US

The Best of the Bottom of Billboard’s ’80s Chart Hits

“It would never have occurred to me to do such a deep dive on the bottom 100.” That was author Bill Carroll’s response when I dug into his Ranking the ’70s, Version 2.0 to find a few the gems at “The Very Bottom of the Billboard Charts.” Out of the hundred lowest-ranking songs of the decade, according to Billboard’s Hot 100, I felt about half would make a pretty good playlist. […]

US

The End of the Turntable Hit?

The good news in late June was what veteran morning man (and music director) Gene Baxter dubbed “The Best Billboard Top 10 in Ages.” The good news that week was that the top of the chart was dominated by legitimate radio hits and not by superstar album cuts or left-field streaming oddities (although a few of them briefly started out that way). […]