58. Top Pop Singles, 1955-2006 (Joel Whitburn/Billboard) – Back in an earlier entry of the bookshelf I called the 1992 edition of The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (Whitburn) my “most consulted book of all-time.” Pretty sure I wasn’t exaggerating, but this latest Whitburn opus, just received through the mail, is bound to replace it. In truth, it’s the Billboard book I’ve long craved: artist and song listings of every Top 100 chart entry, 1,176 pages of sheer geek-overload useless-data freakout.

Stupid fact of the day I’ve already learned: Between 1955 and 2006, there have been eight charted songs with “number one” in the title: “#1” (Nelly); “Number One” (Pharrell w/Kanye West); “Number One” (Eloise Laws); “#1 Crush” (Garbage); “#1 Deejay” (Goody Goody); “Number One Man” (Bruce Channel); “Number One Spot” (Ludacris); “Number One Street” (Bob Corley). Of these, only one (Nelly) has actually made it to #1. Also, did you know that John Lennon’s “#9 Dream” made it as high as — duh — number nine?

See what I mean?