The Biggest Year for R&B on the Pop Charts?

A reader of the magazine in New York City, had an interesting question. Roslyn McIntyre of New York City asked, “Please settle a bet. Can you tell me what was the biggest year for R&B music on the pop charts? My friend said 1983 with Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and I said 1976, with the songs of Diana Ross, and the Sylvers”

Roslyn, you and your friend both had great guesses. The year of 1976 was big for R&B on the pop charts. Songs like “Love Hangover” and “Do You know Where You’re Going To” (The Theme From Mahogany) by Diana Ross, “Love Rollercoaster” by the Ohio Players, and let’s not forget the first two platinum singles in RIAA history, “Disco Lady” by Johnny Taylor, followed by “Kiss And Say Goodbye” by the Manhattan’s, and a couple of others. The year of 1983 wasn’t a bad guess either, as “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” by Michael Jackson, “All Night Long” by Lionel Richie, and “Baby Come To Me” by Patti Austin and James Ingram were major players at the top of the charts. In fact, The Police song “Every Breath You Take” beat out Billie Jean by one week, becoming song of the year. But, both of you owe each other at dinner.

By far, the biggest year of R&B in the history of the Pop Charts was the year of 1993. And I mean, it was gigantic. In fact, every number one song on the pop charts was an R&B single, with the exception of MeatLoaf’s single, “I Would Do Anything For Love, But I Won’t Do That”. Other number one singles include Mariah Carey’s “Dreamlover” (8 weeks), and Janet Jackson’s “That’s The Way Love Goes”, songs at number one for seven weeks include “Informer” by Snow and UB40 with “Can’t Help Falling In Love”. Carey and Jackson had one thing in common, they reached number one twice. Carey with “Hero”, and Janet Jackson with “Again”. Every song that reached number one in 1993 was a platinum single, with the exception of “A Whole New World” by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle, which reached gold status.

In fact, the biggest platinum single to never reach number one? It was none other than “Tag Team with the song “Whoomp, There It Is, that went a staggering 4 times platinum. Other major number two songs included Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg with “Nothin But A G Thang”, Boyz II Men, Whitney Houston, Jodeci, Snap, H Town, and Xscape, among others. The success of R&B in 1993 was for good reason. It was because whites bought R&B music just as much as African-Americans did. In fact, I would venture to say that most of the iconic songs in R&B history from 1993 came from the fact that crossing over to the pop charts made it impossible to ignore the success of R&B music during that time. I’m not sure if we will ever repeat something of that nature again, but it’s a large part of the change in music. But amazingly, that music defines a lot of who we are today. So Roslyn, although you both lost the bet, I give you a slight edge, only because the year of 1976 meant a lot more to me. I bought my first car, for a whopping $150. It wasn’t so bad.

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