# Number one... with a bullet! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 15, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-a-bullet/219210 "2003-12-15T23:22:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-a-bullet/219210/1 "2003-12-15T23:22:35Z")
What is the origin of this phrase? I know that it means “Number one, exclamation point!”, but why “with a bullet”? ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-a-bullet/219210/2 "2003-12-15T23:28:02Z")
It’s from Billboard Magazine, a magazine which ranks album and single sales. A bullet means a song or album is moving rapidly up the chart. Number one with a bullet means it’s on the top and still gaining in sales. Click [here](http://www.jerryosborne.com/7-17-00.htm) for another explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-a-bullet/219210/3 "2003-12-15T23:35:01Z")
That was fast! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-a-bullet/219210/4 "2003-12-16T05:03:35Z")
Thanks for the link, **tremorviolet**. The timing is important. Back when the phrase “number one with a bullet” first came into use, it was a sarcastic phrase used to mock industry hype. Remember that the bullet was given to indicate “upward changes of position.” Although a song in its _first_ week at #1 can have a bullet, it loses it the _second_ week at #1 because it hasn’t moved upward. But hype still must be served. Hence the joke. George Carlin used a similar parody in a dj routine on his first album _AM and FM_, “number one and climbing higher all the time!” ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-a-bullet/219210/5 "2003-12-16T11:11:56Z")
I had always understood the “bullet” against the charts to signify a new entry, hence “number one with a bullet” was a song that went straight in at number one. Consider me enlightened. ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-a-bullet/219210/6 "2003-12-16T17:36:19Z")
I concur that the “bullet” signifies a rise in rank on the chart, not an increase in sales. A song that holds its position loses its bullet. Offtopic: Be warned that “Number Two with a bullet” can mean [something very different](http://www.serbu.com/buttmaster.htm). ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-a-bullet/219210/7 "2003-12-16T17:44:35Z")
Yeah, you guys are right, I got it slightly wrong. Although, for an album to rise up the charts it would usually have to be gaining in sales. I think Casey Kasem first made the phrase popular on his weekly top 40 show (back when _everyone_ used to listen to it). At least, that’s where I first heard it. Didn’t really know what it meant 'til I started working at a record store and reading Billboard. Slightly off topic: Anyone remember when country humorist Roy Stevens (best know for “The Streak”) actually named an album “Number One with a Bullet”? Didn’t work. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-a-bullet/219210/8 "2003-12-16T17:49:10Z")
This may be a faulty recollection so forgive me if i’m wrong. I seem to remember that on the old billboard charts (and maybe still) a new song that is rapidly rising in the charts had a darkened circle next to the entry. It could be seen as a bullet or bullet hole. The circle meant that the position of the song was changing rapidly and sales may be much higher than when the list was printed. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-a-bullet/219210/9 "2003-12-16T19:57:55Z")
Great, now I’ve got “Back in Black” stuck in my head. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-a-bullet/219210/10 "2003-12-16T20:56:15Z")
To confirm what **Loach** said, in typography a large black dot is called a “bullet” because it resembles a bullet hole. The fast rising songs on the hit lists were given a “bullet” next to the title. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-a-bullet/219210/11 "2003-12-16T22:05:18Z")
Sigh. Did you guys bother to read **tremorviolet’s** link? > [@](#): > > Though commonly called a bullet throughout the entertainment industry, at its birth, Billboard appropriately named their new feature “The Star Performer.” The name suited the child, since, for its first 25 years (August 1958 — September 1983), the symbol was indeed a five-point star. Interestingly, it has never actually been a bullet. > > Billboard retained the Star Performer designation until mid-October 1980, when they shortened it to just “Star.” From June 15, 1983 through September 24, 1983, they gave in to industry jargon and began referring to their printed star as a bullet. The following week, the star for “Prime Movers” gives way to varying rectangular-elliptical-circular figures.