Hot 100 55th Anniversary: The All-Time Top 100 Songs
By Fred Bronson, Los Angeles
In celebration of the chart's 55th Anniversary, we're counting down the 100 biggest Hot 100 hits ever.
"Flashdance…What a Feeling," - Irene Cara
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for six weeks (1983)
The synthesizer-based hit won the Academy Award for Best Song, defeating "Maniac" from the same film as well as "Over You" from "Tender Mercies" and "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" and "The Way He Makes Me Feel" from "Yentl."
"Somebody That I Used to Know" - Gotye feat. Kimbra
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for eight weeks (2012)
Raised in Australia but born in Bruges, Gotye is only the second artist from Belgium to top the Hot 100. The first was the Singing Nun in 1963 with "Dominique."
"Every Breath You Take" - The Police
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for eight weeks (1983)
Often mistaken for a sweet love song, Sting has described the song as "fairly nasty," as it is about surveillance, ownership and jealousy.
"Too Close" - Next
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for five weeks (1998)
Producer Kay Gee told this Minneapolis trio they were going to write a song based on an early rap hit, Kurtis Blow's "Christmas Rappin'." But they didn't sample the original. "We played it live and changed it around," says Kay Gee. "I felt if we put the right lyrics on top of that beat, we could bring that same magic back in the '90s."
"I Just Want to Be Your Everything" - Andy Gibb
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for four weeks (1977)
Andy Gibb signed to the RSO label at Robert Stigwood's home in Bermuda and immediately started writing songs with his brothers. On their first day of composing, Barry Gibb sequestered himself in one of the bedrooms on the estate and wrote this song by himself.
"Low" - Flo Rida feat. T-Pain
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for 10 weeks (2008)
Flo Rida says when he first heard the track produced by DJ Montay, he felt it immediately. "It reminded me of the early bass records from artists like the 2 Live Crew."
"We Found Love" - Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for 10 weeks (2011)
The 11th of Rihanna's 12 No. 1s on the Hot 100, and the only one with a double-digit reign, as it stayed on top for 10 weeks.
"Eye of the Tiger" - Survivor
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for six weeks (1982)
Sylvester Stallone was going to use Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" as his main theme for "Rocky III," until label owner Tony Scotti, who years earlier had released a single by Sly's brother Frank, played him an album by the Chicago-based band Survivor. Within 90 minutes of the group seeing a rough cut of the film, "Eye of the Tiger" was born.
"How Deep Is Your Love" - Bee Gees
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for three weeks (1977)
RSO label founder and Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood phoned the trio and told them he needed four songs for a film he was producing, "about a bunch of guys who live in New York." The first song written after the call was "How Deep Is Your Love," but it was intended for Yvonne Elliman. Stigwood heard it and was adamant the Bee Gees record it themselves.
"Le Freak" - Chic
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for six weeks (1978)
Selling more than four million copies, "Le Freak" established the credentials of Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, who went on to produce for Diana Ross, David Bowie, Carly Simon, Madonna, Sister Sledge, Duran Duran and Debbie Harry.