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IMO, it's akin to there being more and more kids who just don't know what the h*ll they're buying.  They purchase stuff now just to have it....back in the days when the majority of music was great people bought records for the quality of the artist....not only to follow a trend.  I probably opened up Pandoras Box with that but I personally have bought much less music since the mid 90's. The record I don't see even being approached is when the Beatles had the entire top 5 and 8 out of the top 10 :D  Don't get me wrong....there is PLENTY of talent out there but IMHO, there was More of it in the good old days of Rock and Roll. (1956-1994) with the likes of The Beatles, Stones (Yes Zella, you read it right) Eagles, Yes, Led Zepplin ect, ect....BTW I love Weezer, Godsmack and a few more today...it's just that I think there are less quality artists than there used to be......okay, start throwing things at me :o
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 The music may have gotten worse, but the phenomina is still the same. Teens 38 years ago were flocking to buy "Can't Buy me love" (Just to have it), where as teens today are flocking to buy "a moment like this" (Just to have it). The majority of people who purchased the beatles then probally didn't base the purchase on thier musical abillity. Granted there are more kids today, so the record was going to get broken, but the basic principle behind the setting of the record is still the same.

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I have a very hard time picturing you as a fan of Huey Lewis and the News, TB.  It just doesn't seem.......  I don't know............  YOU...
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I struck me this way too, TV9.  Not that that is a bad thing, I love Huey Lewis.

RnRF, have you actually heard the single.  She has a wonderful voice and it is a great song.  I think some people actually bought the single because they liked it.  I agree that some are following the trend, but hopefully they will become fans.  I hope she goes far in the business.

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music has changed a lot since our eras (not, IMHO, for the better.)
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Amen ;)

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Just because Kelly broke one Beatle record does not mean she will break them all. She is just not as great a singer as some of the others that lost. She wouldn't even be good enough to pass an audition for the Ball State University glee club. But like I said before, it a matter of taste. And music has changed a lot since our eras (not, IMHO, for the better.)
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You don't like her voice, which is your opinion, but she was good enough to pass an audition that included 10,000 people from around the country.  I think that beats a "Ball state Glee club" audition.

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 The music may have gotten worse, but the phenomina is still the same. Teens 38 years ago were flocking to buy "Can't Buy me love" (Just to have it), where as teens today are flocking to buy "a moment like this" (Just to have it). The majority of people who purchased the beatles then probally didn't base the purchase on thier musical abillity. Granted there are more kids today, so the record was going to get broken, but the basic principle behind the setting of the record is still the same.
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You're missing one very important point here, Screwball54. So before you get everyone else riled up over the sad state of today's music, let me point out that Kelly Clarkson's feat of jumping from #52 to #1 on the "Hot 100" chart, and thus surpassing The Beatles, isn't what it seems...

Back in '64, when The Beatles jumped from #27 to #1, all of the songs on the "Hot 100" chart were available as commercial singles (i.e., vinyl 45s); in fact, they had to be, in order to be eligible. So at that time, the chart was compiled based on a combination of each song's airplay and sales...

But starting in the late '80s, here in the U.S., some record cos. began withholding the release of certain radio hits as commercial singles. The theory was that singles were "cannibalizing" album sales. (An argument that continues to this day, and one that I personally don't agree with.) By 1991, the practice had become fairly common, and by 1995, sadly, it was rampant. Thus, many songs that were technically "hits" weren't appearing on the "Hot 100" chart, since they weren't actually available as singles... :-(

This created a serious dilemma for the folks at "Billboard", who of course wanted their chart to accurately reflect the weekly popularity of all songs that were being played on top 40 radio. So in December of '98, the magazine essentially caved in - it began allowing these "radio-only" hits that weren't available as commercial singles onto the "Hot 100", and that continues to this day. So w/ the chart currently consisting of both commercial and non-commercial hits, it's no longer a level playing field, since the few songs available in stores as singles still get "bonus points" that thus boost their ranking on the chart! So those songs are essentially benefitting from the lack of competition - in fact, only about 15-20% of the ones currently listed on the "Hot 100" are available commercially (not counting vinyl and DVD video formats, since only a small portion of the country's population still owns a turntable, or has already bought a DVD player)...

So what does all that have to do w/ KC? Simple: Her hit, "A Moment Like This", debuted on the "Hot 100" a few weeks ago based on radio play only, and it wasn't doing all that great - struggling up to #52. Ah, but her record label decided that they would, in fact, release it as a commercial single. And the current chart where her song leaped from #52 to #1 reflects those sales of the single kicking in, since it did debut at #1 in sales - but again, unlike The Beatles back in '64, she has very little competition in that department! In other words, if all of the songs currently being played on the radio were available as commercial singles (i.e., on that level playing field that I mentioned earlier), KC's song would probably only rank in the top 20 this week, at best - and thus, she wouldn't have broken The Beatles' record! So bottom line: It's an unfair comparison... :-(

The sad fact is, the decision by U.S. record cos. over the last decade to withhold popular radio hits as commercial singles has seriously damaged the singles industry here! In fact, the format is currently on major life support! :-( And as a result, album sales are now on the decline as well...

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I don't know if this'll be answerable, 80smusicfreak, but what was the start of songs going straight in at number one, rather than the exciting steady climb? Was it the introduction of the CD single, or just the fact that gullible kids have been given more pocket money?
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All very answerable, actually. :-) Here in the U.S., the first song to debut at #1 on the pop chart was "You Are Not Alone" by Michael Jackson, in September of '95. Jacko essentially opened the floodgates, as Mariah Carey quickly followed later that same month w/ her hit, "Fantasy", and then after another two months, in November of '95, Whitney Houston became the third, w/ "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)". Since then, it's been done about another 8 or 10 times...

Here in the U.S., the first commercial CD singles were introduced around 1989, but only for very select titles, as the cassette single was by far the dominant format at the time (and vinyl 45s were practically dead). By 1995, when MJ became the first to debut at #1, the cassette was still the dominant singles format here, and while CD singles had gotten a foothold, they still weren't available for all songs. While "You Are Not Alone" was among those released on CD single here at the time, that by itself wasn't what brought it in at #1 its first week out. (Most of the credit goes to more timely and accurate chart-gathering techniques...)

Yes, I agree that kids have more pocket money nowadays, but after all, love him or hate him, we're talking the "King of Pop" who first accomplished that feat... :-)

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So what does all that have to do w/ KC? Simple: Her hit, "A Moment Like This", debuted on the "Hot 100" a few weeks ago based on radio play only, and it wasn't doing all that great - struggling up to #52. Ah, but her record label decided that they would, in fact, release it as a commercial single. And the current chart where her song leaped from #52 to #1 reflects those sales of the single kicking in, since it did debut at #1 in sales - but again, unlike The Beatles back in '64, she has very little competition in that department! In other words, if all of the songs currently being played on the radio were available as commercial singles (i.e., on that level playing field that I mentioned earlier), KC's song would probably only rank in the top 20 this week, at best - and thus, she wouldn't have broken The Beatles' record! So bottom line: It's an unfair comparison... :-(

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I dissagree I think people are buying it because she was on American Idol.  I think that people were not buying her CD single because it was the only thing available, it may count for a small percentage "Unknowing parents buying it for their kids" but When I go to record store looking for Foriegner, I am not going to buy Supertramp, because they don't have any Foriener Cd's.  I think the same principle is aplicable.  Someone looking for the latest Nelly single, and then finds out it is not available as a single, is not going to settle for Kelly Clarkson.  

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I dissagree I think people are buying it because she was on American Idol.  I think that people were not buying her CD single because it was the only thing available, it may count for a small percentage "Unknowing parents buying it for their kids" but When I go to record store looking for Foriegner, I am not going to buy Supertramp, because they don't have any Foriener Cd's.  I think the same principle is aplicable.  Someone looking for the latest Nelly single, and then finds out it is not available as a single, is not going to settle for Kelly Clarkson.  
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SB54, I don't think it's so much that you disagree, but really that you don't understand. It doesn't matter why people went out and bought KC's single the first week it came out - in fact, as you suggested, I'm sure about 95% of those folks did so because they wanted it. The point is, because the songs by Nelly and most of the other artists w/ hits on the current "Hot 100" chart aren't available commercially as singles, her song was able to make the leap from #52 to #1 practically by default! Think about it - if such current "radio-only" hits as Nelly's "Dilemma" and Eminem's "Cleanin' Out My Closet", among others, were all available as singles, they would've given KC a serious run for her money! But sadly, if their fans want those songs, they all have no choice but to shell out $15-$20 for an entire album-length CD! Yes, if all of the current "radio-only" hits were available as singles - and thus we had a level playing field - I do think KC would still have one of the top 10 biggest-selling songs this week; probably even top 5. But then after you factor in the lack of support at radio (it dipped from #55 to #60 on the airplay chart the week before the commercial single was released), "A Moment Like This" would most likely only rank in the top 20 on the "Hot 100" - and therefore, she wouldn't have broken The Beatles' record...

Quoting: When I go to record store looking for Foriegner, I am not going to buy Supertramp, because they don't have any Foriener Cd's. End Quote

This will probably surprise you, but that happens a lot more often w/ the average buying public than you think - and it's known as an "impulse purchase"...

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SB54, I don't think it's so much that you disagree, but really that you don't understand. It doesn't matter why people went out and bought KC's single the first week it came out - in fact, as you suggested, I'm sure about 95% of those folks did so because they wanted it. The point is, because the songs by Nelly and most of the other artists w/ hits on the current "Hot 100" chart aren't available commercially as singles, her song was able to make the leap from #52 to #1 practically by default! Think about it - if such current "radio-only" hits as Nelly's "Dilemma" and Eminem's "Cleanin' Out My Closet", among others, were all available as singles, they would've given KC a serious run for her money! But sadly, if their fans want those songs, they all have no choice but to shell out $15-$20 for an entire album-length CD! Yes, if all of the current "radio-only" hits were available as singles - and thus we had a level playing field - I do think KC would still have one of the top 10 biggest-selling songs this week; probably even top 5. But then after you factor in the lack of support at radio (it dipped from #55 to #60 on the airplay chart the week before the commercial single was released), "A Moment Like This" would most likely only rank in the top 20 on the "Hot 100" - and therefore, she wouldn't have broken The Beatles' record...


This will probably surprise you, but that happens a lot more often w/ the average buying public than you think - and it's known as an "impulse purchase"...
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I understand now, it seems so obvious if all singles were available more money would have been spent on singles, as oppose to albums. I was bassing my theory on if the same amount of money was being spent (If that Makes any sence)

On A side note:  I have heard that single cannot make #1 based only on sales, but it can bassed on airplay. is this true? It probally got big airplay the week she one, dipped a bit the next week, I bet it will go up next week now that it is a #1.