Singing News Top 80 Chart (1970 - Present)

Also see Singing News Number One Songs and Singing News Year End Charts.

History

The Singing News launched a monthly "Hit Parade" airplay chart with the January 1970 issue. "Jesus Is Coming Soon" was the first number one song and this honor was shared by the Oak Ridge Boys, Inspirations, Florida Boys, and the Downings. The first few charts placed an emphasis on the song, so it was possible for more than one artist to share the same position. By the end of 1971, the chart featured specific recordings, so only one artist was credited for each song going forward. The same song could still appear more than once on a chart if multiple groups had recorded it.

In the December 1972 issue, The Singing News added a "Top 10 Songs" chart which only listed song titles. It was similar to the first charts except no artist was listed. It pretty much paralleled the main chart, except in instances where multiple artists had recorded the same song; points for those songs were combined which could result in a higher position.

In 1973, several "Top 20" charts were launched for various sheet music companies, and several "Top 10" album charts were launched for various record labels. It is not clear whether these were advertisements purchased by the sheet music companies and record labels.

A "Sacred Hits" chart was added in September 1973. This chart covered artists that would typically be categorized in later years as "Inspirational" in style. Charts for "Progressive Gospel Hits" and "Traditional Gospel Hits" were added later in the 1970s. A "Black/Soul Hits" chart was added in March 1979. Over the years, the names of the various genre charts were renamed, dropped, and added including "Spiritual/Soul," "Contemporary," and "Inspirational/MOR."

In January 1981, a "Top 50 For 1980" chart was published listing the hits of the previous 12 months. This type of year-end chart continued to be published annually in the years that followed. See Singing News Year End Charts.

From 1970 until the early 1980s, the magazine's coverage and charts diversified to include Spiritual/Soul, Contemporary, Country, and Inspirational. At times, five to seven different charts were published including a "Religious Hits" chart (later rebranded "Top 40") that compiled data from all the other charts.

By the mid-1980s, published airplay charts were reduced to Contemporary and Traditional with the Top 40 still compiling data from both. By this point, the popularity of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) was surging. It became obvious that the Top 40 chart was based considerably more on what would be considered Southern Gospel radio airplay than Contemporary. The Top 40 chart was abandoned after the June 1986 issue and the Contemporary chart was eliminated three months later after the September 1986 issue. (Ironically, the cover story for that September 1986 issue with the final Contemporary chart featured Sandi Patty.) This decision to cease covering Contemporary music was also reflected in the magazine content in the months and years that followed.

Several more charts have come and gone over the years. Charts have been included for Bluegrass Gospel, New Releases, and Faith Country. The main airplay chart began with 20 songs per month. It was expanded to include 40 songs and later to include 80 songs each month. In February 2023, the magazine began publishing a Weekly Chart on their website to provide a more up-to-date report on song movement.