The Week in Number Ones: Drake, Oliver Tree, and John Lennon get busy
Welcome back to The Week in Number Ones, where all the biggest movers from the US and UK charts get condensed into one article. Last week, we welcomed Rihanna back to the realm of pop music with her addition to the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack, ‘Lift Me Up’. Over in America, SZA just missed out on the top ten with her long-previewed TikTok smash ‘Shirt’. We also took a look at how Chicago went from a proto-jam band to schlockmeisters with their first number-one single, ‘If You Leave Me Now’.
Earlier this week, we got our official nominations for the 2023 Grammys. Me personally? The only reason I remotely give a shit about the Grammys is because of my status as a professional music journalist. That being said, I did spend nearly four hours typing out every single nominee by hand, so I’m going to wring as much out of that content as I possibly can.
First things first, congratulations to the following for their Grammy nominations: Steve Lacy, Spoon, The War on Drugs, Brandi Carlile, Lizzo, Kendrick Lamar, Wet Leg, Danny Elfman, Turnstile, Rosalía, They Might Be Giants, The Grateful Dead, Burna Boy, Willie Nelson, IDLES, Doc Watson, Wilco, Robert Glasper, Big Thief, and Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
Second things second, shame on the Grammys for some of these: Chris Brown, Louis CK, Machine Gun Kelly, The Chainsmokers, Coldplay, David Guetta, and Muse. Brown and Guetta have already been featured in this column, so my distaste for them is well-documented. Everyone else probably deserves their awards because there’s nothing more embarrassing than sucking off the Recording Academy and celebrating a Grammy win.
This week, we take a look at another dominant chart run from Drake and shine a light on the controversy surrounding Robin Schultz’s remix of Oliver Tree’s ‘Jerk’. We also take a look back at the only number one solo song that John Lennon ever scored during his lifetime. All that and more as we round up the best chart news of the modern-day and recent past.
Current UK Number One: ‘Anti-Hero’ – Taylor Swift
What constitutes musical plagiarism? In the modern day, you can hardly find a hit song that doesn’t contain some remnant of past work. David Guetta currently has a terrible song that is just a reinterpretation of another terrible song (that’s two Guetta digs so far – I’m trying to bump up my average), while Britney Spears emancipated herself by shoving a bunch of Elton John covers into one track.
But what’s going on right now with Oliver Tree and Robin Schultz’s number four hit ‘Miss You’ is a fascinating case study of what you can get away with in modern music. This story starts with Tree’s 2020 debut, Ugly is Beautiful. One of the cuts from that album is called ‘Jerk’, a rap-rock tune with a medium interest hook at its centre.
That track was subsequently remixed by German DJ Southstar, who released the track under his own name as ‘Miss You’. Basically, Southstar took the chorus of ‘Jerk’, sped it up, and added his own beats around it. It’s pretty much a different song, so I have no qualms about it being credited to him. Should Oliver Tree have gotten a feature credit? Almost certainly, but I’m sure he’s getting plenty of royalty payments, so there’s no reason to cry over it.
Here’s where it gets interesting: fellow German DJ Robin Schultz now has his own version of ‘Miss You’, with Tree getting an official credit. Schultz’s version of ‘Miss You’ is nearly identical to Southstar’s – same length, same beat, same artificial cymbal hits. It takes some serious close listening to hear any differences between Schultz’s remix and Southstar’s, but Southstar’s name is nowhere to be found on the version of ‘Miss You’ that is currently rising up the charts.
Southstar’s version is more popular in Germany, but the Schultz version is the more successful internationally successful track. Is Schultz getting all the credit for none of the work? Did Tree just want to put his name on the Southstar remix without giving the DJ proper credit? Is there beef, or is this all overblown? It’s hard to tell right now, but it’s a fascinating mile marker in the ongoing evolution of pop music, especially in an age where originality might be turning into a liability.
UK Singles Top Ten (Week of November 16th, 2022):
- ‘Anti-Hero’ – Taylor Swift
- ‘Unholy’ – Sam Smith & Kim Petras
- ‘Rich Flex’ – Drake & 21 Savage
- ‘Miss You’ – Oliver Tree & Robin Schulz
- ‘Major Distribution’ – Drake & 21 Savage
- ‘Forget Me’ – Lewis Capaldi
- ‘Circo Loco’ – Drake & 21 Savage
- ‘Made You Look’ – Meghan Trainor
- ‘Messy In Heaven’ – Venbee & Goddard
- ‘Hide & Seek’ – Stormzy
Current US Number One: ‘Anti-Hero’ – Taylor Swift
The singles era is dead, completely and officially. The way that all music charts count singular songs has no and forever shifted, largely thanks to the way streaming services allow listeners to pick and choose whatever songs they want to be charting singles. No official single release is necessary: any old album cut can be a top ten single now.
We saw this phenomenon a few weeks back when Taylor Swift managed to nab all ten spots in the Billboard Hot 100, despite the fact that there’s only been one official single released from her blockbuster LP, Midnights. This week, we’re seeing it once again as Drake and 21 Savage fill out most of the top ten (and a fair chunk of the Hot 100) with album cuts from their brand new collaborative album, Her Loss.
A full album of disses and medium-good raps, Her Loss would have been massively popular no matter what. Drake and 21 Savage are among the upper tier of A-list artists at the moment, regardless of genre. Anyone who follows the charts semi-regularly probably saw this coming a mile away.
It might not have been enough to knock Swift’s ‘Anti-Hero’ from number one, but eight out of the top ten ain’t half bad either. All 16 songs from the album have charted within the top 30 of the Hot 100, which is quickly becoming the norm for massive album releases. Tallying album success by sales has been antiquated for a few years; tracking album success by number of songs on the singles chart might be a new metric.
Billboard Top Ten Singles (Week of November 19th, 2022):
- ‘Anti-Hero’ – Taylor Swift
- ‘Rich Flex’ – Drake & 21 Savage
- ‘Major Distribution’ – Drake & 21 Savage
- ‘On BS’ – 21 Savage
- ‘Spin Bout U’ – Drake & 21 Savage
- ‘Pussy & Millions’ – Drake & 21 Savage ft. Travis Scott
- ‘Privileged Rappers’ – Drake & 21 Savage
- ‘Circo Loco’ – Drake & 21 Savage
- ‘BackOutsideBoyz’ – Drake & 21 Savage
- ‘Unholy’ – Sam Smith & Kim Petras
This Week in Number Ones: ‘Whatever Gets You Thru The Night’ – John Lennon (#1 on the Billboard Hot 100, November 16th, 1974)
Believe it or not, John Lennon was the fourth and final Beatle to land a number one hit in the United States. By 1974, Paul McCartney landed three songs at number one (‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’, plus the Wings songs ‘My Love’ and ‘Band on the Run’), George Harrison had two (‘My Sweet Lord’ and ‘Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)’, and Ringo Starr had two (‘Photograph’ and ‘You’re Sixteen’). Lennon had zero.
That might seem strange, considering how Lennon was seen as a major creative force throughout the early 1970s, especially when compared to his former writing partner. It wasn’t for lack of quality material – ‘Instant Karma!’ and ‘Imagine’ were both top five hits, but both peaked just shy of the top spot at number three. Whether it was because of stiff competition or just plain unluckiness, Lennon seemed largely resigned to never getting a number one song in America.
Then came Elton John. 1974 was a culmination year for John, with the singer-songwriter having landed two number one hits with ‘Crocodile Rock’ and ‘Bennie and the Jets’. That same year, John would have two additional top five hits with ‘Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me’ (#2) and ‘The Bitch Is Back’ (#4). The following year, John would land another three number one singles with his cover of The Beatles’ ‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds’, along with the original songs ‘Philadelphia Freedom’ and ‘Island Girl’. In other words, John was probably the most popular singer in the world.
Around this time, Lennon and John struck up a friendship. “That was the kind of wonderful two or three-year whirlwind romance we had, and it was such an important thing in my life,” John later told Lennon’s son Sean in a 2020 interview. “It just really helped me. It gave me so much confidence. Your dad was as kind and as generous and sweet, and we just hit it off immediately.”
That symbiosis eventually carried over into the studio. Lennon was recording his album Walls & Bridges when he joined John and his backing band in the studio. Within a few hours, the pair had crafted ‘Whatever Gets You Thru The Night’, a potent blast of horn-heavy boogie rock that was virtually a duet between the two (although Lennon would be credited alone on the single). Spontaneous and energetic, John was so high on the song that he guaranteed Lennon that it would be his first number one.
Lennon, knowing his previous track record, was pessimistic. John levelled a bet at Lennon: if ‘Whatever Gets You Thru The Night’ hit number one, Lennon had to join John on stage to sing it. Lennon had never toured as a solo artist and had only sporadically performed live since The Beatles left the road in 1966, but knowing his luck with number one songs, it seemed like an easy bet to win.
Much to his surprise, Lennon saw ‘Whatever Gets You Thru The Night’ rise all the way to number one during the penultimate month of 1974. Despite his reluctance, Lennon was true to his word. On Thanksgiving Day, 1974, Lennon joined John and his band onstage at Madison Square Garden. They performed ‘Whatever Gets You Thru The Night’, plus two Beatles songs: ‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds’, which the pair had recorded together, and ‘I Saw Her Standing There’. The performance would be the final time that Lennon ever played on stage.
Billboard Top Ten Singles (Week of November 16th, 1974):
- ‘Whatever Gets You Thru The Night’ – John Lennon with the Plastic Ono Nuclear Band
- ‘Do It’ (’til You’re Satisfied)’ – B.T. Express
- ‘My Melody of Love’ – Bobby Vinton
- ‘Tin Man’ – America
- ‘Back Home Again’ – John Denver
- ‘I Can Help’ – Billy Swan
- ‘Longfellow Serenade’ – Neil Diamond
- ‘Life is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)’ – Reunion
- ‘Everlasting Love’ – Carl Carlton
- ‘Carefree Highway’ – Gordon Lightfoot
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.