THINK TANK: Facts & Figures on Active Rock #1’s
Over the past few weeks, as we’ve been targeting that elusive #1 slot at Active Rock with our clients The Glorious Sons, we got to thinking about just how many acts have achieved that pinnacle of chart success since the advent of electronic monitoring in Canada.
Digging back through the Mediabase archives, it was just over 13 years ago that their first “Rock” chart appeared, one that tabulated spins from various Active Rock and Alternative stations across the country into something that was much more credible than the national charts that had existed previously. But even this chart – based on verified airplay – had its issues, most notably that songs needed to straddle the sonics of both formats in order to deliver a substantial ranking, something which hampered the growth of those tracks which had a more pure Active or Alternative sound. This concern would be resolved in late-2008 with the launch of two format-specific charts, both of which presented a more clearly defined picture of what was happening on the Canadian airwaves.
Looking back at the older Rock and more recent Active Rock chart history from the past 681 weeks (April 10, 2004 through April 22, 2017), some of the numbers are pretty amazing:
— 122 songs have held the #1 slot.
— 55 acts (of which 15 are Canadian) have spent time on top of the chart.
— The most successful chart act is Foo Fighters, with 12 of their songs spending a collective 97 weeks at #1 (that’s just seven weeks short of two solid years!).
— The most successful Canadian acts? Finger Eleven (a collective 23 weeks at #1), Three Days Grace (16 weeks) and Monster Truck (14 weeks).
— The longest run at #1? Red Hot Chili Peppers ruled for an incredible 15-weeks back in 2011 with “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie”.
— Four songs have each clocked 14-week runs: Foo Fighters “The Pretender”; Linkin Park “What I’ve Done”; Red Hot Chili Peppers “Dani California” and Stone Temple Pilots “Between The Lines”.
— For Canadian acts, Finger Eleven’s “Paralyzer” has the honours for 13-weeks; Three Days Grace “Chalk Outline” was there for 9-weeks, while Monster Truck’s “Sweet Mountain River” spent 8-weeks at #1.
— 2013 could be considered the “golden era” for domestic acts, when tracks from Monster Truck, The Sheepdogs, Headstones, Billy Talent and Three Days Grace combined for a massive 28-weeks on top.
— Since then, things have tightened up considerably, with only four Canadian acts rising to the top over the past few years:
2017 (to date) – Bleeker “Highway” (2 weeks)
2016 – Billy Talent “Afraid Of Heights” (1 week)
2015 – The Glorious Sons “The Contender” (1 week)
2014 – Sam Roberts Band “We’re All In This Together” (3 weeks)
