The chart was first published on October 20, 1984, with Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You reaching number one.
[3] Since its inception in the late 1950s, the Billboard Hot 100 chart had been complied using a combination of retail sales and radio airplay data.
However, in the October 20, 1984 issue of Billboard magazine, it was announced that separate charts for retail sales and airplay would also be published.
They were published on the same page of the magazine and had a number to show where each song was on the main Billboard Hot 100 chart.
[9] On September 19, 1998, Billboard reported that the Hot 100 chart had been based on a 60/40 ratio of airplay to retail sales but that this had become problematic.
[3] However, occasionally the chart was still published in the regular print version of the magazine to coincide with Record Store Day.