Music Charts Archive

Weekly national charts, as the trade papers printed them

Alien

38 chart weeks across 4 charts, peaking at No. 18
Chart Peak Weeks Bulleted Run
Billboard Hot 100 29 15 8 8/29/81 – 12/5/81
Billboard Mainstream Rock 18 13 0 9/5/81 – 11/28/81
R&R Adult Contemporary 18 6 4 10/2/81 – 11/6/81
R&R CHR / Top 40 24 4 3 10/9/81 – 10/30/81

Billboard Hot 100

15 weeks, 8/29/81 to 12/5/81. Each column is a published week — click one for that chart.

Billboard Mainstream Rock

13 weeks, 9/5/81 to 11/28/81. Each column is a published week — click one for that chart.

R&R Adult Contemporary

6 weeks, 10/2/81 to 11/6/81. Each column is a published week — click one for that chart.

R&R CHR / Top 40

4 weeks, 10/9/81 to 10/30/81. Each column is a published week — click one for that chart.

Tallest is No. 1, and the height is scaled by how many places the chart ran to that week, so No. 30 on a top-30 is the floor and No. 30 on a top-50 is the middle. A green column is a bulleted week — on the airplay charts, airplay gained; on the Hot 100, among the week’s greatest airplay and sales gains — which is not the same as a rise, so a green column can sit lower than the one before it. Weeks at the peak carry their position in red. A run longer than the page scrolls sideways; no week is left out of the drawing.