Also, in an interview with Billboard (surprise surprise), Breihan revealed that his father was a history professor. This makes sense as the overall goal of the research is to see how each of the selected songs contributed to the evolution of pop music as we know it even if they’re not great. In the book, the tone is more academic and as balanced as it can be. That’s why he has rated songs like “Hotel California” a 4 and “We Didn’t Start the Fire” a 1. In the former, Breihan evaluates the chart topper in question with snark, sincerity, and complete bias (he’s fully aware that no journalism is wholly objective). The main difference between the column and this book is the tone. I’ve been a fan of Breihan’s column since.

After reading his snark-filled, but fully analyzed review of the ditty, I knew I had to read more. On the day that I discovered it, he was taking a look at Paul Anka’s 1974 number 1 song “(You’re) Having My Baby” (featuring Odia Coates (that’s not one of the tunes analyzed in The Number Ones book). In it, Breihan analyzes every number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 since its inception in 1958, and he’s still in the early 2000s (in fact, today’s review was about “The Way You Move” by Outkast featuring Sleepy Brown). One day, while I was looking at the latest stories, I came across “The Number Ones” column.

This meant adding items to and removing them from the shelves as well as keeping up to date on the latest music news. When I was working as an Adult Librarian in Clarkston, Michigan, I was in charge of maintaining the music CD collection. Breihan features the greatest pop artists of all time like The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Prince, and he gives musicians who never hit #1 like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and James Brown their due as well. He looks at the historical context surrounding them and how they played a pivotal role in music chart history. In The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music, Breihan takes 20 songs that hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and reveals how significant they were in shaping music trends. Now, what do I think about it? Reader, it was great because it analyzed those ditties in a condensed, informative way. Naturally, it’s called The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music. That changed this year when word got out that Tom Breihan – author of the “The Number Ones” column on Stereogum – was going to publish a book covering the most important number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100.

It’s been awhile since I’ve felt that way for a particular title. One can look at my review of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography by Eric Idle to see that in action. I’ve been excited to read books over the years. Full disclosure: I was given a free eARC copy of this book by NetGalley and Hachette Books in exchange for an honest review.

Tom breihan the number ones