1982: The Last Year Rock Dominated the Pop Charts

UltimateClassicRock ^ | 2/17 | Corey Irwin

[nickcarraway]

Over the past 40 years, rock has gone from the unquestioned king of genres to a footnote in the hierarchy of mainstream music.

In 1982, a rock artist held the No. 1 song in the U.S. for 44 of the year’s 52 weeks. That amounts to just less than 85 percent of the year, a staggering figure that showcases just how embedded rock was in popular culture at the time.

There are plenty of ways to split hairs on this — Daryl Hall and John Oates and Men at Work were pop-leaning artists, while Paul McCartney’s collaboration with Stevie Wonder (“Ebony and Ivory”) was decidedly pop as well — but that doesn’t change the fact that rock artists were the dominant musical force.

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts' “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” spent seven weeks at No. 1 in 1982, as did McCartney’s duet with Wonder. The J. Geils Band (six weeks with “Centerfold”), Survivor (six weeks with “Eye of the Tiger”) and John Mellencamp (four weeks with “Jack & Diane”) also enjoyed extended runs in the top spot.

While no year matched 1982 for rock dominance, the rest of the decade was generally good for the genre. Throughout the ‘80s, on average rock artists spent roughly half the year atop the chart, with the low point being 1989, when only 22 weeks featured a rock artist at No 1.

Those numbers fell off a cliff as the '90s began. With the spandex bubble bursting on hair metal, many former powerhouse acts found it difficult to garner attention for their newest work. Despite the seismic cultural shift provided by grunge, none of the new subgenre’s artists were able to top the Billboard Hot 100. Neither Nirvana nor Pearl Jam — the two biggest and most commercially successful grunge acts — scored a No. 1 song; “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” arguably the era's definitive song, made it to only No. 6.

There were still occasional rock breakthroughs throughout the ‘90s, like Meat Loaf’s “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That),” Bryan Adams’ “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman” and Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” There was also the phenomenon of Elton John’s updated “Candle in the Wind,” which, in the wake of Princess Diana’s death, spent a total of 14 weeks at No. 1. Still, the rock chart-toppers were few and far between. And though the decade ended with Santana’s 1999 hit “Smooth” dominating the airwaves, it became clear the genre had fallen behind rap and pop among mainstream listeners.

While the drop from the ‘80s to ‘90s was significant, rock hits got even sparser after the turn of the millennium. Thirteen of the past 20 years (2001-21) did not feature a rock song that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Even those that did were either extremely pop-leaning (Coldplay, Fun.), huge one-hit wonders (Gotye, Plain White T’s) or bands people want to forget (Crazy Town). If you want to drill down and filter out such alt-pop artists as Billie Eilish, Lorde and those already mentioned, the last traditional rock song to hit No. 1 was Nickelback's 2001 single “How You Remind Me."

Part of the reason can be attributed to the way the chart is assembled. Billboard, which curates the national charts, traditionally used a formula that combined sales numbers and radio airplay. For decades these numbers were skewed, as they generally relied on music retailers to record accurate accounts for the number of units they sold — a process that made human error and fraud commonplace. In 1991, Nielsen SoundScan — a method that tracked purchases via computerized cash registers across the country — was introduced, resulting in a much more accurate sales picture.

Similarly, radio, which for decades relied on participants using handwritten journals to note their listening habits, switched to the Portable People Meter (PPM) around 2007. The small device senses what its user is listening to and automatically records the data, once again increasing accuracy while significantly lowering the likelihood of fraud or error.

These technological advancements, along with the later adoption of streaming numbers into Billboard’s charts equations, undoubtedly affected rock’s footprint. It’s no coincidence that rock No. 1’s fell precipitously after their introductions. Still, the long trend cannot simply be chalked up to new means of recording data.

Rock acts such as Linkin Park, Green Day, Evanescence and Blink-182 all boast albums among the best-selling in the 21st century and had songs peak within the Top 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, yet none was able to reach No. 1. Twenty One Pilots’ 2015 LP, Blurryface, was the best-selling rock release of the '10s, but its highest-charting single, "Stressed Out,” peaked at No. 2.

Charts aren't the be-all, end-all of music. Sales figures, streaming numbers and concert attendance suggest that rock fans are still as passionate as always. And given the cyclical tendencies of pop culture, it seems likely that a rock resurgence could come at any moment. Rock isn’t dead, and it won't ever die. But we probably won’t ever see another year like 1982.

[the OlLine Rebel]

He changed his name more than Kelly Clarkson.

[the OlLine Rebel]

I guess you won’t be joining my ‘70s poll then….

I love it! But then, I’m not very picky. I love just about everything. It’s all good.

[the OlLine Rebel]

I love it.

It’s romantic, and Latin inspired. And yet a waltz.

[gundog]

Johnny Cougar was a stage name. He tells a story of his grandfather never voting after someone at the polls made fun of the name “Mellencamp.” After he made it he changed to John Cougar Mellencamp.

[bigdaddy45]

The 80’s turned into synthesizer drive rock combined with drum machines that was played in a studio as opposed to live. No thanks. Lead Guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, drums. Maybe a keyboard. Played live and loud. THAT is rock and roll, and that sound had its heyday in the 70s and began dying in the 80’s.

[reg45]

Mellencamp was his birth name.

[Captainpaintball]

When demographics change, so does the music. The fall began in 1993. Mariah Carey’s rise/overall career was the canary in the coal mine for me. Dr. Dre/Snoop. their mainstreaming of weed/gangsta rap and the decline in quality of rock bands in general , and of course record execs pushing their agenda all contributed.

[oldvirginian]

John J Mellencamp is his real name. According to his sister the middle initial is something John added at some point. His parents didn’t give him a middle name or initial.

He became Johnny Cougar because studio execs didn’t think John Mellencamp sounded cool enough. He hated it. Especially when he didn’t know about the name until he saw the album cover art.
He kept the Johnny Cougar name for his first two albums. Somewhere on either his third or fourth album he was billed as John Cougar Mellencamp.
At some point he dropped the Cougar name completely finally being billed as John Mellencamp.

[oldvirginian]

“Tom Petty was the last great rocker. That is all I am going to say.”

Hell yeah!

[oldvirginian]

See #28 for the full story.

[Falconspeed]

What is rock music? Real simple. Rock is music that is hated by my father. He hates the Hollies, Bowie and Bon Jovi. He still doesn’t like how rock music is everywhere: grocery stores, Target, etc. He’s a square. Joan Jett is cool. https://youtu.be/IEPJ4iQQiVQ

[Irenic]

Hell yeah.

[31R1O]

Hmmm, no mention of Appetite for Destruction or Metallica’s black album (Master of Puppets is a better album by far!).

[31R1O]

This article misses some big ones.

[No name given]

There are a couple different of decent rock bands I enjoy, like Skillet and Switchfoot.

[logi_cal869]

Wow. Haven’t heard that in a lifetime.

[DoodleBob]

Wow....this thread sounds like this crowd...

As I've ranted previously, I'm not in the business but there IS excellent contemporary, original, fresh awesome music. They key, is to refuse the bait from the entertainment-governmental complex on what's good. Indeed, it's so odd that people who beat up CNN are effectively consuming the CNN-equivalent on music, that there is no good, new rock.

I frequently search Bandcamp.com, an independent music portal where (generally) unsigned bands can post their new, fresh music that isn't what Sony et al want you to hear.

Thus, for those of you who still believe in capitalism, don't like to be told what is good music, and who believe that music isn't a free good and should be purchased to, among other things, prove commerce is greater than communism, this may be a Website for you.

I don't listen to terrestrial radio anymore and one of my favorite XM channels is Underground Garage, which I pick up new band intel.

The music industry has largely eaten itself...music streaming and sales have wrecked the revenue-generating capabilities of anyone not able to get 2.5MM streams. Merch sales and live shows can pay the bills and a curated following can win the day.

That's, in part, why so many businesses are turning to 360 deals since THEY want to get a cut of the door and shirts etc. Those deals are hemlock for the band.

I truly believe we could be on the cusp of a rebirth of rock, lead by bands and musicians that realize that the "counterculture" of yesterday are the suits of today who demand leftist fidelity. 80MM+ Americans don't like Springsteen, Flu Pfizers, Pop crapola, and Big Media...whoever taps into that market with good music that makes you happy and not hate America has a printing press, and they sure as shinola won't get there via Sony.

Support your local music scene and buy unsigned music. Or act like a Dem and expect to be told what's good.

[pepsi_junkie]

His name is John Mellencamp. The his manager and the suits in the record company thought it wasn’t marketable and made him take the stage name of Johnny Cougar and later John Cougar. He hated it. But he had a couple of minor hits under the name so he was sort of stuck. But with hits comes some clout and he wanted to be himself so he took slow steps away from Johnny Cougar, first changing it to John Cougar Mellencamp and then dropping the Cougar altogether.

[pepsi_junkie]

Slightly off topic: I recently had to get hearing aids. They automatically select programs that adjust the settings to the sounds around them. There are programs for High Noise, Music, In Car, stuff like that.

When I listen to music if it's schlocky pop of the 50s to today the hearing aids switch to the Music setting. If I listen to what I really like, which is rock, they switch to Noise setting.

I think they're haunted by the ghost of my dad.

[perfect_rovian_storm]

Agreed...nothing close to rock in there at all.