Uploaded April 2013 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago

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Music is a language we all speak, it documents a collective experience. From Billie Holiday's 'Strange Fruit' to Marvin Gaye 'What's Going On?' to Carly Rae Jepsen 'Call me Maybe' the pop music charts are a strong reflection of the time and the culture we are living in. So, in this episode of The Coalition we take a look at the top Pop Music charts over the last fifty years and we ask you to think about how pop music today tells your story?

Additional music used to support the discussion in this video includes:
Billie Holiday - 'Strange Fruit' - bit.ly/Z6Y4op
Rolling Stones - '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' - bit.ly/xNHNPw
James Brown - 'I'm Black and I'm Proud' - bit.ly/13VrxWK
Marvin Gaye - 'What's Going On?' - bit.ly/YtwRMF
Pink Floyd - 'Another Brick Wall Pt 2' - bit.ly/XzXqmq
Public Enemy - 'Fight The Power' - bit.ly/12Tt5Bz
Britney Spears - 'Baby One More Time' - bit.ly/fAXRmb
Carly Rae Jepsen - 'Call Me Maybe' - bit.ly/znQPTA

The Coalition - Music Is History
by Tomás Whitmore & Julianne Waters

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