Dance Club Songs facts for kids

Dance Club Songs was a music chart published every week by Billboard magazine from 1976 to 2020. It showed the most popular songs played in nightclubs across the United States. The chart used lists from club disc jockeys (DJs) to figure out which songs were the biggest hits on the dance floor.

History

The Dance Club Songs chart changed a few times since it first started in 1974. At first, it was a list of the top 10 songs that people loved most in New York City discothèques. This chart began on October 26, 1974, and was called Disco Action.

Later, the chart started including playlists from different cities all over the country. Billboard kept running these city-specific charts until August 28, 1976. That's when a bigger chart called National Disco Action Top 30 started. It listed 30 songs. The very first song to reach number one on this new chart was "You Should Be Dancing" by the Bee Gees. It stayed at the top for five weeks and was the Bee Gees' only number-one song on this chart.

The chart continued for over 40 years, but it kept changing. It grew to 40 songs, then 60, then 80, and even 100 songs from September 1979 to 1981. After that, it went back to 80 songs. In the mid-1980s, the Disco charts split into two new charts on March 16, 1985. One was called Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, which ranked club songs (50 positions). The other was Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, which ranked sales of 12-inch singles (also 50 positions).

On January 26, 2013, Billboard launched the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. This chart tracks the 50 most popular dance and electronic songs. It looks at digital sales, streaming, radio plays, and club plays. The Dance Club Songs chart became a part of this bigger chart, focusing on club plays.

On March 31, 2020, Billboard stopped publishing the chart temporarily because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which closed clubs. The last song to be number one was "Love Hangover 2020" by Diana Ross on March 28, 2020. Even after clubs reopened, Billboard did not bring the chart back. This meant the chart's almost 44-year run came to an end.

Statistics and Chart Data

Even though the disco chart started with New York City nightclubs, Billboard soon added charts for other cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Miami. During this time, another music magazine called Record World was the first to create a national dance chart. A music expert named Joel Whitburn later included Record Worlds chart information from 1975 and 1976 into Billboards club play history. This helps keep the history of the chart complete.

From August 28, 1976, Billboard's own national chart data is used.

In January 2017, Billboard announced that Madonna was the most successful artist in the chart's history. She holds the record for the most number-one songs with 50. Katy Perry holds the record for having 18 number-one songs in a row. Katy Perry's album Teenage Dream (2010) was the first album to have seven number-one songs by one artist. Later, Rihanna's album Anti had eight number-one songs from 2016 to 2017. Rihanna is also the only artist to have five number-one songs in one year.

Artist Achievements

Top 10 artists of all-time (1976–2016)

Most number ones

Madonna has the most number-one songs with 50. She is also the only artist to have songs on the chart since 1982. Her first number-one was "Holiday"/"Lucky Star" (1983), and her most recent was "I Don't Search I Find" (2020).

Most consecutive number-ones

Most number-ones in a calendar year

Quickest collection of first 10 number-ones

Lady Gaga reached 10 number-one songs faster than anyone else, in just two years, five months, and three weeks.

Song Achievements

Most weeks at number one

Shortest climbs to number one

Longest climbs to number one

• 19th week — "Wordy Rappinghood"/"Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club
• 19th week — "Walking on a Dream" by Empire of the Sun
• 17th week — "Losing It" by Fisher
• 16th week — "The Look of Love" by ABC
• 16th week — "Most Precious Love" by Blaze presents U.D.A.U.F.L. featuring Barbara Tucker
• 16th week — "Where Have You Been" by Rihanna
• 16th week — "Right Now" by Rihanna featuring David Guetta

Biggest jump to number one

• (27-1) Thriller (all cuts) by Michael Jackson

Number-one songs covered by different artists

• "The Boss" — Diana Ross (1979), The Braxtons (1997), Kristine W (2008), and again Diana Ross (2019).
• "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" — Sylvester (1978) and Byron Stingily (1998)
• "Back to Life" — Soul II Soul (1989) and Hilary Roberts (2019).
• "Keep on Jumpin'" — Musique (1978) and Todd Terry with Martha Wash & Jocelyn Brown (1996)

Album Achievements

Most number-one songs from one album

Records and Other Achievements

• Madonna holds many records on this chart. She has the most chart hits, the most songs in the top twenty, the most songs in the top ten, and the most total weeks at number one (75 weeks).
• Enrique Iglesias, Dave Audé, Pitbull, and David Guetta are tied for the most number-one songs among male artists, with 14 each.
• Rihanna was the first artist to have 4 number-one songs in one year (2007). She did this three more times and then became the first to have 5 number-one songs in a single year (2017).
• Madonna had three number-one songs in one year seven times (1985, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2015, 2019). She is the first and only artist to do this so many times.
• Kylie Minogue was the first artist to have two songs in the top three at the same time on March 5, 2011. Her song "Better than Today" was number one, and "Higher" (a song by Taio Cruz featuring Kylie) was number three.
• On July 28, 2016, Rihanna became the second artist to have two songs in the top three at the same time. Her songs "Kiss It Better" and "Needed Me" were number one and number three. She was the first to do this as the main artist on both songs.
• David Guetta was the third artist to achieve this on November 24, 2018, with his song "(It Happens) Sometimes" at number two and "Don't Leave Me Alone" (with Anne-Marie) at number three.
• Madonna was the first artist to have two albums with five number-one songs each: Music and American Life. Katy Perry later beat this record, with seven number-ones from Teenage Dream and five from Prism.
• The first 12-inch single sold to the public was "Ten Percent" by Double Exposure in 1976.
• The first number one on Billboard's Disco Action chart was "Never Can Say Goodbye" by Gloria Gaynor in 1974.
• The first number one on Billboard's National Disco Action Top 30 was "You Should Be Dancing" by the Bee Gees in 1976.
• Until February 2020, Madonna held the record for the most number-one songs on any Billboard chart, with 50 number-ones on the Dance Club Songs Chart.
• Before February 23, 1991, sometimes many songs from an EP, album, or 12-inch single could all be listed at the same spot on the chart if DJs played them a lot. This was common during the disco era, where a whole side of an album might have many songs linked together. After February 23, 1991, only one song could be at each position.
• Because of the old rule, there were three times when multiple songs by different artists were all number one at the same time. This happened when songs were from movie soundtrack albums. In 1978, four songs from Thank God It's Friday (by Donna Summer, Pattie Brooks, Love & Kisses, Sunshine) were number one. In 1980, three songs from Fame (two by Irene Cara and one by Linda Clifford) were number one. In 1985, two songs from Beverly Hills Cop (Patti LaBelle, Harold Faltermeyer) were number one together.
• Madonna is also the first artist to have at least one number-one song on the Dance Club Songs chart in five different decades. She had 9 in the 1980s, 13 in the '90s, 18 in the 2000s, 9 in the '10s, and one in the '20s.
• The Trammps are the only artists to replace their own song at number one. On June 5, 1976, their song "That's Where the Happy People Go" was replaced by their song "Disco Party."
• The songs that stayed at number one the longest on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart are "Bad Luck" by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes² in 1975 and the album Thriller by Michael Jackson. Both stayed at the top for eleven weeks.
• "One Word" by Kelly Osbourne made history on June 18, 2005. It was the first song to be number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs, Hot Dance Singles Sales, and Hot Dance Airplay charts all at the same time.
• Madonna is the first artist ever to get 50 number-one songs on any single Billboard chart. This is more than George Strait, who has 44 number-ones on the Hot Country Songs chart.
• LeAnn Rimes became the first country music artist to top both the Billboard country chart and the Hot Dance Club Songs chart. This happened on February 28, 2009, when dance remixes of her 2008 song "What I Cannot Change" reached number one.
• Olivia Newton-John and her daughter Chloe Lattanzi made history with their song "You Have to Believe" with Dave Audé. It reached number one on November 21, 2015. They became the first mother-daughter duo to reach number one on this chart.
• Sting is the only artist to reach number one twice with the same song that he recorded again. His original "Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing)" featuring Twista was number one in 2004. Then, his duet with Mylène Farmer for "Stolen Car" was number one in 2016. In both cases, Dave Audé remixed the songs, which is also a first for a remixer on this chart.

Footnotes

¹ Donna Summer's total would be 18 if you include two songs that were number one when Record World's dance chart data was used (see "Statistics and Chart Data"). Billboard only counts 16 number-ones for her.

² Eight of the 11 weeks at number one for "Bad Luck" happened when Record World's dance chart data was used (see "Statistics and Chart Data").

See also

In Spanish: Dance Club Songs para niños

• List of Billboard number-one dance club songs
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart
• Artists with the most number-ones on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart
• Dance Singles Sales