Hold Me Pop Charts

[WalkAThinLine.]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

There is an honest debate even with Foreigner fans. Waiting For A Girl Like you was at #2 for 9 weeks. Its one of the biggest hits of the entire 1980s's decade but it never reached #1. I want to know what love is reached #1 for a couple weeks. Which is the bigger hit? The record holder at #2 or the #1 song?

I have a book by Fred Bronson titled [Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits][/I] that attempts to quantify the biggest hits of the rock era by assigning a song points based on their chart run. A song earned 500 points for every week they were at the number 1 position, 400 points for every week at the number 2 position, 300 points for the number 3 position, 200 points for the number 4 position, 100 points for the number 5 position, 95 points for the number 6 position, 94 points for the number 7 position, and so on. This methodology rewards songs for both their chart peak and duration on the chart (ex. a song that peaks at #14 but stays on the Hot 100 for 15 weeks could still do better than a song that peaks at #8 but only stays in the Hot 100 for 7 weeks.

According to the book, "Waiting for a Girl Like You" is the 135th most successful song from the years 1955-2007. Meanwhile, "I Want to Know What Loves Is" ranks at #641.

If you're curious, I could also provide you with the top 30 most successful Fleetwood Mac songs on the Billboard Hot 100. The list includes Fleetwood Mac songs in addition to solo material from Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks, but not Bob Welch and Dave Mason, who would have otherwise had songs on the list had they been included.