The A.V. Club - This Was Pop

Music: This Was Pop: Country Edition: Feb. 4, 2012

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:02:00 -0600

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every month in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This week, they take a look at the country singles chart for Feb. 4, 2011. Chris Young, “You” (No. 2) Genevieve: We rag on male country singers a lot in this column for being schmaltzy and by-the-numbers, so it feels a little hypocritical to admit that I like “You,” given its schmaltzy by-the-numbers-ness. But “You” is saved by its simplicity and brevity: A midtempo ...

Music: This Was Pop: January 7, 2012

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:01:00 -0600

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every month in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This week, they take a look at the Hot 100 chart for Jan. 7, 2012. Flo Rida, “Good Feeling” (No. 6) Steven: According to my friend and A.V. Club contributor Evan Rytlewski, listening to a new single from mercenary pop-rapper Flo Rida tells you everything you need to know about the current state of lowest-common-denominator Hot 100 trends. So it makes sense for ...

Music: This Was Pop: Holiday edition

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

This month, A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden take a break from exploring the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Billboard charts to sample some recent holiday songs. Michael Buble, “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas” Steven: Every year during the holidays, GK and I like to take a break from the pop charts and survey recent Christmas releases. The most commercially successful of 2011’s offerings is Michael Buble’s Christmas, which recently hit No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart. Listening to “It’s Beginning To Look Like Christmas” it ...

Music: This Was Pop: October 29, 2011

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0500

1. Gym Class Heroes featuring Adam Levine, “Stereo Hearts” (No. 5) Steven: Gym Class Heroes is a D-grade hip-hop group from New York that has scraped by for years by associating with various members of Fall Out Boy and rounding out the bill at that annual cattle call of misspent youth otherwise known as the Warped Tour. Frontman Travie McCoy struck out as a solo artist in 2010 with the ridiculous Bruno Mars-assisted single “Billionaire,” but he’s back with the Heroes on the forthcoming album The Papercut Chronicles II. “Stereo Hearts” is the first single and, well, at least ...

Music: This Was Pop: Oct. 1, 2011

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0500

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every month in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This week, they take a look at the Hot 100 chart for Oct. 1, 2011. Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera, “Moves Like Jagger” (No. 1) Steven: After taking a few months off from the Hot 100, we’re back, and it’s like we never left. Similar to how Ke$ha name-checked the venerable leader of The Rolling Stones (and current member of the ...

Music: This Was Pop: Week Of August 27, 2011

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:00:00 -0500

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every month in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This week, they take a look at the country songs chart for August 27, 2011. Dierks Bentley, “Am I The Only One” (No. 2) Steven: GK and I had so much fun exploring the nation’s biggest rock songs back in July that we decided to extend our journey outside the Hot 100 and investigate the country chart this month. Dierks Bentley’s “Am ...

Music: This Was Pop: July 30, 2011

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0500

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every two weeks in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This week, they take a look at the rock songs chart for July 30, 2011. Foo Fighters, “Walk” (No. 1) Steven: We don’t write much about the devil’s music in This Was Pop, so this month GK and I decided to draw exclusively from the Billboard rock chart. And, unsurprisingly, it’s topped by Foo Fighters. Actually, the top two songs ...

Music: This Was Pop: Week of July 2, 2011

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:01:00 -0500

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every month in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This month, they take a look at the Hot 100 chart for July 2, 2011. “Give Me Everything,” Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, AfroJack & Nayer (No. 2) Genevieve: As far as ads for Kodak go, this song is catchier than most; but as a pop song, it’s pretty unremarkable, featuring that same synth line that characterizes half of the songs currently soundtracking dance clubs (such ...

Music: This Was Pop: Week of May 28, 2011

Fri, 27 May 2011 00:01:00 -0500

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every month in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This month, they take a look at the Hot 100 chart for May 28, 2011. Lady Gaga, “The Edge Of Glory” (No. 3) Genevieve: Steven, we’ve both been a little underwhelmed with the singles off of Born This Way—though I’ve come around in a big way on the title track—but I suspect that the over-the-top ’80s anthem “The Edge Of ...

Music: This Was Pop: Week of April 30, 2011

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0500

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every month in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This month, they take a look at the Hot 100 chart for April 30, 2011. Jeremih featuring 50 Cent, “Down On Me” (No. 4) Genevieve: 50 Cent recently said that he saved “Birthday Sex” crooner Jeremih’s career with his verse on “Down On Me,” though his appearance in a viral video associated with the song probably has more to do with its success ...

Music: This Was Pop: Week of March 26, 2011

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:00:00 -0500

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every month in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This month, they take a look at the Hot 100 chart for March 26, 2011. “E.T.” Katy Perry featuring Kanye West (No. 3) Genevieve: How many writers does it take to pen a second-tier Katy Perry single? In the case of “E.T.,” four, or maybe five if you count Kanye West’s puzzling guest verses. It could be a case of too ...

Music: This Was Pop: Week of Feb. 26, 2011

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0600

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every month in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This month, they take a look at the Hot 100 chart for Feb. 26, 2011. Lady Gaga, “Born This Way” (No. 1) Genevieve: Okay, let’s get this out of the way: “Born This Way” sounds like “Express Yourself.” Pretty much everyone has made this comparison (rightly so), and even Gaga herself has addressed the similarity, saying she’s heard from Madonna’s people ...

Music: This Was Pop: Week of Jan. 29, 2011

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0600

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every month in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This month, they take a look at the Hot 100 chart for Jan. 29, 2011. Britney Spears, “Hold It Against Me” (No. 1) Genevieve: Last year was only the second year since 1998 that didn’t see a new Britney Spears radio single, and apparently that’s long enough for people to call “Hold It Against Me” a “comeback” single. What she’s coming ...

Features: This Was Pop: Week of Jan. 8, 2011

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0600

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every two weeks in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This week, they take a look at the Hot 100 chart for Jan. 8, 2011. Enrique Iglesias, “Tonight (I’m Loving You)” (No. 7) Steven: Hey Genevieve, remember way back in the mid-2010s when a nation loved and laughed to Cee-Lo Green’s “Fuck You”? I wonder if people would’ve felt differently about that song had they known that it indirectly paved ...

Music: This Was Pop: Week of Dec. 9, 2010

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0600

Instead of delving into the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week, A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden get into the holiday spirit by listening to some new Christmas songs released in 2010, and placed odds on the chances of them returning on 2011. 1. Mariah Carey, “Oh Santa!” Genevieve: Mariah Carey is trying to repeat the success of 1994’s multi-platinum Merry Christmas with this year’s Merry Christmas II You, but “Oh Santa!” is no “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” Carey already has a bona fide modern holiday classic under her Santa belt with ...

Music: This Was Pop: Week of Nov. 13, 2010

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0600

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every two weeks in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This week, they take a look at the Hot 100 chart for Nov. 13, 2010. Ke$ha, “We R Who We R” (No. 1) Steven: Do I dare utter the name of the brazenly debaucherous, brilliantly stupid paragon of bag-lady stylishness that once threatened to tear our happy little This Was Pop family apart? Well, Ke$ha does have the No. 1 single ...

Music: This Was Pop: Week of Oct. 30, 2010

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 12:15:00 -0500

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every two weeks in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This week, they take a look at the Hot 100 chart for Oct. 30, 2010. 1. Nelly, “Just A Dream” (No. 3) Steven: It’s been a long time since one of the most reliable pop-rappers of the early ’00s had a single as successful as “Just A Dream,” which has brought Nelly back to the upper reaches of the Billboard singles chart ...

Music: This Was Pop: October 16, 2010

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:01:00 -0500

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every two weeks in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This week, they take a look at the Hot 100 chart for October 16, 2010. Bruno Mars, “Just The Way You Are” (No. 1) Genevieve: Bruno Mars sang the hooks on two of this year’s biggest pop singles (B.o.B’s “Nothin’ On You” and Travie McCoy’s “Billionaire”), and now he looks to have one of his own with “Just ...

Music: This Was Pop: Week of Oct. 9, 2010

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0500

A.V. Club writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden have decided to explore the Billboard charts every two weeks in search of the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary pop music in all its forms. This week they take a look at the Hot 100 chart for Oct. 9, 2010. 1. Eminem featuring Rihanna, “Love The Way You Lie” (Hot 100 No. 3) Genevieve: I’m sure I’m not the first person to point out how weird it is to have Rihanna sing the chorus on “Love The Way You Lie,” Eminem’s paean to the agony ...

Music: This Was Pop: This Was Pop: December 2007

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:10:39 -0600

Like The Ravyns once sang, I was raised on the radio. But I haven't been a regular listener for many years. By missing the radio for so long I feel like I've been missing an important piece of the present. So every month I download the Top 20 songs from the latest Billboard Hot 100, and grade them, A.V. Club style. This week I'm looking at (the already out-of-date) January 5, 2008 chart. 20. Kanye West, "Stronger" Jesus, this song has hung around forever. Back when I first downloaded it, iTunes only charged me 10 cents ...