'BODY' WORKS; 'MINUTES' ADDS UP: Elvis Presley has had a lot of great chart weeks over the last 52 years, but this wasn't one of them. Mariah Carey surpasses the King this week as the individual artist with the most No. 1 songs on the pop singles chart in the rock era and Madonna bests Elvis to become the artist with the most top 10 hits in the rock era.
Carey's "Touch My Body" (Island) races 15-1 to become her 18th No. 1 on the Hot 100. Her run of chart-toppers started with her very first chart entry, "Vision of Love," in 1990. It has taken Carey 17 years, eight months and one week to amass 18 No. 1 hits, a total that moves her out of a tie with Presley for second place among all artists with the most No. 1s. Only the Beatles, with 20, have more.
Elvis collected his 17th No. 1 in November 1969 when "Suspicious Minds" became the final Hot 100 chart-topper of his career. "Touch My Body" is Carey's first No. 1 in two years, three months and one week, since "Don't Forget About Us" topped the Hot 100. This is Carey's 78th week at No. 1, which means she will tie another Presley record if "Touch My Body" is still in the penthouse next week. Presley accumulated 79 weeks at No. 1 with his 17 chart-topping titles. That's the record for the highest total of weeks spent in pole position in the rock era.
Until this week, Presley and Madonna were tied with 36 top 10 hits in the rock era, the highest total for any artist. The 68-3 rocket ride of "4 Minutes" (Warner Bros.) gives Madonna her 37th top 10 hit, putting her in first place all by herself. "4 Minutes" is already Madonna's biggest hit in almost eight years, since "Music" spent four weeks at No. 1, starting the week of Sept. 16, 2000.
Elvis picked up his 36th top 10 hit the week of Sept. 30, 1972, when "Burning Love" advanced 18-9, on its way to No. 2.
Back to "4 Minutes" for a minute, the song is the ninth top 10 hit for Justin Timberlake as a solo artist, and his highest-charted tune since "Give It to Me" (on which he and Nelly Furtado were featured with lead artist Timbaland) was No. 1 a year ago this month. If "4 Minutes" goes to No. 1, it will be the 13th chart-topper for Madonna and the fifth for Timberlake.
STRETCHED: A solo artist, a duo and a group all find their chart spans on The Billboard 200 expanded this week, thanks to new entries. The posthumous debut at No. 170 of "Soul Brother No. 1" (Universal Special Products/Starbucks) by James Brown puts the late legend back on the chart for the first time in almost 20 years. "Soul Brother" is James Brown's 50th chart entry and his first album to appear on this survey since "I'm Real" went to No. 96 in July 1988. Brown made his album chart debut in June 1963 with "Live at the Apollo," giving him a newly stretched span of 44 years, nine months and two weeks.
The returning duo is Simon and Garfunkel, bowing at No. 33 with "Live 1969" (Columbia/Legacy). It is the second consecutive live album to chart, following "Old Friends: Live on Stage," which peaked at No. 154 in December 2004. Paul and Art first appeared on the Billboard album chart the week of Jan. 12, 1966, with "Wednesday Morning 3 AM," giving them a new chart span of 42 years and three months.
The group that is back on The Billboard 200 is the B-52s, opening at No. 11 with "Funplex" (Astralwerks). It is the highest debut for the B-52s and the second highest-ranking set of the group's career, topped only by the No. 4 peak of "Cosmic Thing" in March 1990. "Funplex" is the first B-52s album to chart since "Time Capsule - Songs for a Future Generation" went to No. 93 in June 1998.
The B-52s debuted on the Billboard album chart the week of Aug. 11, 1979, with an eponymous LP. That means the band's chart span has grown to 28 years and eight months.
'U' 2: It's Year Two on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for "When I See U" (J) by Fantasia. The former No. 1 hit (and the No. 2 song of the year 2007) slips 46-47 in its 57th chart week. It is now tied for eighth place among the longest-running titles in the history of this survey.
Fantasia has outlasted the 56-week run of Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You," making "When I See U" the second-longest running chart song by a female artist. The only song by a woman with a longer stay on the tally is "Be Without You" by Mary J. Blige with its record-setting 75-week visit.
Here is a recap of the top nine songs on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart by longevity:
75 weeks: "Be Without You," Mary J. Blige
71 weeks: "You Make Me Wanna...," Usher
70 weeks: "Step in the Name of Love," R. Kelly
68 weeks: "Can't Let Go," Anthony Hamilton
63 weeks: "In My Bed," Dru Hill
60 weeks: "Looking for You," Kirk Franklin
60 weeks: "Too Close," Next
57 weeks: "I Wanna Know," Joe
57 weeks: "When I See U," Fantasia
THE 'BEAT' GOES ON: Fall Out Boy had the highest-debuting song of 2007 on the Hot 100 with "This Ain't A Scene, It's an Arms Race," which opened at No. 2 the week of Feb. 3. Now the group has the second highest new entry of this year, thanks to the No. 22 debut of "Beat It" (Fueled by Ramen/Island), a Michael Jackson remake that features John Mayer.
This update of "Beat It" eclipses the No. 23 peak of Alien Ant Farm's 2001 hit "Smooth Criminal" to become the second highest-charting remake of a Michael Jackson song in Hot 100 history. Not counting tracks that sample any of Jackson's songs, the highest-ranked cover of a Jackson original is SWV's 1993 medley of "Right Here/Human Nature," which spent three weeks at No. 2.
JAZZ MAN: Brazilian bandleader Sergio Mendes made his first impact on the Billboard charts back in 1966 when Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 debuted on the Hot 100 with "Mas Que Nada."
Mendes has also charted as a solo act, most notably with the No. 4 hit "Never Gonna Let You Go" in 1983. A year later, Mendes' solo album "Confetti" peaked at No. 31 on Top Jazz Albums.
This week, Mendes returns to that chart for the first time since the charting of "Confetti." Surpassing that album's peak position by debuting at No. 22, "The Best of Sergio Mendes: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection" is credited to Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66.
BUCKINGHAM'S QUICK: Lindsey Buckingham, who has more chart entries as a member of Fleetwood Mac than he does as a solo artist, has his fourth entry on his own on The Billboard 200 with "Live at the Bass Performance Hall" (Reprise), new at No. 186.
Those four solo Buckingham albums have charted over a span of 23 years and seven months, starting with "Go Insane" in September 1984. "Out of the Cradle" charted in 1992 and "Under the Skin" in 2006. The 18-month gap between "Skin" and "Live" is thus the shortest amount of time between solo Buckingham albums on The Billboard 200.
HOW IS THE 'AIR' UP THERE?: "No Air" (19/Jive) by Jordin Sparks with Chris Brown reaches a new peak position on the Hot 100 as it rises 6-5. "No Air" is Sparks' highest-charted song so far, having passed the No. 8 peak position of her only other top 10 hit, "Tattoo."
"No Air" is the fifth title by Sparks to appear on the Hot 100. Her first three chart entries all debuted and peaked the week of June 9, 2007:
"This Is My Now," No. 15
"A Broken Wing," No. 66
"I (Who Have Nothing)," No. 80
THE FAMOUS FIVE: A No. 1 debut for "Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947" (Skaggs Family) by Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder on Top Bluegrass Albums gives Skaggs his fifth consecutive No. 1 CD on this chart.
"Fathers" is Skaggs' ninth album to appear on this tally since he made his debut in July 2002. His first four titles peaked at Nos. 11, 10, 2 and 2, respectively. Since November 2004, every Skaggs album has checked into the bluegrass penthouse.
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