Records are made to be broken, but no one ever expects them to be shattered as quickly and as viciously as Glee seems to break them. Perhaps you remember a little band called The Beatles – you know, the ones who were “bigger than Jesus?” Well, move over John, Paul, George and Ringo, because Mr. Schue and company have just bested your Billboard Hot 100 record.
I couldn’t believe it either. Don’t get me wrong, I’m stationed in front of my television at 8 p.m. every Tuesday night, patiently awaiting each new Glee episode, but seriously? They beat out The Beatles? I think the part that bothers me most is that they did it by covering hit songs. They’re essentially touting a borrowed victory. No group ever gets more hit singles than the lads from Liverpool, but I guess those days are over. In just under two years, New Directions has run up a list of 75 songs on the Billboard top 100; that’s four more than The Beatles’ record and it took them a whopping 32 years to get to that 71-song mark.
So what took the gleeks over the edge? Blame it on the Britney Spears sex-riot. Season two’s Britney-themed episode landed five Spears covers and the Glee version of Paramore’s “The Only Exception” on the charts, with the cast’s cover of “Toxic” making it all the way to #16. All that Britney did the trick, and the cast has officially bested the biggest band in history.
Don’t worry, they’ve still got a few more records to break. They’ve only bested the record for non-solo acts; they’ve still got Elvis Presley with 108 hits and James Brown with 91 hits ahead of them. Even so, I don’t think this will be the end of their hit streak. They’re still pulling in killer ratings in their Tuesday night prime time slot despite the dip during this week’s Grilled Cheesus religion-themed episode. Will someone please crank out some hits and stand in their way? Glee, I love you, but I don’t know if I can stomach a cover-based champion of the charts.
Source: MTV
