Some free pub for Magnificent...as this is posted on Billboard's website front page:
The latest news in the world of Billboard's definitive sales and airplay charts.
March 12, 2009 03:30 PM Gary Trust, Keith Caulfield, Silvio Pietroluongo, Raphael George, Wade Jessen and Mary DeCroce
AND THE BEAT GOES ON: After the renowned Fred Bronson's 16-year run at the helm, and fellow music expert Paul Grein's 12-year stewardship before Fred, Chart Beat will continue to be a landmark feature on Billboard.com. Please look for updates each week, reported by members of Billboard's charts department. We welcome you to interact by submitting your questions and comments about the charts, sales and the music industry in general at
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U2 AND RICK ROSS, YOU TOO: U2 debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Magnificent." So does Rick Ross. U2's song arrives at No. 79, while Ross begins at No. 88. Though the names are the same, the songs are different compositions. How rare is it for two songs sharing a title, but composed by different writers, to post simultaneous bows? Such a double dip hasn't occurred since July 3, 1976, when Fleetwood Mac and D.J. Rogers each entered with singles entitled "Say You Love Me."
Fleetwood Mac's "Say," written by Christine McVie, debuted at No. 74 and rose to a peak of No. 11 on the chart dated Sep. 18, 1976. Rogers' self-written "Say" started at No. 100 and peaked at No. 98 in its second and final frame the following week.
Since the debuts of "Say," only one other week has boasted two like-titled songs debuting simultaneously, though the recordings were covers of the same song. Just two weeks after "Say" paired up, "You to Me Are Everything" entered in versions by the Real Thing at No. 93 and Broadway at No. 94. Both artists performed the song written by Michael Denne and Ken Gold. A third version of the song, in fact, debuted two weeks later, on the July 31, 1976, Hot 100, as covered by Revelation.
Since then, two sets of different compositions sharing titles came close to achieving U2 and Ross' feat, but just missed by debuting a week apart. The July 23, 1988, Hot 100 sported the entrance of Bobby Brown's "Don't Be Cruel." A week later, Cheap Trick launched their own "Don't Be Cruel," an update of Elvis Presley's 1956 classic. Similarly, Slaughter's "Real Love" debuted the week of Aug. 22, 1992, followed by Mary J. Blige's "Real Love" the next week.
Interestingly, two additional pairs of titles share matching debut dates five years apart in 2003 and 2008. On the chart dated March 29, 2003, TLC bowed with "Damaged." Exactly five years later, on March 29, 2008, Danity Kane arrived with the same title. Likewise, "Addicted" by Simple Plan bowed June 28, 2003, and "Addicted" by Saving Abel opened June 28, 2008.
U2 PART 2: The Irish rockers grab their seventh No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, as "No Line On the Horizon" debuts in the top slot. In the 53-year history of the chart, U2 is now tied with Led Zeppelin for third-most No. 1s by a group, trailing only the Beatles' 19 and the Rolling Stones' nine.
Here's a list of U2's No. 1 sets:
"The Joshua Tree" (1987, nine weeks at No. 1)
"Rattle and Hum" (1988, six weeks)
"Achtung Baby" (1991, one week)
"Zooropa" (1993, one week)
"Pop" (1997, one week)
"How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" (2004, one week)
"No Line on the Horizon" (2009, one week to date)
