Music Charts Archive

Weekly national charts, as the trade papers printed them

The Best Of Times

49 chart weeks across 4 charts, peaking at No. 1
Chart Peak Weeks Bulleted Run
R&R CHR / Top 40 1 14 9 1/16/81 – 4/17/81
Billboard Hot 100 3 19 9 1/24/81 – 5/30/81
R&R Adult Contemporary 14 7 4 2/20/81 – 4/3/81
Billboard Mainstream Rock 16 9 0 3/21/81 – 5/23/81

R&R CHR / Top 40

14 weeks, 1/16/81 to 4/17/81. Each column is a published week — click one for that chart.

Billboard Hot 100

19 weeks, 1/24/81 to 5/30/81. Each column is a published week — click one for that chart.

R&R Adult Contemporary

7 weeks, 2/20/81 to 4/3/81. Each column is a published week — click one for that chart.

Billboard Mainstream Rock

9 weeks, 3/21/81 to 5/23/81. 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.