Venetta Fields, who sang backing vocals on "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". To promote the album, Pink Floyd released the double A-side single "Have a Cigar" / "Welcome to the Machine". (Full article...)
The three Rhinemaidens at play in the waters of the Rhine. Illustration from Stories of the Wagner Opera by H. A. Guerber, 1905. The Rhinemaidens are the three nixies sisters (Rheintöchter or "Rhine daughters") who appear in Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. Their individual names are Woglinde, Wellgunde and Flosshilde, although they are generally treated as a single entity and they act together accordingly. Of the 34 characters in the Ring cycle, they are the only ones who did not originate in the Old NorseEddas. Wagner created his Rhinemaidens from other legends and myths, most notably the Nibelungenlied which contains stories involving water sprites (nixies) or mermaids of the Danube.
The key concepts associated with the Rhinemaidens in the Ring operas—their flawed guardianship of the Rhine gold, and the condition (the renunciation of love) through which the gold could be stolen from them and then transformed into a means of obtaining world power—are wholly Wagner's own invention, and are the elements that initiate and propel the entire drama. (Full article...)
"Something" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 studio album Abbey Road. It was written by George Harrison, the band's lead guitarist. Together with his second contribution to Abbey Road, "Here Comes the Sun", it is widely viewed by music historians as having marked Harrison's ascendancy as a composer to the level of the Beatles' principal songwriters, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Two weeks after the album's release, the song was issued on a double A-side single, coupled with "Come Together", making it the first Harrison composition to become a Beatles A-side. The pairing was also the first time in the United Kingdom that the Beatles issued a single containing tracks already available on an album. While the single's commercial performance was lessened by this, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States as well as charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and West Germany, and peaked at number 4 in the UK.
The track is generally considered a love song to Pattie Boyd, Harrison's first wife, although Harrison offered alternative sources of inspiration in later interviews. Owing to the difficulty he faced in getting more than two of his compositions onto each Beatles album, Harrison first offered the song to Joe Cocker. As recorded by the Beatles, the track features a guitar solo that several music critics identify among Harrison's finest playing. The song also drew praise from the other Beatles and their producer, George Martin, with Lennon stating that it was the best song on Abbey Road. The promotional film for the single combined footage of each of the Beatles with his respective wife, reflecting the estrangement in the band during the months preceding their break-up in April 1970. Harrison subsequently performed the song at his Concert for Bangladesh shows in 1971 and throughout the two tours he made as a solo artist. (Full article...)
Born in London of Italian and French parentage, Barbirolli grew up in a family of professional musicians. After starting out as a cellist, he was given the chance to conduct, from 1926 with the British National Opera Company, and then with Covent Garden's touring company. On taking up the conductorship of the Hallé he had less opportunity to work in the opera house, but in the 1950s he conducted productions of works by Verdi, Wagner, Gluck, and Puccini at Covent Garden with such success that he was invited to become the company's permanent musical director, an invitation he declined. Late in his career he made several recordings of operas, of which his 1967 set of Puccini's Madama Butterfly for EMI is probably the best known. (Full article...)
... that according to Billboard magazine, Laufey created a blueprint for jazz music in the modern music industry and helped push it back into the mainstream?
Shelly Manne (Record production, 1920–September 26, 1984), (born Sheldon Manne) American bandleader and drummer, would have turned 106 this year.
Hazel Scott (Record production, 1920–October 02, 1981), Trinidad pianist and vocalist, would have turned 106 this year.
Pinetop Smith (Record production, 1904–March 15, 1929), American pianist and vocalist, would have turned 122 this year.
Kaiser Marshall (Record production, 1899–January 03, 1948), American drummer, would have turned 127 this year.
Alexandre Tansman (Record production, 1897–November 15, 1986), (born Aleksander Tansman) Polish-born French composer and virtuoso pianist (Some sources quote birthday date June 12), would have turned 129 this year.
No Code is the fourth studio album by American rock band Pearl Jam, released on August 27, 1996, through Epic Records. Following a troubled tour for its previous album, Vitalogy (1994), in which Pearl Jam engaged in a much-publicized boycott of Ticketmaster, the band went into the studio to record its follow-up. The music on the record was more diverse than what the band had recorded on previous releases, incorporating elements of garage rock and worldbeat.
Although No Code debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making it Pearl Jam's third consecutive number one album, it left a large section of the band's fanbase unsatisfied and quickly fell down the charts. Critical reviews were also mixed, with praise to the musical variety but criticism to the album's inconsistency. The album became the first Pearl Jam album to not reach multi-platinum status, receiving a single platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States. (Full article...)
Beyoncé produced, directed and edited the I Am... World Tour concert film for her own production company Parkwood Pictures. It was filmed in the presence of more than a million fans during her worldwide I Am... World Tour, running from March 2009 through February 2010, in support of her third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008). The DVD on the album is a combination of performances from the tour, including guest appearances from Jay-Z and Kanye West, as well as backstage moments. Beyoncé explained that the idea of filming her worldwide performances came when she realized that she was feeling lonely. She edited the film for nine months and it serves as her directorial debut. (Full article...)
Amnesiac is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 30 May 2001 by EMI. It was recorded with the producer Nigel Godrich in the same sessions as Radiohead's previous album, Kid A (2000). Radiohead split the work in two as they felt it was too dense for a double album. As with Kid A, Amnesiac incorporates influences from electronic music, 20th-century classical music, jazz and krautrock. The final track, "Life in a Glasshouse", is a collaboration with the jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton and his band.
After having released no singles for Kid A, Radiohead promoted Amnesiac with the singles "Pyramid Song" and "Knives Out", accompanied by music videos. Videos were also made for "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" and "Like Spinning Plates", as well as "I Might Be Wrong", which was released as a promotional single. Radiohead also launched GooglyMinotaur, a chatbot with which fans could interact on AIM. In June 2001, Radiohead began the Amnesiac tour, incorporating their first North American tour in three years and a homecoming performance in Oxford. (Full article...)
The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, becoming the group's highest-charting album in the US to date, and selling 74,000 equivalent album units. 7/27 earned the group its first top-five entry in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number three, and a top-five entry in Canada where it peaked at number three. Elsewhere, it peaked in the top fives of sixteen other countries, reaching number one in Spain and Brazil. To further promote the album, Fifth Harmony embarked on its fifth headlining concert tour, The 7/27 Tour, which visited North and South America, Europe and Asia. 7/27 received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics. (Full article...)
×ばつ Platinum in sales in the US. Critical reviews were mixed; some of the more positive reviews praised the songwriting, while the album's detractors criticized it as banal and slow. The album spawned three top-three hits on the Canadian Singles Chart, including "Building a Mystery", which spent eight weeks at number one, "Sweet Surrender", which reached number two, and "Adia" which ascended to number three. The fourth single "Angel" peaked at number nine, but did reach number three on the Canadian Adult Contemporary Chart, something the other three singles also achieved. Two of the songs, "Adia" and "Angel" were US Billboard Hot 100 top-five hits (the latter also peaking at number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart) while "Building a Mystery" was a top-15 hit and "Sweet Surrender" was a top-30 hit. "Adia" and "Angel" became her first songs to reach the top 40 in some countries outside of North America. (Full article...)">Image 6 Surfacing is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, released on 15 July 1997. It was produced by McLachlan's frequent collaborator, Pierre Marchand, and its release coincided with the start of McLachlan's Lilith Fair tour. The album reached the top position on the Canadian RPM 100 Albums chart, number two on the US Billboard 200 and became her first album to reach the top 50 outside of North America, achieving that in the UK, Australia and the Netherlands. It was certified as Diamond in sales in Canada and as ×ばつ Platinum in sales in the US. Critical reviews were mixed; some of the more positive reviews praised the songwriting, while the album's detractors criticized it as banal and slow. The album spawned three top-three hits on the Canadian Singles Chart, including "Building a Mystery", which spent eight weeks at number one, "Sweet Surrender", which reached number two, and "Adia" which ascended to number three. The fourth single "Angel" peaked at number nine, but did reach number three on the Canadian Adult Contemporary Chart, something the other three singles also achieved. Two of the songs, "Adia" and "Angel" were US Billboard Hot 100 top-five hits (the latter also peaking at number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart) while "Building a Mystery" was a top-15 hit and "Sweet Surrender" was a top-30 hit. "Adia" and "Angel" became her first songs to reach the top 40 in some countries outside of North America. (Full article...)
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Surfacing is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, released on 15 July 1997. It was produced by McLachlan's frequent collaborator, Pierre Marchand, and its release coincided with the start of McLachlan's Lilith Fair tour. The album reached the top position on the Canadian RPM 100 Albums chart, number two on the US Billboard 200 and became her first album to reach the top 50 outside of North America, achieving that in the UK, Australia and the Netherlands. It was certified as Diamond in sales in Canada and as ×ばつ Platinum in sales in the US. Critical reviews were mixed; some of the more positive reviews praised the songwriting, while the album's detractors criticized it as banal and slow.
The album spawned three top-three hits on the Canadian Singles Chart, including "Building a Mystery", which spent eight weeks at number one, "Sweet Surrender", which reached number two, and "Adia" which ascended to number three. The fourth single "Angel" peaked at number nine, but did reach number three on the Canadian Adult Contemporary Chart, something the other three singles also achieved. Two of the songs, "Adia" and "Angel" were US Billboard Hot 100 top-five hits (the latter also peaking at number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart) while "Building a Mystery" was a top-15 hit and "Sweet Surrender" was a top-30 hit. "Adia" and "Angel" became her first songs to reach the top 40 in some countries outside of North America. (Full article...)
All the Way... A Decade of Song is the first English-language greatest hits album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released by Columbia Records and Epic Records on 12 November 1999. Conceived as a celebration of Dion's commercial success during the 1990s, the album combines nine of her most successful recordings with seven newly recorded tracks. Dion collaborated primarily with longtime producer David Foster on the new material, with additional contributions from leading pop producers including Max Martin, Kristian Lundin, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, James Horner, and Matt Serletic. The album became the best-selling greatest hits collection by a female solo artist in the United States during the Nielsen SoundScan era. It has sold over 22 million copies worldwide, including more than nine million in the United States, five million in Europe, two million in Japan, and one million in Canada.
Although All the Way... A Decade of Song received mixed critical reviews—many critics praised the strength of the included hits while questioning the decision to pair them with seven new recordings—the lead single, "That's the Way It Is", was widely acclaimed for its uplifting production and contemporary pop sound. The album was a major commercial success globally, debuting at number one in most major music markets. It ranked seventh on the US Billboard 200 Year-End chart for 2000 and 26th on the Billboard 200 Decade-End chart, cementing its status as one of Dion's most successful releases. (Full article...)
Porcupine is the third studio album by the English post-punk band Echo & the Bunnymen. It was released on 4 February 1983 through the label Korova. It became the band's highest-charting release when it reached number two on the UK Albums Chart despite initially receiving poor reviews. It also reached number 137 on the American Billboard 200, number 85 on the Canadian RPM 100 Albums and number 24 on the Swedish chart. In 1984, the album was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry. The album includes the singles "The Back of Love" and "The Cutter."
Porcupine was recorded at Trident Studios in London, Rockfield Studios in South Wales and Amazon Studios in Liverpool. It was produced by Ian Broudie (credited as "Kingbird"), who had produced their second single, "Rescue." After being rejected by the band's label, the album was re-recorded with Shankar providing strings. It was originally released as an LP in 1983 before being reissued on CD in 1988. The album was reissued as a remastered and expanded CD in 2003, along with the other four of the band's first five studio albums. A VHS video called Porcupine – An Atlas Adventure was also released, containing six promotional videos of tracks from the album. (Full article...)
The album was recorded from March to May 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, at Easy Eye Sound Studio, which Auerbach opened the year prior. The band approached writing and recording differently than on previous albums, as they entered the studio without having written any material and deliberated longer on how to structure songs. After struggling to translate the slower songs from Brothers to a live setting, the band wrote more uptempo, hook-laden tracks for El Camino. The album's cover art depicts a minivan similar to one the group toured in early in their career, but in an inside joke, they named the record after the El Camino muscle car. A faux newspaper advertisement and parody car commercial playing on this joke were used to promote the record prior to release. (Full article...)
Several critics said 24K Magic was crafted from elements of R&B, funk, pop, and new jack swing. Mars was inspired to create an album on which he could capture the sound of 1990s R&B, that he listened and danced to during his childhood. He wanted to make people dance and have the same enjoyment he had. The lyrics of 24K Magic explore themes similar to those of its predecessor, Unorthodox Jukebox (2012), including money and sex. According to Mars, although he was able to convince Atlantic Records of the album's sound, they were initially hesitant. (Full article...)
Music critics met the album with universal acclaim, praising the lyrics, the songs' construction, and Nottet's vocal delivery and maturity. Some indicated "Poision" as one of the best tracks on the album. Musically, reviewers noted the influence of several artists on the album, including Sia, Taylor Swift and Rihanna. Commercially, Selfocracy experienced success and reached number one in Wallonia, as well as the top ten in Flanders, France and Romandie. It was awarded Platinum by the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA) in Belgium, as well as Gold by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) in France. For promotion, two singles preceded the album—"Million Eyes" (2016) and "Mud Blood" (2017)—which were successful in the aforementioned territories. Nottet also launched his Selfocracy Tour, which ran from 2017 to 2018 and visited the United Kingdom, Russia, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany. (Full article...)
Image 7The TASCAM 85 16B analog tape multitrack recorder can record 16 tracks of audio on 1-inch (2.54cm) magnetic tape. Professional analog units of 24 tracks on 2-inch tape were common, with specialty tape heads providing 8, or even 16 tracks on the same tape width (8 tracks for greater fidelity). (from Multitrack recording)
Image 8Hip-hop producer and rapper RZA in a music studio with two collaborators. Pictured in the foreground is a synthesizer keyboard and a number of vinyl records; both of these items are key tools that producers and DJs use to create hip-hop beats. (from Hip-hop production)
Image 10Digital audio interface for the Pro Tools computer-based hard disk multitrack recording system. Digital audio quality is measured in data resolution per channel. (from Multitrack recording)
Singer Kenny Chesney's song "There Goes My Life" was at number one at the start of the year, having been at the top since the issue of Billboard dated December 20, 2003. It remained at number one for the first five weeks of 2004 before being replaced by "Remember When" by Alan Jackson. The highest total number of weeks spent at number one by a song in 2004 was seven, achieved by "Live Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGraw, which was ranked number one on Billboards year-end chart of the most popular country songs. As the song's seven weeks at the top were split into two separate spells, however, the longest unbroken run at the top was five weeks, achieved by three different songs, two of which were by Chesney: "There Goes My Life" and "When the Sun Goes Down", the latter a collaboration with Uncle Kracker. The third song with a five-week run at the top was "Redneck Woman" by Gretchen Wilson. ('Full article...)
A grey-haired man playing a guitar and singing into a microphoneGeorge Jones had a six-week run at number one with "She Thinks I Still Care". Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1962, 11 different singles topped the chart in 52 issues of the magazine, based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores. The chart was published under the title Hot C&W Sides through the October 27 issue and Hot Country Singles thereafter, a title it would retain until 1990.
In the issue of Billboard dated January 6, the number one song was "Walk On By" by Leroy Van Dyke, in its eleventh week in the top spot. The single remained atop the chart through the issue dated March 3 for a final total of nineteen weeks at number one. This figure set a record for the most weeks at number one on the Hot Country chart which would stand for more than 50 years until Florida Georgia Line spent 24 weeks at number one between December 2012 and August 2013 with the song "Cruise". Claude King tied Van Dyke for the most weeks spent at number one in the calendar year of 1962, with an unbroken run of nine weeks in the peak position with the song "Wolverton Mountain". Marty Robbins had an eight-week run at the top with "Devil Woman". (Full article...)
Musician Erskine HawkinsErskine Hawkins and his orchestra had the year's longest-running chart-topper. In 1943, Billboard magazine published a chart ranking the "most popular records in Harlem" under the title of the Harlem Hit Parade. Placings were based on a survey of record stores primarily in the Harlem district of New York City, an area noted for its African American population which has been called the "black capital of America". The chart is considered to be the start of the lineage of the magazine's multimetric R&B chart, which since 2005 has been published under the title Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs.
Most of 1943's number ones were in the jazz and swing genres, which were among the most popular styles of music in the early 1940s. The year's longest-running chart-topper was "Don't Cry Baby" by Erskine Hawkins and his Orchestra, which spent a total of 14 non-consecutive weeks atop the chart between August and December. Two acts each achieved the feat of topping the chart with three different songs. Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra topped the listing with "When the Lights Go On Again", "Apollo Jump" and "Sweet Slumber", which was the final number one of 1943. Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra reached the top spot with "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", "A Slip of the Lip (Can Sink a Ship)" and "Sentimental Lady". The latter two songs were the two sides of the same record, but Billboard listed each in the number-one position for one week. Ellington's recording of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" was one of two versions of the song to top the chart during 1943; the Ink Spots also reached number one with a vocal version of the track. Ellington had originally composed and recorded the track in 1940 as an instrumental with the title "Never No Lament", but it was re-titled and re-released after other artists recorded a vocal version with lyrics written by Bob Russell. (Full article...)
From 1944 until 1957, Billboard magazine published a chart that ranked the top-performing country music songs in the United States, based on the number of times a song had been played in jukeboxes; until 1948 it was the magazine's only country music chart. In 1945, 14 different songs topped the chart, then published under the title Most Played Juke Box Folk Records, in 52 issues of the magazine. The term "country music" would not come into standard usage until the late 1940s and "folk music" was one of a number of terms used for the genre in earlier years. The chart ranked "the most popular Folk records on automatic phonographs thruout [sic] the nation", based on "reports from all the country's leading operating centers", which were averaged to produce the final placings. This methodology allowed for the possibility of records tying for a position, and on several occasions during 1945 two or more songs tied for the number one spot, including the issue of Billboard dated November 24, when four songs tied for the number-one position. The Juke Box Folk chart is considered part of the lineage of the current Hot Country Songs chart, which was first published in 1958.
At the start of the year, the song in the number one position was "I'm Wastin' My Tears on You" by Tex Ritter, which had been in the top spot since the issue of Billboard dated December 23, 1944; it remained at the top of the chart for four weeks in 1945. Ritter achieved a second number one later in the year with "You Two-Timed Me One Time Too Often", which spent 11 non-consecutive weeks at number one (including two in which it shared the top spot with other songs), the most by any song during the year. Ritter's total of 15 weeks at number one in 1945 was the highest by any artist. The longest unbroken run at number one was six weeks, by Al Dexter's "I'm Losing My Mind Over You" in February and March. As the chart was still in its infancy, the majority of the acts to top the chart in 1945 did so for the first time. One of the first-time chart-toppers was Jimmie Davis, who at the time of his number one success was combining his professional singing career with serving as the Governor of Louisiana. (Full article...)
Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay are charts that rank the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. Hot Country Songs ranks songs based on digital downloads, streaming, and airplay not only from country stations but from stations of all formats, a methodology introduced in 2012. Country Airplay, which was published for the first time in 2012, is based solely on country radio airplay, a methodology which had previously been used for several decades for Hot Country Songs. In 2014, 13 different songs topped the Hot Country Songs chart and 35 different songs topped Country Airplay in 52 issues of the magazine.
Jason Aldean had the longest unbroken run at number one on the Hot Country Songs, spending 14 consecutive weeks in the top spot with "Burnin' It Down". Luke Bryan spent the most total weeks at number one during the year, however. His songs "Drink a Beer" and "Play It Again" totaled 14 weeks atop the chart and he spent a further 6 weeks in the top spot as a featured vocalist on Florida Georgia Line's chart-topper "This Is How We Roll" for a total of 20 weeks at number one. Bryan and Florida Georgia Line were the acts with the most number ones during 2014, as each act had two chart-toppers in addition to their collaboration on "This Is How We Roll". No other act had more than one number one during the year. Bryan also spent the most weeks at number one on the Country Airplay listing, but with a much smaller total of seven weeks. This figure included a run of four consecutive weeks with "Play It Again", which tied with Florida Georgia Line's "Stay" for the longest unbroken run at the top of the radio-based chart during 2014. Bryan and Florida Georgia Line were both associated with bro-country, an emerging subgenre which incorporated elements from hip hop music and emphasized lyrics about partying, drinking, and attractive young women. Blake Shelton had the most chart-toppers on the airplay listing, reaching the top spot with "Doin' What She Likes", "Neon Light" and "My Eyes". (Full article...)
A period known as the "Jazz Age" started in the United States in the 1920s. Jazz had become popular music in the country, although older generations considered the music immoral and threatening to old cultural values. Dances such as the Charleston and the Black Bottom were very popular during the period, and jazz bands typically consisted of seven to twelve musicians. Important orchestras in New York were led by Fletcher Henderson, Paul Whiteman and Duke Ellington. Many New Orleans jazzmen had moved to Chicago during the late 1910s in search of employment; among others, the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band and Jelly Roll Morton recorded in the city. However, Chicago's importance as a center of jazz music started to diminish toward the end of the 1920s in favor of New York. (Full article...)
Madonna had six number ones during the 1980s. The UK singles chart is the official record chart in the United Kingdom. Until 1983, it was compiled weekly by the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) on behalf of the British record industry with a two-week break each Christmas. The BMRB used motorcycle couriers to collect the sales figures taken up to the close of trade on Saturday. This data was compiled on Monday and given to the BBC on Tuesday to be announced on BBC Radio 1 at lunchtime and later published in Music Week. On 4 January 1983, the chart was taken over by Gallup who expanded the chart from the Top 75 to the Top 100 and began the introduction of computerised tills, which automated the data collection process. The chart was based entirely on sales of physical singles from retail outlets and announced on Tuesday until October 1987, when the Top 40 was revealed each Sunday, due to the new automated process.
During the 1980s, there were a total of 191 singles that took the UK chart number 1 spot. In terms of number-one singles, Madonna was the most successful single act of the decade, as six of her singles reached the top spot. George Michael had significant involvement with eight number-one singles; with two number-one singles as a solo artist, four as a member of pop duo Wham!, one as a duet with Aretha Franklin and one as a member of charity supergroup Band Aid. The longest duration of a single at number one was nine weeks, achieved by Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Two Tribes" in 1984. (Full article...)
The musical duo Florida Georgia LineFlorida Georgia Line's song "Cruise" spent a record-breaking 24 weeks at number one on the Hot Country Songs chart. Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay are charts that rank the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. Hot Country Songs ranks songs based on digital downloads, streaming, and airplay not only from country stations but from stations of all formats, a methodology introduced in 2012. Country Airplay, which was published for the first time in 2012, is based solely on country radio airplay, a methodology which had previously been used for several decades for Hot Country Songs. In 2013, 10 different songs topped the Hot Country Songs chart and 31 different songs topped Country Airplay in 52 issues of the magazine
At the start of the year, the number one song on the Hot Country Songs listing was "Cruise" by the duo Florida Georgia Line. After falling from the top spot at the end of January, the song rebounded to the top in April, beginning a run of 19 consecutive weeks at number one. Its final total was 24 weeks at the top of the chart, breaking the record which had stood since the 1940s for the most cumulative weeks spent atop one of Billboard's country song charts. This revival of the song's fortunes was due to the late spring release of a remix featuring rapper Nelly, which proved extremely popular on pop music radio. Thanks to the incorporation into the chart's methodology of airplay data from all radio formats, this support from top 40 radio allowed "Cruise" to hold the top spot throughout the summer. The remix did not prove as popular on country radio, however, and by the late summer, the song was in the unusual position of topping the Hot Country Songs chart but receiving so few plays on country stations that it did not appear in the 60-position airplay listing at all. (Full article...)
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