60 YEARS AGO... the folk song "Tom Dooley" by the Kingston Trio led the Global Chart for 8 weeks. The song based on the 1866 murder of a woman named Laura Foster in Wilkes County, North Carolina, allegedly by Tom Dula. A local poet named Thomas Land wrote a song about the tragedy, titled "Tom Dooley" (which was how Dula's name was pronounced), shortly after Dula was hanged. The sweetheart murder ballad was covered by many artists, but the most successful version was the Kingston Trio recordings. "Tom Dooley" reached no.1 in many countries, like the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia, Italy, and Norway. Furthermore it was the second most successful hit in the 50's of the 20th century, after 'Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)' by Doris Day.

USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
'Sunflower' hits no.1 on Billboard Hot 100
Thuesday, January 15, 2019
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

After sitting in the runner-up slot on the Billboard 200 chart for its first two weeks, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie’s Hoodie SZN climbs to No. 1, scoring the rapper his first chart-topper.

The set, released via Highbridge the Label/Atlantic Records, earned 58,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 10, according to Nielsen Music (down less than 1 percent compared to the previous week). Nearly all of that sum was driven by streaming activity for the album. Hoodie SZN is the first album to spend its first week at No. 1 by climbing up the chart -- rather than debuting at No. 1 -- since The Greatest Showman soundtrack rose 5-1 in its third week on the list (dated Jan. 13, 2018). Hoodie SZN is A Boogie’s second full-length studio album and second top 10 effort. He previously visited the region with his first full-length set, The Bigger Artist, which debuted and peaked at No. 4 on the Oct. 21, 2017-dated tally. Slim album sales for hip-hop titles have become commonplace in the past year or two, as streaming increasingly becomes the preferred means of consumption for hip-hop fans. A week ago, the No. 1 album on the Billboard

200, 21 Savage’s I Am > I Was, sold just 3,000 copies (though earned a total of 65,000 units, thanks to large streaming figures). After two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, 21 Savage’s I Am > I Was slips to No. 2 with 56,000 units (down 14 percent). At No. 3, the soundtrack to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse hits a new peak, as it climbs two slots (49,000 units; up 6 percent). The hip-hop-heavy set includes the hit single “Sunflower,” by Post Malone and Swae Lee, among other contributions from A-listers. Six former No. 1s occupy the Nos. 4-9 slots on the Billboard 200, as Meek Mill’s Championships moves 3-4 (46,000 units; down 4 percent), Post Malone’s beerbongs & bentleys dips 4-5 (43,000 units; down 10 percent), Travis Scott’s Astroworld climbs 7-6 (just over 41,000 units; down 5 percent), Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born soundtrack rises 10-7 (41,000 units; up 2 percent), The top selling album this week is Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born soundtrack, with 21,000 sold, and is No. 1 on the sales-only Top Album Sales chart. Hoodie SZN did not sell enough to rank on that 100-position list. Drake’s Scorpion descends 6-8 (nearly 41,000 units; down 7 percent) and Kodak Black’s Dying To Live holds at No. 9 (39,000 units; down 5 percent). Closing out the new top 10 is Queen’s Greatest Hits I II & III: The Platinum Collection, which vaults from No. 137 to No. 10 with 38,000 units (up 453 percent). "Sunflower" dethrones Halsey's "Without Me" after a week atop the Hot 100, although Halsey adds a new top 10, as "Eastside," with Benny Blanco and Khalid, climbs 11-9. Up from No. 3, "Sunflower," released on Republic Records, becomes the 1,082nd No. 1 in the Hot 100's 60-year history, as it reigns in streaming and sales and hits the top 10 in airplay. "Sunflower" ascends 2-1 on the Streaming Songs chart, up 17 percent to 47.6 million U.S. streams in the week ending Jan. 10, according to Nielsen Music. It becomes Post Malone's second No. 1 on the survey and Swae Lee's first as a soloist. The track spends a second week at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales, up 19 percent to 48,000 downloads sold in the week ending Jan. 10. On Radio Songs, "Sunflower" enters the top 10, bounding 14-10 (60.8 million audience impressions, up 17 percent, in the week ending Jan. 13). Post Malone scores his fourth Radio Songs top 10 and Swae Lee logs his second as a soloist, after reaching No. 6 as featured on French Montana's "Unforgettable" in 2017. A week after becoming Halsey's first Hot 100 No. 1 as a lead act, and second overall, following her featured turn on The Chainsmokers' "Closer," which spent 12 weeks at No. 1 in 2016, "Without Me" drops to No. 2. The latter track keeps at No. 2 on Digital Song Sales (39,000, essentially even week-over-week) and No. 3 on Radio Songs (102.5 million, up 7 percent) and rises 4-3 on Streaming Songs (38.3 million, up 18 percent). Halsey released a new vertical video for the song on Jan. 9. Halsey concurrently climbs 11-9 on the Hot 100 with "Eastside," with Benny Blanco and Khalid. The track keeps at No. 7 on Radio Songs (71.6 million, down 1 percent); dips 13-14 on Digital Song Sales (12,000, down 11 percent); and rises 24-19 on Streaming Songs (17.7 million, up 7 percent). Elsewhere in the Hot 100's top 5, Ariana Grande's "Thank U, Next" drops 2-3 after seven nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1; Travis Scott's "Sicko Mode," which led the Dec. 8-dated list, is steady at No. 4; and, rounding out the top five, Panic! at the Disco's "High Hopes" remains at its No. 5 peak, as it leads Hot Rock Songs for an 11th week and Radio Songs for an eighth frame (131.7 million, up 1 percent).  COMPLETE CHARTS