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Number One with a Bullet

Posted by Bob on April 17, 2005

In Reply to: Number One with a Bullet posted by Bruce Kahl on April 17, 2005

: : I'm curious as to what the phrase "Number One with a Bullet" means.

: : I know that it is the title of a movie and maybe others? I seem to encounter this phrase often now in music - as "I'll be your Number One with a Bullet", I have no idea what that means, just curious. Help me out please.

: Just a guess.

: At one time ( and maybe still to this day ) there would be a listing in Billboard Magazine of the top 500 singles of music.

: If a particular song was quickly becoming a hit and was selling a good quantity of product the editors of Billboard would put a bullet icon in front of the listing to indicate a soon-to-be hit.

: Once a song hit #1 then it lost it's bullet having achieved the top position.

: A number one with a bullet really did not exist but it seems to mean the super best of the best.

The bullet . mark before the listing indicated that the record had moved up significantly from the previous week. From #47 to #3, for example. (I don't recall how many places you had to rise to earn the bullet.) So it was (is?) possible to be both the best selling record (#1) and have risen dramatically (with a bullet) since the last publication.

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