I finished The Number Ones by Tom Breihan the other day - "Twenty chart-topping hits that reveal the history of pop music" is the blurb.
Another library find, the book is plucked from the Stereogum series and focuses on the Hot 100. I knew most of the tracks and was particularly looking forward to the later ones, big pop tracks from after I dropped out of following the charts.
So, I know I'm out of the loop, too old, too slow, but it still came as a surprise that I'd completely missed a track that's approaching 1 billion views on YouTube. A song that topped the US charts for seven weeks in 2016.
I'm talking about Black Beatles by Rae Sremmurd feat Gucci Mane...
I mean it's shite, but I should still be aware of it, right? How much else have I missed? And what have you missed? Everything is fractured, everything is walled off. Even the charts aren't the charts. As Breihan wraps up his book with a look at BTS and K-Pop, he states:
"... the Hit 100 is no longer a historical record of the music that dominates pop culture at any particular moment. Instead, the pop charts look more and more like a battlefield for competing fan armies."
And y'know I think that's a shame. Again, I'm acutely aware I'm an old bastard, but the charts should chart what's popular.
And again, I'm saddened that we're losing a consensus, or shared experience, of what-happened-when, some cultural touchpoints which we can all acknowledge. It feels like sports are the only points-in-time events anymore, and even those are disappearing behind paywalls. Plus for the most part, the final score is the final score, an objective truth that can't be twisted or distorted.
Anyway, The Number Ones is a solid pick-up for anyone interested in pop, and particularly strong on tidbits and trivia. I mean, did you know that Chubby Checker was a pun on Fats Domino? Well, it didn't pop into my bubble.
PS: Use your local library before it's too late.
