One Last VMAs Shocker: Ratings Improved Over 2006

While Rolling Stone live blogger Rob Sheffield, our commenters, and pretty much everyone who took in Britney Spears' so-called comeback performance decried Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards as a disjointed failure, the numbers tell a different tale: More than 7 million viewers tuned in to the ceremony, 23 percent more than last year. Granted, the 2006 VMAs set a low bar in terms of ratings, falling to 5.77 million (which was down from 8 million the year prior). So what saved the day for MTV this time? Britney curiosity? The fact that the network swore they wouldn't replay the show again and again and again like usual? The move to Vegas and suite parties? Kanye West, for one, votes Britney: On a satellite radio show today, he ranted, "Man, they were just trying to get ratings, and they knew she wasn't ready and they exploited her."

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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