Country on the Hot 100 (1998 and Prior)

For this question, I like to consult the Radio & Records
Top Pop Hits book.

During the 1970s, crossover was fairly common. Artists
like Glen Campbell, John Denver, Kenny Rogers and Ronnie
Milsap did it a lot. But a lot of their music could also
be considered AC. The more "traditional" acts like Merle
Haggard and Loretta Lynn never really did it.

After the Urban Cowboy craze in the early 1980s, true
Country crossovers were very few and far between.
There's only a few that I can think of post 1984.

"I'll Still Be Loving You" by Restless Heart managed to
get to #34 on R&R in 1987.

"Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus got to #27 in
1992.

Shania Twain had a few crossover hits in 1998-99.

"I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack got to #24 in 2001.

"You'll Think Of Me" by Keith Urban got to #32 in 2005.

It's ironic that you replied, Paul - it's one of the
Hot 100 books that inspired my question! The songs
you cited were obvious crossovers that charted AC and,
since the 90's, at Pop/Top 40 radio as well. What
about country songs that made or bubbled under the Hot
100 without any clear crossover activity? For example,
Ronnie Milsap had several crossover hits, but also
charted with songs like "Please Don't Tell Me How The
Story Ends" and "Cowboys And Clowns" on the Hot 100 or
Bubbling Under, but nowhere else other than country.
Same with Dolly Parton whose "Light Of A Clear Blue
Morning" hit the Hot 100, but no other chart except
Country. Were songs like these crossing over or just
selling well enough to register on the Hot
100/Bubbling Under charts?

Back in the early 80's, I was quite young but do
remember WALL, our local Top 40/AC leaning station
played tons of country crossover like Kenny Rogers. When
they recently revived the station, they left that
chapter out along with some big hits that should be left
behind by artists like Rick Dees, Debbie Boone, and
Shaun Cassidy. This market is about 70 miles west of New
York City.

Edited by AutumnAarilyn

Another factor to keep in mind is that during the time that the Hot 100
was based on airplay and sales data supplied to Billboard by radio
stations and retailers (that is, prior to late 1991, when Billboard started
to use BDS and Soundscan data), for a record to appear on the Hot
100, at least ten stations on the Hot 100 ‘reporting panel’, all of whom
at the time were ‘Top 40/CHR’ stations, had to report that they were
playing the record. That is why a country or R&B record could sell
hundreds of thousands of copies and not chart on the Hot 100.

For the retail component of the data used to tabulate the Hot 100, sales
data from retailers that specialized in country, R&B, or any other genre
was not used. Prior to late 1991, country songs that appeared on the
Hot 100 were legitimate crossover hits.

All that changed in late 1991, when the minimum ‘pop’ airplay
requirement was dropped and country records started to appear on the
Hot 100 solely from sales. Airplay data from country stations was not
incorporated into the Hot 100 until late 1998, when even more country
songs started appearing on the Hot 100.

To Paul C:

Very interesting paragraph here:

"Another factor to keep in mind is that during the time that the Hot 100
was based on airplay and sales data supplied to Billboard by radio
stations and retailers (that is, prior to late 1991, when Billboard started
to use BDS and Soundscan data), for a record to appear on the Hot
100, at least ten stations on the Hot 100 ‘reporting panel’, all of whom
at the time were ‘Top 40/CHR’ stations, had to report that they were
playing the record. That is why a country or R&B record could sell
hundreds of thousands of copies and not chart on the Hot 100."

I never knew that!!

I've been a subscriber to Billboard since about 1976 and I never recall reading that - But looking back it seems like it could have very well been true!

Do you, or anyone else out there for that matter have any
"documentation" of that minimum ten stations to hit the Hot 100, or was it kept underground?

That really explains why some big sellers never charted on the Hot 100 at all - which I never could figure out as I was growing up.

Comments are welcome from everybody...

Thanks!

Andy