Subject: The overplay of hits in the '90s partly ruined Top 40 music

The music of the '90s could be anywhere from brilliant to horrible, but looking through some song statistics of particular years, I noticed that for much of the '90s (and continuing to a degree today), many songs on average stayed on the chart for almost twice as long as they did in the '70s and '80s for instance. For example, a hit that just missed the Billboard top 10 at #11 would have been around the 55th biggest hit of the year in 1996, whereas in 1988, that would only have been around the 110th biggest hit! This forces less songs in rotation, and was particularly bad from 1994 onwards (1997 in particular), with barely 50 Top 10 hits in all for most of those years. That's hardly a new Top 10 song per week! And that's why so many artists career suffered to having overplay of a particular song Also, it meant less choices to buy the album that the singles that are being played on the radio are associated with. That's why many listeners migrated in the '90s to other formats, from adult contemporary to urban R&B, hip-hop, and modern rock. It really divided tastes and is partly responsible for today's continued fragmentation with radio. 

Here are some of the Top 10 hits in the '90s that stayed on the charts for over 40 weeks!

TAG TEAM- Whoomp! (There It Is) (45 Weeks, 1993)
MELISSA ETHERIDGE I'm The Only One Island (40 Weeks, 1994)
ACE OF BASE- The Sign (41 Weeks, 1994)
JOHN MELLENCAMP & ME’SHELL NDEGOCELLO- Wild Night Mercury (42 Weeks, 1994)
DES'REE You Gotta Be (44 Weeks, 1994)
HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH Hold My Hand (44 Weeks, 1994)
REAL McCOY Another Night (45 Weeks, 1994)
TONY RICH PROJECT- Nobody Knows (47 Weeks, 1995)
EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL- Missing (55 Weeks, 1995)
BLUES TRAVELER Run-Around (49 Weeks, 1995)
SOPHIE B. HAWKINS As I Lay Me Down (44 Weeks, 1995)
LOS DEL RIO- Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix, a total of a WHOPPING 60 WEEKS when you add the 2 chart runs, from September 1995, a 10-week break in Spring 1996, and on the charts as late as February 1997!)
TONI BRAXTON- You're Makin' Me High (41 Weeks, 1996)
TONI BRAXTON- UN-Break My Heart (42 Weeks, 1996)
QUAD CITY DJ'S- C'Mon Ride It (The Train) (42 Weeks, 1996)
ERIC CLAPTON Change The World (43 Weeks, 1996)
GIN BLOSSOMS Follow You Down (46 Weeks, 1996)
SAVAGE GARDEN- Truly Madly Deeply (52 Weeks, 1997)
THIRD EYE BLIND How's It Going To Be (52 Weeks, 1997)
USHER- You Make Me Wanna... (47 Weeks, 1997)
JANET JACKSON- Together Again (46 Weeks, 1997)
THIRD EYE BLIND Semi-Charmed Life (43 Weeks, 1997)
BACKSTREET BOYS- Quit Playing (43 Weeks, 1997)
THE VERVE PIPE The Freshmen (42 Weeks, 1997)
ELTON JOHN- Candle In The Wind (42 Weeks, 1997)
MARK MORRISON- Return Of The Mac (40 Weeks, 1997)
SHANIA TWAIN- You're Still The One (42 Weeks, 1998)
FAITH HILL- This Kiss (48 Weeks, 1998)
NEXT- Too Close (53 Weeks, 1998)
MARC ANTHONY- I Need To Know (40 Weeks, 1999)
702 Where My Girls At (42 Weeks, 1999)
LONESTAR- Amazed (55 Weeks, 1999)
FAITH HILL- Breathe (53 Weeks, 1999)

Even Elton John's #55 Follow-up to Candle Of The Wind lasted 20 weeks on the charts, your typical chart run of a #1 single in the '70s.