Rob Gordon (John Cusack) is the owner of a semi-failing record store located on one of the back streets of Chicago. But Rob's business isn't the only thing in his life that's floundering - his needle skips the love groove when his longtime girlfriend walks out on him. And this forces him to examine his past failed attempts at romance the only way he knows how.

About Top Five:

The movie HIGH FIDELITY is sacred ground for music lovers and cinephiles alike. Through the story of hapless record store owner Rob Gordon and his coterie of vinyl snobs, the 1997 film made it cool to let your geek flag fly and embrace your irrational enthusiasms. In Top Five, journalist Andrew Buss offers a rollicking oral history of the making of the film and its continued influence on popular culture.

When a book is as universally praised as Nick Hornby’s original novel, adapting it for screen can be a tricky prospect. Top Five examines the difficulties that went into writing the movie: although the book was set in London, the screenwriting team (which included star John Cusack) transplanted the story to Chicago, drawing on their own experiences growing up there. Fears that the film would be an Americanized dilution of the source material evaporated when fans of the book saw just how true the film stayed to Rob’s story.

Buss draws on interviews with actors like Cusack, Jack Black, and Iben Hjejle, along with all the key principals behind the scenes, including director Stephen Frears and the movie’s screenwriter, producers, and composer. Together they offer a multi-perspectival account that captures the legacy of the film, showing how it created an indelible snapshot of ’90s culture while anticipating our current era of media surfeit and content overload.

Andrew Buss Biography

Andrew Buss has carved out a niche for himself as a pop culture expert, with a heavy emphasis on comedy. He has written for publications like Vanity Fair, New York Magazine’s Vulture, Consequence of Sound, and The Laugh Button, where he spent five years serving as editor. Currently, he is a contributing editor of 800 Pound Gorilla News. He was also mentored by author/journalist/pop culture extrodinare, the late Bill Zehme. Andrew wrote an extensive tribute to Zehme for Vanity Fair last year.

As a journalist, Andrew Buss has conducted interviews with some of the most prominent names in entertainment, including Mel Brooks, Conan O’Brien, Emma Stone, Seth Rogen, Lorne Michaels, Conan O’Brien, Carol Burnett, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Taylor Tomlinson, Eric Andre, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Brendan Fraser, John Cleese, Kevin Smith, Carl Reiner, Bert Kreischer, Sarah Silverman, David Letterman, Nikki Glaser, Bo Burnham, and countless others. Additionally, he has written oral histories on films and TV shows like  Zoolander, Superbad, Airheads, The Jerk, High Fidelity, Clerks the Animated Series, Gremlins 2, The Freshman, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Freaks & Geeks, and Thief.

Most recently, Andrew Buss wrote an oral history for Vanity Fair that chronicles Conan O’Brien’s first year as a late night host. This piece – which was featured both online and in the February 2024 print magazine – included interviews with O’Brien, David Letterman, Lorne Michaels, Lisa Kudrow, Andy Richter, Robert Smigel, Bob Odenkirk, Jeff Garlin, Sarah Silverman, Max Weinberg, and countless others. 

In 2023, Andrew Buss came out with his first book, Top Five: How High Fidelity Found its Rhythm and Became a Cult Movie Classic, for Applause Books. The book was very well-received, and received coverage in the Chicago Reader, Chicago Magazine, The Daily Beast, and more. Plus, Vulture named the book as one of the best comedy books to come out in 2023. Andrew is currently working on a follow-up book that chronicles the making of the comedy, Superbad. 

Since 2014, Andrew Buss has also been the official archivist/historian for Andy Kaufman. He will also serve as an Archival Consultant on the upcoming untitled documentary on the legendary performer, which will be executive produced by David Letterman and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.