Artists · Billboard Hot 100

38 Special

Also credited as Thirty Eight Special

Charting Feb 2, 1980 → Oct 19, 1991 · 180 weeks with chart power

Charted in 1 of 2 markets — Billboard Hot 100 180 wk

Compare with other artists →

Image credits

Photo: Ben Strasser, U.S. Air Force, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Billboard Hot 100 · 180 wk Global Music Power · 180 wk

Peak Power: 1.75%; week of May 27, 1989
Career Power: 164; share-weeks
Crowns: 0; weeks crowned Artist of the Week

Peak Year: 37; December 1983 – November 1984
Peak Five Years: 94; October 1981 – October 1986
Top-five weeks: 0; weeks ranked 1–5
Longevity: 180; weeks with chart power
Dominance: 3.00%; week of May 6, 1989
Comebacks: 3; Jan 1984 · Jul 1986 · Apr 1989

Ranked by weekly Power Share, part of the ChartReign Power model — not the chart's own positions. How it works →

Exponentially smoothed share of the week's total power (the primary metric).

Songs on the Billboard Hot 100

15 records · 164 share-weeks of Career Power

Power contributed is what each song earned this artist: their weekly Power Share, split across their songs (a featured credit takes its reduced share). Record Power is the song's own figure, the same for every artist on it. Bar length compares songs within this list.

Song	Peak	Weeks	On chart	Power contributedPower	Record Power
Second Chance	#6May 1989	21	February 1989 – July 1989	30.7	30.3
Caught Up In YouApple Music	#10July 1982	17	May 1982 – August 1982	25.6	25.4
If I'd Been The One	#19January 1984	16	November 1983 – February 1984	17.1	17.1
Like No Other Night	#14July 1986	16	May 1986 – August 1986	17.1	17.1
Hold On LooselyApple Music	#27May 1981	17	February 1981 – June 1981	13.0	12.9
Back Where You Belong	#20March 1984	13	February 1984 – April 1984	12.9	12.8
Teacher TeacherApple Music	#25November 1984	12	September 1984 – December 1984	10.0	9.8
The Sound Of Your VoiceApple Music	#33September 1991	15	July 1991 – October 1991	8.7	8.6
You Keep Runnin' AwayApple Music	#38October 1982	11	August 1982 – October 1982	6.1	6.1
Back To Paradise (From "Revenge Of The Nerds II")	#41September 1987	11	July 1987 – October 1987	5.6	5.5
Somebody Like You	#48August 1986	12	July 1986 – October 1986	5.1	5.2
Fantasy GirlApple Music	#52July 1981	10	June 1981 – August 1981	4.4	4.4
Rockin' Into The NightApple Music	#43March 1980	9	February 1980 – March 1980	4.4	4.3
Rock & Roll Strategy	#67November 1988	8	October 1988 – December 1988	2.0	2.0
Comin' Down Tonight	#67July 1989	7	June 1989 – August 1989	1.8	1.8

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At their peak

1983 in music →

38 Special's best twelve months on the Billboard Hot 100 ran from December 1983 to November 1984. The most powerful artists over those weeks:

Ranked by Era Power over the same weeks.

Their decades: the 1980s, the 1990s.