Friday 27 January 2006

Togetherness

Dear Fred. I've been reading your column for several years now, but I've only written in once before. However, the No. 38 debut of Gavin DeGraw's "We Belong Together" got me thinking. What is the shortest amount of time between two songs with the same title (not cover versions, but different songs, like Mariah Carey's and Gavin DeGraw's songs) hitting No. 1 on the Hot 100?

Or, if this has never happened, what is the shortest amount of time between two such songs hitting the top 10? I'm sure this is probably one of the shortest periods, if not THE shortest period, between two such songs hitting the top 40 - and Mariah's song is still in the top 40 as I write this. Thomas John, Bangalore, India

Dear Thomas. It's way too early to know if Gavin DeGraw's "We Belong Together" will reach No. 1, but there have been a handful of titles that have been shared by one than one chart-topper, like "The Power of Love", "My Love", "Jump", and "I'm Sorry", to name just four.

The shortest time between two No. 1 songs that share the same title but are different songs is the two years between "All 4 Love" by Color Me Badd in January 1992 and "All for Love" by Bryan Adams/Rod Stewart/Sting in January 1994. If the number "4" standing in for the word "for" bothers you, then I would offer the two years and 10 months between "One More Try" by George Michael in May 1988 and "One More Try" by Timmy T in March 1991.

The longest gap between different No. 1 songs that share the same title is the 29 years and five months between Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey" in April 1968 and Mariah Carey's "Honey" in September 1997.

You asked about songs sharing the same title in the top 10. There was no time elapsed at all between Wilson Phillips' "Hold On" and En Vogue's "Hold On". Both were in the top 10 at the same time in June-July 1990. The week of June 30, they even occupied adjacent positions when Wilson Phillips fell 4-5 and En Vogue moved up 8-6.

(Billboard's Chart Beat Chat)



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