Chart Beat Chat

DOWN WITH 'DOWN'

Dear Fred,

I was very happy that you mentioned "Love Me Down" by Angel City Featuring Lara McAllen in your column this week. I was very surprised to see this song on the big chart -- I didn't realize it was gaining that much popularity outside the clubs. However, I guess it's related to the fact that it is a recognizable cover version.

In your column you wrote: "Three members of Ready for the World -- Melvin Riley, Gordon Strozier and Greg Valentine -- wrote 'Oh Sheila,' as well as the follow-up, 'Love You Down.' That single was No. 52 on the Hot 100 exactly 17 years ago this week. It was also the last time Riley, Strozier and Valentine had a writing credit on the Hot 100 until this week."

One of my favorite songs back in the day was "Love You Down" by INOJ, who had a habit of releasing cover versions, like "Ring My Bell" and "Time After Time." Did the INOJ version of "Love You Down" chart on the Hot 100 -- and if so, were the writers credited?

Greg Baker
Philadelphia

Dear Greg,

The INOJ remake of "Love You Down" did reach Billboard's Hot 100, peaking at No. 25 in February 1998. It was the first of two INOJ songs to appear on the chart. The follow-up was the cover of the Cyndi Lauper hit "Time After Time" that you mentioned. It went to No. 6.

Melvin Riley was the sole writer listed on "Love You Down." That's how the credit appeared on the Hot 100 at the time, and that's how it still appears on the ASCAP Web site today.

I rely on an internal chart archive to search for songwriting credits on the Hot 100, and that's where I found the misinformation on the "Love You Down" writing credits for the Ready for the World single. The credits for the INOJ remake didn't show up at all. I'll report the errors to the folks who maintain this database.


REMEMBERING MERI

Dear Fred,

That's it! Your reader, Kevin Jackson, has jogged my memory. Claudja Barry was the Boney M member I was trying to recall and "Boogie Woogie Dancing Shoes" was the song I remember hearing.

Now, does anybody know what happened to the singer (or maybe we should call her an early rapper) Meri Wilson, who had one of the dumbest novelty hits of all time with "Telephone Man?" It was so dumb, I loved it.

Thanks,

Andy Ray
Indianapolis

Dear Andy,

"Telephone Man" was Meri Wilson's only song to chart on Billboard's Hot 100. The single debuted the week of June 4, 1977, and peaked at No. 18. Wilson updated the novelty hit as "The Internet Man" in 1999, but it wasn't a success.

Wilson was active in education and the arts in her home state of Georgia up until her death in an automobile accident on Dec. 28, 2002. She was 53.


PLETHORA OF CHARTS

Hi Fred,

I love your column and look forward to it each Friday. I've noticed there seem to be a lot of charts that are similar. Can you tell me the difference between Mainstream Top 40, Adult Top 40 and Top 40 Tracks, and how they all relate to the Hot 100?

Thanks for your help.

Greg Vagnini
Tallahassee, Fla.

Dear Greg,

I don't want this to sound like one of those stories where I talk about trudging through the snow to get to school (especially since I grew up in sunny Culver City, Calif.), but back in my day, we had top 40 radio and those radio stations that identified themselves as playing top 40 music played all kinds of music, from pop to country to R&B to whatever.

Those days are gone.

Today, stations play such a narrow field of music that just calling them "Top 40" stations doesn't accurately describe them. So they are identified by the specific kind of top 40 music they play, whether it be mainstream, adult or rhythmic.

As of February, there were 501 radio stations in the United States that were identified as playing Top 40 music, 420 that play Adult Top 40, 673 that play classic rock, 706 that play Adult Contemporary, 828 that play oldies and 2049 that play country.

Billboard publishes a number of charts that are airplay-based, and those charts report airplay on specific radio formats. That's why there is a Mainstream Top 40 chart, as well as charts for Adult Top 40 and Rhythmic Top 40.

Airplay data from all of the top 40 stations that are monitored by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems is factored into the Hot 100, as well as airplay data from R&B and country stations.