Here are the number one songs on the black music charts in America for each year since 1946 (except 1964 where there was a break in the Billboard charts). This is something I have always wanted to do: list all the number one songs for as far back in time as possible and have a way to listen to each one. Thanks to the Wikipedia and YouTube that is now possible without going through old record shops and so on.
I am using “R&B” as the nearest catch-all term. As you will see it is not one particular style of music – below are blues, doo-wop, rock and roll, soul, disco, hip hop and what many would regard as just plain music.
Given how YouTube is, the links will probably start rotting in like six months, so enjoy them now while you still can!
Click on the picture to listen to a song. YouTube will put in ads on some but not all the songs.
1946: Lionel Hampton: “Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop”
1947: Louis Jordan: “Ain’t Nobody But Us Chickens”
1948: Sonny Thompson: “Long Gone”
1949: Paul Williams: “Hucklebuck”
1950: Joe Liggins: “Pink Champagne”
1951: The Dominoes: “Sixty Minute Man”
1952: Lloyd Price: “Lawdy Miss Clawdy”
1953: Ruth Brown: “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean”
1954: Midnighters: “Work With Me Annie”
1955: Johnny Ace: “Pledging My Love”
1956: Bill Doggett: “Honky Tonk”
1957: Elvis Presley: “Jailhouse Rock”
1958: Chuck Willis: “What Am I Living For”
1959: Lloyd Price: “Stagger Lee”
1960: Brook Benton: “Kiddio”
1961: Bobby Lewis: “Tossin’ and Turnin”
1962: King Curtis: “Soul Twist”
1963: Little Johnny Taylor: “Part Time Love”
1964: –
1965: Four Tops: “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)”
1966: Sam & Dave: “Hold On! I’m Comin'”
1967: Aretha Franklin: “Respect”
1968: James Brown: “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud”
1969: Jr Walker and the All Stars: “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)”
1970: Jackson 5: “I’ll Be There”
1971: Jean Knight: “Mr Big Stuff”
1972: Al Green: “Let’s Stay Together”
1973: Marvin Gaye: “Let’s Get It On”
1974: Roberta Flack: “Feel Like Makin’ Love”
1975: Isley Brothers: “Fight the Power, Pt. 1”
1976: Johnnie Taylor: “Disco Lady”
1977: The Floaters: “Float On”
1978: Earth, Wind & Fire: “Serpentine Fire”
1979: Chic: “Good Times”
1980: Jermaine Jackson: “Let’s Get Serious”
1981: Diana Ross & Lionel Richie: “Endless Love”
1982: Stevie Wonder: “That Girl”
1983: Marvin Gaye: “Sexual Healing”
1984: Prince: “When Doves Cry”
1985: Freddie Jackson: “Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)”
1986: Patti Labelle & Michael McDonald: “On My Own”
1987: Luther Vandross: “Stop to Love”
1988: Keith Sweat: “I Want Her”
1989: Karyn White: “Superwoman”
1990: En Vogue: “Hold On”
1991: Rude Boys: “Written All Over Your Face”
1992: Jodeci: “Come and Talk to Me”
1993: Whitney Houston: “I Will Always Love You”
1994: R. Kelly: “Bump n’ Grind”
1995: TLC: “Creep”
1996: Toni Braxton: “You’re Makin’ Me High”
1997: Dru Hill: “In My Bed”
1998: Next: “Too Close”
1999: Maxwell: “Fortunate”
2000: Jagged Edge: “Let’s Get Married”
2001: R. Kelly ft Jay-Z: “Fiesta”
2002: Ashanti: “Foolish”
2003: 50 Cent: “In Da Club”
2004: Alicia Keys: “If I Ain’t Got You”
2005: Mario: “Let Me Love You”
2006: Mary J. Blige: “Be Without You”
2007: Robin Thicke: “Lost Without You”
2008: Alicia Keys: “Like You’ll Never See Me Again”
2009: Jamie Foxx ft. T-Pain: “Blame It”
2010: Alicia Keys: “Un-Thinkable (I’m Ready)”
2011: Miguel: “Sure Thing”
See also:
- Billboard’s list of year-end singles
- 1986 Mixtape – an old cassette tape of mine I found from the summer of 1986. It had the number one R&B song for that year!
Hi Abagond,
You have made me smile.
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Sweet.
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I know a lot of them – unfortunately not the most recent ones (though I may recognise them if I hear them). My kids will be disgusted lol
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Stevie Wonder: That Girl, LOVE THAT SONG! The bass line, the drums just crazy good all around.
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From 1999-2002
Brings back memories….
Abagond you just made me wish i was back in high school
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Very nice. Elvis Presley, Robin Thicke.
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Interesting list w/ a few favorites of mine. I suppose a lot of other songs didn’t quite make it that were considered classics as well.
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I nv really liked R&B. There’s only a few songs/artist I can f*ck with
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Thanks Abagond!
I miss En Vogue.
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@ SW6
They are the number one songs for each year, based on whatever Billboard’s formula is, some combination of air play and record sales, I believe. I got the list from here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Year-End_number-one_singles_and_albums
The number one tends to be the song that was number one for the most weeks but not always. For example, in 1980 Stevie Wonder’s “Master Blaster” was at number one longer than Jermaine Jackson’s “Let’s Get Serious”.
R&B is my name but it is based on Billboard’s most common name for the black music charts. By black music they seem to mean music that does best among blacks: They can, for example, have Elvis or Robin Thicke at the top, but when “too many” white artists were getting to the top of the chart in 1964, they stopped reporting it for about a year. Some believe they adjusted their formula before restarting the chart. That is my understanding.
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My FAVE is #1 from 1978. If you listen and really hone in on that NASTY bassline, you’ll start to FEEL it in your spine. Straight up KUNDALINI. EWF knew exactly what they were doing. Peace & blessings to ALL! *smiling*
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ugh i cant believe people made that dumbass blame it on the alcohol song the no1 song of that year. easily the worst song on that list
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I enjoyed listening to almost all of the songs, thank you.
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Thank you Abagond, for compiling this. I would love to see a complete survey of black music, but this list…I don’t know. What’s Billboard’s criteria for determining #1 for the year?
Only one act from Motown during it’s heyday? That’s interesting. Stevie and Diana didn’t make the list until the 1980s, and the Temptations weren’t on the list at all. In 1964, The Supremes had at least three number one hits: Baby Love, Where Did Our Love Go, and Come See About Me. Also, The Temptations released The Way You Do the Things You Do, and My Girl — both of which went to number 1 — so it’s odd that there are no entries for that year.
Frankly, I’m surprised that Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder didn’t have multiple listings. Really, Stevie should have dominated that list during the 1970s…he and Earth, Wind and Fire.
And almost no funk groups like The Gap Band, Cameo, The Ohio Players, Parliament/Funkadelic…
It’s interesting to see some of the people who made the list (including several one-hit wonders), but mostly the glaring omissions stand out. No Temptations, no Rick James, no Teena Marie, no funk, no Commodores, no Chuck Berry, no Donna Summer, no Gladys Knight and the Pips, no Curtis Mayfield, no Sly and the Family Stone, no Emotions, no Minnie Ripperton…
R. Kelly makes the list twice, but only one mention each for the likes of Prince, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross, EWF, and Aretha Franklin? What? Come on! That doesn’t even seem right.
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[…] blog immensely if you can get past the initial shock. Here’s a small sample to ease you in https://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/top-rb-songs-1946-to-2011/ Rate this:Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this. Leave a Comment by […]
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Best post evar 🙂
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The story goes that Al Green didn’t even want to record “Let’s Stay Together” his producer, whose name escapes me, had to argue with Al Green about it.
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I clicked the thread to see if “I Want You” was on the list. I have several of Marvin’s albums. “I Want You”, took the longest to grow on me. It’s a very smooth sounding album and when I bought it I wanted some vocal and musical roughness but that isn’t anywhere to be found on that album. Anyway, now I love it!
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Good overview. Makes me realize that I stopped listening to r&b around 1993, Not exactly. I stopped listening to the new stuff. The oldies are still great.
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1958: Chuck Willis: “What Am I Loving For”
this should be ‘what am i living for’
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@ nomad
Thanks for the correction!
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rhythm and blues it is an actual genre
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kinda like blues but somewhat hopeful for some immediate thing or semi deferred
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