Idolator

One of the pleasures of following Popular, in which Tom Ewing reviews every No. 1 U.K. pop hit in order, is tracing careers-in-miniature—"tiny novels," as Greil Marcus said of Robert Christgau's 1980s Consumer Guide book. That's especially true of Ewing's ABBA write-ups. He obviously loves the group: Popular's newest entry is on "The Winner Takes It All," which Ewing gives a perfect 10, making them the only act to whom he's given that score for two separate releases—the previous 10 was for "Dancing Queen." (The other 10s so far have gone to Nancy Sinatra, the Beatles—for the double-A-side "Eleanor Rigby"/"Yellow Submarine"—Desmond Dekker, T. Rex, Kate Bush, and Blondie.) More »