Ten years ago this month—Nov. 3, 1998, to be exact—Jive Records released Britney Spears’ debut single “Baby One More Time” (b/w “Autumn Goodbye”) in CD and 12-inch vinyl configurations. Metal Mike Saunders—the most entertaining teen-pop critic of this decade if not human history, not to mention a Certified Public Accountant, not to mention the former singer of L.A.’s greatest early ‘80s punk band the Angry Samoans—had already purchased his copy of the song on promo cassingle two months earlier.
The album came out in January 1999, and by March (as is clear in this 5,000-word Village Voice diary, edited by yours truly), Metal Mike was predicting a multiplatinum long-haul career consisting of 20% music, 50% TV, “and—God help us all—30% s-e-x.” (“The game is over. Set, point, and match… the CD’ll go 3-4 million easy.”) And though nobody could then have anticipated what Britney would turn into (basically, a one-woman circus, as the title of her sixth album, due a week from today, makes explicit), Mike’s predictive math wasn’t all that far off; honestly, Nate Silver would be proud. When MTV aired its final edition of TRL earlier this month, “Baby One More Time” was named the show’s most influential video ever. (Of especially weird note are Saunders’ observations about Britney’s hardcore Protestant upbringing, “I’m better than you are and you’re boring me” facial smirks, and successful Saturday Night Live debut, all of which eerily anticipate Sarah Palin.)
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Idolator
Thanksgiving only seems like a dowdy holiday. Turkey, football, family, autumn leaves buried beneath incipient slush—all wonderful, none especially flamboyant. (Well, maybe the football is—I don't know.) However, TV this Thanksgiving week is teeming with an array of musicians who've either been regulars in Vegas, Branson, and/or Broadway, or are on their way there. (You just know the Foo Fighters are going to headline some '00s stage once the casino owners have merged into three factions.) Americans, celebrate your country by celebrating its glitz:
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From the latest blog post by the Jonas Brothers, who are supposed to be the big musical heartthrobs of the moment: "Thanks for making our new CD Platinum in 10 weeks." Recall that A Little Bit Longer 
