64-723: Ross S. Bagdasarian ( / b æ ɡ d ə ˈ s ɛər i ə n / ; January 27, 1919 – January 16, 1972), known professionally by his stage name David "Dave" Seville , was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor of Armenian descent best known for creating the cartoon band Alvin and the Chipmunks . Initially a stage and film actor, he rose to prominence in 1958 with the songs " Witch Doctor " and " The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) ", which both became Billboard number-one singles . He produced and directed The Alvin Show , which aired on CBS in 1961–62. Bagdasarian
128-496: A Billboard number-one single by April 28, 1958, and further established him as a songwriter. It sold 1.5 million copies. Bagdasarian went on to create his trio of Chipmunks named after the executives of Liberty Records: Simon, Theodore, and Alvin, named for Simon "Si" Waronker , Theodore "Ted" Keep , and Alvin Bennett. Their debut song, " The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) " was released on November 17, 1958, and became
192-476: A Hot 100 Top 40 hit in each of the four decades from the 1980s through the 2010s: Michael Jackson , Madonna , "Weird Al" Yankovic , U2 , and Kenny G . Mariah Carey is the first artist to have a number-one single in four different decades. SiriusXM Pop2K uses the Hot 100 charts for the 2000s for the "Pop2Kountdown", where radio personal Rich Davis plays the top 30 songs on the Hot 100 from that specific week in
256-657: A fiction writer. They lived in Los Angeles from 1950. As of 1963, he owned a grape ranch in California called the Chipmunk Ranch. In the mid-1960s, he bought Sierra Wine Corp., a winery that supplied product, among others, to E & J Gallo Winery . Bagdasarian died of a heart attack at his home in Beverly Hills on January 16, 1972, eleven days before his 53rd birthday. He was cremated and inurned at
320-473: A month. In 1954, he wrote " Hey, Brother, Pour the Wine ", a hit for Dean Martin . In 1955 Bagdasarian signed with the then newly established Liberty Records . In early 1956 he had a transcontinental hit with the novelty record "The Trouble with Harry" (inspired by the homonymous Hitchcock film ) credited to Alfi & Harry, although Alfi & Harry was just one person, Bagdasarian himself. It reached No. 44 on
384-464: A new single, featuring the former B-side as the A-side, along with a "new" B-side. The inclusion of album cuts on the Hot 100 put the double-sided hit issues to rest permanently. As many Hot 100 chart policies have been modified over the years, one rule always remained constant: songs were not eligible to enter the Hot 100 unless they were available to purchase as a single. However, on December 5, 1998,
448-406: A number one hit by New Years Day. The song sold 4 million records in the first few months. It topped Billboard charts the two weeks before and two weeks after New Years and won three Grammy Awards at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards on May 4, 1959: Best Recording for Children , Best Comedy Performance , and Best Non-Classical Engineered Song . Bagdasarian won the first two as David Seville. The song
512-592: A point system that typically gave sales (purchases) more weight than radio airplay. The first No. 1 in that chart was " Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing " by The Four Aces . The Best Sellers in Stores , Most Played by Jockeys and Most Played in Jukeboxes charts continued to be published concurrently with the new Top 100 chart. On June 17, 1957, Billboard discontinued the Most Played in Jukeboxes chart, as
576-434: A single until airplay was at its absolute peak, thus prompting a top ten or, in some cases, a number-one debut. In many cases, a label would delete a single from its catalog after only one week, thus allowing the song to enter the Hot 100, make a high debut and then slowly decline in position as the one-time production of the retail single sold out. It was during this period that several popular mainstream hits never charted on
640-650: A specific year from the 2000s. '90s on 9 also does a similar countdown show called the "Back in the Day Replay Countdown" hosted by Downtown Julie Brown ; however, this focuses on the Hot 100 charts from the 1990s. A new chart, the Pop 100 , was created by Billboard in February 2005 to answer criticism that the Hot 100 at the time was too dominated by hip hop and R&B. It was discontinued in June 2009 due to
704-625: A time to be grape growers. They were unsuccessful and they moved to Los Angeles where he started a career as a songwriter. Bagdasarian's Broadway debut was in 1939 when he played the newsboy in The Time of Your Life by William Saroyan , his cousin. He also appeared in minor roles in several films, such as Viva Zapata! (1952), Stalag 17 (1953), Destination Gobi (1953), Rear Window (1954), and The Proud and Profane (1956). Notably, in Alfred Hitchcock 's Rear Window , he
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#1732783164017768-435: A trend they had started in the 1960s by putting the same song on both sides of the singles provided to radio. More complex issues began to arise as the typical A-and-B-side format of singles gave way to 12 inch singles and maxi-singles, many of which contained more than one B-side. Further problems arose when, in several cases, a B-side would eventually overtake the A-side in popularity, thus prompting record labels to release
832-543: A very long time to gain mainstream success. These rare cases are handled on a case-by-case basis and ultimately determined by Billboard ' s chart managers and staff. Older songs are allowed to re-enter to the Hot 100 provided they chart higher than number 50. Christmas songs have been a regular presence on the Hot 100 each December since the relaxation of recurrent rules, culminating in Mariah Carey 's 1994 recording " All I Want for Christmas Is You " reaching No. 1 on
896-617: A very straightforward cumulative total of yearlong sales, streaming, and airplay points. This gives a more accurate picture of any given year's most popular tracks, as the points accrued by one song during its week at number one in March might be less than those accrued by another song reaching number three in January. Songs at the peak of their popularity at the time of the November/December chart-year cutoff many times end up ranked on
960-403: A week spent at position 100, two points for a week spent at position 99 and so forth, up to 100 points for each week spent at number one). Other factors including the total weeks a song spent on the chart and at its peak position were calculated into its year-end total. After Billboard began obtaining sales and airplay information from Nielsen SoundScan, the year-end charts are now calculated by
1024-407: Is Jennifer Lopez 's " I'm Real ". Originally entering the Hot 100 in its album version, a "remix" was issued in the midst of its chart run that featured rapper Ja Rule . This new version proved to be more popular than the album version and the track was propelled to number one. To address this issue, Billboard now separates airplay points from a song's original version and its remix, if the remix
1088-452: Is determined to be a "new song". Since administering this new chart rule, several songs have charted twice, normally credited as "Part 1" and "Part 2". The remix rule is still in place. Billboard , in an effort to allow the chart to remain as current as possible and to give representation to new and developing artists and tracks, has (since 1991) removed titles that have reached certain criteria regarding its current rank and number of weeks on
1152-433: Is post-dated with the "week-ending" issue date four days after the charts are refreshed online (i.e., the following Saturday). For example: The methods and policies by which this data is obtained and compiled have changed many times throughout the chart's history. Although the advent of a singles music chart spawned chart historians and chart-watchers and greatly affected pop culture and produced countless bits of trivia,
1216-469: Is readily available on a real-time basis, unlike sales figures and streaming, but is also tracked on the same Friday–Thursday cycle, effective with the chart dated July 17, 2021. Previously, radio was tracked Monday–Sunday and, before July 2015, Wednesday–Tuesday. The first number-one song of the Billboard Hot 100 was " Poor Little Fool " by Ricky Nelson , on August 4, 1958. As of the issue for
1280-475: Is the lonely composer at the piano,. In Stalag 17 , he sings "I Love You" in a pivotal scene at the POW Christmas Party. Bagdasarian's major success with songwriting came with " Come On-a My House ". The song was rejected by many record companies as being "too ethnic", until Mitch Miller of Columbia Records came across the song, liked it and persuaded Rosemary Clooney to record it. The song
1344-531: The Billboard chart and was a bigger hit in the United Kingdom reaching No. 15. In 1956, he wrote an instrumental "Armen's Theme" named after his wife. The executives at Liberty Records suggested that he adopt a pseudonym as they thought his name too difficult to pronounce. In December 1956, he charted with his first record credited to his David Seville pseudonym, and "Armen's Theme" reached No. 42 on
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#17327831640171408-721: The Alvin and the Chipmunks television series. Actor Jason Lee also portrays David Seville in the live-action films, Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007), Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009), Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011) and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (2015) which use a combination of live-action acting and computer animation . While Ross Bagdasarian Jr. does not do any voices for
1472-476: The Billboard Hot 100 tracks paid digital downloads from such internet services as iTunes , Musicmatch , and Rhapsody . Billboard initially started tracking downloads in 2003 with the Hot Digital Tracks chart. However, these downloads did not count towards the Hot 100 and that chart (as opposed to Hot Digital Songs ) counted each version of a song separately. This was the first major overhaul of
1536-566: The Billboard chart. Bagdasarian's rise to prominence came with the song " Witch Doctor " in 1958, which was created after he experimented with the speed control on a tape recorder bought with $ 200 (around $ 2,000 adjusted for inflation as of 2022) from the family savings. Liberty Records released this novelty record under the David Seville name. It is a duet between his real voice and accelerated version. The record went on to become
1600-524: The Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles. Bagdasarian willed the Chipmunks franchise to his wife and three children. Ross Jr. said in an interview that he "worshipped" his father and felt a need to continue his work. He resumed the franchise with his wife Janice Karman in the late 1970s, after finishing law school, and became the complete owner when he bought the rights from his siblings in
1664-399: The 10 top selling records of three leading record companies, as reported by the companies themselves. In October 1938, a review list, "The Week's Best Records", was retitled "The Billboard Record Buying Guide" by incorporating airplay and sheet music sales, which would eventually become the first trade survey of record popularity. This led to the full-page "Billboard Music Popularity Chart" for
1728-427: The 1950s. One of the records, recorded in 1958 under the David Seville stage name, was " Witch Doctor ", featuring a sped-up high-pitched vocal technique. Bagdasarian would later use that technique in " The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) ", which would introduce both Alvin and the Chipmunks as a singing group and Bagdasarian's music producer "Dave". Bagdasarian would go on to create The Alvin Show , based on
1792-473: The 1990s many record companies stopped releasing singles altogether (see Album Cuts , below). Eventually, a song's airplay points were weighted more so than its sales. Billboard has adjusted the sales/airplay ratio many times to more accurately reflect the true popularity of songs. Billboard has also changed its Hot 100 policy regarding "two-sided singles" several times. The pre-Hot 100 chart "Best Sellers in Stores" listed popular A- and-B-sides together, with
1856-489: The Alvin and the Chipmunks group, where he voiced the semi-fictional character David Seville, based largely on himself, with Alvin based on Ross's sometimes rebellious son Adam. Ross Bagdasarian Jr. took over ownership Bagdasarian Productions when his father died in 1972. He reprised the David Seville character, first in a series of novelty albums beginning with 1980's Chipmunk Punk . Bagdasarian Jr. subsequently assumed
1920-471: The Hot 100 (then called Top 40 Radio Monitor ). The ongoing splintering of Top 40 radio in the early 1990s led stations to lean into specific formats, meaning that practically no station would play the wide array of genres that typically composed each weekly Hot 100 chart. An artist or band's ability to have hits in the Hot 100 across multiple decades is recognized as a sign of longevity and being able to adapt to changing musical styles. Only five artists had
1984-416: The Hot 100 changed from being a "singles" chart to a "songs" chart. During the 1990s, a growing trend in the music industry was to promote songs to radio without ever releasing them as singles. It was claimed by major record labels that singles were cannibalizing album sales, so they were slowly phased out. During this period, accusations began to fly of chart manipulation as labels would hold off on releasing
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2048-401: The Hot 100's chart formula since December 1998. The change in methodology has shaken up the chart considerably, with some songs debuting on the chart strictly with robust online sales and others making drastic leaps. In recent years, several songs have been able to achieve 80-to-90 position jumps in a single week as their digital components were made available at online music stores. Since 2006,
2112-420: The Hot 100's early history, singles were the leading way by which people bought music. At times, when singles sales were robust, more weight was given to a song's retail points than to its radio airplay. As the decades passed, the recording industry concentrated more on album sales than singles sales. Musicians eventually expressed their creative output in the form of full-length albums rather than singles, and by
2176-482: The Hot 100, or charted well after their airplay had declined. During the period that they were not released as singles, the songs were not eligible to chart. Many of these songs dominated the Hot 100 Airplay chart for extended periods of time: As debate and conflicts occurred more and more often, Billboard finally answered the requests of music industry artists and insiders to include airplay-only songs (or "album cuts") in
2240-426: The Hot 100, while the retail component was reduced from 40% to 25%. Extended play (EP) releases were listed by Billboard on the Hot 100 and in pre-Hot 100 charts (Top 100) until the mid-to-late 1960s. With the growing popularity of albums, it was decided to move EPs (which typically contain four to six tracks) from the Hot 100 to the Billboard 200 , where they are included to this day. Since February 12, 2005,
2304-515: The U.S. A new chart is compiled and released online to the public by Billboard' s website on Tuesdays but post-dated to the following Saturday, when the printed magazine first reaches newsstands. The weekly tracking period for sales is currently Friday–Thursday, after being changed in July 2015. It was initially Monday–Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991. This tracking period also applies to compiling online streaming data. Radio airplay
2368-421: The accepted sense of the word." Bagdasarian owned Chipmunk Enterprises, which sponsored Chipmunk-related sales. By 1963, some 15 companies were using or planned to use Alvin figures. By that year, Billboard magazine estimated the total income from the Chipmunks' record sales (including overseas sales) and record club sales to be around $ 20 million (around $ 171 million adjusted for inflation to 2021 dollars). In
2432-535: The all-time record for the biggest single-week upward movement was broken nine times. In the issue dated August 11, 2007, Billboard began incorporating weekly data from streaming media and on-demand services into the Hot 100. The first two major companies to provide their statistics to Nielsen BDS on a weekly basis were AOL Music and Yahoo! Music . On March 24, 2012, Billboard premiered its On-Demand Songs chart, which ranks web radio streams from services such as Spotify , as well as on-demand audio titles. Its data
2496-472: The chart in December 2019. Billboard altered its tracking-week for sales, streaming and radio airplay in order to conform to a new Global Release Date, which now falls on Fridays in all major-market territories (United States product was formerly released on Tuesdays before June 2015). This modified tracking schedule took effect in the issue dated July 25, 2015. Billboard ' s "chart year" runs from
2560-417: The chart. Recurrent criteria have been modified several times and currently (as of 2015 ), a song is permanently moved to "recurrent status" if it has spent 20 weeks on the Hot 100 and fallen below position number 50. Additionally, descending songs are removed from the chart if ranking below number 25 after 52 weeks. Exceptions are made to re-releases and sudden resurgence in popularity of tracks that have taken
2624-507: The charts becoming increasingly similar. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched June 16, 2007. Like the Hot 100 chart, it uses sales and airplay tracking compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and BDS . The Billboard Japan Hot 100 was launched in the issue dated May 31, 2008, using the same methodologies as the Hot 100 charts for the U.S. and Canada, using sales and airplay data from SoundScan Japan and radio tracking service Plantech. The Vietnamese edition of Hot 100, Billboard Vietnam Hot 100 ,
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2688-482: The film series, the films are all produced in association with Bagdasarian Productions, which owns the rights to all of the characters. Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital ), online streaming , and radio airplay in
2752-467: The first week of December to the final week in November. This altered calendar allows for Billboard to calculate year-end charts and release them in time for its final print issue in the last week of December. Before Nielsen SoundScan, year-end singles charts were calculated by an inverse-point system based solely on a song's performance on the Hot 100 (for example, a song would be given one point for
2816-413: The following year's chart as well, as their cumulative points are split between the two chart-years, but often are ranked lower than they would have been had the peak occurred in a single year. The Hot 100 served for many years as the data source for the weekly radio countdown show American Top 40 . This relationship ended on November 30, 1991, as American Top 40 started using the airplay-only side of
2880-853: The following years, the Chipmunks released several hit songs: "Alvin's Harmonica" (1959), "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" (1959), "Alvin's Orchestra" (1960), "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" (1960), "The Alvin Twist" (1962), and the album The Chipmunks Sing the Beatles Hits in 1964 during the British Invasion . Bagdasarian then produced The Alvin Show , a TV cartoon broadcast on CBS from October 1961 to September 1962. Bagdasarian married Armenouhi "Armen" Kulhanjian (1927–1991) in 1946. They had three children: Carol Askine (b. 1947), an actress; Ross Jr. (b. 1949); and Adam Serak (b. 1954),
2944-763: The industry standard and Billboard discontinued the Best Sellers In Stores chart on October 13, 1958. The Hot 100 was created by journalists Tom Noonan, Paul Ackerman , and Seymour Stein ; Stein did not recall who chose the name. The Billboard Hot 100 is still the standard by which a song's popularity is measured in the United States. The Hot 100 is ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen BDS, sales data compiled by Nielsen Soundscan (both at retail and digitally) and streaming activity provided by online music sources. There are several component charts that contribute to
3008-658: The intention of becoming an actor. When World War II started, he enlisted and served four years as a control tower operator and rose to the rank of a staff sergeant (SSgt) in the Army Air Forces . He spent time in England, France and Spain; his later stage name "David Seville" originated from the fact that he was stationed in the city of Seville in Spain and he liked the city. After the war, he returned to Fresno and married Armenouhi "Armen" Kulhanjian, and they tried for
3072-413: The main purpose of the Hot 100 is to aid those within the music industry: to reflect the popularity of the "product" (the singles, the albums, etc.) and to track the trends of the buying public. Billboard has (many times) changed its methodology and policies to give the most precise and accurate reflection of what is popular. A very basic example of this would be the ratio given to sales and airplay. During
3136-405: The mid-1990s. David %22Dave%22 Seville David " Dave " Seville is a fictional character, the adoptive father and producer and manager of the fictional singing group Alvin and the Chipmunks . The character was created by Ross Bagdasarian , who had used the name "David Seville" as his stage name prior to the creation of the Chipmunks, while writing and recording novelty records in
3200-433: The overall calculation of the Hot 100. The most significant ones are: The tracking week for sales, streaming and airplay begins on Friday and ends on Thursday (airplay used to have a tracking week from Monday to Sunday, but effective with the chart dated July 17, 2021, the week was adjusted to align with the other two metrics ). A new chart is compiled and officially released to the public by Billboard on Tuesday. Each chart
3264-485: The popularity of jukeboxes waned and radio stations incorporated more and more rock-oriented music into their playlists. The week of July 28, 1958, had the final Most Played by Jockeys and Top 100 charts, both of which had Perez Prado 's instrumental version of " Patricia " ascending to the top. On August 4, 1958, Billboard premiered one main all-genre singles chart: the Hot 100 , with " Poor Little Fool " by Ricky Nelson its first No. 1. The Hot 100 quickly became
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#17327831640173328-451: The role on the TV series Alvin and the Chipmunks , which ran in original episodes from 1983–1990. Bagdasarian Jr. has voiced David Seville in all official animated and recorded incarnations of David Seville since taking over for his father in the 1970s, including TV series, animated specials, and direct-to-video productions. He most recently voiced the character in the 2015 TV show version of
3392-517: The side that was played most often (based on its other charts) listed first. One of the most notable of these, but far from the only one, was Elvis Presley 's "Don't Be Cruel" / "Hound Dog". During the Presley single's chart run, top billing was switched back and forth between the two sides several times. But on the concurrent "Most Played in Juke Boxes", "Most Played by Jockeys" and the "Top 100",
3456-428: The two songs were listed separately, as was true of all songs. With the initiation of the Hot 100 in 1958, A- and-B-sides charted separately, as they had on the former Top 100. Starting with the Hot 100 chart for the week ending November 29, 1969, this rule was altered; if both sides received significant airplay, they were listed together. This started to become a moot point by 1972, as most major record labels solidified
3520-410: The week ending July 20, 1940, and published in the July 27 issue, with lists covering jukebox play, retail sales, sheet music sales, and radio play. Listed were 10 songs of the national "Best Selling Retail Records", which was the fore-runner of today's pop chart, with " I'll Never Smile Again " by Tommy Dorsey its first number one. Starting on March 24, 1945, Billboard ' s lead popularity chart
3584-709: The week ending on November 30, 2024, the Billboard Hot 100 has had 1,175 different number-one entries. The current number-one song on the chart is " A Bar Song (Tipsy) " by Shaboozey . The first chart published by Billboard was "Last Week's Ten Best Sellers Among the Popular Songs", a list of best-selling sheet music, in July 1913. Other charts listed popular song performances in theatres and recitals. In 1928, "Popular Numbers Featured by Famous Singers and Leaders" appeared, which added radio performances to in-person performances. On January 4, 1936, Billboard magazine published "Ten Best Records for Week Ending", which listed
3648-405: Was a tactic generally used by certain artists to boost their chart positions. Instead, such physical releases are now only counted when they are shipped to the consumer, rendering the tactic "ineffectual". A growing trend early in the first decade of the 21st century was to issue a song as a "remix" that was so drastically different in structure and lyrical content from its original version that it
3712-507: Was born on January 27, 1919, in Fresno, California to an Armenian-American family. His father was a grape grower. He had two elder brothers: Richard Sirak (1910–1966) and Harry Sisvan (1915–1989). The novelist William Saroyan , with whom he was very close, was his first cousin. Bagdasarian graduated from Fresno High School in 1937. He went to New York to work with his cousin Saroyan with
3776-447: Was essentially a whole new song. Under normal circumstances, airplay points from a song's album version, "radio" mix and/or dance music remix, etc. were all combined and factored into the song's performance on the Hot 100, as the structure, lyrics and melody remained intact. Criticisms began when songs were being completely re-recorded to the point that they no longer resembled the original recording. The first such example of this scenario
3840-560: Was originally recorded by Kay Armen in 1950, but the version recorded by Rosemary Clooney in 1951 turned into a million-selling hit. It is an adaptation of an Armenian folk song Bagdasarian wrote with his cousin William Saroyan . The song was originally composed for their off-Broadway musical The Son . It launched Clooney's career, reaching number one on Billboard charts and was number four on Billboard year-end top 30 singles of 1951 . The song sold some 750,000 records in
3904-462: Was the Best Sellers in Stores chart, and the magazine refers to that when discussing a song's performance before the creation of the Hot 100. In its issue of November 12, 1955, Billboard published The Top 100 for the first time (for the survey weeks ending October 26 and November 2). The Top 100 combined all aspects of a single's performance (sales, airplay and jukebox activity), based on
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#17327831640173968-512: Was the Honor Roll of Hits . This chart ranked the most popular songs regardless of performer (it combined different versions of the same song by different artists) based on record and sheet sales, disk jockey, and jukebox performances as determined by Billboard ' s weekly nationwide survey. At the start of the rock era in 1955, there were three charts that measured songs by individual metrics: Billboard ' s primary chart among these
4032-500: Was the 23rd most performed Christmas song of the 20th century. Shana Alexander , writing for Life magazine in 1959, noted that Bagdasarian was the first case in the "annals of popular music that one man has served as writer, composer, publisher, conductor and multiple vocalist of a hit record, thereby directing all possible revenues from the song back into his pocket." Alexander also found it remarkable that Bagdasarian "can neither read nor write music nor play any musical instrument in
4096-602: Was then incorporated into the equation that compiles the Hot 100, and this was expanded to a broader Streaming Songs chart in January 2013. In February 2013, U.S. views for a song on YouTube were added to the Hot 100 formula. " Harlem Shake " was the first song to reach number one after the changes were made. In July 2020, Billboard announced that they would no longer allow sales of physical/digital bundles to be reported as digital sales. This refers to songs being bought along with merchandise , either from an artists website or through another vendor. The magazine stated that this
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