SUPREME ACHIEVEMENT: Only three girl groups in the history of The Billboard Hot 100 have been No. 1 for more than five cumulative weeks. The leader of the pack is the Supremes, with a total of 22 weeks. Close behind is TLC, with 18 weeks. This issue, Destiny’s Child is within striking distance of TLC, as “Bootylicious” (Columbia) remains at No. 1 for a second week, giving the act an aggregate total of 17 weeks at the summit. The Supremes’ total comes from 12 different chart champs, spread over five years, four months, and two weeks. TLC reached its total with only four singles and in a slightly faster time frame: four years, eight months, and one week.
Destiny’s Child also needed four No. 1 singles to achieve its total: “Bills, Bills, Bills” (one week), “Say My Name” (three), “Independent Women Part I” (11), and “Bootylicious” (two to date). But the act pulled this off in record time–a mere two years and three weeks.
THE WRITE STUFF: Chart Beat reader David Brunot of Guys Mills, Pa., wrote to ask where Stevie Nicks ranks among songwriters with the longest span of No. 1 songs, given that Destiny’s Child’s “Bootylicious” samples her “Edge of Seventeen.” A few months ago, Nicks would have been in eighth place. But the rankings have since changed dramatically: This year, four contenders entered the top 10 for the first time. That means Nicks, with 24 years, one month, and three weeks between Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” and “Bootylicious,” is in 12th place. The record was set a few weeks ago by Bob Crewe, with 38 years, six months, and two weeks between the 4 Seasons’ “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, Mya & Pink’s “Lady Marmalade.” Crewe sent previous record-holder Chip Taylor into second place, with 34 years and eight months between the Troggs’ “Wild Thing” and Shaggy Featuring Rayvon’s “Angel.”
In third place are Luigi Creatore, Hugo Peretti, and George David Weiss, with 31 years, eight months, and three weeks between the Tokens’ “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and UB40’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Newly positioned in fourth place are Ahmet Ertegun and Eddie Curtis, with 27 years, two months, and two weeks between Steve Miller Band’s “The Joker” and Shaggy’s “Angel.”
Also ahead of Nicks are Kenny Nolan (26 years, three months, one week), Cameron Lewis and Arthur Wright (25 years, six months), Brian Holland (25 years, five months, three weeks), Elton John and Bernie Taupin (24 years, 11 months, one week), Gerry Goffin (24 years, nine months), Lamont Dozier (24 years, five months, two weeks), and Bill Withers (24 years, five months).
DIAMOND LIFE: Neil Diamond’s first chart album of the new millennium is his highest-debuting of all time. Three Chord Opera (Columbia) enters The Billboard 200 at No. 15, topping the 1993 No. 28 debut of Up on the Roof-Songs From the Brill Building.
Fred Bronson / Billboard / August 11, 2001
