I have become enamored with a blog (http://freakytrigger.co.uk/popular/) where a writer named Tom Ewing reviews ever British #1 hit of all time. Since I am a tad drunk off a bottle of Surly Darkness, it seems like a good idea for someone to do this with all the US #1 hits of the "rock era".
I am that someone.
So tonight, I am starting with the first Top 100 single of 1955 (Mr. Sandman by the Chordettes) and eventually will end with whatever is #1 on the charts (today, it's The Hills by The Weeknd but God only knows what it will be eventually).
A bit of background first:
The Billboard charts are a messy situation prior to 1958. Most are familiar with the Hot 100, which is the reference point that most use when saying an artist had a #1 hit in the US. The problem is, the Hot 100 wasn't always around. In fact, Billboard published three or four charts prior to 1958 that are referenced as having spawned #1 singles.
For the purposes of this endeavor, I will be reviewing songs that hit #1 on the Best Sellers In Stores chart in Billboard prior to the advent of the Hot 100. Best Sellers means the public was buying these joints, so they must have been pretty popular nationally.
Also, why 1955? Well, most music scholars say that the rock era started when Rock Around The Clock by Bill Haley and His Comets hit #1 in 1955. That, and A LOT of songs prior to 1955 sound really foreign to me. And quite honestly, unlistenable.
I will be grading on a 1-10 scale, with 1 being absolute crap and 10 being something that deserves to be in a museum, or at least in God's jukebox.
So wish me luck...I'll need it.
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