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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 19 January 2020 at 7:43pm | IP Logged
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PopArchivist wrote:
an instrumental top 10 single hasn't hit the Hot 100 since The Theme From Mission Impossible in 1996.
I was just thinking how there haven't been too many top 40 instrumental hits since "Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire", #15, and "Axel F", #1 - both 1985. Maybe some Miami Vice stuff. What other top 40 instrumental hits were there in between these and 1996's "Theme from Mission Impossible"? Instrumental top 40 hits sure were dwindling, and it's kind of hard to believe there have been 0 in the last 24 years. (I'm excluding songs with some words like "Harlem Shake").
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PopArchivist
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| Posted: 19 January 2020 at 9:15pm | IP Logged
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1) Candy Dulfer and David A. Stewart's Lily Was Here just missed the top 10 in 1991...
2) Kenny G- Songbird hit the top 10 in 1987
Technically “Auld Lang Syne (The Millenium Mix)” by Kenny G was instrumental with clips in it. Kenny G never sang. So I guess like Harlem Shake, you can eliminate it on a technicality. But then you would have to eliminate Tequila from 1958 and many other instrumentals that even mention one word....
Always fun to read:
https://medium.com/cuepoint/what-do-the-harlem-shake-star-wa rs-gary-glitter-hawaii-five-o-and-barry-white-have-in-common -542dc7c0c545
Edited by PopArchivist on 19 January 2020 at 9:29pm
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"I'm a pop archivist, not a chart philosopher, I seek to listen, observe and document the chart position of music."
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aaronk
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| Posted: 20 January 2020 at 1:14am | IP Logged
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In the summer of 1996, my former top 40 station had both
“...Mission:Impossible” and “Children” (Robert Miles) in power rotation.
That’s probably the last time two instrumentals were charting on CHR
simultaneously.
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PopArchivist
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| Posted: 20 January 2020 at 10:41am | IP Logged
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aaronk wrote:
In the summer of 1996, my former top 40 station had both
“...Mission:Impossible” and “Children” (Robert Miles) in power rotation.
That’s probably the last time two instrumentals were charting on CHR
simultaneously. |
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I can't think of one non-vocal instrumental to make the top 40 since both of those songs fell off the charts...
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MMathews
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| Posted: 20 January 2020 at 10:40pm | IP Logged
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This has puzzled me for years. I wondered why the
instrumental has become a lost art - at least as far
as radio and charts are concerned. Have humans just
changed so much that there's no longer any interest in
them? Have artists that play an instrument as lead in
a song just faded away? I don't get it.
Just as I've been baffled lately at the lack of rock
music in the Hot 100 top 20. Once again I ask ... are
humans just "evolving" to the point where auto-tuned
electro-pop and rap are the only kinds of music worth
selling? Perhaps so.
I remain puzzled.
MM
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eric_a
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| Posted: 20 January 2020 at 11:34pm | IP Logged
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PopArchivist wrote:
| I can't think of one non-vocal instrumental to make the top 40 since both of those songs fell off the charts... |
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With the rise of EDM over the past decade, a handful of instrumentals have gotten CHR airplay, at least here in LA, including Avicii's "Le7els" and Martin Garrix's "Animals" (#21 on the Hot 100).
Still, to your point, even the big EDM producers have had better mainstream chart success with vocal hits -- Chainsmokers with Halsey and Coldplay, Zedd with Maren Morris and Alessia Cara, etc.
Edited by eric_a on 20 January 2020 at 11:34pm
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Hykker
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| Posted: 21 January 2020 at 7:24am | IP Logged
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MMathews wrote:
This has puzzled me for years. I
wondered why the
instrumental has become a lost art - at least as far
as radio and charts are concerned. Have humans just
changed so much that there's no longer any interest in
them? Have artists that play an instrument as lead in
a song just faded away? I don't get it.
Just as I've been baffled lately at the lack of rock
music in the Hot 100 top 20. Once again I ask ... are
humans just "evolving" to the point where auto-tuned
electro-pop and rap are the only kinds of music worth
selling? Perhaps so.
I remain puzzled.
MM
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My only theory is times change and tastes change.
Instrumental hits have been few and far between since the
70s. I guess people just prefer songs with lyrics.
As far as the lack of rock in the top 40...well, rock in
general seems to have gone out of style (with the
exception of classic rock). How many cities don't even
have a contemporary rock station, and those that do,
they're rarely big players in the market.
Big change from the 70s or 80s when the local AOR was
often one of the top stations in town.
Dunno if the quality of the music has declined, or if,
again tastes have changed but when was the last time you
heard a 20something guy with a mega-loud stereo system in
their car that was playing rock music?
Rap seems to be the new rock...for sure it's almost
guaranteed to annoy your parents!
Edited by Hykker on 21 January 2020 at 7:27am
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eric_a
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| Posted: 23 January 2020 at 12:19am | IP Logged
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Hykker wrote:
| As far as the lack of rock in the top 40.. |
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My theory is that EDM and rap have crowded out guitar rock in large part because everyday technology has made it so much easier to create professional-sounding recordings with consumer gear. With enough millions of kids experimenting with a Mac at home, instead of starting rock bands, the world gets some compelling electronic music and hip-hop.
Hykker wrote:
| Dunno if the quality of the music has declined, or if, again tastes have changed but when was the last time you heard a 20something guy with a mega-loud stereo system in their car that was playing rock music? |
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That must depend where in the country you're driving! Funny, just this week, the Wall Street Journal wrote a story about Breaking Benjamin, and how active rock radio is under the radar in most of the U.S.
The article quotes BB's manager: "They’re just not a part of the mainstream conversation, so to speak, but they do a tremendous business and have a lot of fans … Those bands have a lot of fans in the sort of tertiary market; the red states, if you will."
"The Chart Topping Band You've Never Heard Of"
Edited by eric_a on 23 January 2020 at 12:20am
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AndrewChouffi
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| Posted: 23 January 2020 at 7:21am | IP Logged
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Hykker wrote:
Dunno if the quality of the music has declined, or if,
again tastes have changed but when was the last time you
heard a 20something guy with a mega-loud stereo system in
their car that was playing rock music?
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That is a very astute observation!
But one thing I HAVE noticed are 20something guys with a mega-loud stereo system in their trucks blasting Eric Church, or Brantley Gilbert, or Jason Aldean, et al.
These (excellent) Country artists have Rockin' bands that oftentimes play on the records and if you analyze it, the actual sound coming from the speakers is rather similar to a 70s 80s 90s Rock sensibility.
The primary difference is Country radio plays it instead of Rock radio.
(The more things change, the more they stay the same.)
Andy
Edited by AndrewChouffi on 23 January 2020 at 7:23am
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Top 40 Music on Compact Disc : Chat Board
Topic: Later Instrumental Hits
