Katy Perry poised to break records with new single

She’s taken us up and down California, into outer space and to the greatest Friday night party the world has ever seen. Now, Katy Perry is at it again with her latest single, “The One That Got Away.”

The release of this song marks the sixth single from Perry’s record-breaking sophomore effort, Teenage Dream, and possibly her final shot at glory from the album.

Back in summer 2010, “California Gurls” topped the Billboard Hot 100. It was succeeded by “Teenage Dream” in the fall. The third single, “Firework,” blasted to number one in the winter and was speedily followed by the outrageous “E.T.” Having four songs top the charts, Capitol Records released “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” which after a heavy marketing campaign reached the pinnacle of Billboard.

That’s five chart toppers. Five songs from one album. The only other person to accomplish that feat was Michael Jackson with five of the singles from Bad. This means that Katy Perry has become only the second artist — and first female — of all time to release five number one songs from one album.

If Perry’s “The One That Got Away” rises to the top of the charts, she will have become the first person in history to have six singles from one album take the top spot on Billboard.

Can she do it?

Maybe more importantly, if she does accomplish this task, what does this say about today’s music biz?

“The One” has been available for radio airplay for a few weeks now, but has yet to create an impact. The music video was filmed on Oct. 2, but has yet to be released. Once it is, the song will indubitably see a push in sales.

But it seems that Perry is taking the entertainment road to success this time around. Saturday night marked the first media performance of “The One” on the UK’s X Factor.

Perry stripped down her candyland extravaganza, appearing on stage with only an acoustic guitar, three band members and two backup singers. The performance was vocal-oriented, which is not a new route for the attention-grabbing Perry, but is not what most people expect from the pop star.

She is set to perform the song at the American Music Awards, and will continue to play the track during her California Dream Tour which is closely nearing the end of its run. Recently, Perry infused Adele’s number one hit “Someone Like You” into the bridge of her current single while on tour overseas.

If she does break Michael Jackson’s (and her) record, will this shift the playing field in pop music? Will Perry deserve the title of Queen of Pop that has so arbitrarily been tossed around between Britney Spears, Lady Gaga and Madonna? Or will this simply cement the idea that pop music is really brainless drivel easily consumed by the masses?

Or does it say that pop music is something more?