Posted by Mike Riccio on September 08, 2008 at 13:16:10:
In Reply to: Re: Re: This Week in 1968 - An All-Time Record! posted by Rich Appel on September 08, 2008 at 09:45:52:
Rich...
You say the "tamper" factor was high in the 50's/60's/70's...yes, but...
The "tamper" factor is still high today, given the way companies "promote" their songs now with "legal payola" (a topic for another day and board), and the way Billboard artificially affects their chart positions with arbitrary rules and limits.
On the other hand, how many songs would have jumped from off the list to #1 or from #99 to #2 if today's technology were available in the 50's or 60's. My bet is that NO ARTIST TODAY would be breaking chart records established by the Beatles, Elvis, etc. A large number of those artists songs would have debuted at #1 or in the top 5.
This is really a no-decision discussion, since there is no real way to tell what would have happened then, or no real way to confirm what is happening now.
Mike