This week, the Mark Ronson-Bruno Mars collaboration "Uptown Funk" hit its 14th week at the Number One spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The song ties with six other songs that also hold that record: Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" (1992-1993), a song which, at that point, held the record for longest time at Number One; Boyz II Men's "I'll Make Love To You" (1994); Los del Rio's "Macarena (Bayside Boys mix)" (1996); Elton John's "Candle In the Wind '97" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" (1997-98); Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" (2005); and the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" (2009); and now, we have "Uptown Funk". The current record holder for the most weeks at #1 goes to none other than Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, whose heart-wrenching 1995 ballad "One Sweet Day" spent 16 weeks at the #1 position before being knocked off by Céline Dion's "Because You Love Me".
Looking back at these songs and other Number Ones, I just have to wonder: "What truly makes a song number one?" For those unfamiliar, the Hot 100 is based off of a mixture of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming data (source: billboard.com/charts/hot-100; click on "How It Works" next to the chart header). So what makes these songs able to sell well and be hits on both internet and terrestrial radio? Consider other songs that have been number one. Prior to "Uptown Funk", the #1 spot was held by Taylor Swift and "Blank Space", and prior to that, "Shake It Off". But throughout 2014, the Number Ones were all extremely varied. We had a 50s/60s throwback ("All About That Bass"), reggae fusion ("Rude"), a piano ballad ("All of Me"), and some weird country-pop-rap thing ("Timber"). None of these songs really have anything in common, do they?
Let's look at 2013. The longest-running #1 of that year was Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines". Other songs that went to #1 were Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "Thrift Shop" and "Can't Hold Us", Baauer's "Harlem Shake", Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball", Katy Perry's "Roar", and Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man" and "Locked Out Of Heaven", among other #1 hits. Do any of these or any other number ones of that year really have much in common? Personally, I don't think so. "Thrift Shop" doesn't have much in common with "Can't Hold Us" aside from the fact that Macklemore is the lead artist on both songs and that both have a featured singer. Does Bruno Mars' upbeat "Locked Out of Heaven" really have anything in common with his slower piano ballad "When I Was Your Man"? Aside from Bruno himself, not really.
Now, I contend that "Harlem Shake" never really should have been a #1 hit, considering it reached that spot pretty much because it was an internet meme. It's not Baauer's fault that it became a meme, however, and that's something that's important to note. He's just a guy who produces trap music along with contemporaries like Flosstradamus, an artist who, despite being more popular, may never have a #1 hit. However, the "Harlem Shake" is an interesting case of how varied the Top 40 has become. The "le wrong generation" crowd always groans about how there isn't enough variation in the Top 40, which is ironic considering that there was actually less variation during the "classic" era, when the Top 40 was dominated primarily by British Invasion, Motown, and Sun Records artists. I'm not saying a lack of variation is bad, and I'll agree that there is a grain of truth to the fact that there are some painfully generic songs out there today. But who's to say it wasn't like that in the 60s as well? But I've gone on a bit of a tangent, so let's get back to the topic at hand.
If Billboard used the same criteria for determining what songs are on the Hot 100 as they had for "Harlem Shake", then it never would've even made it onto the chart. Instead, Billboard decided to count Youtube data, just for this one song. It's not catchy at all, it doesn't have any features, and it's all instrumental save for the vocal samples saying "con los terroristas" and "do the Harlem Shake". So it's really an outlier among all other Number One hits. Same with the "Macarena". If it weren't for its gimmicky dance, it wouldn't have been nearly as popular as it was.
Now, on to the real reason I made this post.
As I stated at the beginning of this post, "Uptown Funk" has been at the top of the charts now for fourteen weeks. It is the song that kept Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" from reaching the #1 spot; Sheeran's song stayed at the #2 position for 8 consecutive weeks before being replaced by Maroon 5's sweet disco-flavored smash "Sugar". This week, "Thinking Out Loud" fell to #5, down two positions from last week. Other songs above Sheeran's song include Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do" at #3 and The Weeknd's "Earned It" at #4; both are songs from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack. While I enjoy all of these songs, I don't think any of them will ever reach #1. "Thinking Out Loud" and "Sugar" both had potential, but "Uptown Funk" basically blocked them out of it.
In my humble opinion, I honestly don't think any song in the Top 40 currently will take "Uptown Funk" out of the #1 position. I could go even further by saying that no song on the Hot 100 will be the next #1, and if I were really brave, I'd say that the next Number One single hasn't even been released yet. This isn't me saying that the Hot 100 is full of crap songs--quite the opposite. I think that many of the songs on the Hot 100 are great. But is there really a song that is quite as infectious and likeable as "Uptown Funk"?
In a way, the song is like a perfect storm. For those of you unfamiliar, Mark Ronson had credibility as a musician and producer even before this smash hit. He has done production for artists such as Paul McCartney, Duran Duran, Lily Allen, Nas, the Black Lips, Lil Wayne, and is currently working on Lana Del Rey's upcoming album Honeymoon. This isn't even a quarter of his full production discography. He's obviously worked with a wide range of people, and can make pretty much any type of music he wants. This leads me to my first point: Mark Ronson has the musical chops to back up his newfound success as a solo hitmaker.
Next, we have Bruno Mars featured on the track. "Uptown Funk" is Bruno Mars' sixth #1, though his other five were all solo hits. Bruno Mars has also played the Superbowl as the halftime show. He's basically one of the biggest music stars in the world right now, so having him on the track seemed like a no-brainer. In this case, it worked wonderfully, and I can't really imagine anyone else on the song.
Next, the song is chock full of hooks. From the beginning hook, to the catchy verses, to the horns in the chorus, this song's hooks really bring it up another notch, or two... or five.
Next, the timing of the release of this song, while likely unintentional, was perfect. It was released as a single on November 10, 2014, right as 2014 was slowing down and 2015 was about to kick into gear with the music. It first hit #1 in late January/early February, and was already infectious back then. Now that the weather's warming up and school's almost out, the song has supreme "Song of the Summer" potential. It's pretty much already "Song of the Year" (knock on wood), so calling it "Song of the Summer" doesn't really seem like much of a stretch, wouldn't you agree?
Finally, I don't think it's really possible to hate this song. Really, I defy you to point me out one bad thing about the song. I've tried finding something to dislike about it, and I just can't. It's fun, it's fun-ky, it's loud, and it's full of talent. In other words, there is nothing to dislike about it.
I fully believe that it will pass Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men as the song that stays at Number One the longest. While "One Sweet Day" is an awesome song that's also impossible to dislike, I think the record should go to "Uptown Funk". When I make my Top 10 Favorite Songs of 2015 list at the end of the year, it's pretty safe to say that it'll be at my #1 spot.
Now, to answer the question of what makes a song able to reach #1, I don't think there is any one quality that makes a song Number One-worthy. In this day and age, there could be a song with dozens of qualities that make it likable and #1-worthy. In the rare case of a song like the "Harlem Shake", a song could be famous for being a meme. In the case of an artist like Taylor Swift, the song could just have a really catchy and memorable chorus (see: "Shake It Off") and it'll have a stint as the Number One song. In the case of "Uptown Funk", it has dozens of qualities about it that make it such a big hit. Not to mention that nobody on the charts yet has a song to match it.
I will say that I'm rooting for Lunchmoney Lewis and his new song "Bills" as well as Tove Lo's newest single "Talking Body", as both have the potential to be big hits as well.
Let's look at 2013. The longest-running #1 of that year was Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines". Other songs that went to #1 were Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "Thrift Shop" and "Can't Hold Us", Baauer's "Harlem Shake", Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball", Katy Perry's "Roar", and Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man" and "Locked Out Of Heaven", among other #1 hits. Do any of these or any other number ones of that year really have much in common? Personally, I don't think so. "Thrift Shop" doesn't have much in common with "Can't Hold Us" aside from the fact that Macklemore is the lead artist on both songs and that both have a featured singer. Does Bruno Mars' upbeat "Locked Out of Heaven" really have anything in common with his slower piano ballad "When I Was Your Man"? Aside from Bruno himself, not really.
Now, I contend that "Harlem Shake" never really should have been a #1 hit, considering it reached that spot pretty much because it was an internet meme. It's not Baauer's fault that it became a meme, however, and that's something that's important to note. He's just a guy who produces trap music along with contemporaries like Flosstradamus, an artist who, despite being more popular, may never have a #1 hit. However, the "Harlem Shake" is an interesting case of how varied the Top 40 has become. The "le wrong generation" crowd always groans about how there isn't enough variation in the Top 40, which is ironic considering that there was actually less variation during the "classic" era, when the Top 40 was dominated primarily by British Invasion, Motown, and Sun Records artists. I'm not saying a lack of variation is bad, and I'll agree that there is a grain of truth to the fact that there are some painfully generic songs out there today. But who's to say it wasn't like that in the 60s as well? But I've gone on a bit of a tangent, so let's get back to the topic at hand.
If Billboard used the same criteria for determining what songs are on the Hot 100 as they had for "Harlem Shake", then it never would've even made it onto the chart. Instead, Billboard decided to count Youtube data, just for this one song. It's not catchy at all, it doesn't have any features, and it's all instrumental save for the vocal samples saying "con los terroristas" and "do the Harlem Shake". So it's really an outlier among all other Number One hits. Same with the "Macarena". If it weren't for its gimmicky dance, it wouldn't have been nearly as popular as it was.
Now, on to the real reason I made this post.
As I stated at the beginning of this post, "Uptown Funk" has been at the top of the charts now for fourteen weeks. It is the song that kept Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" from reaching the #1 spot; Sheeran's song stayed at the #2 position for 8 consecutive weeks before being replaced by Maroon 5's sweet disco-flavored smash "Sugar". This week, "Thinking Out Loud" fell to #5, down two positions from last week. Other songs above Sheeran's song include Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do" at #3 and The Weeknd's "Earned It" at #4; both are songs from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack. While I enjoy all of these songs, I don't think any of them will ever reach #1. "Thinking Out Loud" and "Sugar" both had potential, but "Uptown Funk" basically blocked them out of it.
In my humble opinion, I honestly don't think any song in the Top 40 currently will take "Uptown Funk" out of the #1 position. I could go even further by saying that no song on the Hot 100 will be the next #1, and if I were really brave, I'd say that the next Number One single hasn't even been released yet. This isn't me saying that the Hot 100 is full of crap songs--quite the opposite. I think that many of the songs on the Hot 100 are great. But is there really a song that is quite as infectious and likeable as "Uptown Funk"?
In a way, the song is like a perfect storm. For those of you unfamiliar, Mark Ronson had credibility as a musician and producer even before this smash hit. He has done production for artists such as Paul McCartney, Duran Duran, Lily Allen, Nas, the Black Lips, Lil Wayne, and is currently working on Lana Del Rey's upcoming album Honeymoon. This isn't even a quarter of his full production discography. He's obviously worked with a wide range of people, and can make pretty much any type of music he wants. This leads me to my first point: Mark Ronson has the musical chops to back up his newfound success as a solo hitmaker.
Next, we have Bruno Mars featured on the track. "Uptown Funk" is Bruno Mars' sixth #1, though his other five were all solo hits. Bruno Mars has also played the Superbowl as the halftime show. He's basically one of the biggest music stars in the world right now, so having him on the track seemed like a no-brainer. In this case, it worked wonderfully, and I can't really imagine anyone else on the song.
Next, the song is chock full of hooks. From the beginning hook, to the catchy verses, to the horns in the chorus, this song's hooks really bring it up another notch, or two... or five.
Next, the timing of the release of this song, while likely unintentional, was perfect. It was released as a single on November 10, 2014, right as 2014 was slowing down and 2015 was about to kick into gear with the music. It first hit #1 in late January/early February, and was already infectious back then. Now that the weather's warming up and school's almost out, the song has supreme "Song of the Summer" potential. It's pretty much already "Song of the Year" (knock on wood), so calling it "Song of the Summer" doesn't really seem like much of a stretch, wouldn't you agree?
Finally, I don't think it's really possible to hate this song. Really, I defy you to point me out one bad thing about the song. I've tried finding something to dislike about it, and I just can't. It's fun, it's fun-ky, it's loud, and it's full of talent. In other words, there is nothing to dislike about it.
I fully believe that it will pass Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men as the song that stays at Number One the longest. While "One Sweet Day" is an awesome song that's also impossible to dislike, I think the record should go to "Uptown Funk". When I make my Top 10 Favorite Songs of 2015 list at the end of the year, it's pretty safe to say that it'll be at my #1 spot.
Now, to answer the question of what makes a song able to reach #1, I don't think there is any one quality that makes a song Number One-worthy. In this day and age, there could be a song with dozens of qualities that make it likable and #1-worthy. In the rare case of a song like the "Harlem Shake", a song could be famous for being a meme. In the case of an artist like Taylor Swift, the song could just have a really catchy and memorable chorus (see: "Shake It Off") and it'll have a stint as the Number One song. In the case of "Uptown Funk", it has dozens of qualities about it that make it such a big hit. Not to mention that nobody on the charts yet has a song to match it.
I will say that I'm rooting for Lunchmoney Lewis and his new song "Bills" as well as Tove Lo's newest single "Talking Body", as both have the potential to be big hits as well.