Glee Breaks Beatles Record

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

The show Glee has six new songs on the Billboard Top 100 this week, songs that were all part of last week's show.  That makes a total of 75 "singles" on the Top 100 for the show.  That's more singles than the Beatles*, who had 71.

Of course, it's not the same.  If the Beatles released all their songs as singles, instead of in album format (with two or three songs released as singles), then they would have had hundreds of songs on the Billboard Top 100.  And also:

For as many of them as have made it onto the chart, Glee's covers haven't stayed there long: they've accumulated just 105 weeks combined, whereas the Beatles' 71 singles spent 617 weeks on the chart.

Yup.  Apples and oranges.

And I want you to digest that number.  75 singles for Glee, which stay on the chart for a combined total of 105 weeks.  That means that most Glee singles are on the chart for one week only.  Whereas the average Beatle single was on the chart for almost nine weeks.

*The Beatles were a popular singing group during the 1960s.  It consisted of Paul McCartney, who is still alive, as well as John Lennon and George Harrison, both of whom are not.  And a fourth guy.  They were the most popular group of all time, if you were born before 1980.  Ask your grandparents.