The Number Ones

I absolutely devoured this book, just like the pepperoni/goat cheese pizza I ate last night. For those who don't know Tom Breihan, he's a writer for Stereogum (aka the best music blog/website there is) and has boldly taken on a task five years ago at writing about every single song that went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts since its inception in 1958 to the current day. He and his column are still killing it (he's currently at 2007 right now as I'm writing this) and I've been enjoying his column ever since around 2019 or so. He just published his debut book titled “The Number Ones,” where he documents 20 different #1 hits, each at a specific landmark in time starting from Chubby Checker's “The Twist” in 1962 all the way to BTS' “Dynamite” in 2020. How Tom documents each #1 hit in a strong storytelling fashion while connecting the many different songs, trends, and genres throughout pop history is fascinating, brilliant, and super entertaining to read. I could not put this one down. I learned so much about these hits within this book and as I continue to read his internet column, I continue to learn. Tom Breihan is the man and “The Number Ones” is one of my favorite reads, period.