The "Talk of the Town" column in this week's New Yorker reviews "Popstrology", a 400 page book by Ian Van Tuyl, which explores the influence of songs that were hits at the time of ones birth. ("Use the pop music charts to reveal your personality traits, guide your relationships, and discover your true destiny".) The author identifies 45 musical "constellations" (Lite & White, Mustache Rock, Shaking Booty, and so on) and identifies elements such as sexiness, soulfulness, and durability.
According to the New Yorker, President Bush is an Ink Spot whose Birthsong is "The Gypsy", and Paul Wolfowitz is a Mills Brother whose Birthsong is "Paper Doll." ("I'd rather have a paper doll to call my own than have a fickle-minded real live girl.") On the other hand, 50 Cent's Birthsong is "Afternoon Delight", by the Starland Vocal Band. (Wasn't that produced by John Denver?) Perhaps the seeming contradictions between soul and total lack of soul speak to the duality of man. Or not.
The book's home page (
http://www.popstrology.com/popstrology_cover.html) claims that Popstrology officially begins on April 21, 1956, when "Heartbreak Hotel" reached number one. I was born in '53, but I found my Birthsong on a website that has Cash Box charts back to 1950,
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/randypny/cashbox/.
To my delight I learned that my Birthsong is "Vaya Con Dios" by Les Paul & Mary Ford, a great song that I often play on Itunes. Since Les Paul is credited with inventing multitrack recording, this may explain why I was drawn to the audio industry. The bummer is, #2 that week was "No Other Love", by Perry Como. Well, I'll settle for being a Les Paul with Perry Como descending. Thank God it wasn't the other way around, though the website addresses this concern ("What if my Birthsong is really, really uncool?")
Who knows, maybe there's something to it. If distant planets can influence us at birth, why not the song that was playing while mom cooed over us, or radio waves from the 50,000 watt transmitters of WLS in Chicago, or WDIA in Memphis?