Here are the top songs on the R&B charts now, 10 years ago today , 20 years ago, etc. Through the wonder that still is YouTube, you can hear them all (Can you believe it has already been ten years since “No Scrubs”?):
2009: Jamie Foxx and T-Pain: Blame It
1999: TLC: No Scrubs
1989: Jody Watley: Real Love
1979: Peaches & Herb: Reunited
1969: The Isley Brothers: It’s Your Thing
1959: Brook Benton: It’s Just a Matter of Time
1949: Big Jay McNeeley’s Blue Jays: The Deacon’s Hop
Curiously, the hardest year was not 1949 but 1989! The top song on May 3rd 1989 was Karyn White’s “Love Saw It”. I could not even find a bad audio of a live performance for that one, so I went for Jody Watley’s “Real Love” which did not become number one till May 6th. But even with that one there was no embeddable music video for the radio version of the song.
Update: 2019: Lil Nas X: Old Town Road
2029:
2039:
2049:
2059:
2069:
2079:
2089:
2099:
Abagond 