Asylum

"Asylum" is a song from Lita Ford's eighth studio album, Living Like A Runaway, the fifth song to chart from the album on Jessica's Top 40. "Asylum" is most notable for being Lita's ninth JT40 #1, shattering Madonna's record for most JT40 #1s which she held since the introduction of my chart online in June 2003. "Asylum" helped Lita break and extend several other chart records, as the fifth #1 from Living Like A Runaway (the first studio album in chart history to spawn five #1 songs) and Lita's eighth consecutive #1 song.

Everything changed in February 2013.

For the first time since my chart's debut, a chart superstar was no longer top of the list when it came to my chart's most #1 songs. The momentum achieved by Madonna in 2003 through my obsession with her took a sharp decline through the "rebellious phase" of 2005-06 where the first two singles from her 2005 album Confessions On A Dancefloor (including the international #1 hit "Hung Up") notably failed to be #1 successes, while my disappointment in her Hard Candy (2008) and MDNA (2012) albums further proved her impact had declined. That enabled another artist who fast became a personal favorite of mine - who I was obsessed with to a point where it surpassed Madonna levels - to assume control of numerous records Madonna once held.

Lita Ford shattered many of Madonna's records in 2012, most notably when "Living Like A Runaway" surpassed her record of most cumulative weeks at #1, which meant Lita spent more weeks at #1 than any other artist to chart. By one week Lita took Madonna's record for most weeks at #1 in one year, with her 29 in 2012 beating Madonna's 28 in 2003. But it was February 2013 when Lita took the biggest of those records.

It happened with the fifth song to chart from Living Like A Runaway, album track and personal highlight "Asylum". The song, which sounds like it could have easily been recorded during her 80s heyday, was one of the first songs Lita and producer Gary Hoey recorded for the album, along with "Branded", "Luv 2 Hate U" and her cover of Elton John's "The Bitch Is Back". In an interview with John Parks of Legendary Rock Interviews, Lita said "Asylum" was the moment she realized the strength of the new material: "When we got to 'Asylum' I knew we were on to something special and amazing so I said to (Gary) 'You know, if we get a few more songs together I think we will have a really strong album, I should go shop a deal'."

"Asylum" became the fifth song from Living Like A Runaway to debut in December 2012, quickly sparking interest in whether or not Lita would break Madonna's record of most JT40 #1 songs. Lita managed to surpass the record when "Asylum" became her ninth JT40 #1 on February 10, 2013. Aside from shattering Madonna's record - a record the Queen of Pop had held since the chart's June 2003 debut - "Asylum" helped Living Like A Runaway become the first album ever to spawn five #1 singles (Rush's Clockwork Angels would become the second just three weeks later when "Seven Cities Of Gold" replaced "Asylum" at #1).

"Asylum" marked the moment the torch for most #1s on Jessica's Top 40 was passed from one queen to another, as Lita Ford continues to mark her place as one of my chart's greatest artists ever.