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“People in the art world, in general, are afraid of popular… it’s the fear that if you like what everyone else likes, then you’re no different than them, you might just be like them. And people are quite frightened of that.” – Brian Eno
This episode we had author, philosopher, and punk rock drummer Max Trembley tour us through hit songs on the Billboard Hot 100.
Show Notes
The Pernicious Rise of Poptimism – The New York Times – “Should gainfully employed adults whose job is to listen to music thoughtfully really agree so regularly with the taste of 13-year-olds?”
Icona Pop – I Love It – What Steve remembered as the “I don’t care” song.
How the Hot 100 works “This week’s most popular songs across all genres, ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen Music, sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music and streaming activity data provided by online music sources.””
Song 1 – Jon Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars Uptown Funk
- Uptown Funk – Chart Performance
- Performed with live band on Saturday Night Live
- The Wolf of Wall Street
- Spike Lee’s Malcolm X
Song 2 – Taylor Swift – Blank Space
Song 3 – Ed Sheeran – Thinking Out Loud
Song 4 – Hozier – Take Me to Church
- Take Me to Church – Chart Performance
- It’s Hozier, not Hoosier
- “The video… follows two men in a same-sex relationship and the violently homophobic backlash that ensues when the community learns of one of the men’s sexuality. Hozier himself does not appear in the video. The song went viral following its release.” – wikipedia
Song 5 – Maroon 5 – Sugar
- Adam Levine – “Since 2011, Levine has served as a coach on NBC’s reality talent show The Voice… As an entrepreneur, Levine launched his own eponymous fragrance line in 2013. The same year, he collaborated with Kmart and ShopYourWay.com to develop his menswear collection. He also owns a record label, 222 Records. In 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that “sources familiar with his many business dealings” estimated Levine would earn more than $35 million that year.”
- Sugar (Maroon 5 song) – Charts
- Video Staging Accusations “Several online magazines including Life & Style, Rolling Stone and Cosmopolitan reported that the video was allegedly staged and filmed over a course of three days on the same location. “
- Maroon 5-Sugar 1 Hour Music
Max Tremblay