Akon

Aliaune Thiam, or the artist we know as Akon, logs his 15th THO hit this week with "Right Now (Na Na Na)." Often Akon collaborates with others on hit songs, such as "Smack That" with Eminem or "Just Dance" with Lady GaGa and Colby O'Donis. But "Right Now" is a solo hit, just as his first THO hit was: 2005's "Lonely." He has several impressive achievements, including being the first artist to hold both the #1 and #2 slots on the Billboard Hot 100 TWICE! Akon was also nominated for a Grammy Award, although he lost to Justin Timberlake. We created another poll, for you to choose your favorite Akon tune.

- Akon chart history
- Akon poll
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For the Fanatical Music Chart Fans: Record Research Books

If you are a fan of the Billboard charts, hopefully you are aware of Record Research. Joel Whitburn founded record research and publishes many books that summarize Billboard's most popular charts. The most popular is the Top Pop Singles book, which lists every song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1955, by artist. Similar books are available for the Country, R&B/Hip Hop, Dance, Rock, and Holiday charts. Soon they will be releasing "Top Country Songs 1944-2008," a must-have for country music fanatics. We own many of these books and we highly recommend them!

- Record Research website
- Billboard.com
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The Billboard Hot 100 Celebrates 50 Years

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first Billboard Hot 100 chart. Along with the Official U.K. Chart, the Hot 100 is one of the most popular and lasting music charts in the world. Recently Billboard Magazine has been celebrating this anniversary by publishing several Top Songs/Artists lists based on Hot 100 data. One of the most interesting is their Top 100 of the Hot 100. Songs were ranked based on their popularity compared to other songs of the same era:

1. Chubby Checker - The Twist [hit #1 in 1960 and in 1962]
2. Santana f/ Rob Thomas - Smooth [#1 for 12 weeks]
3. Bobby Darin - Mack The Knife [#1 for 9 weeks; Grammy record of the year]
4. LeAnn Rimes - How Do I Live [69 weeks on the Hot 100]
5. Los Del Rio - Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix) [#1 for 14 weeks]
6. Olivia Newton-John - Physical [#1 for 10 weeks; multi-format smash]
7. Debby Boone - You Light Up My Life [#1 for 10 weeks; Grammy best original song]
8. The Beatles - Hey Jude [#1 for 9 weeks]
9. Mariah Carey - We Belong Together [#1 for 14 weeks]
10. Toni Braxton - Un-Break My Heart [#1 for 11 weeks]

- Bilboard Charts
- Current Hot 100 chart
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Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

We've decided to take make some changes to this blog/subscription that we hope everyone will enjoy. First of all, we're going to try to post every day (no guarantees there). Second, when we aren't talking about the THO 100 chart, we are going to start highlighting some of the best music websites around the web. While you might not find all of the websites we mention useful or fun, we're sure that you'll be thanking us at least once in a while...

The first website we want to mention is one we have had bookmarked for a long time. Have you ever wondered where you can find full historical chart information for the Billboard Hot 100 and the Official UK Chart? It's not easy to find... usually you'll have to pay for it because Billboard keeps their chart information under wraps so that you WILL pay for it. However, there is one website that displays historical chart information by artist: MusicVF.com

http://www.musicvf.com/

We're fairly certain the website is breaking copyrights, but it is there nonetheless. At the top of the site you can search by artist to see every song that they have charted in both the US and UK, as well as the US dance, modern rock, and r&b charts (with occasional comments). This website is sure to settle some arguments!
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Mariah Carey Extends All-Time THO Song Lead

No artist has had more songs on the THO 100 than Mariah Carey. This week on the THO chart she adds to her total with "Touch My Body." The THO chart began in 1993, so the list is even missing some of Mariah's biggest hits of her career in 1991-1992. Nevertheless, she leads Madonna, Janet, and Shania on the all-time list of most songs on the THO chart. We've created a poll to determine fans' favorite Mariah songs of all-time. Because of the large number of hits, we've limited the list to only her top 10 Billboard or THO hits. Vote on the Mariah Carey song poll here.
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Top Songs of 1986

We've added a few hundred more votes from our 1986 polls. While Madonna still sits at #1, numbers two and three switch positions with the Pet Shop Boys (pictured) overtaking Bon Jovi. "West End Girls" was the hit that put the Pet Shop Boys on the map, but they had 11 more hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and more than 30 hits on Billboard's dance charts. Our 1980s polls are ongoing, so please visit and vote - the song lists are sure to bring back memories.

Updated 1986 Poll Results
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