Chart Watch: One-Two Punches

With Michael Jackson's passing, all news of the Black Eyed Peas chart achievements became seemingly irrelevant. For the first time in the 18-year history of Soundscan, the company responsible for tracking album sales, catalog albums are outselling new releases. Michael Jackson's Number Ones is outselling B.E.P.'s The E.N.D. on roughly a two-to-one margin and even Thriller is selling more than the hip-pop group's set.

Regardless, the Black Eyed Peas were able to pull off two feats this month that elluded the King of Pop. The first was their having both the No. 1 and No. 2 song in the country, something that only happened twelve times in Billboard's history when "I've Gotta Feelin'" moved into the second spot behind "Boom Boom Pow". Two weeks later "Feelin'" overtook "Pow" to make the Peas the tenth act to replace themselves at No. 1. Michael Jackson came close in 1983 but "Come On Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runner kept "Beat It" from succeeding "Billie Jean" for a single week.

Below are the songs that make up the elite list of 1-2 punches. The Beatles are the only act to have more than the top 2 spots at any given time. Their explosive debut in the United States in 1964 gave them complete control over the top 5 . Nine of the twelve instances have occured in the 2000s thanks in part to the popularity of collaborations. Three instances owe their 1-2 dominance to an artist having lead credit on one single and a featuring credit on another (Ashanti in 2002, 50 Cent in 2005, and Akon in 2007). Welcome to the club Fergie.

Elvis Presley 1956

1. "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel"

2. "Love Me Tender:

The Beatles 1964

1. "Can't But Me Love"

2. "Twist And Shout"

3. "She Loves You"

4. "I Want To Hold Your Hand"

5. "Please Please Me"

The Bee Gees 1978

1. "Night Fever"

2. "Stayin' Alive"

Ashanti 2002

1. "Foolish"

2. "What's Luv?" (Fat Joe featuring Ashanti)Nelly 2002

1. "Hot In Herre"

2. "Dilemma" featuring Kelly Rowland

OutKast 2003

1. "Hey Ya!"

2. "The Way You Move" featuring Sleepy Brown50 Cent 2005

1. "Candy Shop"

2. "Hate It Or Leave It" (The Game featuring 50 Cent)Mariah Carey 2005

1. "We Belong Together"

2. "Shake It Off"Akon 2006

1. "I Wanna Love You" featuring Snoop Dogg

2. "Smack That" featuring EminemAkon 2007

1. "Don't Matter"

2. "The Sweet Escape" (Gwen Stefani featuring Akon)T.I. 2008

1. "Live Your Life" featuring Rihanna

2. "Whatever You Like"The Black Eyed Peas 2009

1. "Boom Boom Pow"

2. "I Gotta Feelin'"

These are the top 50 songs to ever chart on the Billboard Hot 100. (Click on the chart to see a larger image.) How did they determine this list? Billboard explains it all here. Chubby Checker's "The Twist" is the top song of all time. It's actually the only song to ever hit #1 two different years, once in 1960 and once in 1962. There are three songs that made the list that never made it to #1. They are LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live" (#4), Jewel's "Foolish Games/You Were Meant For Me" (#15), and OneRepublic's Timbaland-remixed "Apologize" (#50) all peaked at #2. The Bee Gees and Boyz II Men are tied with the most tracks on the list with three apiece. The Beatles and Mariah Carey scored two apiece. If Paul McCartney is counted in all his incarnations (with the Beatles, Wings, and solo) he comes in with four in the top 50. As a family, the Gibbs add a single by their brother Andy to their three Bee Gees hits.