My friend Ken and I decided to listen to an album every day this year. Each week is themed. At the end of each week, we rank what we listened to. To be clear, we aren’t ranking every album that fits the theme. We are only ranking what we chose to listen to during the last seven days.
This week’s theme is “peaked at 200,” meaning albums whose highest performing position on Billboard’s album chart was dead last. According to Luminate, the company behind the Billboard charts, you only need to sell around 6,000 to 8,000 copies in a week to reach number 200. Back in the past, it likely required more sales, but it was still a low enough bar that obscure releases could find their way onto the chart.
#7 K by Kula Shaker (1996)
As I’ve noted in the past, despite their being tremendous overlap in listening habits between Americans and Brits, there are also clear differences. Kula Shaker is one of those differences. Along with doing well across continental Europe, the group’s debut album K topped the charts in their home country. In America, it barely made the charts.
In one sense, K fits directly in the Britpop universe that defined the United Kingdom in the 1990s. Though it encompasses a large variety of styles, one unifying element was how groups drew heavily on music from the 1960s. Whereas some groups leant on the melodicism of The Beatles, others turned to the riffs of The Kinks. Kula Shaker was more drawn to the psychedelia of the 1960s, though.
Songs, like “Sleeping Jiva,” are solo instrumentals on the sarod, a popular Indian instrument. Others, like “Temple of Everlasting Light,” build much percussion around the tabla. Still, other songs, like “Godvinda,” are sung entirely in Sanskrit.
These sounds don’t dominate every moment of the album. You get very standard 1990s British rock fare on songs like “Knight on the Town.” But the Eastern influence is what stands out most across this record. While it works at times, sometimes it comes across as cartoonish and even fetishistic.
What else was on the chart? When K was at number 200 during the week of January 29, 1996, Garth Brooks’ collection The Hits was at number 100 and No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom was at number one.
#6 No Sign of Weakness by Burna Boy (2025)
Just as Latin music found a larger audience in the US during the 2010s, African music has begun to find chart success in the US more recently. Burna Boy might illustrate the pinnacle of that success. The Nigerian singer-songwriter has charted two albums in the top 40, with 2022’s Love; Damini making it all the way to number 14. His latest album, No Sign of Weakness, did not perform as well.
No Sign of Weakness is an easy album to listen to. The beats go down smooth. The vocals are digestible. But the album struggles because of collaborations that seem forced, the strangest of which is a duet with Mick Jagger.
I know you’re not going to turn The Rolling Stones legend down if he wants to be on your album, but you’d hope he’d at least disappear into Burna Boy’s style a bit more. Much of the track is backed by the West African rhythms that power most of the album, but then Mick Jagger’s hook is sung over a more standard rock beat. The whole thing is very confused.
What else was on the chart? When No Sign of Weakness was at number 200 during the week of July 26, 2025, Megan Moroney’s Am I Okay? was at number 100 and JACKBOYS’ JACKBOYS 2 was at number one.
#5 The Boy Named If by Elvis Costello and the Imposters (2022)
Coming a week after listening to Shel Silverstein’s similarly named Boy Named Sue and Other Country Songs, this Elvis Costello effort felt fitting for our chart-bottoming theme. The Boy Named If is Costello at his most rocking, The Imposters cooking through old-time rock and roll beats (e.g., “The Death of Magic Thinking”) and punkier fare (e.g., “Farewell, OK”). The record only seems to fall flat when the Englishman is trying to be a bit too clever with his lyrics.
What else was on the chart? When The Boy Named If was at number 200 during the week of January 22, 2022, J. Cole’s The Off-Season was at number 100 and the Encanto soundtrack was at number one.
#4 Waterloo to Anywhere by Dirty Pretty Things (2006)
Before we talk about Dirty Pretty Things, we have to talk about The Libertines. Like Kula Shaker, The Libertines were a British rock band that emerged in the 1990s whose influences mostly lay in the distant past. Unlike Kula Shaker’s obsession with psychedelia, The Libertines took cues from the garage rock movement. When they broke up in 2004, guitarist Carl Barât put together a new group: Dirty Pretty Things.
Dirty Pretty Things—like Kula Shaker and The Libertines—are another example of a group that was much more popular in the UK than the US. But their lack of success in the US didn’t mean that the style of music they were making wasn’t popular in the US. It was. And it was being made to great effect by The Strokes. So, if you like the rough-and-tumble rock and rock and roll of The Strokes, then you will probably enjoy Dirty Pretty Things debut, Waterloo to Anywhere.
What else was on the chart? When Waterloo to Anywhere was at number 200 during the week of August 23, 2006, the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest soundtrack was at number 100 and Rick Ross’s Port of Miami was at number one.
#3 A Possible Projection of the Future / Childhood’s End by Al Kooper (1972)
The title and release date of this record make it feel like you are about to listen to some prog-based, Genesis-adjacent concept record. As someone who doesn’t like prog-based, Genesis-adjacent concept records, I’m happy to report that that wasn’t the case.
Al Kooper originally conceived A Possible Projection of the Future / Childhood’s End as a concept-like record with a storyline. So, my gut reaction to the title was on point. But he abandoned that and largely crafted a soulful album with covers scattered throughout (e.g., “The Man in Me,” “The Monkey Time,” “Swept for You Baby”).
I loved this record. I loved every inch of it. From the decrepit album cover to the playful blues of “Let Your Love Shine” and the jaunty intensity of “Love Trap,” this was my favorite album of the week. So, why is it ranked at number three? Ken hated it! He said Mr. Kooper was lucky his album made it to number 200.
What else was on the chart? When A Possible Projection of the Future / Childhood’s End was at number 200 during the week of May 3, 1972, The Mothers’ Just Another Band from L.A. was at number 100 and Roberta Flack’s First Take was at number one.
#2 Roger Miller 1970 by Roger Miller (1970)
If you’re a regular reader of this newsletter, you’ll know that in each Thursday edition, I recommend a new song and an old song. In the first edition in October 2022, the new song I recommended was “Moss” by LKFFCT. The old song was “Engine Engine #9” by Roger Miller.
I’m glad that I kicked off this newsletter of with a Roger Miller recommendation. I love Roger Miller. He’s the rare artist whose voice could capture the simplicity of a nursery rhyme (e.g., “Chug-a-Lug”) or the heart-aching rhythms of the modern world (e.g., “Where Have All the Average People Gone”). After listening to his 1970 release, I love him all the same.
Roger Miller 1970 is a hodgepodge of covers, many of which were written by Dennis Linde. And you get the same balance of playfulness (e.g., “The Tom Green County Fair”) and depth (e.g., “Jody and the Kid”) that makes the best Roger Miller songs so memorable.
What else was on the chart? When Roger Miller 1970 was at number 200 during the week of February 11, 1970, Billy Joe Royal’s Cherry Park Hill was at number 100 and Led Zeppelin’s Led Zeppelin II was at number one.
#1 Tell the Truth by Otis Redding (1970)
When I was growing up, the one artist gone too soon that I wished I could bring back was Jimi Hendrix. I would have loved to see what the guitar god could have done with drum machines and synthesizers and hip-hop beats. But in my age, I think I’d bring back someone different: Otis Redding.
Otis Redding died tragically in a plane crash at 26-years-old. His sole chart-topper, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” didn’t get to number one until after his death. Other posthumous releases have trickled out since then. Tell the Truth is one of those releases.
Largely culled from sessions in 1967, Tell the Truth captures Redding was at the top of his powers. What’s most astounding about this record is not just how good it sounds, but how in control Redding is.
It’s hard to overstate how much energy pours out of Otis Redding’s voice. For your average singer, that energy would quickly devolve into chaos. But Otis Redding is a military general, his band falling in line behind his commanding presence.
What else was on the chart? When Tell the Truth was at number 200 during the week of August 26, 1970, The 5th Dimension’s The Age of Aquarius was at number 100 and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Cosmo’s Factory was at number one.
"But in my age, I think I’d bring back someone different: Otis Redding."
Amen.
wow much thanks Al Kooper BSnT then had to leave Got a pic of him a little high in the village Great artist Still enjoy his music!!!