List of Billboard Tropical Airplay number ones of 1994 and 1995

In October 1994, Billboard magazine established Tropical Airplay, a chart that ranks the top-performing songs played on tropical radio stations in the United States based on weekly airplay data compiled by Nielsen's Broadcast Data Systems (BDS). It is a subchart of Hot Latin Songs, which lists the best-performing Spanish-language songs in the country.[1] According to an 1985 article by Billboard, tropical music is the "sound of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean – though it extends beyond it".[2] It usually encompasses dance genres such as salsa, merengue, bachata, vallenato, and the Colombian cumbia and tropical music in Mexico.[2][3] Five songs topped the chart in 1994 and 12 tracks did the same in 1995. Until November 5, 1994, BDS ran test charts which only listed the number one song of the week on Billboard's electronic database.[1][4]

A young man with short black hair, singing with open arms.
Luis Enrique was the first artist to reach number one on the Tropical Airplay chart in 1994.

The first song to reach number one on the Tropical Airplay chart was "Quién Eres Tú" by Luis Enrique which remained in the top spot for three weeks.[4] It was replaced by La India's cover of "Nunca Voy a Olvidarte", making her the first female artist to reach the top of the chart. Both artists were the only acts to have more than one chart-topper in 1994. La India had the final number one song of the year with her rendition of "Ese Hombre" which was also the first at the start of 1995.[5][6][7] La India and Gloria Estefan were the only female acts to reach number one in 1995.

Marc Anthony was the artist with the most songs at number one in 1995 with "Te Conozco Bien", "Se Me Sigue Olvidando", and "Nadie Como Ella".[8] "Te Conozco Bien" held this position for the longest with eight weeks and was named the best-performing tropical song of the year by Billboard.[9] Marc Anthony also had the final chart-topper of the year with "Nadie Como Ella". Cuban pianist Paquito Hechavarría collaborated with fellow Cuban artist Rey Ruiz on the track "Piano" for the 1995 album of the same name (although Ruiz was not credited for this release on Billboard's chart database) and spent six weeks on top of the chart.[10] Ruiz himself achieved his first number one with "Estamos Solos". Edgar Joel and Johnny Rivera obtained their only chart-toppers in 1994 and 1995, respectively.[11][12]

Chart history

Marc Anthony had the most number one songs in 1995 with three.
La India was the first female act to have a number one song on the Tropical Airplay chart.
Edgar Joel achieved his only chart-topper in 1994 with "En las Nubes".
Gloria Estefan was one of two female acts to have a number one song in 1995.
Key
Indicates number 1 on Billboard's year-end tropical chart[9]
Chart history
Issue dateTitleArtist(s)Ref.
October 8, 1994"Quién Eres Tú"Luis Enrique[4]
October 15, 1994[13]
October 22, 1994[14]
October 29, 1994"Nunca Voy a Olvidarte"La India[15]
November 5, 1994[16]
November 12, 1994"En las Nubes"Edgar Joel[11]
November 19, 1994"Así es la Vida"Luis Enrique[17]
November 26, 1994[18]
December 3, 1994[19]
December 10, 1994[20]
December 17, 1994[21]
December 24, 1994[22]
December 31, 1994"Ese Hombre"La India[5]
January 7, 1995[6]
January 14, 1995[23]
January 21, 1995[24]
January 28, 1995[25]
February 4, 1995"Mirándote"Frankie Ruiz[26]
February 11, 1995[27]
February 18, 1995[28]
February 25, 1995"Piano"Paquito Hechavarría[29]
March 4, 1995[30]
March 11, 1995[31]
March 18, 1995[32]
March 25, 1995[33]
April 1, 1995[34]
April 8, 1995"Se Parecía Tanto a Ti"Johnny Rivera[35]
April 15, 1995[36]
April 22, 1995[37]
April 29, 1995[38]
May 6, 1995[39]
May 13, 1995"Estamos Solos"Rey Ruiz[40]
May 20, 1995[41]
May 27, 1995[42]
June 3, 1995[43]
June 10, 1995[44]
June 17, 1995"Te Conozco Bien" †Marc Anthony[45]
June 24, 1995[46]
July 1, 1995[47]
July 8, 1995[48]
July 15, 1995[49]
July 22, 1995[50]
July 29, 1995[51]
August 5, 1995[52]
August 12, 1995"Esperándote"Tito Rojas[53]
August 19, 1995[54]
August 26, 1995[55]
September 2, 1995[56]
September 9, 1995"Se Me Sigue Olvidando"Marc Anthony[57]
September 16, 1995[58]
September 23, 1995[59]
September 30, 1995[60]
October 7, 1995[61]
October 14, 1995[62]
October 21, 1995"Abriendo Puertas"Gloria Estefan[63]
October 28, 1995[64]
November 4, 1995[65]
November 11, 1995"Si Una Vez"Manny Manuel[66]
November 18, 1995"Abriendo Puertas"Gloria Estefan[67]
November 25, 1995[68]
December 2, 1995"Si Tú Superias"Giro[69]
December 9, 1995[70]
December 16, 1995[71]
December 23, 1995"Nadie Como Ella"Marc Anthony[72]
December 30, 1995[73]

See also

References