Avril Lavigne “Girlfriend” hit #1

Girlfriend Avril Lavigne

Writer(s): Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, Karl Sandberg (Max Martin), Avril Lavigne (see lyrics here) Released: February 27, 2007 First Charted: March 11, 2007 Peak: 11 BB, 11 DG, 11 RR, 13 A40, 2 UK, 14 CN, 16 AU, 11 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, 1.0 UK, 12.38 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.2 radio, 792.79 video, 621.18 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Avril Lavigne was born in Canada in 1984. She “was essentially the small-town Canadian version of a talent-show kid.” SG She signed with Arista Records as a teen. She released her debut album, Let Go, in 2002 and it generated three top-10 hits with “Complicated,” Sk8r Boi,” and “I’m with You.” She came along “right after the teen-pop boom of the late ‘90s, right before the MySpace emo boom of the mid ‘00s.” SG Her “bratty howl came to define a very divisive wave of major-label pop-punk” SG and although she “dressed like a Hot Topic kid, and some of her music had a bit of pop-punk pogo to it” SG she wasn’t punk. “Instead, she was a fully-formed pop star.” SG She “was deep in the major-label system before she adapted the aesthetic signifiers of early-'00s mall-punk.” SG “Girlfriend” is “an obnoxiously insidious hook-monster.” SG “There’s no nuance…It’s just one big, ridiculous chant.” SG It is “big and brash and loud…The song is all booming drums and trebly shouting, and its tiny bursts of melody are almost incidental.” SG “It’s just Avril Lavigne yelling at some dude, telling him that his girlfriend sucks and that he should date Avril Lavigne instead.” SG It “can sound like an anthem” SG but is “also a fundamentally silly song” SG and Avril “sounds like she’s having fun.” SG “It’s got hooks and sass and energy. Its lyrics are simple enough that you can probably sing along by the second time you hear it – not just with the chorus but with the entire song.” SG Avril wrote the song with Dr. Luke and Max Martin, whose resume includes hits by Kelly Clarkson (“Since U Been Gone,” “My Life Would Suck Without You”), Pink (“Who Knew,” “U + Ur Hand”), and Katy Perry (“I Kissed a Girl,” “Hot n Cold”). After “Girlfriend” became a hit, “two members of Berkeley power-poppers the Rubinoos sued…claiming that they’d plagiarized the Rubinoos’ 1979 single ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.’” SG Avril and Dr. Luke denied the charges but settled out of court. Resources: SG Stereogum (3/13/2023). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan Related Links: First posted 1/22/2025.

Alicia Keys debuted at #1 with Songs in A Minor

Songs in A Minor Alicia Keys

Released: June 5, 2001 Charted: July 14, 2001 Peak: 13 US, 16 RB, 6 UK, 2 CN, 3 AU Sales (in millions): 6.21 US, 0.9 UK, 15.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: R&B

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Piano & I Girlfriend (with Jermaine Dupri) (5/26/01, 24 UK, 73a RB) How Come You Don’t Call Me (3/23/02, 58a US, 26 UK, 28 RB) Fallin’ (5/5/01, 1 US, 3 UK, 1 RB, 24 AC, sales: 0.5 m, air: 0.6 m) Troubles Rock Wit’ U A Woman’s Worth (10/13/01, 6a US, 18 UK, 3 RB) Jane Doe Goodbye The Life Mr. Man Never Felt This Way (Interlude) Butterflyz Why Do I Feel So Sad? Caged Bird (Outro) Lovin’ U Total Running Time: 63:04

Rating: 4.124 out of 5.00 (average of 20 ratings) Quotable: “Songs in A Minor made a significant impact…catapulting the young singer/songwriter to the front of the neo-soul pack.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “She may be beautiful, but Alicia Keys is a musician first and foremost.” AZ “In retrospect, it was the idea of Alicia Keys that was as attractive as the record, since soul fans were hungering for a singer/songwriter who seemed part of the tradition without being as spacy as Macy Gray or as hippie mystic as Erykah Badu while being more reliable than Lauryn Hill.” AMG Keys had recorded much of the album in a deal with Columbia Records, but they rejected it. WK Clive Davis, formerly of Arista Records but now the label head for J Records, signed her and gave her “great independence in creating the album she wanted to release.” NRR His instincts proved correct as “Songs in A Minor made a significant impact upon its release in the summer of 2001, catapulting the young singer/songwriter to the front of the neo-soul pack.” AMG “Reviewers were quick to point out the sophistication and assurance with which the young Keys realized the sound on this album. Her unaffected vocals were capable of expressing feelings from heartbreak to new love and from righteous women’s empowerment to elegant, stylish yearning.” NRR “Critics and audiences were captivated by a 19-year-old singer whose taste and influences ran back further than her years, encompassing everything from Prince to smooth ‘70s soul, even a little Billie Holiday.” AMG She “described her influences on the album as a ‘fusion of my classical training, meshed with what I grew up listening to,’ which included the jazz from her mother’s record collection, along with the classic R&B and hip-hop that was prevalent in her New York City neighborhood.” NRR She “plants herself firmly behind the piano keys on her debut, unlike many of the booty-waggin’ junior divas who are crowding the R&B videoscape these days. Though many of the tracks on Songs in A Minor are embellished with adolescent angst, …[her] substantial, gorgeously soul-drenched alto putties the cracks between notes with astonishing ease.” AZ “She swoops and soars over the spicy, flamenco-fueled melody that opens Mr. Mann, one of the many winning tracks gathered here. And she digs deep into a remake of the beloved Prince B-side, How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore? packing more heat into her melismatic wails than most singers twice her age.” AZ She also “had style to spare – elegant, sexy style accentuated by how she never oversang, giving the music a richer feel.” AMG “Fallin’, the album’s first single, showcases Keys at her best. She wails plaintively and passionately over rolling blues chords, in the tradition of the greats that this young talent clearly wants to align herself with – Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, and Aretha Franklin.” AZ That song also demonstrates how her presentation “was rich enough to compensate for some thinness in the writing – though it was a big hit, … [it] doesn’t have much body to it – which is a testament to Keys’ skills as a musician.” AMG “And, the fact is, even though there are some slips in the writing, there aren’t many, and the whole thing remains a startling assured, successful debut that deserved its immediate acclaim and is already aging nicely.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Alicia Keys AMG Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide AZ Amazon.com review by Sylvia W. Chan (Best of 2001) NRR National Recording Registry (4/13/2022). “National Recording Registry Inducts Music from Alicia Keys, Ricky Martin, Journey and More in 2022” WK Wikipedia First posted 3/29/2008; last updated 4/20/2022.

Michael Jackson’s “The Girl Is Mine” begins his Thriller reign

The Girl Is Mine Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney

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