Insights from the top 1,000

‘Wonderful’ decade? Some would argue that the “aughts” were anything but wonderful. But in terms of the charts, the most popular title for hits was indeed “Wonderful,” with four different songs sharing that title: Everclear at No. 226, Gary Go at No. 649, India.Arie at No. 732 and Annie Lennox at No. 934. (Other shared titles in the countdown: “Bad Day,” “Better Days,” “Broken,” “Change,” “Crazy,” “Drive,” “Everyday,” “Feel,” “Here With Me,” “I Believe in Love,” “I’ve Got You,” “Love Song,” “Shine,” “Smile,” “Sober,” “Sunrise,” “The Real Thing,” “Unbreakable,” “What If?” and “With You.”)


There’s something about Mary: The act with the most songs in the top 1,000 (solo or collaborations) is R&B singer Mary J. Blige, with 16; rock legend Bruce Springsteen is second with 15, and R&B singer-songwriter Alicia Keys is third with 14. Among women, the top five are Blige, Keys, Kelly Clarkson (12), a tie between Pink, India.Arie and Macy Gray (11) and Angie Stone (10). Among men, the top five are Springsteen, Tim McGraw (13), Elton John (12), David Gray (10) and a four-way tie between Keith Urban, John Mayer, Luther Vandross and Alan Jackson (8). Train is the decade’s top group or duo with 10 hits in the top 1,000, followed closely by Coldplay (9), a tie between U2 and Maroon 5 (8), Lonestar (7) and a tie between Nickelback, Daughtry, and Brooks and Dunn (6).

Other configurations: Among siblings, the Jacksons (Janet, Michael and Jermaine) beat the Bedingfields (Daniel and Natasha) and the Simpsons (Jessica and Ashlee), with 12 hits – eight from Janet, three from Michael and one from Jermaine – to the Bedingfields’ 8 and the Simpsons’ 4. Lisa-Marie Presley edged out father Elvis, 3-2, while Springsteen handily outranked his wife (and E Street bandmate) Patti Scialfa, 15-1.

Title trivia: The decade’s top musical question was “Why Don’t You and I?” (Santana and Chad Kroeger at No. 10) followed by “Who Knew?” “Do You Like the Way?” “Are You Ready for Love?” and “Did You See Me Coming?” Among days of the week, only Sunday made an appearance, in Amanda Marshall’s “Sunday Morning After” (No. 420). Twice as many “summer” songs as “winter” songs made the decade-end chart, but “Seasons of Love” at No. 74 from the movie version of “Rent” beat them all. Four hits referred to an angel and four hits referenced God, while only one did the opposite – Madonna’s “Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You” (No. 644). Twice as many songs about days as nights (12 to 6), but tonight trumped today 5-1. Of the 71 songs about love, David Gray’s “The One I Love” scored the highest at No. 5 for the decade.


‘Idol’ influence: I still have yet to see a regular episode of Fox’s “American Idol” (though the addition of Ellen DeGeneres might sway me to check out an episode), but the charts still reflect the power of the series on the pop charts. The top artists who made their debut on the series and their number of hits in the decade-end survey are Kelly Clarkson (12), (Chris) Daughtry (6), Jennifer Hudson (4) and a three-way tie between Fantasia, Kimberley Locke and Jordin Sparks with 3 each. Interestingly, only Clarkson, Fantasia and Sparks won their respective seasons.