January 6, 1990:

1. Phil Collins, “Another Day in Paradise”
2. Janet Jackson, “Rhythm Nation”
3. Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville, “Don’t Know Much”
4. Technotronic, “Pump Up the Jam”
5. Taylor Dayne, “With Every Beat of My Heart”

We’re looking at the history of pop music and Top 40 radio via the first chart of each decade of the rock era to date. So far, it hasn’t been hard to find the doldrums, or a descent into the doldrums that are said to typify the beginning of a decade.

1960 was the year when teen pop turned respectable, and pop music found itself in the crosshairs of a payola investigation.

1970 saw Top 40 split the difference between hard rock and bubblegum, and somehow end up with soft rock.

1980 was a great year for music, but not so great for what made it to the radio, in the year of the “disco backlash” and the epicenter of “yacht rock.”

We know now where Top 40 was headed as the decade began. Within three years, the format would be upstaged by Country, R&B/Hip-Hop, and Alternative. By then, many markets had already been left without a Top 40 station, or with the format on a “rimshot” suburban signal. The Top 40 stations that stayed felt they had nothing to play. There were earnest predictions that the format would never rebound. By then, many were wont to blame the musical trends and trend-makers of 1989-90: New Kids on the Block, Milli Vanilli, Michael Bolton, the tail end of hair metal, Hip-Hop, freestyle dance.

In retrospect, it was easy to tag late ‘89/early ‘90 as “the extremes” that precede a doldrum, but at that moment, it seemed like exactly the kind of balance that marked a format upturn. The reaction records were offset by veteran hitmakers who were hanging in there (Rod Stewart, Billy Joel, Chicago), or making comebacks (Joe Cocker, Tom Petty, Linda Ronstadt). There was also the emergence of a new old guard, led by Richard Marx and Michael Bolton. But why wouldn’t you want Tom Petty to have hits? In an otherwise varied year, those songs were balance, not ballast. And even an eventual anthem such as “Free Fallin’” had to battle its way to No. 7 with only grudging support from major-market CHR.

To some extent, 1989-90 was an exciting time for music, because it was an exciting time for radio. As the second-year radio editor of Billboard, there was a lot for me to cover in the preceding months:  the March launch of Scott Shannon’s KQLZ (Pirate Radio) Los Angeles; the Kiss 108/WZOU battle of Boston between Steve Rivers and Sunny Joe White; the “Urban vs. Churban” wars, in which some heritage R&B outlets began to battle back successfully; the gradual ascent of Modern Rock radio.

And in September ‘89, there was WFLZ (The Power Pig) Tampa, Fla., which made quick work of heritage and adult-leaning rival WRBQ (Q105). WFLZ combined the showmanship and calculated outrage of sister WYHY (Y107) Nashville with some of the aggressive positioning from Pirate Radio (which ran a sweeper about a jerk named Richard so it could admonish listeners to “don’t be a Dick”). Q105 first ignored WFLZ, then copied its rhythmic-leaning mix when it was too late. In doing so, it didn’t repatriate the listeners who left, and alienated the adults who stayed.

Country radio was becoming exciting, too. Rusty Walker’s aggressively produced stations had the same impact when they came to town as Jerry Clifton’s “Churban” outlets. Garth Brooks was more than just a promising newcomer, although “Friends in Low Places” was still nine months away. And despite the musical excitement of the “Class of ’88,” it would still be another year or so before we saw a noticeable change in Country’s ratings. By then, the Class of ’88 had been usurped by a more radio-friendly bunch of new acts with similar sonic appeal — e.g., Brooks & Dunn replacing Foster & Lloyd; Trisha Yearwood for Mary Chapin Carpenter; Travis Tritt for Steve Earle; Diamond Rio for Desert Rose Band.

It’s also worth noting that Country radio got monitored airplay in January 1990, 10 months before it became available for CHR and nearly two years before the Hot 100 switched to monitored airplay. The pop charts were full of songs propelled by grade inflation — “Another Day in Paradise” was never a consensus power-rotation song, and certainly not No. 1; “Rhythm Nation” went to No. 2 on Janet Jackson’s career momentum, but enterprising PDs had already identified “Escapade” as the real hit. The Country community grumbled about being the test case, but the change empowered Country PDs to move away from their own heritage acts and aggressively embrace new music.

By contrast, when monitored airplay and SoundScan’s more accurate sales info came to the Hot 100 and Top 200 albums, they brought with them music that CHR didn’t want to play. Just as today’s PDs struggle to triage streaming rap’s phenomena from its ephemera, their counterparts of 20 years ago were trying to decide what was going to be “Rump Shaker” and what was going to be “Wicked” by Ice Cube.

With 30 years’ remove, rather than three, we know now who not to blame for Top 40’s demise:

It wasn’t New Kids on the Block. It took two acts (Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync) to take their place.

It wasn’t Milli Vanilli or “disposable” dance. Throughout the ‘90s, listeners proved they had lost none of their enthusiasm for that sound each time it popped up — Snap!, Haddaway, Real McCoy, LaBouche. Until CHR decided to play Hip-Hop and teen acts again, dance provided much of the excitement in CHR.   

It wasn’t R&B and Hip-Hop. From “Bust a Move” and “Summertime” to “No Scrubs” and “No Diggity,” it turned out to have provided many of today’s most enduring ‘90s titles.

It probably wasn’t even Michael Bolton (and his many imitators): Richard Marx, Wilson Phillips, or Amy Grant. When they were part of a balanced CHR, there were no issues. It was when CHR softened and began to rely on those acts, plus the Phil Collins/ Bryan Adams holdovers, that trouble ensued.

It might have been the radio battles of the early ‘90s, though. The wannabe Power Pigs that dotted the medium markets managed to replicate the meanness but not the cleverness or bigness of that station. Before long, those stations sounded wearisome, and listeners didn’t want to be called names. Even the original “Power Pig” had to rebrand as “933-FLZ” and become more pop before it rebounded.

It was definitely also the knee-jerk reactions of station owners and GMs that followed. Those listeners who had stayed with CHR in the face of so many other choices weren’t looking for it to soften to Hot AC, as many stations did. Hip-Hop may have driven some listeners to Country, as often held, but taking Hip-Hop off of CHR often sent listeners in search of excitement elsewhere, including Country. As a result, CHR’s bottoming out took place around 1993-94, often the time in the decade that the resurgence is supposed to start.

Next: Let’s All Meet Up in the Year 2000