WE LOVE THE '80s: "What's going on family? Can you believe we are sitting on the top of the charts together again?," Lionel Richie Tweeted to Madonna Wednesday (April 4). Madonna's "MDNA" and Richie's "Tuskegee" bow at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on the Billboard 200 this week.
"There is no one I would rather be on top with," Richie added, to which Madonna wryly replied, "OK, but as long as I'm on top."
Despite boasting a combined five No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 in the '80s, the pair had never ranked in the survey's top two concurrently until this week. The superstar veterans had last charted in the top five together the week of Oct. 4, 1986, when the top of the tally looked like this:
No. 1, "Dancing on the Ceiling," Lionel Richie
No. 2, "Top Gun," soundtrack
No. 3, "Raising Hell," Run-D.M.C.
No. 4, "Fore!," Huey Lewis & the News
No. 5, "True Blue," Madonna
(The artist directly below Madonna and Richie on this week's chart - Adele - was not even born as of that chart date. She turns 24 on May 5.)
GLORY DAYS: Madonna and Richie aren't the only legends with a history of '80s success in this week's Billboard 200 top 10. Bruce Springsteen dips 6-9 with his former No. 1 "Wrecking Ball."
The Queen of Pop and the Boss hadn't shared space in the chart's top region since the week of February 7, 1987, when "Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band 1975-1985" placed at No. 8 and "True Blue" held at No. 10.
The last time that Springsteen and Richie appeared in the top 10 in the same week? Jan. 24, 1987, also the last week that all three acts had charted together in the top bracket until this week. That frame, Springsteen's "Live" remained at No. 2, "True Blue" descended 6-7 and Richie's "Dancing on the Ceiling" stayed at No. 9.
'BOYFRIEND' IS BACK: Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" storms in as the Billboard Hot 100's second-most-popular song. It's also the second-highest-peaking track featuring the word "boyfriend."
As Chart Beat temporarily borrows from Teen Beat, only two songs with the word "boyfriend" in their titles have hit the Hot 100's top 10:
No. 1 (three weeks), "My Boyfriend's Back," the Angels, 1963
No. 2 (as of this week), "Boyfriend," Justin Bieber, 2012
In a chart battle of the sexes, one "girlfriend" song has also reigned, although one more such hit has reached the top 10:
No. 1 (one week), "Girlfriend," Avril Lavigne, 2007
No. 5, "Girlfriend," 'N Sync featuring Nelly, 2002
No. 5, "Girlfriend," Pebbles, 1988
Honorary mention among Hot 100 tributes to going steady: at the height of Beatlemania, teen singer Donna Lynn charted for four weeks with the spoofy "My Boyfriend Got a Beatle Haircut."
Despite piggybacking onto the Beatles' early adoration, Lynn and her song stopped at No. 83 on the March 21, 1964, Hot 100. The same week, the Fab Four (mop-)topped the chart with "She Loves You," which dethroned their first No. 1, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," after seven weeks at the summit.
65(-WEEK) LOVE AFFAIR: Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" ties for the third-longest stay in the Hot 100's 53-year history. At 65 weeks (falling 43-49), the song now trails only Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" (the record-holder with 76 weeks) and LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live" (69). Jewel's double-sided "You Were Meant for Me"/" Foolish Games" also logged 65 chart weeks.
("Deep" will need to remain above No. 50 on next week's Hot 100 to tally a 66th frame, as descending songs below the chart's top half are removed after 20 weeks.)
'ENDINGS' BEGINS: Silversun Pickups arrive on Alternative Songs at No. 22 and Rock Songs at No. 39 with "Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)." The track previews the group's third album, "Neck of the Woods," due May 8.
The Los Angeles-based band has scored four Alternative Songs top 10s, including the 2009 No. 1 "Panic Switch."
"There was a playfulness and an experimentation that we lost a little bit of along the way," says Silversun Pickups frontman Brian Aubert. "(The new album was) kind of like, 'let's get back to playing with different drum tones and playing with these pads.' It sounds like a cool, digital drum thing.
"And then it was, 'how do we find the humanity in all that?'
"And then, we played some basketball."
