Country Charts on the 'Net
The Dixie Chicks hit the big time!Skip the story and go straight to the charts
When I Can Love You Better was released to radio on October 27 1997 (in advance of the Wide Open Spaces album release), the first thing I did was program three buttons on my car radio to the three Dallas/Fort Worth country radio stations: KPLX 99.5 (now dead and reborn as 99.5 The Wolf), 96.3 KSCS, and 105.3 Young Country (KYNG).
I was not disappointed -- all three started playing it that Tuesday, and pretty soon, I could hear the song even without changing radio stations every minute! It was really a thrill to walk into a Subway sandwich shop and hear the Dixie Chicks on the radio -- knowing that everyone else in the room was listening to the group that we'd been telling everyone about for so long!
Soon, I discovered that other stations around the country had picked up the song. I was even able to hear it requested on KVOO Tulsa via RealAudio! And it wasn't long before I discovered that several national organizations and local radio stations provided their top 10/20/40 lists online. I followed the Dixie Chicks up the chart as I Can Love You Better climbed up to its peak -- #6 on the Billboard Country Singles chart.
And each week, I sent the latest stats to the Chicks' email address. Before the single really hit big, I used to get quite a bit of mail from Country's sweetest ladies... here's a note I got when I asked whether they'd rather I not keep sending the stats:
As exciting as it was to keep up with the charts, I was forced to stop compiling updates due to work constraints... more accurately, by my desire to keep my job! As you'll see from the following lists, there are a lot of charts to keep up with. But I did hang in long enough to see There's Your Trouble enter one of the radio station charts on its way to #1... and we drove up to Oklahoma City to see the Chicks in concert and get their signatures on a printout of the Billboard chart showing I Can Love You Better at its peak of #6.From: Dixiechks @ aol . com Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 23:48:28 -0500 (EST) To: robertb @ dixie - chicks . com Subject: Re: Added to another playlist! Robert, No, you would not be bugging us to keep sending information on playlists. We dig that stuff. Keep us as up to date as you can...it's hard to get a grasp of what's going on when your in the middle of it all. Yeh, send us your review as well, we'd love to know what you thought. -Emily Chick
This site recently added a feature on the Chicks in their New
Faces section. As usual, though, they make no mention of Robin or Laura...
Nationals, Publications, and notable Online Charts
The granddaddy of 'em all. This is the list used by the
American Country Countdown Top 40 show (see below).
Unfortunately, Billboard's public-access online charts aren't as large as the ones
that radio stations and music insiders pay for -- this is a top 20 list.
But it's always the first place to look, because it's a full week ahead of the chart
used by ACC -- and two weeks ahead of the chart posted on ACC's site.
An even better indication of the Dixie Chicks' impact on Nashville is the performance of the album
on this chart. Wide Open Spaces debuted at #17 on the strength of the pre-released single
I Can Love You Better, and has never looked back. It was at #5 by August '98 after
quietly going Gold with unit sales over 500,000, went Platinum
in August, #2 and Double Platinum in October.
It still consistently earns Billboard's "bullet" for upward motion and "Greatest Gainer"
honors for sales gains.
Why settle just for cornering the Country market? By the end of October 1998, Wide Open Spaces
cracked the Top 10 on the overall Billboard 200, setting any number of
records for a debut album or an album by a female group. Also worth noting on the Billboard site:
official RIAA Gold and Platinum Certifications.
This site lists the top 250 albums of all genres, and the top spots are always topped by teenybopper pop
rock and rap. So the Chicks' very respectable showing (top 40 by August 1998) in this list is all the more significant!
(Update: make that their mind-blowing showing in the top 10 by October!)
The list is based on actual purchases, and comes directly from barcode scans in your local
record stores. Now includes Top 20 album charts by city (including Austin and Nashville), and Top 10
album charts by record label (guess who is Sony's only country artist on this list as of 9/98?).
Radio & Records is the Bible of the radio world, even more so than Billboard. In addition to
their own Top 30 chart, they host several of the radio station charts listed later. Their print edition
features the playlists of several major market stations, and this chart is based on those playlists.
It tends to be more volatile, especially when a song nears the end of its radio life (shortly after it
peaks).
These popular TNN hosts also have a countdown show, but theirs is based on
the Radio & Records numbers. This simple site is
handy to have around since it's a full 40, instead of the 30 listed at the R&R site above.
Another major player is Gavin, whose Top 20 chart contains valuable information about
number of plays from 200 radio stations around the country. It details total number of spins and the
+/- trend from the previous week, as well as number of "adds" and total number of stations playing
the song. You may be surprised at how quickly stations drop a song that's hit its peak... but that's
"Young Country" for you!
This site didn't post the top 40 when I was tracing it, but they do now! Also see a (bootleg?)
copy of the top 40 at Canadian radio station CKXM.
If you think radio is fickle, try the Country Dance Clubs!
But this is where hits can be made or
broken, and the catchy line-dance song I Can Love You Better made its first national
chart debut on this very list, and stayed on the list longer than singles by many other big-name stars.
This fan-voted list is probably the best-formatted country single list on the 'net. They outdo
Billboard by using plain English when describing singles that make notable jumps up and down
the list, and a song's trend up or down is clearly visible. While many fan lists suffer from underexposure,
this site has enough visitors to effectively gauge the popularity of the hot country songs.
Their weekly email chart update is also very well done, and the rest of the
Roughstock site is worth a look too --
it's got everything from guitar chords to the devastating
Stacy's Music Row Report
with the lowdown on all the dirt in Nashville!
Don't be frustrated that the ACC Top 40 isn't (yet) available online... this outfit count's 'em down
in RealAudio. The site, though, is a bit of a mess with too many flashy graphics and (uh oh!)
frames!
But the DJ isn't too bad at all, and besides, you can always skip over the ads.
Try that while listening to your local station, eh?
This site (which is in the process of becoming
country-radio.net)
used to list songs exclusively by Heavy, Medium, or Light rotation. This was supposed
to mirror the way that Program Directors decide what songs to play.
Apparently, though, the PD's weren't able to figure it out (if you've read about what the PD
really does at
KRUD Radio, this will be no surprise), so they've gone
back to a more standard Top 35 list. Several, in fact... the above link
takes you to a list of charts, including a National chart in addition to the Southeast
regional chart.
This Canadian album sales chart wasn't available when I was tracking the first single,
but is nicely done and provides a useful non-US viewpoint. I didn't know that
Shania Twain
was from Canada!
All of the major online CD shops (such as CDnow) maintain top album sales lists.
Unfortunately, the URLs to these lists appear to contain shopping cart or other
identifying information, and don't make very good links.
Radio Stations
Radio Stations with problems...
- KPLX Top Country Songs Dallas, TX (station no longer exists. replace with KRUD Radio)
- Cat Country 94 KDRK Top 20 Somewhere in Washington State ("chart temporarily unavailable")
- KYKR Top 9 Beaumont, TX (never gets updated)
- WMJL -- Internet Top 20 Marion, KY (not updated since March 98 -- says March 97!)
- K-102.5 Music Play List KMKS Bay City, TX (huge list, but not updated lately)
- Our Weekly Top 10 College Station, TX (maybe they'll update when the Aggies go back to school?)
- KASE 101 Austin, TX (oops, they got Two Pina Coladas and took a siesta!)
- http://www.wrwd.com/top30.html Can't Tell, USA (The "Last Update" date changes, but the songs don't!)
- WSM FM Playlist Nashville, TN (yes, the WSM famous for the Grand Ol' Opry! For more traditional country, check out the WSM-AM Playlist. Unfortunately, the page doesn't appear to have been updated in months.)
Video Charts
- CMT Domestic Playlist
CMT... MTV's country cousin. Whatever you may think of deciding what your ears will hear based on what your eyes see, nobody can deny the effect of a good music video (except for people who make their living in radio). And the Chicks look good on video! You can do a CMT search for any artist, or just use my pre-set Dixie Chicks Search. And you'll want to request the Dixie Chicks on the CMT Request Line. I did... and I don't even have cable! - Great American Country Top 15 Videos
This site is much easier to navigate than the frame-impaired CMT site, and contains quite a bit of well-organized information. This is the host of the Crook and Chase Top 40 page. This site also has yet another copy of that "The Dixie Chicks are the Real Deal" press release that gets quoted on almost every Dixie Chicks fan site... but this is the best layout I've seen for it. I have to admit, though, I'm getting a bit tired of reading it over and over. If you want to see it again, be my guest.
More Online Charts (will review later, links not verified)
- iMusic Country Showcase
- The Week's Top 10 Singles Chart (changing)
- Netcast Playlist
- NetRadio Country Playlist for week of 12/09/97 (watch out for URL change)
- Women of Country Weekly Top 10
- Top 20 of the week country
- BEYOND RADIO Personal Chart Zine(tm)--Issue Date:January 26 1998
- Cowdude's Top 50 Country Songs
- BMSNews Today's News - Country Music (singles)
- BMSNews Today's News - Country Music (albums)
- Country Music Viewpoint - Hot Pick Singles
- Country Music Viewpoint - Hot Pick Albums
- Miller Creek Billboard Country Charts
- Hitdude's Top 10
All links verified 08/21 and 08/24/1998
Last update: 01/11/1999 (Billboard URLs updated 5/25/99)
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