I listened to music from about '68 to '85. I liked to listen to the top 40 (or more) and stopped listening when I moved to AZ. Stations here only played the top 10 or oldies so I stopped listening. I hated listening to the same songs every time I turned on the radio.
Therefore I was not aware of the longevity of some songs from the '50s or of the more recent ones. The ones from the '60s and '70s did not stay on for more than four-five months it seemed. There seemed to always be something new and interesting coming out.
Dear MI2AZ:
The advent of Top 40 radio -- coupled with stations publishing their own Top 40 charts -- obviously brought a lot more popular songs to the fore, and thus, whereas many songs in the 1950s remained on the national pop charts for more than a half-year, such was no longer the case by the 1960s. And also, obviously, during the British Invasion, there were so many English recording artists "infiltrating" the U.S. charts, resulting in more "turnover" and less chart longevity.
Not being an expert on pop music from recent decades, I have no explanation for so many songs remaining on the charts for a year or more since 1990.
