This whole endeavor has taught me how chaotic and utterly random the tastes of the public can be. It’s fascinating to me that “Smells Like Teen Spirit” only stayed at #6, and it’s fascinating to me that it became high as number six. Both seem unlikely.
There are also plenty of stories about power struggles between artists and managers and labels, between band members, between black and white genres, between radio stations, and labels competing for success. Is there an underlying power struggle in the story behind the number one song?
There are plenty of stories about songs that were clearly meant to be number one. They got a grand rollout, the label put all their energy behind them and it happened. Out of perhaps 19 Mariah Carey No. 1s, at least 10 are. Those stories may be interesting, but what’s more interesting, and what’s most of the number one in the book, is where that struggle becomes inseparable from the song itself and informs them on a cellular level. .
What is that kind of story that sticks in your mind?
One of the chapters in the book is about the disco song “Rock Your Baby” by George McRae, which hit number one in July 1974. It’s not the most famous disco song, but it’s kind of the first intentional disco hit. All the disco hits before “Rock Your Baby” were accidental. There was a DJ who started playing picking up-tempo songs from his B-sides of his R&B albums. Single and it starts charting. Disco was still a new phenomenon and had not yet been systematized.
Two white kids from Florida, who worked for a label with the funny name TK Records, saw all these fluke hits and said, “Okay, let’s make a club record.” . KC and his two central figures in the Sunshine Band, Henry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch, when they were really young. They wrote “Rock Your Baby” and found a singer nearing retirement to sing it. George McRae got to this song when he stopped by the studio to pick up his wife. And it goes all the way to No. 1. It’s like a tech startup story, where some silly nobody discovers market inefficiencies and exploits them.
How about “Crank That?” by Soulja Boy? It’s another chapter in your book, and it seems to me like another pop rebellion story.
I was working as a music critic at the time, and a 16-year-old kid was making super-basic, rudimentary dance-rap songs on his laptop, and all of a sudden he was able to take the charts by storm. seemed like a strange, game-changing thing. There’s been a lot of talk about it not being true hip hop and Soulja Boy has had a lot of rubbing with old rappers about it. What was interesting and innovative was that he came at a moment when he could take full advantage of the power of the internet and hit the pop charts.After that many people would do it, and if he didn’t, someone else would, but he was first time. He said in an interview: Whether it’s Lil Nas X, Migos, Steve Lacy, or something made big out of a meme, we’re still living in the aftershocks.
One of the things I see over and over again in your books and columns is the aftermath that an event like a No. 1 song has on an artist’s life. For some, fame seemed to have essentially ruined their lives, while for others, it enriched them immeasurably. What have you observed about the effects of going number one on humans?
The road to number 1 is always difficult and caution is always a double-edged sword. For many artists, winning #1 is the best and worst moment of their lives. The record industry isn’t always a great place for many people, and even finding this glowing success doesn’t mean their lives will be significantly improved. . He was just the right person at the right place at the right time. But he was still a mess. He hadn’t made any money yet. His label boss was a shady person and was very good at not paying people what he owed. Such stories come up many times.
In your informed opinion, what is the most absolute garbage song to ever hit #1 on the pop charts?
My stock answer to my least favorite number 1 is “The Ballad of the Green Berets” by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler. This man, who was a Green Berets, was injured in Vietnam and returned home in 1965, but the counterculture began to gain momentum and protest songs began to rise to number one.Serve your country, become a Green Berets, to be a hero. Yes, you may die, but your son may decide to become a Green Beret. And to me it’s very bad. Additionally, Sadler continues to be this odious character who killed a man to get away with it and then either got murdered or accidentally shot himself. People still don’t know what happened. The song itself is admittedly bad, but immersing myself in his story didn’t give me a rosy view of humanity.
Have you ever seen the relative value of the #1 hit change over time? What do you think the “meaning” of the #1 hit is now?
Having kids at least old enough to understand pop music has shaped how I think about this stuff. It’s very interesting to me. It’s not a song pushed by people, it’s the fact that it got its own momentum on the internet. It was meant to play a specific role in popular culture, but it wasn’t meant to be played. this role. I think it’s a sign of change. Whatever No. 1 means now, it doesn’t mean it used to.
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