Wednesday, July 1, 2009
King Of Pop: One More Time
At first when the news of Michael Jackson dying broke it didn't really hit me. When was the last time I listened to a Michael Jackson song intentionally? Can't remember. How many songs of his did I have on my iPod? None. But as the barrage of news coverage continued, as I heard song after song on the radio in my car, and re-explored his musical catalog, I remembered how many really amazing singles he released, how excited everyone was when he premiered a new video, and how many chart records he smashed along the way:--> The Jackson 5 were the first act to send its first four entries to the Hot 100's summit, "I Want You Back" "ABC" "The Love You Save" & "I'll Be There"
--> Michael Jackson stands as the male artist with the most No. 1s in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 with 13. Only the Beatles (20) and Mariah Carey (18) have more.
--> "You Are Not Alone" is the first song ever to enter the Hot 100 at No. 1
--> "Thriller" remains the album by a single artist with the most weeks at No. 1 (37, 1983-84) in the 53-year history of the Billboard 200.
--> "Thriller" also became the first album to send seven songs into the Billboard Hot 100's top 10 and is the best selling album of all time (over 100 million copies worldwide, more than twice any other record) as well as winning a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards.
"Bad" was the only album in the Hot 100's history to produce five No. 1
--> Jackson became the only solo artist to post top 10 titles on the Hot 100 in each of the '70s, '80s, '90s and '00s (and that's not including the 17-8 rise of the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" on the last Hot 100 of the '60s, dated Dec. 27, 1969). Aerosmith is the only other act to collect top 10s in each decade since the '70s.
And now, a week after his death, he's done it all over again, one last time:
--> Based on sales numbers from Nielsen SoundScan, the entire top nine positions on Billboard's Top Pop Catalog Albums chart house Jackson-related titles. "Number Ones" will leads the pack at No. 1 with 108,000 (an increase of 2,340%) while "The Essential Michael Jackson" and "Thriller" are in the Nos. 2 and 3 slots with 102,000 and 101,000, respectively. Last week "Number Ones" was the only Jackson title on the chart, at No. 20 with 4,000 copies; both "Essential" and "Thriller" re-enter the tally this week. Jackson himself has a record eight out of the top 10, while a Jackson 5 compilation also finds its way into the upper tier. Previously, the record for the most concurrent top 10 titles by an act was five. Both AC/DC and the Beatles managed that feat.
--> Collectively, Jackson's solo albums sold 422,000 this past week. His titles sold a combined 10,000 in the week that ended June 21.
--> The 422,000 albums sold just last week is nearly 42% more than what Jackson's catalog had sold the the entire year up through June 21 (297,000).
--> With the Black Eyed Peas' "The E.N.D." at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 88,000, this week marks the first time since Nielsen SoundScan began compiling data in 1991 that a catalog album has sold more than the No. 1 current set on the Billboard 200 albums chart. (All three of Jackson's top sellers on the Pop Catalog chart outsell "The E.N.D.")
--> Jackson places a record 25 songs on the 75-position Hot Digital Songs chart (21 solo hits and four with his siblings), smashing the mark of 14 charting titles. At one point over the weekend, Jackson has 51 of the Top 100 titles on the iTunes Top 100 Downloads Chart.
--> With 2.6 million song downloads, Jackson becomes the first act to sell more than 1 million song downloads in a week...an even more remarkable number considering last week's cumulative sum was 48,000.
--> According to Nielsen BDS's tracking of airplay on over 1,600 terrestrial and satellite radio stations, 143 of Jackson's recordings totaled 67,383 plays for the week ending June 28, up 1,735% from last week's sum of 3,671 plays. After having just one song, "Rock With You," post more than 500 plays in the week prior to his death, 22 of Jackson's tracks eclipsed 1,000 plays this past week.
Here is a list of the 10 most played Michael Jackson songs for the week of June 22 to June 28.
Title Hot 100 Peak Year TW Plays LW Plays
1) Billie Jean #1 (7 wks) 1983 4,540 318
2) Thriller #4 1984 3,570 39
3) Rock With You #1 (4 wks) 1980 3,546 520
4) Don't Stop 'Til #1 (1 wk) 1979 3,135 419
5) P.Y.T. #10 1983 2,986 291
6) Beat It #1 (3 wks) 1983 2,852 139
7) Man In Mirror #1 (2 wks) 1988 2,827 27
8) Wanna Be Start #5 1983 2,493 199
9) The Way You #1 (1 wk) 1988 2,387 171
10) Human Nature #7 1983 2,175 124
It's a career retrospective to some degree... a snapshot of his best and most beloved work. And I can say I now have these and many more Michael Jackson songs on my iPod. It's an extraordinary musical career that is certainly overshadowed to some degree by his strange personal life. But it sure seems a week after his death that many people have chosen to remember the man for his music.
