MrSquiggle said:

Can someone answer my question -- how the hell did this get to No.1 in Japan!?

I don't know much about it -- but "Last December"'s melody and vocals do sound similar to other hits in Japan and China -- smooth. I have a friend who plays this stuff around me, so I wasn't surprised that they liked "Last December" so much over there. Similar type of sound.

MrSquiggle said:

Japanase Overseas Weekly No.1's

The following list show all Japanese #1's by non-Japanese acts.

Since 4-1-1968, when the Oricon chart started, 838 singles have reached #1 - only 12 of these were by "overseas" acts !

(date, weeks on #1, sales in 1000s, title, act)

01-04-1968 1 0500 Massachusettes - Bee Gees
01-09-1968 2 0810 Sounds Of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
27-01-1969 1 0470 Those Were The Days - Mary Hopkin
02-11-1970 3 0740 Lovers Of The World - Jerry Wallace
11-01-1971 2 0400 As The Tears Go By - Mashmakhan
19-04-1971 4 0670 Ani Holem Al Naomi - Hedva & David
10-04-1972 1 0300 I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing - The New Seekers
22-03-1976 15 1930 Beautiful Sunday - Daniel Boone
17-11-1980 2 0670 I'm In The Mood For Dancing - Nolans
05-09-1983 2 0700 Flashdance... What A Feeling - Irene Cara
04-12-1995 5 1000 To Love You More - Celine Dion With Kryzler & Kompany
06-10-1997 2 0500 Candle In The Wind '97 - Elton John

To see a list of all Japanese Oricon #1's, surf to Link

It's not only rare that an overseas act reaches #1, these seldomly reach the top 10.

Here's a list of singles by non-Japanese acts, which reached #2 in Japan since 1968:

Japanase Overseas Weekly No.2's

(date, sales in 1000s, title, act)

01-02-1970 0555 Venus - Shocking Blue
01-04-1970 0331 My Little Darling - Jimmy Osmond
01-09-1970 0505 Never Marry A Railroad Man - Shocking Blue
01-10-1975 0568 Sky High - Jigsaw
01-03-1976 0000 Sexy Bus Stop - Drc.Drangon & The Oriental Express
01-07-1981 0338 City Connection - Emmanuelle
01-04-1985 0511 We Are The World - Usa For Africa
01-11-1994 1094 All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey

Snap said:

But since when was this song a single?

What other songs has he had No.1's with in other countries? I know in New Zealand Sign O The Times, U Got The Look and Alphabet St all hit number 1

Then in the 90's he had number ones with Cream, Diamonds and Pearls and TMBGITW - but faded away soon after that

DMSR88 said:

not always Bruce Springsteen holds the record for most top 40 songs wothout ever hitting #1 (i forget how many i have to look it up)

Springsteen had a number one single as a writer (Manfred Mann's cover of "Blinded By The Light" in 1977), but his biggest Hot 100 hit as an artist was "Dancing In The Dark," no.2 for 4 weeks. Other artists that never hit no.1 on the Billboard Hot 100:
*Bob Dylan (biggest hits were Rainy Day Women & Like A Rolling Stone, both no.2)
*Journey (biggest hit "Open Arms," no.2 for 6 weeks)
*James Brown ("I Got You (I Feel Good)" reached no.3)
*En Vogue (three no.2 hits, but no number ones)
*Creedence Clearwater Revival (FIVE no.2 hits but no number ones, which is the record)
*Jimi Hendrix (never even cracked the top 20)
*Led Zepplin ("Whole Lotta Love," at no.4, was their only top ten hit)
*Lenny Kravitz ("It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" reached no. 2)
*Sheryl Crow ("All I Wanna Do" stopped at no. 2)

Aerosmith never reached no.1 until "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" in 1998.
Santana's first no.1 was "Smooth," 30 years into his career.
And most curiously of all, George Clinton's classic "Atomic Dog" never even reached the Hot 100 at all, despite being no.1 on the R&B charts for 4 weeks in 1983.

Wow , renfeild (and others)..great stats. This is a chart junkies dream thread.

Everyone has to remember that today's Billboard Hot 100 chart is a completely different animal today then it was in the 80's. Back then the Hot 100 was indeed the Top 40/Pop chart. Today it is basiclly a hybrid chart of Pop, R&B and Country all combined into one chart. The Billboard Hot 100 of the 80's = the Mainstream Top 40 Airplay chart today. (or Radio and Records weekly charts)

In my book comparing apples to apples . In coming up with Prince #1 records you would have to use The Billboard Hot 100 up through 1991 and Radio and Records charts there after (even American Top 40 w/ Kasey Kasem made this switch over ) that would give Prince the following #1 records..

Billboard Hot 100
1984- When Doves Cry
Lets Go Crazy
1986- Kiss
1989- Batdance
1991- Cream (oddly enough the Hot 100 made its major change about the time Cream was at #1)
Radio and Records Pop Chart
1991- Diamonds and Pearls
1994- The Most Beautiful Girl In The World

near misses
Purple Rain #2
Raspberry Beret #2
Sign O' The Times #3
7 - #2 (Radio & Records)

newpower99 said:

7 only made it to #7
u got the look was #2

oops overlooked ..the Look ..yes it made it to #2.

Yes , 7 did peaked at #7 on The Hot 100. But it did make it to #2 on Radio and Records Pop chart.

Here are his #1's from Billboards Dance/disco charts

In the early days of the dance/disco charts more than one song from an album would charts together, so there will be some weird combinations here, then b-sides often charted with the a-side as well:

Controversy/Let's work 1981
1999 1982
When doves cry/17 days 1984
Let's go crazy/Erotic city 1984
Kiss 1986
Batdance 1989
Gett off 1991

So if there was an album of "1"s, like The Beatles' chronological collection, only made up of songs that have hit # 1 on an offical chart somewhere in the world, what would be on it?

This thread has led me to believe that the album would be longer than only 6 songs, as I previously thought.

Have any downloads been the # 1 download? Is there a way to know, since NPGMC keeps its numbers secret?