Pretty straightforward question. Kind of revolves around the question of "does anyone really listen to the radio anymore?" (actually listen). But this question is more for the charts, when was the last time you looked at Billboard and cared? For me i would have to say the last time i stop looking was around the beginning of soundscan, 1990-91 probably earlier i stopped caring for the most part, not that it dictated what i bought, but it was always a curiousity, but once soundscan rolled in, billboard was useless.

lastdecember said:

Last week when I saw Soulja Boy's album didnt even go gold even though he had a big hit single bitch.

Oh and I saw ALecia Keys is already TRIPLE platinum

Last July, but only because I wanted to see where Crowded House's Time on Earth debuted (a respectable #46).

I still occasionally check the charts now and then just to see what albums are popular and what songs radio stations claim are popular, but I really stopped caring about this time back in 2002. Ironically, it took an Olympic ice dancing scandal to make me look at the Billboard charts, but it was during the winter Olympics when it was revealed that one of the ice dancing judges (who was Russian) was paid to fix the results for the French ice dancing couple (one of which was also Russian), and that couple won the gold medal.

What does ice dancing have to do with the Billboard charts, you say?

Well, nothing technically. But I did notice a lot of manipulation of the Billboard Hot 100 which crept into the charts, particularly by the massive radio conglomerates like Clear Channel, and it seemed as though the top 20 songs on the Hot 100 seemed to match the playlists on the Clear Channel and Infinity Broadcasting stations almost exactly; yet some of the most downloaded songs and albums on the net were not getting any airplay on radio or MTV. As it was, the Hot 100 was usually based on a formula which consisted of 50% airplay and 50% sales, but that was changed in the late 1990's to 80% airplay and 20% sales, and around 2001 was changed to 90% airplay and 10% sales. Since Clear Channel and the other major radio conglomerates owned about 75% of all the radio stations in the country, it meant that they were effectively fixing the Billboard charts. This also led to rampant payola which Clear Channel benefited from (most likely illegally but covered up).

I think the last straw was around that time when I looked at the Billboard Hot 100 and saw Ashanti had the top three songs on the chart. They said that this was the first time since the Beatles that one artist had the top three songs on the chart, and I thought that there was no way that someone of such limited talent could be this popular.

728huey said:

Totally agree 100%. Which i think also shows how there is such a huge difference in the album and singles charts. How someone like Bruce Springsteen was selling tons of albums but could not get anything played, now i know that since the 90's this has been a strict "youth" culture that only plays teens, but when Bruce cant get play even on Rock Radio something is up. To me when i look at the Hot 100 every now and then online or posted on this site, it amazes me how irrelevant it is, its nothing more than all these radio stations that are really owned by the same company, putting there playlists together and coming up with a chart, sales are meaningless. For the Album chart the FUN of that went out when soundscan rolled in, now everything for the most part you know where its going to land, almost everything new debuts at number 1 now, so its not a big deal, the fun of that chart and the Hot 100 was to watch an album climb to its peak, not debut and fall, thats why theres a very short shelf life for albums now.

never

Well this week I'll be interested to see how Thriller 25 went. It's done well in other countries. #4 in the UK, #2 in Australia.

DarlingDiana said:

Same here.

There was a time when I used to buy issues of Billboard magazine.I would pick an issue up while I was at Tower Records.These days,I couldn't care less.I haven't checked out Billboard magazine in about ten years.

When Janet was on the cover last month ....

DarlingDiana said:

actually it was #3 according to the radio1 count down

i dont think i have ever looked at it

I never cared about Billboard even back in the 1980s when music was still good. A lot of the baddest jams never made the charts even back then. When there's mass appeal and sales, especially crossover appeal, it's usually something that sounds weaker. The R&B charts used to be OK in the early 1980s but a lot of the hard jams of the late 1980s never made it to even the R&B charts. The late 80s R&B charts were full of folks like Shitney Houston, Freddie Jackson, and Anita Baker. You didn't see folks like Trinere or The Egyptian Lover, that could actually throwdown, on the charts.
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[Edited 2/18/08 8:04am]

1997 when Puff Daddy had all those productions in the top ten of everything.

vainandy said:

Electro-funk artists like The Egyptian Lover were acts played mostly on the club scene and DJ mix tapes; you can't blame Whitney Houston for them not being regulars on radio stations. Also, acts like The Egyptian Lover were on smaller record labels so they didn't have the benefit of mass-produced singles.

FWIW, The Egyptian Lover did have three songs that charted the Billboard R&B Singles charts in the 1980s: the electro-funk classic "Egypt, Egypt" (peaked at No. 67); "The Lover" (No. 50, 1986); and "Freak-A-Holic" (No. 52, 1987).

The last time I cared about the Billboard charts was when singles were considered relevant marketing and the singles charts actively reflected radio and sales interests. That would be circa 1993. As for the magazine itself, I may look through it for industry news once in a blue moon.

lat week of May 1995 - the last week i was managed a record store. these days i'd just line the bird cage with it.

I've been watching the Gospel and Contemporary Christian charts closely the past couple of months.
[Edited 2/18/08 18:08pm]

1995 when i was charting the barkays slide and cameo's slyde.