It used to be the norm for songs to take two or three months from the time they debuted to reach the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, but in the 2020s that has been the exception. Still, if a song manages to hang around on the chart for 20 weeks or more, that usually means it has become a fairly big hit.
Each of the three songs included here were sufficiently popular to remain on the Hot 100 for at least 20 weeks, yet none even managed to crack the Top 40. Even more incredibly, one of these singles was nowhere even close to becoming a Top-40 hit. These unicorn singles still have a following decades after their releases, even though none of them was a big pop hit in its day. It probably didn’t hurt their current popularity that they hung around on the charts far longer than many songs that have actually made the Top 40.
“One Too Many” by Keith Urban with Pink from The Speed of Now, Part 1 (34 weeks on the Hot 100)
Even though this 2002 duet logged nearly eight months on the Hot 100, it only reached as high as No. 52. Incredibly, “One Too Many” came close to its peak position when it debuted in early October 2020, entering at No. 62. The song likely got a boost from Keith Urban and Pink performing it at the Academy of Country Music Awards ceremony two weeks prior to its chart debut. However, it dropped to No. 99 the following week, and it fell from the Hot 100 entirely the week after that.
“One Too Many” didn’t start climbing the Hot 100 in earnest until it reentered at No. 98 in late January 2021, though its ascent was slow. The song performed much better on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, peaking at No. 10 during a 47-week stay. “One Too Many” is Urban’s longest-charting song on Billboard’s main pop and country charts. While he has placed 41 songs on the country Top 40, “One Too Many” is one of seven songs by Urban that have spent at least 20 weeks on the Hot 100 without peaking in the Top 40. It’s a strange pattern, but one that has been shared by other country artists, such as Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, and Blake Shelton.
“This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ to Glide” by The Kings from The Kings Are Here (23 weeks)
The Canadian band The Kings had the good fortune of having esteemed producer Bob Ezrin champion their early studio work, and he produced their 1980 debut album The Kings Are Here. “Switchin’ to Glide” was released as the first single, but when Elektra Records issued “This Beat Goes On” and “Switchin’ to Glide” as a combined A-side totalling nearly six minutes, it made a little noise on the Hot 100. Debuting at No. 90 in August 1980, it stalled at No. 56 in its eighth week, then tumbled to No. 84 and fell to No. 98 the following week.
But then “This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ to Glide” made a U-turn, and by December, it was knocking on the door of the Top 40. It’s not clear what led to the song’s resurgence, but it wasn’t The Kings’ appearance on American Bandstand, which did not air until January 1981. Rockpile performed on the episode as well, reminding us that new wave was in peak form at that time.
“Don’t Call Me Baby” by Madison Avenue from The Polyester Embassy (20 weeks)
There are plenty of examples of songs that spend 20 weeks on the Hot 100 but miss the Top 40, but they don’t usually miss by this much. Madison Avenue’s sole Hot 100 hit only got as high as No. 88. “Don’t Call Me Baby” was the first single ever released by the Australian electronic music duo, and it was initially released only in the UK, continental Europe, and their home country in October 1999. Outside of Australia, where it reached No. 2, the song had only modest success initially. However, “Don’t Call Me Baby” was rereleased in May 2000, and it debuted at No. 1 on the UK Official Singles Chart. Three weeks later, it would enter Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart, and it would spend a week at No. 1 in July.
It would not be until July that “Don’t Call Me Baby” would finally make it onto the Hot 100, but then it wouldn’t leave that chart until November, trawling around its lowest rungs the entire time. While it might seem like “Don’t Call Me Baby” underperformed on the Hot 100, we should bear in mind that many of the songs that topped the Dance Club Songs chart in 2000 missed the Hot 100 altogether. With established artists like Eurythmics (“17 Again”) and Taylor Dayne (“Planet Love”) failing to cross over with No. 1 dance hits around the same time, Madison Avenue’s 20 weeks on the Hot 100 with “Don’t Call Me Baby” looks impressive by comparison.
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Photo by Kevin Mazur/ACMA2020/Getty Images for ACM
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