Nov 22, 2015 5 min read

Earlier this month, Billboard Magazine published its “100 Biggest Hits of the Hot 100 era,” a list based on the durability of singles released between Aug. 4, 1958, through Oct. 10 of this year. You would think that guessing those tunes would be easy, especially if you’re of a certain age, because it’s simply a tally of songs that made the biggest splash when they were released and then remained popular for so long that you eventually groaned every time it came on the radio. (Based on those parameters, I immediately nominated “Smoke on the Water,” but I was wrong.)

Nonetheless, naming those songs would make a terrific party game on Thanksgiving, because I suspect everyone will look like a turkey by game’s end. It’s doubtful anyone will predict any of the top 10, top five or even just the No. 1 song. Here’s why:

• Relying on a song’s continued popularity over the decades is off the table, as the list is based only on weeks it appeared on Billboard’s chart. (Wedding standards “Shout,” “Twist and Shout” and “Old Time Rock and Roll” didn’t make the cut).

• Picking iconic 1950s and 1960s songs is a mistake as tunes in those days were extremely disposable – a three-month radio run was considered exceptional. (Sorry, “It’s My Party”)

• Blockbuster hits before 1958 (“Rock Around the Clock,” “Hound Dog”) or radio standards that never were released as singles (“Stairway to Heaven”) don’t meet the chart’s criteria.

• Trying to cheat by glancing at the songs that fell off the chart since it was last published won’t provide much insight. For the record, those songs are “We Are Young” by fun, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” by B.J. Thomas, “Best Of My Love” by the Emotions, “One More Night” by Maroon Five and “Another Day in Paradise.” With the possible exception of “Raindrops,” you’d be fair to ask what those songs were doing on the list, anyway.

• Most importantly, don’t count on any “greatest hits station” for any clues. Despite the enormous popularity of these songs, no radio station today would ever consider playing them all.

I expected this vaunted list to be dominated by music icons of the past 55 years – Elvis, the Beatles, Mariah Carey and Elton John. I was wrong. The heavy hitters, with three songs apiece, were instead the Bee Gees (“How Deep is Your Love,” “Night Fever,” “Stayin’ Alive” ) and Lionel Richie with “Endless Love,” All Night Long” and “Say You Say Me.” Paul McCartney was by far the top artist, though, if you include his collaborations on “Hey Jude,” “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “Ebony and Ivory,” “Say Say Say” and “Silly Love Songs.”

Even if your particular music tastes do not include those artists, you’ve no doubt heard their songs – they were inescapable when released. And that, of course, is the bottom line. Every song in “The 100” was evidently huge. What intrigued me the most, I suppose, were the six additions to the list – only one of which I thought measured up in popularity to tunes such as “Sugar Sugar” (No. 78), “Theme from a Summer Place” (No. 21) and “Rolling in the Deep” (No. 32) – songs so popular they went straight from the radio to a nearby elevator.

As if to underscore my fading memory of a song’s popularity, here are a few more oddities:

• The only songs from the 1950s that made the cut are “Mack the Knife” By Bobby Darin (No. 3), “The Battle of New Orleans” by Johnny Horton (No. 34) and “It’s All in the Game” by Tommy Edwards (No. 44).

• For a decade generally regarded as the best for music diversity, the ultimate overachievers are a strange lot. You expect “Hey Jude,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Sugar Sugar,” but “Aquarius” not so much.

• While admittedly not an avid fan of some newer music, I keep up enough that I expected “Rolling in the Deep” to be in there somewhere. I did not, however, ever guess that Rihanna’s “We Found Love” or Nickleback’s “How You Remind Me” would measure up to “Eye of the Tiger” or “I Will Always Love You” in terms of popularity.

Keep in mind that this isn’t a subjective list. And because it’s just the facts, the list has a tendency to reduce my recollection of certain songs to rubbish. For instance, I’m equally disturbed that “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” was a bigger hit in America than “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and yet not as big a hit as “Too Close” by Next. That’s not at all how I remember them.

But then, that’s exactly why no one radio station would ever play all of “The 100.” No one – no matter the age – would buy into the list as a whole.

While I think most people would believe that Bruno Mars’ 2015 monster hit, “Uptown Funk” would quality for the list (No. 12), an equal number of people will probably shake their hand at the not-so-fab five newbies that joined it: “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke, “Royals” by Lorde, “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor, “Happy” by Pharrell Williams and “Dark Horse” by Katy Perry.

Good songs all. But, speaking subjectively, hardly in the same class as “Yesterday,” “Satisfaction,” “Wichita Lineman,” “Walking in Memphis,” “Imagine” or “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

The list goes on. Just not on this particular one.

Top 10 Songs

1958 -2015

1. “The Twist,” Chubby Checker (1960 & 1962)

2. “Smooth,” Santana (1999)

3. “Mack the Knife,” Bobby Darin (1959)

4. “How Do I Live,” LeAnn Rimes (1997)

5. “Party Rock Anthem,” LMFAO (2011)

6. “I Gotta Feeling,” Black Eyed Peas (2009)

7. “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” Los Del Rio (1996)

8. “Physical,” Olivia Newton-John (1981)

9. “You Light Up My Life,” Debby Boone (1977)

10. “Hey Jude,” Beatles (1968)