Pick a Day

Music History Events: Charts

March 2, 1991 Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" peaks at #6 on the US chart, thanks to an instrumental version featured in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart.

January 5, 1991 Madonna's "Justify My Love," a new song included on her compilation album The Immaculate Collection, goes to #1 in America, her ninth topper on the tally. The song, co-written by Lenny Kravitz, gets a lot of attention thanks to its video, which was banned by MTV and subsequently released on home video.

November 10, 1990 In a sign that pop and rap have fused together, To the Extreme by Vanilla Ice replaces MC Hammer's Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em at #1 on the US albums chart.

September 22, 1990 The N.W.A. EP 100 Miles and Runnin' (their first release without Ice Cube, who left the group several months earlier to pursue a successful solo career) debuts at #27 on the Billboard 200 chart.

June 16, 1990 The Swedish pop duo Roxette earn their third chart-topper when their breakup ballad "It Must Have Been Love" from the Pretty Woman soundtrack hits #1.

June 2, 1990 Mariah Carey makes the Hot 100 for the first time when her debut single, "Vision Of Love," enters at #73. In August, the song goes to #1, as do her next four singles.

April 14, 1990 Tommy Page's "I'll Be Your Everything" hits #1 in America.

February 10, 1990 Paula Abdul's "Opposites Attract," a duet with MC Skat Cat (Minnesota DJ Derrick "Delite" Stevens), goes to #1 in America, where it stays for three weeks.

November 4, 1989 "Listen To Your Heart" by the Swedish pop-rock duo Roxette is a #1 hit on the Hot 100.

September 2, 1989 Thanks to a saucy Flashdance-inspired video directed by David Fincher, Paula Abdul's "Cold Hearted" goes to #1 in America.More

September 2, 1989 N.W.A.'s "Express Yourself" debuts at #45 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming their second single to reach that chart.

August 12, 1989 Richard Marx lands his third consecutive US #1 as "Right Here Waiting" hits the top spot. The song is a love letter to his wife, the actress Cynthia Rhodes, who was away shooting a film when he wrote it.

June 10, 1989 De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, peaks at #24 on the Billboard 200 chart. On the same day, "Me, Myself and I" hits #1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

May 6, 1989 N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton, which was released nine months earlier, reaches its chart peak of #37 in the US.

April 22, 1989 Kid 'N Play's biggest hit, "Rollin' With Kid 'N Play," hits #11 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, as their debut album 2 Hype (which was released six months earlier) debuts at #9 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

April 15, 1989 Tone-Loc's debut album, Loc-ed After Dark, hits #1 on the Billboard 200, thanks to the success of his platinum hit "Wild Thing."

April 8, 1989 "The Look" by Roxette hits #1 on the Hot 100, the first of four chart-toppers for the Swedish duo.

April 1, 1989 Bangles hit #1 in America with "Eternal Flame," but break up less than six months later.More

April 1, 1989 N.W.A.'s "Gangsta Gangsta" becomes the group's first song to enter the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it debuts at #91.

March 11, 1989 Eighteen-year-old Debbie Gibson goes to #1 in America with her second album, Electric Youth, which stays on top for five weeks.

February 11, 1989 Eazy-E's solo song "We Want Eazy" becomes his first hit to enter the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it debuts at #43.

January 21, 1989 Kid 'N Play's soon-to-be-gold debut album, 2 Hype, which was released three months earlier, debuts at #96 on the Billboard 200 chart.

October 15, 1988 UB40's cover of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine" finally hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 over four years after its initial release. Lead singer Ali Campbell says that they always knew it as a reggae song and had no idea Diamond wrote it.

August 6, 1988 Thanks to its inclusion on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, the Contours' 1962 hit "Do You Love Me" makes another chart run, peaking at #11.

August 6, 1988 More than a year after it was released, Guns N' Roses' debut album, Appetite For Destruction, goes to #1 in America.

June 25, 1988 Seventeen-year-old Debbie Gibson hits #1 in America with "Foolish Beat," making her the youngest artist to top the Hot 100 with a song written, performed and produced by herself. The mark stands until 2007 when Soulja Boy goes to #1 with "Crank That."

May 21, 1988 "Eighteen Wheels And A Dozen Roses" by Kathy Mattea hits #1 on the Country chart. It's the second chart-topper from her fourth album, Untasted Honey, following "Goin' Gone."

May 7, 1988 Thanks to constant airplay on MTV, Terence Trent D'Arby hits #1 in America with "Wishing Well." It's his second single - his first, "If You Let Me Stay," topped out at #68.

January 30, 1988 Two years after a cover of Nanci Griffith's "Love At The Five And Dime" gave Kathy Mattea her first hit, she lands her first #1 on the Country chart with another Griffith tune: "Goin' Gone."

January 30, 1988 INXS land their first and only US #1 with "Need You Tonight."