THO 100 Update for week ending February 28, 2009

Taylor Swift's "Love Story" began on country radio stations in the U.S., and slowly the song has worked its way onto pop/top 40 playlists around the world. This week it enters the top 10 on the THO 100, which rarely sees country songs reach the top half of the chart. While many would argue the song barely resembles country music, we're fairly sure Taylor Swift and her fans don't care. The song reaches #2 on the official U.K. chart this week, so could it eventually reach the top of THO? The current champ is Kelly Clarkson with "My Life Would Suck Without You." Lady GaGa clogs the top 5 with two songs and Lily Allen's "The Fear" gains points at #2 but without much chance of topping Clarkson. Enjoy the chart this week!

- Current THO 100
- Chart Archive
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Girls Aloud

Many music fans in the United States may not be familiar with Girls Aloud, but across the ocean in the U.K., they are argueably the most successful group of the past six years. They were formed on the reality show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002. On the official U.K. charts, they've had 19 top ten hits and four number ones. On the THO chart, they've been almost as successful, although their lack of attention in the U.S. kept them out of the top ten until late 2007. Now their last three singles have hit the top ten, and this week they enter the chart at #84 with "The Loving Kind." Maybe they will someday reach the same level of success in the United States as they have elsewhere. It would be a shame for one of the most successful groups in U.K. chart history to be unknown to so many music fans.

- Girls Aloud Poll
- Chart History
- Current THO 100
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THO 100 Update for week ending November 8, 2008

This week on the THO 100 Pink spends a sixth week atop the chart with "So What." It becomes the third song in 2008 to spend as many weeks on top, following Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" and Madonna's "4 Seconds" (featuring Justin Timberlake). But with the song showing signs of fading, there might be a new #1 next week. The question is who? Katy Perry's "Hot N Cold" and Britney Spears' "Womanizer" seem to be the most likely candidates, but Beyonce's "If I Were A Boy" just bounced into the top 10 in only its third week on the chart. A little further down the chart, the largest point gain belongs to English band Razorlight. Their hit "Wire To Wire" sits at #27 after only two weeks and is #15 on the official UK chart.

- Current THO 100
- Chart Archive
- Official UK Chart
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Dido

After a 4-year absence Dido is back on the charts again with "Don't Believe In Love." Her last hit on the THO 100 was "Sand In My Shoes," which entered the chart in September of 2004. Her solo chart career began in 1999 with "Here With Me," but her popularity began to soar when she was the featured artist on the UK #1 track "Stan" with Eminem. "Stan" sampled from Dido's "Thank You," which later went to #2 on its own. Dido's only #1 hit is "White Flag" from 2003. Dido is the subject of our featured poll this week - choose your favorite Dido song.

- Dido poll
- Other music polls
- Dido chart history
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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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