GOING UP, PLEASE: “Elevator” by Flo Rida featuring Timbaland takes a 100-28 ride on The Billboard Hot 100, the fastest rise from the anchor position since the week of Feb. 11, 2006, when the “High School Musical” song “Get’cha Head in the Game” by Andrew Seeley rocketed 100-23. That turned out to be the peak position for “Game,” but it’s unlikely that “Elevator” is going to stay stuck at No. 28.
If “Elevator” can reach the top floor, it will match the peak position of Flo Rida’s first Hot 100 entry, “Low,” which stands pat at No. 1 for a 10th week. As Naoto Sato from the record store American Pie in Tokyo, Japan, pointed out last fall when “Kiss Kiss” by Chris Brown featuring T-Pain made the journey from 100 to 1, it was the eighth song in the rock era to debut at the bottom and go all the way to the top.
If “Elevator” becomes the ninth song to do so, it will join this list:
“Kansas City,” Wilbert Harrison (May 18, 1959)
“Teen Angel,” Mark Dinning (Feb. 8, 1960)
“Michael,” The Highwaymen (Sept. 4, 1961)
“Go Away Little Girl,” Steve Lawrence (Jan. 12, 1963)
“When a Man Loves a Woman,” Percy Sledge (May 28, 1966)
“The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” Vicki Lawrence (April 7, 1973)
“Can’t Help Falling in Love,” UB40 (July 24, 1993)
“Kiss Kiss,” Chris Brown featuring T-Pain (Nov. 10, 2007)
By remaining in the penthouse for 10 weeks, “Low” is the longest-running No. 1 on the Hot 100 since Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” led the list from December 2006 to February 2007.
A WELL-RESPECTED MAN: He made his debut on the Billboard album chart 43 years and three months ago as a member of the rock group he helped found, and after all that time, he makes his solo debut on the Billboard album chart this week. Ray Davies, who has appeared on The Billboard 200 some 33 times with his group the Kinks, turns up on his own this week with “Working Man’s Cafe” (Ammal), which is a new entry at No. 140.
“Cafe” makes its debut almost 15 years after the most recent Kinks album to chart. “Phobia” peaked at No. 166 the week of May 1, 1993. “Cafe” is the highest-ranking album featuring Davies since “UK Drive” rode to No. 122 in 1989.
While the Kinks have six top 20 albums to their credit, only one LP reached the top 10. “The Kinks Greatest Hits!” went to No. 9 in 1966.
Ray is not the first member of the Kinks to chart as a solo artist on The Billboard 200. His brother, Dave Davies, peaked at No. 42 in 1980 with “AFL1-3603” and No. 152 in 1981 with “Glamour.”
‘TOMORROW’ IS TODAY: “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow” (Dream Merchant 21) by Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson debuts on the Hot 100 at No. 80. This is Abdul’s first appearance on the chart since “Crazy Cool” peaked at No. 58 in September 1995. Jackson is on the Hot 100 for the first time as an artist.
“Dance” is Paula’s 14th song to appear on the Hot 100. She made her debut the week of June 18, 1988, with “Knocked Out,” giving her a chart span of 19 years, eight months and three weeks.
HE CAN: Ray J made his Hot 100 debut exactly 11 years ago, on the chart dated March 8, 1997. His fifth entry, “Sexy Can I” (Knockout/Deja), jumps 29-18 this week, making it a good candidate to become the 27-year-old singer’s first top 10 hit.
Ray J almost made it to the top 10 last time out, when “One Wish” peaked at No. 11 in January 2006. Here is a chronological list of his five chart entries to date:
“Let It Go,” No. 25 (1997)
“Everything You Want,” No. 83 (1997)
“Wait a Minute,” No. 30 (2001) [Ray J featuring Lil’ Kim]
“One Wish,” No. 11 (2006)
“Sexy Can I,” No. 18 to date (2008) [Ray J featuring Yung Berg]
KING IS KING: Blues legend B.B. King collects his seventh No. 1 on Top Blues Albums, as “Live” (Geffen) enters the chart in pole position. This latest release is the 20th album by King to appear on this chart, and his first No. 1 since October 2005.
His seven chart-topping sets, in chronological order, are:
“Deuces Wild,” 13 weeks (1997)
“Riding With the King,” 48 weeks (2000) [B.B. King and Eric Clapton]
“The Best of B.B. King: 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection,” one week (2001)
“A Christmas Celebration of Hope,” five weeks (2001)
“The Ultimate Collection,” nine weeks (2005)
“B.B. King and Friends: 80,” seven weeks (2005)
“Live,” one week to date (2008)
‘COOL’ IS THE NEW ‘POP’: April will mark the 30th anniversary of Nick Lowe’s debut on the Billboard album chart. None of his releases with U.K. group Brinsley Schwartz made the tally; Lowe first appeared on The Billboard 200 the week of April 29, 1978 as a solo artist with “Pure Pop for Now People,” an LP released in the United Kingdom under its original title, “Jesus of Cool.”
A 30th anniversary edition of “Jesus of Cool” (Yep Roc) debuts at No. 32 on Top Pop Catalog Albums. The American release of “Pure Pop for Now People” peaked at No. 127 on The Billboard 200. The follow-up, “Labour of Lust,” featured Lowe’s most successful U.S. single, “Cruel to Be Kind,” which helped boost that album up to No. 31.
‘BODY’ LIFTED: After debuting at No. 57 last week, Mariah Carey’s new song, “Touch My Body” (Island), leaps to No. 34. That makes it Carey’s 31st single to reach the top 40 portion of the chart. In the years that Carey has been charting, from 1990-2008, no female artist has accumulated more top 40 titles.
Counting the entire rock era, Carey ranks fifth among solo female artists with the most top 40 hits. The top five:
Madonna (47)
Aretha Franklin (43)
Connie Francis (35)
Janet Jackson (32)
Mariah Carey (31)
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