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In The Number Ones, I\u2019m reviewing each single #1 single within the historical past of the<\/em> Billboard Hot 100, beginning with the chart\u2019s starting, in 1958, and dealing my method up into the current.<\/em><\/p>\n By rights, Gwen Stefani ought to\u2019ve had a #1 hit lengthy earlier than she lastly did. In 1996, Stefani\u2019s band No Doubt launched \u201cDon\u2019t Speak,\u201d a heart-crushed ballad about Stefani\u2019s breakup with No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal, because the third single from the band\u2019s album Tragic Kingdom<\/a><\/em>. No Doubt had been already getting massive earlier than \u201cDon\u2019t Speak,\u201d however that tune turned them right into a runaway boulder. <\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t Speak\u201d topped the Billboard<\/em> airplay chart for an astonishing 16 weeks, and it\u2019s the principle motive that Tragic Kingdom<\/em> finally went diamond. But Interscope, No Doubt\u2019s label, by no means launched \u201cDon\u2019t Speak\u201d as a industrial single. Because of Billboard<\/em>\u2018s rules about what counted as a single, \u201cDon\u2019t Speak\u201d by no means charted on the Hot 100, the place it virtually actually would\u2019ve reached #1. Today, \u201cDon\u2019t Speak\u201d stands as Exhibit A for anybody who needs to elucidate how the Billboard<\/em> Hot 100 was simply totally fucked within the \u201990s, earlier than the journal modified its guidelines. (The tune would\u2019ve been a 7.)<\/p>\n But Gwen Stefani didn\u2019t fade away after \u201cDon\u2019t Speak.\u201d Nine years later, Stefani lastly scored her solely #1 hit on the Hot 100. This time, she used altering Billboard<\/em> guidelines to her benefit. In February of 2005, Billboard<\/em> instituted a brand new rule: Legal digital downloads would depend as gross sales. The iTunes Music Store had develop into an actual drive within the music enterprise. People had been much less and fewer prone to exit and purchase CDs, however they may pay 99 cents to get a catchy new tune on their iPods. At the time, the radio was totally dominated by rap and R&B, however because of these 99-cent downloads, Gwen Stefani managed to slip into #1 with a berserk cheerleader-chant earworm about eager to combat Courtney Love. The shit actually was bananas.<\/p>\n By the time she landed her one chart-topper, Gwen Stefani was 35 years previous, and she or he\u2019d been performing for half her life. Stefani was born in Fullerton, California, and she or he grew up middle-class in suburban Anaheim. (The Archies\u2019 \u201cSugar, Sugar<\/a>\u201d was the #1 tune in America when Stefani was born, which feels by some means applicable.) In 1986, when Stefani was nonetheless in highschool, her older brother Eric began a vibrant, frantic, extraordinarily Californian ska band known as No Doubt, and he recruited his little sister as a backup singer. Eric Stefani performed keyboards, and a man named John Spence was the lead singer.<\/p>\n For just a few years, No Doubt performed backyards and, finally, golf equipment. Gwen began courting bassist Tony Kanal, they usually stayed collectively for years. A 12 months after the band began, John Spence died by suicide. Another man got here in as lead singer, however when he left, Gwen turned No Doubt\u2019s frontwoman. No Doubt signed with Interscope in 1990, shortly after the label got here into existence, they usually launched their self-titled debut two years later. It flopped.<\/p>\n After No Doubt\u2019s album tanked, Eric Stefani left the band to deal with his full-time job as an animator on The Simpsons<\/em>. Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal broke up. No Doubt may\u2019ve simply ended then, however Interscope paired the band up with producer Matthew Wilder, who helped them discover a brighter and cleaner sound. (Wilder\u2019s highest-charting single, 1983\u2019s \u201cBreak My Stride<\/a>,\u201d peaked at #5. It\u2019s a 4.) By the time No Doubt launched the Wilder-produced Tragic Kingdom<\/em> in 1995, just a few traces of the previous wacky ska band remained. The band had develop into an enormous, shimmery pop machine, and their timing was good.<\/p>\n Tragic Kingdom<\/em> arrived on the exact second that dour, depressive alt-rock wore out its welcome. No Doubt had been in rotation on the identical radio stations because the grunge bands \u2014 I noticed them play a supremely enjoyable set at an alt-rock radio station fest in 1996 \u2014 however they stood out. The album\u2019s lead single, the pop-feminist anthem \u201cJust A Girl,\u201d crossed over to pop radio and peaked at #23. I favored that tune, and I beloved<\/em> the follow-up \u201cSpiderwebs,\u201d which didn\u2019t make the Hot 100 as a result of it by no means acquired a correct single launch. Then got here \u201cDon\u2019t Speak,\u201d and it was over<\/em>. No Doubt turned insanely big.<\/p>\n After Tragic Kingdom<\/em>, No Doubt spent just a few years touring closely and dropping stray songs on soundtracks and compilations. Gwen Stefani began courting Gavin Rossdale, the Bush frontman with the cheekbones like knives, they usually acquired married in 2002. (Bush\u2019s highest-charting Hot 100 single, 1995\u2019s \u201cGlycerine<\/a>,\u201d peaked at #28.) In 2000, No Doubt lastly got here out with the follow-up album Return Of Saturn<\/a><\/em>, which tried to go extra explicitly new wave and which totally tanked. The album went platinum, a distinction that most likely would\u2019ve thrilled the band in the event that they hadn\u2019t simply offered ten occasions as many copies of Tragic Kingdom<\/em>. \u201cSimple Kind Of Life<\/a>,\u201d the album\u2019s greatest hit, peaked at #38.<\/p>\n No Doubt may\u2019ve been in hassle if not for Gwen Stefani\u2019s work exterior the band. In 2000, the identical 12 months as Return Of Saturn<\/em>, Stefani sang on a the only model of the techno producer Moby\u2019s muttery, dramatic dance-rock jam \u201cSouth Side,\u201d which turned an surprising hit. (\u201cSouth Side\u201d peaked at #14 on the Hot 100, and it\u2019s nonetheless Moby\u2019s highest-charting single.) A 12 months later, Interscope boss Jimmy Iovine pulled some strings, and Stefani sang on Eve\u2019s large Dr. Dre-produced hit \u201cLet Me Blow Ya Mind.\u201d Stefani won’t have been the obvious hook-singer for an enormous rap single, however the mixture by some means labored, and \u201cLet Me Blow Ya Mind\u201d made all of it the best way to #2. (It\u2019s a 6.) <\/p>\n \u201cLet Me Blow Ya Mind\u201d gave No Doubt some much-needed industrial momentum. It may\u2019ve given them some confidence, too. On their 2001 album Rock Steady<\/a><\/em>, No Doubt left alt-rock behind utterly, embracing dancehall reggae and electro-pop as an alternative. Rock Steady<\/em> went double platinum, and the band made it into the highest 10 with two singles, each of which had been co-produced by reggae greats Sly & Robbie and each of which paired No Doubt with dancehall heroes. The cartoonish bop \u201cHey Baby<\/a>,\u201d with Bounty Killer, peaked at #5, whereas the slow-winding love-ballad \u201cUnderneath It All<\/a>,\u201d with Lady Saw, made it to #3. (\u201cHey Baby\u201d is a 7, and \u201cUnderneath It All\u201d is an 8.) Rock Steady<\/em> additionally had the pulsing, panting membership jam \u201cHella Good,\u201d a #13 hit. No Doubt co-produced that tune with Nellee Hooper, however Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal co-wrote it with Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, the wildly inventive rap producers often called the Neptunes.<\/p>\n In 2003, No Doubt launched a greatest-hits album, which labored as a pleasant little punctuation on their comeback. That assortment additionally included what now stands as No Doubt\u2019s closing top-10 hit: a canopy of Talk Talk\u2019s 1984 new wave jam \u201cIt\u2019s My Life<\/a>.\u201d (No Doubt\u2019s cowl peaked at #10. It\u2019s a 6. Talk Talk\u2019s far-superior unique solely made it to #31, and it\u2019s that band\u2019s highest-charting Hot 100 single.) No Doubt didn\u2019t break up after that greatest-hits album got here out, however Gwen Stefani did go solo.<\/p>\n In 2004, Gwen Stefani performed Jean Harlow in Martin Scorsese\u2019s The Aviator<\/em>, a reasonably auspicious movie debut that hasn\u2019t led to a lot of an appearing profession. (Other than assorted cameos, Stefani\u2019s solely different actual appearing efficiency is a voice position in Trolls<\/em>.) That similar 12 months, Stefani additionally made a solo album. Despite her success singing on different individuals\u2019s hits, Stefani was nervous in regards to the thought of going solo. She had massive concepts about centrist pop music, about bringing again the intense and dizzy \u201980s sounds that she\u2019d beloved in highschool, however she nonetheless considered herself as a part of a band. Stefani thought of recording just a few songs on her personal, or perhaps placing out a dance document beneath a pseudonym, however Jimmy Iovine satisfied her that she ought to make an actual run at solo stardom. <\/p>\n Interscope actually strapped the rocket to Gwen Stefani. She recorded her 2004 solo debut Love Angel Music Baby<\/em> with an all-star group of collaborators: Dallas Austin, Linda Perry, New Order, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Andr\u00e9 3000, her bandmate Tony Kanal. At a time when half of the critically adored indie buzz bands had been biting Joy Division, Gwen Stefani acquired the precise Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook to play on her document. Stefani\u2019s first actual solo single was not an enormous hit. The hammering dance observe \u201cWhat Are You Waiting For?\u201d is particularly all in regards to the nervousness of beginning a solo profession, and it peaked at #47. Stefani made a a lot greater affect along with her second single. On \u201cRich Girl,\u201d Stefani reunited with Eve and Dr. Dre to flip a Fiddler On The Roof<\/em> quantity into gleaming dancehall-pop, and the tune peaked at #7. (It\u2019s an 8.) But the third single from Love Angel Music Baby<\/em> was the one which turned inescapable. <\/p>\n \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d was a late addition to Love Angel Music Baby<\/em>, and Gwen Stefani recorded it with the Neptunes, her previous \u201cHella Good\u201d collaborators. Stefani all the time acquired together with Pharrell Williams; years later, she informed Billboard<\/em><\/a>, \u201cWe were so similar: we love Japanese culture and both have clothing lines.\u201d (Stefani\u2019s complete Harajuku fixation has aged about in addition to the bindi that she used to put on in the course of the Tragic Kingdom<\/em> days.) An early songwriting session with the Neptunes hadn\u2019t yielded something, however when Stefani heard the \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d beat, she was virtually upset that Pharrell hadn\u2019t performed her the observe earlier.<\/p>\n \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d is a tune with plenty of backstory. Last 12 months, Pharrell went on supermodel Naomi Campbell\u2019s YouTube discuss present<\/a> and informed Campbell that she\u2019d impressed the tune\u2019s title: \u201cThat chorus came from a conversation where you were telling somebody you ain\u2019t no hollaback girl because of a song we had at the time with Fabolous called \u2018Holla Back.\u2019 Somebody was trying to speak to you or whatever, and you were like, \u2018I\u2019m sorry, I have a name. I ain\u2019t no hollaback girl.\u2019 I thought that was so amazing, and it ended up becoming the chorus to the song.\u201d Fabolous\u2019 Neptunes-produced single \u201cYoung\u2019n (Holla Back)\u201d peaked at #33 in 2002, and it\u2019s such a fucking banger.<\/p>\n But Gwen Stefani wasn\u2019t occupied with Naomi Campbell when she was engaged on \u201cHollaback Girl.\u201d She had another person in thoughts. In 2004, Hole frontwoman Courtney Love had introduced up Stefani\u2019s identify in a Seventeen<\/em> interview<\/a>. (Hole\u2019s highest charting single, the 1994 basic \u201cDoll Parts,\u201d peaked at #58.) Courtney Love interviews are nice as a result of she talks shit and names names. In that Seventeen<\/em> interview, Love didn\u2019t even say something that dangerous about Stefani. Here\u2019s the quote:<\/p>\n Being well-known is rather like being in highschool. But I\u2019m not occupied with being the cheerleader. I\u2019m not occupied with being Gwen Stefani. She\u2019s the cheerleader, and I\u2019m out within the smoker shed\u2026. So in case you\u2019re in highschool and the favored women are saying you slept with so-and-so \u2014 and you probably did, or perhaps you simply made out with that man, and perhaps it was a mistake. Either method, don\u2019t allow them to dictate to you that you simply\u2019re a slut. You\u2019re 17; it\u2019s your sexuality.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n That doesn\u2019t appear too damning, does it? From the place I\u2019m sitting, it doesn\u2019t come off as Gwen Stefani \u201cbeing bullied\u201d by Courtney Love, which was how Stefani described it<\/a> as not too long ago as 2019. But there\u2019s extra context there. Courtney Love later informed Howard Stern<\/a> that she was sleeping with Gavin Rossdale when he and Stefani had been collectively. Suddenly, Gwen Stefani being pissed at Courtney Love makes a complete lot extra sense. In any case, Stefani, who had by no means been a literal cheerleader, determined to flip that cheerleader line, proudly owning it and capturing proper again at Love.<\/p>\n Gwen Stefani was a totally grown grownup when she made \u201cHollaback Girl,\u201d however she tailored the persona of a high-school child confronting one other high-school child: \u201cI heard that you were talking shit and you didn\u2019t think that I would hear it.\u201d On the second verse, Stefani straight-up challenges Courtney Love (or whoever) to a fistfight: \u201cThat\u2019s right, dude, meet me at the bleachers\/ No principals, no student-teachers\/ Both of us wanna be the winner, but there can only be one.\u201d Stefani imagines the tip of the combat, too, singing a little bit of Queen\u2019s \u201cAnother One Bites The Dust<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n Stefani additionally says that oooh, that is her shit, and she or he spells the phrase \u201cbananas\u201d a number of occasions, which doesn\u2019t actually have something to do with that fictional rock-star bleacher combat. Maybe that\u2019s why \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d finally comes off as much less of a tune and extra of a group of catchphrases. I’ve to say: I do not<\/em> like \u201cHollaback Girl.\u201d I really feel like I ought to<\/em> like \u201cHollaback Girl.\u201d I like Gwen Stefani. I just like the Neptunes. I like massive, brash, loud pop songs. I\u2019m not even mad at cheerleader chants in tune type; Toni Basil\u2019s \u201cMickey<\/a>,\u201d a #1 hit constructed from most of the similar substances as \u201cHollaback Girl,\u201d slaps arduous. But \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d felt like an lively irritant \u2014 like Stefani was attempting<\/em> to bother me. It was so grating and but so omnipresent.<\/p>\n At least in concept, the Neptunes\u2019 \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d beat imitates the sound of funky Southern HBCU marching bands, and that sound animated plenty of the most effective rap and R&B hits of the mid-\u201900s. But the \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d beat is simply too skinny and anemic to evoke that model. The drums punch with actual drive, however Gwen Stefani does extra shouting than singing, and she or he does that singing in an exaggerated valley-girl Betty Boop accent. There\u2019s not a lot sweetener in there to stability out the banging and the yelling. We get just a few horn honks, a shred of acoustic guitar, a pillowy synth-tone on the hook. At one level, there\u2019s a whistle<\/em>, which feels virtually assaultive. This shit is calamitous.<\/p>\n \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d is catchy<\/em>, but it surely\u2019s the incorrect form of catchy \u2014 the ruin-your-day form. It\u2019s not the form of factor that I need<\/em> caught in my head. If I\u2019m in a nasty temper and I hear even three seconds of \u201cHollaback Girl,\u201d the dangerous temper will instantly worsen. I suppose it\u2019s spectacular {that a} tune as bizarre and messy and disruptive as \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d may attain #1, but it surely principally simply makes me want that Jimmy Iovine had hooked Gwen Stefani up with Max Martin as an alternative of all the large names who labored on her solo album. She may\u2019ve hit that massive, vibrant \u201980s pop sound a lot extra cleanly.<\/p>\n Say this for \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d: People wished<\/em> to listen to it. The tune didn\u2019t attain #1 due to airplay. Instead, it topped the Hot 100 as a result of a complete lot of individuals had been shelling out their hard-earned 99 cents for the digital single. The week that \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d topped the Hot 100, Billboard<\/em> spelled it out<\/a>: \u201cDiscounting American Idol<\/em> sales-driven #1s by finalists Kelly Clarkson<\/a>, Clay Aiken<\/a>, and Fantasia<\/a>, \u201cHollaback\u201d is the primary tune to prime the Hot 100 with out a big base of R&B\/hip-hop airplay since Nickelback\u2019s \u201cHow You Remind Me<\/a>\u201d in December 2001.\u201d<\/p>\n You know what that<\/em> means, proper? Gwen Stefani was the primary white singer with a #1 hit in nicely over a 12 months \u2014 the primary pop artist to achieve a very long time with out explicitly courting a Black viewers. To be truthful, Gwen Stefani did make \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d with the Neptunes, who had been contemporary off of \u201cDrop It Like It\u2019s Hot<\/a>\u201d and who owned rap radio on the time. And \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d finally did attain #8 on the R&B chart. Still, the golden age of R&B singers dominating the charts was beginning to attain its finish.<\/p>\n The \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d video undoubtedly helped the tune join. A 12 months after directing Chow Yun-Fat in Bulletproof Monk<\/em>, Paul Hunter constructed a complete high-school dreamworld for Gwen Stefani and her complete Harajuku Girls dance crew. In that video, Gwen Stefani is a 35-year-old girl enjoying a high-school woman, and she or he\u2019s acquired Japanese mascots along with her. That\u2019s lots. Stefani seems superb<\/em> \u2014 virtually like she may plausibly be<\/em> a high-school child \u2014 however the clip radiates an intense attention-hunger that I discover fairly off-putting. On the opposite hand, it\u2019s cheerful and colourful, and I just like the bit the place Stefani leads a marching band via a grocery store and throws cereal in every single place. That\u2019s enjoyable.<\/p>\n Gwen Stefani adopted \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d with a a lot much less obnoxious tune: \u201cCool,\u201d a brand new wave ballad that she co-wrote with Dallas Austin. That one peaked at #13, and Love Angel Music Baby<\/em> finally went quintuple platinum. In 2006, Stefani had her first baby and launched her second solo album. She by some means managed to select a single that was much more irritating than \u201cHollaback Girl.\u201d Stefani co-write \u201cWind It Up\u201d with Akon, an artist who will seem on this column a shocking variety of occasions. The tune is constructed round fucking yodeling<\/em>. I\u2019m listening to \u201cWind It Up\u201d as I sort this, and I really feel like I\u2019m citing some long-buried trauma. This tune mustn’t exist. (\u201cWind It Up\u201d peaked at #6. It\u2019s a 1.)<\/p>\n Stefani adopted \u201cWind It Up\u201d with one other Akon collab. \u201cThe Sweetest Escape,\u201d the album\u2019s title observe, undoubtedly has some grating bits \u2014 \u201cWooo<\/em>-ooo! Eeeee<\/em>-yooo!\u201d \u2014 but it surely\u2019s at the least a purposeful pop tune, and it peaked at #2. (It\u2019s a 5.) As of proper now, \u201cThe Sweetest Escape\u201d is Gwen Stefani\u2019s most up-to-date top-10 hit. Stefani didn\u2019t make one other solo album for a decade. Instead, she had extra children and finally returned to No Doubt for 2012\u2019s Push And Shove<\/em>. \u201cSettle Down,\u201d that album\u2019s greatest hit, peaked at #34, and No Doubt have been inactive ever since.<\/p>\n In 2014, Gwen Stefani turned one of many coaches on the singing-competition present The Voice<\/em>, which helped preserve her related. Two years later, she divorced Gavin Rossdale and launched the breakup album This Is What The Truth Feels Like<\/em>. By that point, Stefani was courting the nation star Blake Shelton, one other mentor on The Voice<\/em>. (Shelton\u2019s highest-charting Hot 100 single, the 2013 Pistol Annies collab \u201cBoys \u2018Round Here<\/a>,\u201d peaked at #12.) Stefani and Shelton acquired married final 12 months, they usually additionally acquired to #18 with the 2020 duet \u201cNobody But You.\u201d Pretty good tune! <\/p>\n Gwen Stefani was nonetheless in a position to do some critical chart numbers 25 years after No Doubt first landed on the Hot 100 with \u201cJust A Girl\u201d \u2014 a deeply spectacular span. And who is aware of? Maybe she\u2019s not performed making hits. Stefani stays galactically well-known \u2014 large enough to do Vegas residencies and keep her singing-show presence. She\u2019s undoubtedly<\/em> the most important star that got here out of \u201990s third-wave ska. She\u2019s all the time come off like a cool particular person, and I\u2019m blissful for her success, even when her sole #1 hit is a horrible fucking tune.<\/p>\n GRADE:<\/strong> 2\/10<\/p>\n BONUS BEATS:<\/strong> Here\u2019s Sebastian Bach protecting \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d on a 2006 episode of Gilmore Girls<\/em>:<\/p>\n (Skid Row\u2019s highest-charting single, 1989\u2019s \u201c18 And Life<\/a>,\u201d peaked at #4. It\u2019s an 8.)<\/p>\n BONUS BONUS BEATS:<\/strong> Here\u2019s the scene from the 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles<\/em> film the place the child Turtles dance to \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d:<\/p>\n BONUS BONUS BONUS BEATS:<\/strong> Avril Lavigne\u2019s 2019 Nicki Minaj collab \u201cDumb Blonde\u201d doesn\u2019t formally pattern or interpolate \u201cHollaback Girl,\u201d however you might be forgiven for pondering in any other case. If \u201cDumb Blonde\u201d had been a much bigger hit, I really feel like Gwen Stefani and the Neptunes would most likely get retroactive songwriting credit. Listen for your self:<\/p>\n (\u201cDumb Blonde\u201d peaked at #92. Avril Lavigne and Nicki Minaj will each seem on this column finally.)<\/p>\n BONUS BONUS BONUS BONUS BEATS:<\/strong> On Dua Lipa\u2019s 2020 remix album Club Future Nostalgia<\/em>, the Blessed Madonna reworked the observe \u201cHallucinate<\/a>\u201d and used a \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d pattern. After Dua Lipa\u2019s individuals approached Stefani to clear that pattern, Stefani ended up showing on the album, contributing vocals to Mark Ronson\u2019s remix<\/a> of \u201cPhysical<\/a>.\u201d Here\u2019s the Blessed Madonna\u2019s \u201cHallucinate\u201d remix:<\/p>\n (\u201cPhysical\u201d peaked at #60. Dua Lipa\u2019s two highest-charting singles, 2019\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Start Now<\/a>\u201d and 2020\u2019s \u201cLevitating<\/a>,\u201d each peaked at #2. \u201cDon\u2019t Start Now\u201d is a 9, and \u201cLevitating\u201d is an 8. Mark Ronson will finally seem on this column.)<\/p>\n BONUS BONUS BONUS BONUS BONUS BEATS:<\/strong> Here\u2019s former SOB x RBE member DaBoii\u2019s video for his 2022 observe \u201cBananas,\u201d which is constructed on a \u201cHollaback Girl\u201d pattern:<\/p>\n THE NUMBER TWOS:<\/strong> Ciara and Ludacris\u2019 slow-motion Atlanta-pride anthem \u201cOh\u201d peaked at #2 behind \u201cHollaback Girl.\u201d It\u2019s a 9.<\/p>\n The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal The History Of Pop Music<\/em> is out now by way of Hachette Books. This e book is bananas. Buy it right here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n