Was the Apollo 11 moon landing responsible for launching one of the most obnoxious bubblegum anthems straight to the top of the charts?

Did the lack of an MTV video help a single become a band’s one and only chart-topper?

Was the first number one hit scored in America by a British rock group simply mistaken for a Christmas song?

Did a contentious presidential election help an R&B single hold onto the top spot of the Hot 100 for over two months?

In How Did This Shit Become a Number One Hit?, Cabe Eaton answers these questions and dozens more in a sharp, hilarious takedown of some of the most baffling chart-toppers in pop history. Spanning more than 60 years of US Billboard Hot 100 mayhem, this book explores how strange historical events, political moments, and cultural peculiarities collided with the music industry to create some truly head-scratching hits.

These are 50 oddities, anomalies, and absurdities that somehow reached number one—and the stories of how they managed to do it. Equal parts nostalgia trip and pop culture autopsy, this book ditches the good and dives headfirst into the bad and very ugly moments in musical fame.