Hit Parade Plus

The Bridge: Why Is This Episode No. 100?

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 01:30:00 GMT

In this Slate Plus bonus episode: With Hit Parade’s 100th episode in the books, Chris Molanphy welcomes Slate’s culture editor Forrest Wickman for an in-depth chat about how Slate covers the charts. Wickman, the longtime editor of Chris's "Why Is This Song No. 1?" column, gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the column and how it has shaped Hit Parade over the past decade. Forrest and Chris also dig into the philosophy of “poptimism” and discuss how streaming has made the Hot 100 more accurate—and more bizarre.

Also: Chris Molanphy tests a Slate Plus listener’s music knowledge and gives him a chance to turn the tables with a question of his own. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feet on the Ground, Reaching for the Stars Edition Part 2

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 03:59:02 GMT

The 100th episode of Hit Parade has put host Chris Molanphy in a reflective mood. So in Part 2, he unfurls the story of the late, great American Top 40 host Casey Kasem—a perennial inspiration for this podcast and the chart king that Chris calls “the original poptimist.”

Enjoy this long-distance dedication, as Chris pays tribute to a radio hero with a preternatural understanding of the power of pop to unify.

Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast Production by Kevin Bendis

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Feet on the Ground, Reaching for the Stars Edition Part 1

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 03:55:00 GMT

To mark Hit Parade’s 100th episode, host Chris Molanphy is doing something he’s never done: He’s going to talk about himself—and just how nerdy you have to be to host a show like Hit Parade. Chris reflects on the origins and depth of his chart fandom, and ponders existential questions like: What makes a person want to track these rankings? Why do we care about what, or who, is No. 1?

Join Chris for this exploration of how the charts have informed, inspired and infiltrated his life—and yours, too.

Coming up in Part 2: Chris pays tribute to one of his heroes and a huge influence on Hit Parade: the chart king who counted down the hits every week ... from coast to coast. Available on March 27, but Slate Plus members can listen right now!

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Take Me Home, Country Crossover

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 01:00:00 GMT

In this Slate Plus bonus episode, journalist and historian David Cantwell joins Chris Molanphy for a deeper dive into Hit Parade’s exploration of crossover attempts in country music. Cantwell explains that country has always been a fluid genre, absorbing and repackaging rock, pop, folk, and myriad other sounds. So while ’70s newcomers like Olivia Newton-John and John Denver were initially met with backlash from purists, soon enough Nashville naysayers fell in line—or mounted their own crossover campaigns.

Also: Chris Molanphy tests a Slate Plus listener’s music knowledge, gives him a chance to turn the tables with a question of his own, and offers a sneak peek at the next episode of Hit Parade. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Country Roads and Summer Nights Edition Part 2

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 04:45:00 GMT

These days, country and pop acts regularly invade each other’s territory. But in Nashville during the 1970s, “crossover” was a dirty word. Then came two rising stars who offered up a new hybrid of Americana-style pop.

John Denver infused his folk balladry with homespun lyrics about country roads and wide-open skies. Olivia Newton-John sang over twangy melodies that belied her British-Australian roots. Both faced backlash—especially when they started topping the country and pop charts simultaneously and winning prizes that used to go to Nashville legends.

Eventually, both artists outgrew country music. Denver became a ubiquitous entertainer and beloved Muppet wingman. Newton-John dazzled in the film Grease, then reinvented herself as a leather-clad siren unafraid to get physical.

Join Chris Molanphy as he traces the parallel rise of two country-pop titans from the Rocky Mountains to Xanadu.

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Country Roads and Summer Nights Edition Part 1

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 02:30:00 GMT

Join Chris Molanphy as he traces the parallel rise of two country-pop titans from the Rocky Mountains to Xanadu.

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The Bridge: Fame Makes a Man Take Things Over

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:30:00 GMT

In this Slate Plus exclusive, music journalist and David Bowie scholar Chris O’Leary joins Chris Molanphy for an expansive breakdown of the Starman’s life, career, and legacy. O’Leary spent years listening to and writing about every song in Bowie’s catalogue, as captured in O’Leary’s books Rebel Rebel and Ashes to Ashes. He explains the importance of Black American music in Bowie’s work, from soul and funk to jazz. Ten years after his passing, Bowie’s direct musical influence may be hard to hear on the charts—but O’Leary says his shapeshifting mastery of pop stardom lives on through concepts like Taylor Swift’s sprawling Eras Tour.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Starman to Blackstar Edition Part 2

Sat, 17 Jan 2026 04:30:00 GMT

Chameleon: That’s long been the word used to describe David Bowie, pop music’s shapeshifting extraterrestrial. He shifted personas, genres, and looks, emerging from swinging London with psychedelic folk before steamrolling through glam rock, disco, funk, new wave, alt-rock, and even jazz.

Less remarked was Bowie’s savvy about shifting through commercial phases—he wore pop stardom like a costume, too. He drifted in and out of the spotlight, and on and off the charts, before one final chart-topping farewell 10 years ago this month.

Join Chris Molanphy as he takes us from station to station across the chart career of David Bowie, on a journey from Starman to Blackstar.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Starman to Blackstar Edition Part 1

Fri, 16 Jan 2026 23:01:00 GMT

Join Chris Molanphy as he takes us from station to station across the chart career of David Bowie, on a journey from Starman to Blackstar.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Bridge: Slate’s Music Club 2025

Fri, 26 Dec 2025 08:00:00 GMT

The Slate Music Club returns, in this special year-end edition of Hit Parade’s The Bridge! Host Chris Molanphy joins New York Times pop music critic Lindsay Zoladz and Julianne Escobedo Shepherd of Hearing Things in a critics’ roundtable led by Slate’s own Carl Wilson. They discuss their favorite albums and singles, as well as the trends that shaped music in 2025.

Among this year’s big musical questions: Have we reached peak Bad Bunny yet? Did those animated Demon Hunters reinvent K-pop? Are Geese the saviors of rock, or just muppets with guitars? Is hip-hop ready to move on from Kendrick and Drake? Plus: Rosalia, Water From Your Eyes, Gaga, Wednesday—and of course, Taylor Swift.

Note: Slate Plus members can hear this special episode in full. Ad-supported listeners will hear the first half. Want to hear the whole discussion? Sign up for Slate Plus! Unlock monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of “The Bridge,” and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Hooked to the Silver Screen Edition Part 2

Sat, 13 Dec 2025 16:45:00 GMT

If you need confirmation of Hollywood’s vast influence on mass culture, look no further than the pop charts. From the 1937 classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs through this year’s KPop Demon Hunters, soundtracks have launched hits, defined genres—and sometimes even eclipsed the films that inspired them in the first place. Rock classics, funk jams, rap bangers, even Christmas standards: all became hits because we heard them first at the cinema.

Join Chris Molanphy as he unspools nearly a century of hit movie music, from Simon & Garfunkel’s groundbreaking ode to “Mrs. Robinson,” to the, ahem, titanic tin whistle of “My Heart Will Go On.”

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Hooked to the Silver Screen Edition Part 1

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 23:00:00 GMT

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The Bridge: Any Mutt of Mine

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 08:00:00 GMT

In this Slate Plus exclusive, host Chris Molanphy welcomes country music journalist and historian Brian Mansfield, who explains how superproducer Robert John “Mutt” Lange and superstar Shania Twain reshaped Nashville in the 1990s. In her partnership with the studio mastermind, Twain pivoted from her largely overlooked debut album to an arena-rock sound that proved so popular, it altered the sonic signature of country music and compelled other artists to emulate Twain and Lange’s approach. Mansfield also unpacks some of the politics behind Nashville songwriting and production, and how Twain’s legacy continues to be felt today.

Also: Chris tests a Slate Plus listener’s music knowledge, gives him a chance to turn the tables with a question of his own, and offers a sneak peek at the next episode of Hit Parade. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pour Some Sugar on Me Edition Part 2

Sat, 15 Nov 2025 04:55:00 GMT

When you hear the term “superproducer,” names like George Martin, Quincy Jones, Max Martin, Pharrell Williams or Missy Elliott might come to mind. But … Robert “Mutt” Lange? Probably not. Yet Lange was by some measures the biggest hitmaker—the producer of more top-selling albums than any of those better-known producers.

The South African studio wiz crafted the arena-rock sound of AC/DC and Def Leppard. Then, Lange transformed the Cars, Billy Ocean, Bryan Adams, and Shania Twain into fist-pumping stadium-fillers, too.

Join Chris Molanphy as he traces Mutt Lange’s legacy of loud—and his uncanny success on the pop charts. He poured sugar on every hit.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Pour Some Sugar on Me Edition Part 1

Sat, 15 Nov 2025 04:10:00 GMT

Join Chris Molanphy as he traces Mutt Lange’s legacy of loud—and his uncanny success on the pop charts. He poured sugar on every hit.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Bridge: Every Little Thing They Did Was Magic

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 00:30:00 GMT

In this Slate Plus exclusive, host Chris Molanphy sits down with author and music journalist Geoff Edgers to discuss his upcoming book on the Police—their meteoric rise and inevitable implosion. Drawing on lengthy interviews with each member and his own lifelong fandom, Edgers reveals how the power trio’s chemistry fueled both their chart-topping hits and their internal clashes. And while a recent lawsuit among the band members may have raised provocative questions about authorship, Edgers argues there’s no denying the brilliance of Sting’s singular and often misunderstood creative vision.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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If You Love Sting, Set Him Free Edition Part 2

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 01:35:00 GMT

Walk into any store or flip on a radio, and you’ll probably hear the Police’s “Every Breath You Take” sooner or later. Thanks to that ubiquity, the swooning, menacing megahit’s songwriter—Sting—is a very wealthy man.

Now his former bandmates, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers, are suing Sting over who deserves to profit from “Breath” and other Police songs. No matter how that dispute turns out, it’s a reminder of Sting’s uncanny songwriting skill and his charmed life of hitmaking.

For more than four decades, Sting seems to resurface every few years with a new earworm, from “Roxanne” to “Russians,” blending New Wave rock with another genre—reggae, jazz, classical, country, even rap and Raï—and in the process, getting sampled by new generations of millennial and zoomer hitmakers.

Join Chris Molanphy as he recounts the long, varied, sophisticated, but catchy career of the King of Pain. Whatever he tries, every little thing Sting does is magic.

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If You Love Sting, Set Him Free Edition Part 1

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 00:30:00 GMT

Join Chris Molanphy as he recounts the long, varied, sophisticated, but catchy career of the King of Pain. Whatever he tries, every little thing Sting does is magic.

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The Bridge: You Like My Hit? Gee, Thanks—Just Bought It

Sat, 27 Sep 2025 01:15:00 GMT

In this Slate Plus exclusive, host Chris Molanphy welcomes fellow chart scholar Chris Dalla Riva, author of the forthcoming Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us About the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves, for a deep dive into his analytical approach to tracking No. 1 hits. Dalla Riva talks about his ongoing project to listen to and rank every Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper. He also breaks down some of the quirks and commonalities shared by songs that debut at No. 1.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Toppermost of the Poppermost Edition Part 2

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 23:30:00 GMT

In the rarefied world of smash pop singles, there are No. 1s—and there are No. 1 debuts. Entering Billboard’s Hot 100 at the top is one of the hardest tricks in music. In fact, it wasn’t possible in the U.S. until 1995. That’s when the record labels hacked the Hot 100 and figured out how to send new singles straight into the chart penthouse.

But scoring a No. 1 in Week One doesn’t mean it’s built to last. For every enduring hit like “Fantasy,” “Shake It Off” or “Hello,” there are plenty of one-off oddities, coronation pabulum from American Idol finalists, and even a few missteps from chart luminaries. Within a couple of years these fast-breaking hits may be forgotten—never to be spun on the radio or streamed on Spotify.

Join Chris Molanphy as he explores the chart calculus, superfan interventions, and fluky conditions that create a perfect storm of pop-chart insta-success. It’s a parade of pop bangers that scored a fast pass to the front of the line.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis and Olivia Briley.

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Toppermost of the Poppermost Edition Part 1

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis and Olivia Briley.

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The White and Nerdy Edition Part 2

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 07:30:00 GMT

Sped-up voices. Wacky instruments. Songs about cavemen, bathtubs, bikinis, and mothers-in-law. From the dawn of rock ‘n’ roll through the 1970s—the age of streaking, CB radios, disco and King Tut—novelty songs could be chart-topping hits. But by the corporate ’80s, it was harder for goofballs to score hits on regimented radio playlists. Until one perm-headed, mustachioed, accordion-playing parodist who called himself “Weird” rebooted novelty hits for the new millennium.

In this encore episode of Hit Parade, Chris Molanphy explores the history of novelty hits on the charts.

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The White and Nerdy Edition Part 1

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Sped-up voices. Wacky instruments. Songs about cavemen, bathtubs, bikinis and mothers-in-law. From the very birth of rock-and-roll, novelty songs were essential elements of the hit parade. Right through the ’70s—the age of streaking, CB radios, disco and King Tut—novelty songs could be chart-topping hits. But by the corporate ’80s, it was harder for goofballs to score round-the-clock hits on regimented radio playlists.

Until one perm-headed, mustachioed, accordion-playing parodist who called himself “Weird” rebooted novelty hits for the new millennium. A video jokester before YouTube, he just might have ushered in the age of the meme. So join Hit Parade this month as we walk through the history of novelty hits on the charts—most especially if M.C. Escher is your favorite M.C.

Podcast production by Justin D. Wright and Kevin Bendis

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The Bridge: How Ya Like Me Now?

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 20:30:00 GMT

In this Slate Plus exclusive, Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy welcomes hip-hop historian and author Dan Charnas to break down the evolution of rap beefs from The Bridge Wars to Kendrick vs. Drake. Charnas reflects on some of his personal experiences with misunderstood rappers and those who took beef from bars to the streets. He also explores how diss tracks went mainstream and have grown to dominate social media.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Here's The Beef Edition Part 2

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 16:05:00 GMT

When Kendrick Lamar took the Super Bowl halftime stage in 2025 and had the stadium chanting along to “Not Like Us,” it was clear: Diss tracks had gone stratospheric.

The Kendrick vs. Drake beef echoes legendary rap rivalries like Biggie vs. Tupac and Jay-Z vs. Nas—but diss tracks stretch back through a century of American pop to the Tin Pan Alley era. Vaudeville singer Eddie Cantor, James Brown, John Lennon, Carly Simon, Kool Moe Dee, Lauryn Hill, and countless other artists have all tapped the hitmaking power of a personal grudge.

Step this way and join Chris Molanphy as he traces the history of answer records, diss tracks, and rap beefs that shaped the charts—and the culture.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Here's The Beef Edition Part 1

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 16:00:00 GMT

When Kendrick Lamar took the Super Bowl halftime stage in 2025 and had the stadium chanting along to “Not Like Us,” it was clear: Diss tracks had gone stratospheric.

Step this way and join Chris Molanphy as he traces the history of answer records, diss tracks, and rap beefs that shaped the charts—and the culture.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: The Closet Was Never Binary

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 23:00:00 GMT

In this Slate Plus exclusive, Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy welcomes music journalist Barry Walters, whose forthcoming book, Mighty Real, charts queer music history from 1969 to 2000. In this conversation about queerness in pop, Walters reflects on the coded signals in the work of artists like Elton John, David Bowie, Sylvester, and Boy George. He also explains how disco opened a door for LGBTQ musicians and gave closted artists a way to reach audiences through expressly queer songs.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Mighty Real Edition Part 2

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 23:30:00 GMT

Little Richard was rock ‘n’ roll’s flamboyant architect. Lesley Gore sang that no one owned her. Sylvester was a gender-fluid icon who helped define disco. Freddie Mercury made rock operatic, and George Michael demanded freedom.

What all of these LGBTQ artists had in common was bold hitmaking—and fear of being fully out of the closet. For decades, queer acts topped the charts while cloaking their true identities and paving the way for today’s more openly queer stars.

For Pride Month, join Chris Molanphy as he traces the hidden history of queer hitmakers on the charts—including those that managed to be both out and No. 1, right up through our modern age of Lil Nas X and Chappell Roan. It’s a celebration of these artists’ quest to feel… mighty real.

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Mighty Real Edition Part 1

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 23:10:00 GMT

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The Bridge: Isn’t It Iconic?

Fri, 30 May 2025 23:00:00 GMT

In this Slate Plus exclusive, Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy welcomes critic and 60 Songs That Explain the ’90s host Rob Harvilla for a conversation about the true legacy of Generation X’s peak decade. Was it defined by the likes of Nirvana and Radiohead, or does it lie somewhere closer to Stone Temple Pilots and Alanis Morissette? Chris and Rob dig into the divide between what was cool vs. what actually topped the charts during the final decade of pre-Internet fame.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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All Apologies Edition Part 2

Sat, 17 May 2025 00:30:00 GMT

The story of Nevermind, Nirvana’s genre-defining breakthrough, is a familiar one. Less well known is the saga of Billboard’s Modern Rock chart—and how college-rock staples of the 1980s like R.E.M. and The Cure gave way to heavier, more commercially dominant groups of the ‘90s like Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and The Smashing Pumpkins. What sparked the grungification of the charts? Why did Modern Rock become the new Top 40? And how did the Seattle sound pave the way for post-grunge bands like Sublime, Third Eye Blind, and even Creed?

Join Chris Molanphy as he explores alternative rock’s evolution from the cutting edge to the middle of the road.

Podcast production by Olivia Briley and Kevin Bendis.

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All Apologies Edition Part 1

Sat, 17 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Join Chris Molanphy as he explores alternative rock’s evolution from the cutting edge to the middle of the road.

Podcast production by Olivia Briley and Kevin Bendis.

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The Bridge: Rihanna Is Still Unapologetic

Fri, 25 Apr 2025 23:00:00 GMT

In this Slate Plus exclusive, Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy welcomes author, music journalist, and Rihanna superfan Julianne Escobedo Shepherd for a chat about Rih’s career and enduring impact on pop. Julianne shares her firsthand experience aboard the infamous “777 Tour” party plane, explores Rihanna’s reggaetón-influenced beginnings and EDM-channeling peak, and considers the legacy of her final album (so far!) Anti.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Only Girl in the World Edition Part 2

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT

It’s been nearly a decade since Rihanna released a studio album—and fans and critics alike have wondered when, if ever, a follow-up to 2016’s Anti might arrive. Which is ironic, because in her heyday, Rihanna was the most productive hitmaker on the charts.

Churning out at least one album a year in the late aughts and early ‘10s, Rihanna’s approach to the charts was closer to early Motown or the Beatles than Beyoncé or Taylor. The result: the Barbadian pop deity scored more No. 1s than any 21st century artist, from “SOS” and “Umbrella” through “Diamonds” and “Work.”

Join Chris Molanphy as he traces Rihanna’s journey from tropical tyro to commanding chart queen and explores how she found hits at a boundless pace.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Only Girl in the World Edition Part 1

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 23:30:00 GMT

Join Chris Molanphy as he traces Rihanna’s journey from tropical tyro to commanding chart queen and explores how she found hits at a boundless pace.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Ballad of the Forgotten Hits

Fri, 28 Mar 2025 22:30:00 GMT

In this Slate Plus exclusive, Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy welcomes reissue producer, author and music historian Andy Zax for a deep dive into the jingoistic anthems, novelty tunes, and kitsch that ruled the airwaves in the 1960s. Zax—producer of Woodstock: Back to the Garden – The Definitive 50th Anniversary Archive—explains why the media remains fixated on the counterculture narrative, often overlooking the square and sentimental hits that defined much of the decade.

Also: Chris tests a Slate Plus listener’s music knowledge, gives them a chance to turn the tables with a question of their own, and offers a sneak peek at the next episode of Hit Parade. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Singing Nuns and Green Tambourines Edition Part 2

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 21:05:00 GMT

When you think of music in the 1960s, some groundbreaking artists probably come to mind: Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and the Jefferson Airplane, for example. But the pop charts paint a very different picture of that decade, which embraced easy listening, groovy bubblegum, novelty and instrumental records—even a guitar-strumming Belgian nun.

In other words, the soundtrack of the era was more like Mad Men and less like Forrest Gump.

Join Chris Molanphy as he unearths forgotten hits from Bobby Vinton, Kyu Sakamoto, Jeannie C. Riley, and other unlikely chart-toppers, on a still-strange trip through the ‘60s.

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Singing Nuns and Green Tambourines Edition Part 1

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 21:00:00 GMT

In other words, the soundtrack of the era was more like Mad Men and less like Forrest Gump.

Join Chris Molanphy as he unearths forgotten hits from Bobby Vinton, Kyu Sakamoto, Jeannie C. Riley, and other unlikely chart-toppers, on a still-strange trip through the ‘60s.

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The Bridge: They Must Be Our Lucky Stars

Sat, 01 Mar 2025 01:00:00 GMT

In this Slate Plus exclusive, Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy welcomes DJ Louie XIV, host of the Pop Pantheon podcast, for a deep dive into imperial phases and the elite status that accompanies such success. Louie breaks down the multi-tier system he uses to rank pop stars from Mariah Carey to Beyoncé. (Only one of whom had a major Imperial phase!) And Chris and Louie also explore Madonna’s imperial reign in the ’80s as well as her equally regal post-peak evolution.

Also: Chris tests a Slate Plus listener’s music knowledge, gives him a chance to turn the tables with a question of his own—and previews the next episode of Hit Parade. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Material Girl in an Imperial World Edition Part 2

Sat, 15 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

In the late 1980s, the English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys dominated the U.K. pop charts and staged an invasion of the American charts. Years later, founding member Neil Tennant dubbed this streak of creative and commercial supremacy the group’s “imperial phase”—a term that eventually caught on among music critics and pop fans.

So, what does it take for an artist to achieve imperial dominance? Why might Fleetwood Mac in the 1970s or The Weeknd in the 2010s qualify, while Cher or Lizzo don’t quite fit the bill? Are there rules for imperial phases?

Hit Parade’s Chris Molanphy says yes—he’s got chart rules for determining when an artist is at peak imperiality. And he says Madonna’s late ’80s streak of hits might be the ultimate imperial phase.

Join Chris as he dissects the most regal artists across the decades, defining what makes them imperial—and he walks hit by hit through Madonna’s biggest phase, which may remain unmatched.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Material Girl in an Imperial World Edition Part 1

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Join Chris as he dissects the most regal artists across the decades, defining what makes them imperial—and he walks hit by hit through Madonna’s biggest phase, which may remain unmatched.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Dylan Was Always Electric

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 22:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy welcomes musician, writer, and historian Elijah Wald. His book Dylan Goes Electric: Newport, Seeger, Dylan and the Night that Split the Sixties became the basis for the Oscar-nominated Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. While the movie compresses and invents certain aspects of the Dylan story, Wald says, it also captures the ’60s folk scene and depicts how the shapeshifting artist benefited from and stood apart from it.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Freewheelin’ Edition Part 2

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 03:15:00 GMT

At the movies, A Complete Unknown depicts Bob Dylan as a 1960s “it” boy—played by a 2020s “it” boy, Timothée Chalamet. But the film ends in 1965. What happened in the six decades after that?

Dylan not only kept recording. He actually started topping the charts—in the 1970s, the era of Led Zeppelin, not Pete Seeger. And several of his chart-topping albums came decades later, in the 21st century. Bob’s voice got rougher, but loyal audiences kept buying his music.

Several of these platinum Dylan LPs are among the most acclaimed in rock history—from Blood on the Tracks to Time Out of Mind. And Dylan stayed an object of fascination through all his changes—as a road warrior, a born-again Christian, a Traveling Wilbury, a JFK conspiracy theorist.

Join Chris Molanphy as he walks through Bob Dylan’s career decade by decade, from his ’60s folkie years to his 21st-century revival. With the biopic reviving interest in rock’s poet laureate, there’s never been a better time to get tangled up in Bob.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Freewheelin’ Edition Part 1

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 03:00:00 GMT

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Update on Hit Parade's Slate Plus Feed

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 17:00:00 GMT

Starting this month, Hit Parade episodes will be released in two parts in the Slate Plus feed. Don’t worry—you’ll still get both parts at the same time, and everything will remain ad-free, just like always.

So, why the change? Chris Molanphy explains.

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Introducing Broken Record: "Norah Jones Begins Again"

Fri, 03 Jan 2025 07:00:00 GMT

To kick off the New Year, we're sharing a podcast that we think Hit Parade listeners are going to love: Broken Record. Check out this episode with singer/songwriter Norah Jones, co-hosted by Blue Note Records President Don Was. Norah has been with Blue Note Records since releasing her juggernaut 2002 debut album, Come Away With Me. In this conversation, Norah details her musical upbringing and what it was like striking it big with her debut album. She also performs for us, and talks about the musical freedom she's found as part of the Blue Note family.

Blue Note is one of the first and longest standing institutions of jazz music. Since its formation in 1939 the label has put out albums by Robert Glasper, Lee Morgan, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Gergory Porter, Bobby McFerrin, and many more.

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The Bridge: Slate Music Club 2024 Part 2

Fri, 27 Dec 2024 07:15:00 GMT

The Slate Music Club is back, in a special edition of Hit Parade – “The Bridge”! Our year-end panel of critics—NPR Music’s Ann Powers, Hearing Things’ Julianne Escobedo Shepherd, Slate’s own Carl Wilson and Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy—discuss their favorite albums and singles and the trends that shaped the year in pop, rap, country, Latin and global music.

Among the questions the roundtable tackles: Have we reached peak Taylor Swift? Did the Kendrick Lamar–v.-Drake beef overshadow hip-hop’s next generation? How much further will country cross over to pop audiences—and how does Latin music fit in? How did music from diverse artists stand in for protest music in 2024? And what will become of music criticism itself?

Note: Slate Plus members can hear this special episode in full. Ad-supported listeners will hear the first half. Want to hear the whole discussion? Sign up for Slate Plus!

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Bridge: Slate Music Club 2024 Part 1

Fri, 27 Dec 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Note: Slate Plus members can hear this special episode in full. Ad-supported listeners will hear the first half. Want to hear the whole discussion? Sign up for Slate Plus!

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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I’d Like to Teach the World to Buy Edition

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 23:40:00 GMT

That damned jingle! In that infernal commercial trying to sell you cars, sneakers, soda, gum! Can’t get it out of your head? Well, what if we made it longer, had a famous singer perform it, and put it on the radio? How would you like it then?

A surprising number of hits across chart history got their start in advertisements: the Carpenters song that was originally a promo for a California bank. The ’70s country-pop smash by a character who didn’t exist, and was selling you sliced bread. The Sting song that began as a Japanese beer jingle. The Chris Brown song that sneaked a chewing-gum slogan into the chorus.

And that’s beyond all the songs and artists whose trajectories were changed by an ad placement—whether it was the R&B classics licensed to sell you Levi’s jeans or the indie-rock songs anointed by Apple to make iPod-wearing silhouettes bop.

Join Chris Molanphy as he explains how Madison Avenue finds its way into the Hot 100’s penthouse. We may think we don’t want the hard sell—but an army of Don Drapers are working day and night to buy the world a Coke and keep it company.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Bridge: Spirit in the Dark

Fri, 29 Nov 2024 08:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Emily Lordi, an author, critic and Vanderbilt University professor who focuses on Black popular music and has written extensively on Aretha Franklin. In her book The Meaning of Soul, Lordi argues that soul music in the late ’60s and early ’70s told a story about Black resilience, and Franklin, as the Queen of Soul, personified African-Americans’ transcendence over struggle and their ambitions toward self-determination.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives him a chance to turn the tables with a question of his own, and previews the next full-length episode. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Say a Little Prayer Edition

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 01:00:00 GMT

You know her honorific: Queen of Soul. And heavy is the head that wears the crown. In her lifetime, Aretha Franklin didn’t just want to be revered. She wanted hits. But Franklin made pop come to her, not the other way around.

When showtunes and standards didn’t work in the ’60s, Aretha switched to gritty R&B and gospel harmonies—and started topping the charts. When she recorded a live album in a church in the ’70s, it became her best-seller. When the MTV era changed the game in the ’80s, she did New Wave synthpop her way—and topped the charts again. In the ’90s, she tried house, hip-hop and New Jack Swing, scoring hits deep into her fifties.

Join Chris Molanphy as he explains how Aretha Franklin earned her regal title, one hit at a time. She won our respect by infusing the charts with a holy spirit and amazing grace—and she always remained a natural woman.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Bridge: All That Bono Can’t Leave Behind

Sat, 26 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by music journalist Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who writes for Pitchfork and the Los Angeles Times and has reviewed the entire U2 catalog for Allmusic. Tom says the Irish quartet were never much of a punk-rock band, but they did pick up where the Clash left off. And they always carried themselves like rock stars—especially their impassioned, ridiculous frontman Bono—which made their pivots in the ’90s and ’00s possible.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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With or Without U2 Edition

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 23:20:00 GMT

U2 have millions of admirers—and haters: from the fans who regard them as rock’s conscience, to the cynics who blanch at lead singer Bono’s self-importance. Here’s the thing: U2 want to play to both crowds. They know why the haters can’t stand them. After a decade of earnestness in the ’80s, Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen called BS on themselves, rebooting their sound and image for the ’90s age of irony.

This shouldn’t have worked. Instead, U2 became as big as ever, and kept scoring hits. Then, when the whole sardonic thing stopped working for them, at the turn of the millennium, they went back to anthemic U2—and the hits kept coming. Their ability to pivot so many times and keep scoring hits over multiple decades is rare in pop history.

Join Chris Molanphy as he explains how U2 pulled this off. How did they balance cool and cringe? How did they outlast new wave, college rock, hair metal and grunge to remain chart-toppers into the era of teenpop and hip-hop? And…what exactly were they thinking when they forced an album onto your iPhone? They don’t mean to bug ya, but…why can’t we live with or without U2?

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Bridge: Got My Back Against the Record Machine

Sat, 28 Sep 2024 01:10:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Michaelangelo Matos, author of Can’t Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop’s Blockbuster Year. Matos says after the unprecedented cross-cultural success of Michael Jackson’s Thriller in 1982 and ’83, pop stars in ’84 believed they could score multiple hits across genres—and make them danceable. So they all went for it, even the rock stars—whether it was Annie Lennox dressing like Elvis on the Grammys, Bruce Springsteen ordering up club remixes, or Van Halen borrowing their synth sound from Prince.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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What’s 1984 Got to Do with It Edition

Sat, 14 Sep 2024 03:30:00 GMT

A decade ago, Rolling Stone magazine called 1984 “Pop’s Greatest Year.” A bold statement…but a lot of critics agree. A confluence of factors—the comeback of dance music, the peak of MTV, the Second British Invasion and the emergence of metal and hip-hop—made the radio a great place to be.

It was a year of fearless genre crossover…cinematic hits…veterans reinventing themselves…ballads that became standards…a newcomer named Madonna…and a movie star who called himself The Kid and made doves cry.

Join Chris Molanphy as he dissects eight reasons why 1984 was awesome for pop fans and walks through all 20 of the year’s No. 1 hits: from “Jump” to “Hello,” “Karma Chameleon” to “Caribbean Queen,” “Let’s Go Crazy” to “Like a Virgin.” This is what it sounds like when pop’s fly.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Bridge: Getting Hot in Herre

Sat, 27 Jul 2024 01:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Slate Culture Gabfest cohost Julia Turner, who launched the long-running podcast’s annual “Summer Strut” feature more than a dozen years ago. Julia says an ideal summer song doesn’t have to be fast but does need attitude and maybe a little drama. On that score, she says half-forgotten hits by Brenda Lee, Nelly Furtado and even the much-maligned Robin Thicke deserve their Song of the Summer status.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives him a chance to turn the tables with a question of his own, and previews the next full-length episode (coming in September). Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Song(s) of the Summer Edition

Sat, 13 Jul 2024 03:00:00 GMT

“Summer in the City.” “I Feel the Earth Move.” “Bette Davis Eyes.” “Whoomp! There It Is.” “Get Lucky.” “Espresso.” What do these big summer hits all have in common? None of them was Billboard’s official Song of the Summer.

Wait…there’s an official Song of the Summer? Isn’t that something that just happens organically? Every year, it seems everybody has an opinion on this musical national pastime. But the Hot 100 often tells a different story. For every “Light My Fire,” “Bad Girls,” “Crazy in Love,” “California Gurls” or “Call Me Maybe”—a hot-weather hit that unites the charts and the punditry—there are confirmed summer smashes that no one would pick out of a lineup, from Zager and Evans to Iggy Azalea.

Join Chris Molanphy as he traces the tangled story of how America came to decide there should be one victorious summer hit to rule them all. And he counts down the best Songs of the Summer by decade. Is it getting “Hot in Herre,” or is it just us…?

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Bridge: Center of the “World”

Sat, 29 Jun 2024 02:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by widely published author and critic Gavin Edwards, whose Rolling Stone article “'We Are the World’: A Minute-by-Minute Breakdown,” dove deep on the massive charity megasingle and especially Quincy Jones’s central role in its creation. Gavin says Q’s genius was not just musical but psychological—he knew how to stoke positive peer pressure among superstars and get performances they didn’t know they had in them.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives him a chance to turn the tables with a question of his own, and previews next month’s full-length episode. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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I Wanna Rock with Q. Edition

Sat, 15 Jun 2024 03:56:00 GMT

What does a music producer do? If his name is Quincy Jones, a little bit of everything: conducting, arranging, composing. Assembling teams of ace session musicians. Sometimes, even picking a catchy title and telling an artist to go write a song about it— would “Thriller” have worked as well if it had been called “Starlight”?

Quincy Jones was pop’s Renaissance Man, and he could not be limited either by genre or by role. He played in jazz bands…produced teen pop hits…discovered young talent…scored Hollywood films…helped invent Yacht Rock and Yacht Soul…even released hit albums under his own name featuring cavalcades of guest vocalists.

And he worked with so! many! legends! Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Little Richard, Lesley Gore, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan … and all that happened before he even met a former child star named Michael Jackson and helped him produce the best-selling album in history. No wonder only Quincy had the clout to wrangle the superstars for the recording of “We Are the World.”

Join Chris Molanphy as he tells the story of the music man who truly did it all and is known affectionately by the letter Q. He made the world a better place for you and me.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Host

Chris Molanphy

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The Bridge: Girl Groups (Lindsay’s Version)

Fri, 31 May 2024 15:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by New York Times pop critic Lindsay Zoladz, writer of the paper’s music twice-weekly newsletter The Amplifier. Six years ago, when Lindsay was still at The Ringer, she wrote that girl groups were being extinguished by solo careers. She now says, in the mid-2020s, that the situation for female vocal combos hasn’t gotten much better, but perhaps K-pop will keep the girl group alive.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Be My Baby-Baby-Baby Edition

Fri, 17 May 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Girl groups have long been underestimated—even by the producers and managers who created them.

For women listeners, girl groups narrated profound emotions and expressed personal freedom—even when the singers were not so free themselves. For male listeners, girl groups provided inspiration, and a way to express matters of the heart.

And for all listeners across rock and soul history, girl groups pushed music forward. In the ’60s, the Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes and Shangri-Las kept rock afloat between Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the ’70s and ’80s, girl groups from the Emotions to Exposé rebooted dance music. In the ’90s, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny’s Child fused hip-hop style with old-school soul—and the Spice Girls fired up a new generation through Girl Power.

Join Chris Molanphy as we shimmy and strut through decades of bops to give girl groups the respect they deserve. You’ll love them tomorrow, because friendship never ends.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Bridge: What Made Them Beautiful

Sat, 27 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by critic and author Maria Sherman, author of Larger Than Life: A History of Boy Bands from NKOTB to BTS, who learned to stop worrying and embrace her One Direction obsession. She says boy bands are defined by both how they perform and who cheers them on—harmony vocals are key, but ultimately, she says, it’s the female fanbase that determines what makes a band of cute boys a boy band.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives her a chance to turn the tables with a question of his own, and previews next month’s full-length episode. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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We Want It That Way Edition

Sat, 13 Apr 2024 01:30:00 GMT

When you hear “boy band,” what do you picture? Five guys with precision dance moves? Songs crafted by the Top 40 pop machine? Svengalis pulling the puppet strings? Hordes of screaming girls?

As it turns out, not all boy bands fit these signifiers. (Well…except for the screaming girls—they are perennial.) There are boy bands that danced, and some that did not…boy bands that relied entirely on outside songwriters, and those that wrote big hits…boy bands assembled by managers or producers, and quite a few that launched on their own.

From Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers to New Kids on the Block, the Monkees to the Jonas Brothers, Boyz II Men to BTS, New Edition to One Direction, and…yeah, of course, Backstreet Boys and *N Sync, boy bands have had remarkable variety over the years. (In a sense, even a certain ’60s Fab Four started as a boy band.)

Join Chris Molanphy as he tries to define the ineffable quality of boy band–ness, walks through decades of shrieking, hair-pulling pop history, and reminds you that boy bands generated some of our greatest hits, from “I Want You Back” to “I Want It That Way,” “Bye Bye Bye” to “Dynamite.” Help him “bring the fire and set the night alight.”

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Bridge: Like a Revamped Stone

Fri, 29 Mar 2024 22:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Slate chief music critic Carl Wilson, who discusses cover songs and why his 2018 predication of a comeback for covers didn’t quite pan out. Carl says audiences still perceive originals as superior to covers. But Luke Combs’s faithful 2023 reboot of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” reminded the pop world of why traditional covers can be great for both artists and listeners, and of their rich history—which Carl and Chris celebrate by sharing a few of their favorite remakes.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Gotcha Covered Edition

Sat, 16 Mar 2024 04:03:00 GMT

Cover songs once had a simple playbook: Artists would faithfully rerecord a song—note for note and word for word. They might modernize the instrumentation. If they were feeling radical, they’d punch up the vocals a bit.

Now it’s hard to say what a cover is anymore. If Ariana Grande turns “My Favorite Things” into “7 Rings,” does that qualify? When Drake says he’s “Way 2 Sexy,” is he covering Right Said Fred?

The recent chart success of “Fast Car”—country star Luke Combs’ very traditional take on Tracy Chapman’s folk classic—has reinvigorated interest in cover songs. Sometimes, isn’t just remaking the song as-is enough?

Join Chris Molanphy as he explains the chart considerations and artistic motivations that rebooted the cover song, and whether a straight-up remake will ever top the Hot 100 again. We’re long past the days of “Twist and Shout,” “Venus” and “I’ll Be There.”

Podcast production by Olivia Briley.

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The Bridge: Bon Soir, Barbra

Sat, 24 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Wesley Morris, New York Times critic at large, who returns to “The Bridge” to discuss his recent profile of Barbra Streisand circa the release of her autobiography My Name Is Barbra. Wesley didn’t know what to expect when he visited her Malibu mansion but came away impressed by how relaxed the legendary perfectionist was. And he reflects on what her career—musical and otherwise—means for her legacy.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Hello, Gorgeous Edition

Sat, 10 Feb 2024 04:00:00 GMT

Barbra Streisand: star of stage and screen. Oscar-winner, film director and TV producer. Culture warrior and meme generator.

Yes, all that—but don’t get it twisted: Barbra’s legend rests in her catalog of hit songs—and that voice.

Even as culture vultures consume her recent doorstop of a memoir My Name Is Barbra, what’s getting overlooked are Streisand’s awesome musical benchmarks, especially on the Billboard charts. All of those records Taylor Swift has been setting on the album chart, and Billie Eilish on the Grammys? Babs got there first.

At a time when rock was ascendant and showtunes were on the wane, Streisand set her own pop agenda, scoring brassy hits that weren’t trendy but topped the charts anyway. She became a pop star, Broadway legend and box-office commander practically simultaneously.

Join Chris Molanphy as he tells the story of the original Queen of All Media and explains how she racked up all those hits your mom loved (be honest, you know them too) and made “memories, like the corners of [your] mind.” Trust us: It’ll be like buttah.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis

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The Bridge: The Number of the Nominees Shall Be Five

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 23:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Paul Grein, Billboard’s awards editor, for a discussion of the Grammy Awards and how they align with the charts and pop consensus. Paul says Grammy voters do their best with the long list of eligible songs and albums each year, but a narrower field would produce better results. In response to Chris’s proposed Grammy guidelines, Paul offers his own ideas—including going back to just five nominees in the big categories.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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And the Grammy Goes to… Edition

Sat, 13 Jan 2024 06:10:00 GMT

Do you watch the Grammy Awards every year and groan, or even yell at the screen? Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy sure does. But he has a weird hot take: The Grammys are better off not trying to be cool. They should reward the popular stuff—especially younger people’s music.

Where the Recording Academy actually goes wrong is rewarding the old stuff—legendary artists long past their prime, from Frank Sinatra to Eric Clapton, Steely Dan to Beck. The Grammy wins remembered most fondly are artists at the peak of their chart prowess: Carole King. Stevie Wonder. Michael Jackson. George Michael. Lauryn Hill. Adele. Taylor Swift (and more Taylor…and more Taylor…and more…).

When did the Grammys get it most right—and wrong? (Was the Toto win really so bad?) And how can they become more relevant? (Hint: much more rap.)

Join Chris Molanphy as he offers a chart nerd’s take on the Recording Academy and offers guidelines for good Grammy governance, just before the 2024 awards. It’s an episode right in the Nick of Time.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Bridge: Moguls Can’t Be Choosers

Fri, 29 Dec 2023 23:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Andrew Unterberger, Billboard’s digital deputy editor, for a discussion of second-chance hits and how modern-day fans tell the artists and labels what the hits are. Sometimes, the music business’s best-laid plans—say, the promotional campaign for a new album by The Weeknd—are upended by TikTok users gravitating to a song from an old Weeknd album instead. It makes promotion harder, but makes the charts more fun.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Second-Chance Hits Edition

Sat, 16 Dec 2023 03:00:00 GMT

In 2023, several hits from years ago—sometimes decades—made it to No. 1 on Billboard’s pop charts after falling short the first time: Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer.” The Weeknd’s “Die for You.” Miguel’s “Sure Thing.” And, most improbably but delightfully, Brenda Lee’s 65-year-old holiday bop “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”

What’s going on here? A lot of it has to do with the ways streaming, YouTube and TikTok have changed the charts. But the truth is, the second-chance hit is as old as the charts themselves

From David Bowie to Prince, Sonny and Cher to Guns n’ Roses, the Miracles to the Moody Blues, there are certain songs the music biz won’t give up on. To say nothing of all those holiday perennials, from “Monster Mash” to “Last Christmas.”

Join Chris Molanphy as he explains why certain songs keep coming back and counts down a dozen favorite second-chance hits. If it first they don’t succeed, chart, chart again.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Bridge: Can’t Tell Me Nothin’

Sat, 18 Nov 2023 04:00:00 GMT

In this special mini-episode of Hit Parade, recorded live on at Housing Works bookstore in New York City, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Dan Charnas—author of the New York Times bestseller Dilla Time, The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, and the acclaimed The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop. They discuss Chris’s new book Old Town Road—how he came to write it, what made the song exceptional, and how decades of chart and genre history led to Lil Nas X’s breakthrough.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Ride ’til I Can’t No More Edition

Sat, 11 Nov 2023 04:57:00 GMT

When it crash-landed on the charts in 2019, Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” felt new and old at the same time: a savvy, TikTok-fueled viral hit that summarized a century of cross-cultural collisions between R&B, rap and country. It was also unexpectedly huge—a record 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100—and controversial, as Billboard magazine pulled the song from its Hot Country Songs chart, prompting a reckoning on race and the very definition of country music.

“Old Town Road” wasn’t just a reckoning—it was a culmination. As a hard-to-categorize hit, it called back to cross-genre experiments by everyone from Ray Charles and the Rappin’ Duke to Bubba Sparxxx and even Jason Aldean. As a viral smash, its antecedents date back to “The Twist,” right through “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” and “Harlem Shake.”

In honor of his new book Old Town Road (now in bookstores!) join Chris Molanphy as he walks through the many predecessors to “Old Town Road” and explains why can’t nobody tell Lil Nas X nothin’.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Bridge: Down at the Rock n’ Roll Club

Sat, 28 Oct 2023 01:30:00 GMT

Walk on the Wild Side Tours NYC and author of the book This Must Be the Place: Music, Community and Vanished Spaces in New York City. Rifkin says that, in the mid-’70s, punk wasn’t really a genre—it was whoever showed up to play at CBGB. Hilly Kristal’s famous club became a scene, because Kristal let all the bands who had played previously get in for free, let them make mistakes onstage and even rebooked them regardless of how many (or how few) people showed up. The result was a rock revolution.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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This Ain’t No Party?! Edition Part 2

Sat, 21 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMT

HEY! HO! LET’S GO!! Is this chant: (a) a movement of disaffected hipsters, (b) walkup music for a baseball player, or (c) a really catchy bop? How about all of the above?

The legendary New York nightclub CBGB was the birthplace of punk. But it was also the future of pop: the Ramones, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Blondie. To varying degrees, these acts either became hitmakers, tried to reshape their music for the charts, or influenced generations of future multiplatinum stars.

Honestly? Their music was pretty infectious from the jump, even if it was too advanced for the ’70s hit parade. The music we called punk contained multitudes: the improvisatory jazz-rock of Television. The demented anthems of the Ramones. The quirky funk of Talking Heads. The stylistic eclecticism of Blondie—who scored four No. 1 hits in four different genres.

Join Chris Molanphy on a journey back to New York’s dirty days to try to answer: When did CBGB punk morph into chart pop?

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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This Ain’t No Party?! Edition Part 1

Sat, 14 Oct 2023 03:30:00 GMT

HEY! HO! LET’S GO!! Is this chant: (a) a movement of disaffected hipsters, (b) walkup music for a baseball player, or (c) a really catchy bop? How about all of the above?

Join Chris Molanphy on a journey back to New York’s dirty days to try to answer: When did CBGB punk morph into chart pop?

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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The Bridge: Feels So Good

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 21:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Tom Nawrocki, a music writer for Medium.com and the author of “Rewind The Biggest Instrumental Hits of the Past 50 Years.” He says the history of wordless hits tends to be filled with novelties and one-offs, but instrumentalists who deliver pop hooks and personality on their instrument can brand themselves and come back to the charts.

Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch.

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Insert Lyrics Here Edition

Sat, 16 Sep 2023 03:00:00 GMT

If an instrumental tops the charts, it’s probably an earworm: “Tequila.” “Wipeout.” “Dueling Banjos.” “The Hustle.” “Feels So Good.” “Chariots of Fire.” “Axel F.” You can probably whistle or hum several of those from memory. But do you remember the artists? All were one-hit wonders. By and large, instrumental hits throughout chart history were flukes.

But there were exceptions: a trumpet player from Los Angeles who pretended to be Latin, made up a fake mariachi band, put sexy models on his album covers and topped the charts almost as much as the Beatles. Or, a try-hard, perm-headed soprano saxophone player from Seattle, who turned holding his breath while playing dizzying runs of notes into an athletic feat.

How do songs without words become hits? Why were Herb Alpert and Kenny G so good at it? Why did instrumentals fall off the charts after the ’80s—and who is bringing them back? (Hint: think oontz-oontz-oontz.) Join Chris Molanphy as he throws away the lyric sheet and explains how a catchy melody can be worth a thousand words.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Don’t Believe Me, Just Watch

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 22:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Tom Breihan, senior editor at Stereogum and writer of its popular column The Number Ones, a chronological review of every song that’s ever hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Mars reveals little about himself in his hits, Tom says, and he may not have recorded an all-out pop classic. But as a 21st-century songwriter and performer, Mars delivers pleasurable hits with efficient hooks and near-mathematical precision.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lenny on Mars Edition

Sat, 15 Jul 2023 04:00:00 GMT

What do Lenny Kravitz, a hitmaker primarily in the ’90s and ’00s, and Bruno Mars, a 2010s–20s hitmaker, have in common? It turns out, a lot: Each man has a wide-ranging ethnic and musical background, with early exposure to unusual sides of showbiz. Each has scored hits in a variety of styles. They are admirers of each other’s work and have even performed live together.

But the main thing Lenny and Bruno have in common is their skill—some might say habit—of borrowing tropes and styles from hitmakers of the past. Kravitz from the very start of his career emulated the rock stylings of his heroes, like John Lennon and Sly Stone. And Bruno Mars—talk about an Unorthodox Jukebox: His career has been a parade of hits whose sound has spanned from the Police to Rick James to Michael Jackson.

Are they cultural appropriators, or genius style chameleons? Join Chris Molanphy as he chronicles two premier pop stylists of the last 30 years who wore genres like costumes and rebooted oldies into modern hits. Don’t believe them? Just watch.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: So Excited and Breaking Out

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 23:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by music journalist and interviewer of vocal legends Christian John Wikane. He says what set apart the Pointer Sisters—including Ruth Pointer, whom Christian has interviewed numerous times—was their across-the-board vocal quality: all three sisters (four in the ’70s, including Bonnie Pointer) were both gifted lead vocalists and natural harmony singers.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yes We Can Can Edition

Sat, 17 Jun 2023 02:30:00 GMT

Today, the Pointer Sisters are mostly remembered for their flurry of ’80s hits, especially the “Excited” one about losing control and liking it. But their musical history is far more varied: jazz standards? Civil rights–era funk? Country music? Yacht rock? The Pointers applied their impeccable sibling harmonies to all of it.

Billboard ranks the Pointer Sisters behind only the Supremes, TLC and Destiny’s Child among hitmaking girl groups. Yet their versatility has gone relatively unheralded—from the Grammy they won in a country category, to the Bruce Springsteen demo they turned into a smash, to the kiddie bop they recorded for Sesame Street.

How did the Pointers score so many hits in so many idioms? Join Chris Molanphy as he gives the Pointer Sisters their due as harmonizing innovators and genre-defying hitmakers. Here at Hit Parade, we jump (for their love).

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: The Sun Never Set on the Britpop Empire

Fri, 26 May 2023 23:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy first sits down with our podcast producer Kevin Bendis, whose band Diary usually has an ’80s-style indie sound but recently covered the ’90s Oasis hit “Supersonic.”

Then, Chris is joined by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Senior Editor at Xperi, whose database of music information is available at Allmusic.com. Tom says Britpop did have sonic signifiers, many of them throwbacks to earlier waves of British rock; and that it’s fair to call Radiohead’s mid-’90s music Britpop even if they wanted nothing to do with the movement.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives her a chance to turn the tables with a question of her own, and previews next month’s full-length episode. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Champagne Supernova Edition

Sat, 13 May 2023 03:59:00 GMT

In the ’90s, U.K. rock was by Britons, for Britons. The music of the U.K. indie, Madchester, and shoegaze scenes fused together into a new wave of guitar bands with punk energy, laddish lyrics and danceable grooves. They called it Britpop.

In the motherland, Britpop set the charts alight: Blur faced off against Oasis. Pulp poked fun at the class system. Suede sold androgyny, and Elastica repackaged ’70s art-punk as ’90s pop. But with rare exception, these hits didn’t translate in America. There was no Third British Invasion in the ’90s—with the exception of that one inscrutable Oasis song about a “Wonderwall.”

Why did Britpop fire up Old Blighty and flop with the Yanks? Join Chris Molanphy as he tries to define Britppop—was it a scene? a sound? a movement?—and explains how the music boomed and busted faster than a cannonball.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Video Pilled Suburbia’s Child

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 19:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by SiriusXM DJ Lori Majewski, the coauthor of the book Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s. Majewski says Generation X kids were “listening to our parents’ music” until MTV gave them their own New Wave, led by stylish British bands like Duran Duran. She and her coauthor Jonathan Bernstein traced the Second British Invasion from Gary Numan to Live Aid.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The British Are Charting Edition

Sat, 15 Apr 2023 03:50:00 GMT

Before 1964, British bands couldn’t get anywhere on the U.S. charts. Then suddenly, after a certain Fab Four broke, they were everywhere. By 1965, they had locked down our Top 10.

In 1981, a new generation of U.K. acts armed with synthesizers were largely shut out of the Hot 100 once again. But then a new video channel called MTV changed the game—helped by some very pretty men in dapper suits. By 1983, half of the U.S. Top 40 had a British accent.

What did these two movements have in common, besides screaming fans and impressive hair? Join Chris Molanphy as he dissects these two bloodless coups that rebooted our hit parade. These Invasions were about as easy as a nuclear war.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Still a Rock Star

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 22:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by widely published critic Annie Zaleski, the author of several books including a forthcoming biography of Pink. Zaleski says Pink contains multitudes, with a voice capable of many genres and a fearless approach to both genre and lyrics. Her fans stick with her because Pink not only turns out reliably good albums, she also provides bang for the buck live.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Raise Your Glass Edition

Sat, 11 Mar 2023 02:30:00 GMT

Alecia Moore was so fearless, they put an exclamation point in her name. Pink—a.k.a. P!nk—was full of bravado from the moment she broke at the turn of the millennium, singing a frothy style of teen pop&B. She was promoted as ethnically ambiguous and sold to white and Black audiences as a sassy Total Request Live starlet. She even joined an all-star remake of “Lady Marmalade.”

But Pink felt misrepresented, even Missundaztood—so she recorded an album by that name, fusing rock guitar, dance beats and filter-free lyrics. She called out shiftless boyfriends, other pop stars, even the president of her record label in the lyrics of her hits, becoming the pop fan’s rock star.

Join Chris Molanphy as he explains how Pink defined her own genre fusing punk attitude and soaring melodies into 21st-century self-empowerment music. She made herself into a rock star, simply by calling herself one. Who knew?

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Losing Hootie’s Religion

Sat, 25 Feb 2023 02:10:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Tim Sommer, former bassist, music journalist, MTV/VH1 veejay and Atlantic Records A&R representative. While at Atlantic, Tim signed Hootie & the Blowfish, and in his 2022 book Only Wanna Be with You: The Inside Story of Hootie & the Blowfish, he tells the story of how he saw the band as cultural descendants of R.E.M., how they became one of the top-selling acts of the ’90s, and why they fell off the charts so quickly.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Little Love and Some Tenderness Edition

Sat, 11 Feb 2023 02:15:00 GMT

One of the most improbable blockbuster successes of the ’90s was Hootie and the Blowfish: a South Carolina bar band fronted by a Black lead singer that played jangly alt-pop. That singer, Darius Rucker, built a career that’s one of a kind. Rucker’s tastes growing up were eclectic, as were the influences on his young bandmates. Their Cracked Rear View album took a year to catch on, but then it dominated the charts.

The story gets more interesting after Hootie fell off: Darius Rucker’s career is a prime example of how chart success is a product of musical trend. First, Rucker tried to become a neo-soul star. Then he tried his hand at country music, even though Nashville had not produced a major Black solo star since Charley Pride.

Join Chris Molanphy as he traces this improbable journey—the role Rucker’s band played in mainstreaming alt-rock, Rucker’s effort to find a genre to call home, and how he finally became a chart-conqueror again..

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Tell Her Sweet Little Lies

Sat, 28 Jan 2023 01:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Alfred Soto, Florida International University journalism professor and a music critic whose appreciation of the late Christine McVie appeared in Billboard magazine. Alfred and Chris expand on the latest full-length episode about McVie, the longest-tenured singer-songwriter in Fleetwood Mac, whom Alfred calls their “poet laureate of the morning after.” He says McVie could have styled herself as a ’70s singer-songwriter, like Carole King or Joni Mitchell, but she gave her songs to Fleetwood Mac because she thrived in bands.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thinking About Tomorrow Edition

Sat, 14 Jan 2023 07:15:00 GMT

The story of Fleetwood Mac is an oft-told rock n’ roll tale: British blues-rock band sells poorly until two Americans join, bringing California vibes and lots of drama. Everybody fights, cheats, drugs and boozes. Out pops Rumours and tons of hits.

It’s more complicated than that. Those two Americans—Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham—got all the media coverage and wrote many great songs. But the quiet lady behind the keyboards, Christine McVie, actually wrote more of the hits: “Don’t Stop.” “Say You Love Me.” “Hold Me.” “Little Lies.” “Everywhere.” They were all Christine compositions.

Join Chris Molanphy as he remembers Christine McVie, who died in late 2022 at age 79, and restores her rightful place as the glue that held Fleetwood Mac together.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hits of the Year Edition Part 2

Fri, 30 Dec 2022 23:30:00 GMT

Sam the Sham over the Rolling Stones? The Knack over Donna Summer? Wilson Phillips over Mariah Carey? Glass Animals over Harry Styles?

On Billboard’s year-end Hot 100, upsets are quite common. Songs that seemed to dominate the chart all year are defeated by stealthily ubiquitous earworms. Sometimes the obvious song takes the prize: “Hey Jude,” “Every Breath You Take” or “I Will Always Love You.” And then sometimes it’s a one-hit wonder: Domencio Mudugno, Daniel Powter, Gotye, Glass Animals—all won the year-end Hot 100 prize.

Join Chris Molanphy as he explains the secrets behind having the hit of the year—and why it doesn’t always go to a superstar.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Decoder Ring: The New Age Hit Machine

Wed, 28 Dec 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Today, we’re excited to share an episode from Slate’s Decoder Ring that we think you’re going to love.

For this episode, a story from Slate senior producer Evan Chung about how Yanni, John Tesh and a number of other surprising acts made it big in the 1990s. It’s a throwback to a simpler time— when musicians struggled to find their big break, but discovered it was possible with a telephone, a television, and our undivided attention.

This story originally aired in 2019 on Studio 360 from PRX.

We hear from George Veras, Pat Callahan, and John Tesh.

This episode was written and produced by Slate’s Evan Chung. Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin and Katie Shepherd. Derek John is Slate’s Executive Producer of narrative podcasts. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hits of the Year Edition Part 1

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 19:00:00 GMT

Sam the Sham over the Rolling Stones? The Knack over Donna Summer? Wilson Phillips over Mariah Carey? Glass Animals over Harry Styles?

Join Chris Molanphy as he explains the secrets behind having the hit of the year—and why it doesn’t always go to a superstar.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Pub Rock, Power Pop and New Wave

Sat, 03 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Senior Editor at Xperi, whose database of music information is available at Allmusic.com. In his quarter-century with Allmusic, Tom has written thousands of record reviews and biographies. Chris and Tom expand on the latest full-length episode about the so-called Angry Young Men of punk/new wave. These movements were preceded by smaller scenes and sounds of the early ’70s like Pub Rock and Power Pop, which actually had little in common other than their back-to-basic, no-frills rock ethos.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Angry Young Men Edition

Sat, 19 Nov 2022 02:15:00 GMT

Punk was meant to be angry. But the so-called Angry Young Men of the late ’70s U.K. scene were secret sophisticates in punk clothing. They delivered withering lyrics and snarling attitude over melodies a pop fan could love.

In so doing, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson and Graham Parker helped transform a slew of back-to-basic styles—pub-rock, power-pop, post-punk—into the catchall category New Wave. It would take over the charts at the turn of the ’80s. But the launch of the MTV era forced these sardonic troubadours to adjust their songwriting for a New Romantic age.

Join Chris Molanphy as he chronicles the history of three men who wrote the book on alternative rock before it had a name.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Chi-town, Soul Town

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 23:30:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy welcomes Chicago broadcaster and Black music scholar Ayana Contreras, host of the radio show Reclaimed Soul and author of Energy Never Dies: Afro-Optimism and Creativity in Chicago. Contreras says the Great Migration made not only Chicago but all of the Midwest—from Detroit to Dayton—a cradle of R&B styles in the ’70s, particularly soul and funk. And while disco proved a challenge to Windy City acts, they eventually remade dance music through the power of their innovative arrangements, building a foundation for the hip-hop era.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Host

Chris Molanphy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Give Up the Funk Edition

Sat, 15 Oct 2022 01:10:00 GMT

In the ’70s, funk was pop—the cutting edge of Black music and the way listeners got their groove on, before disco and hip-hop. After James Brown taught a generation a new way to hear rhythm, and George Clinton tore the roof off with his P-Funk axis, nothing would be the same.

Rising alongside blaxploitation at the movies, funk took many forms: Curtis Mayfield’s superfly storytelling. War’s low-riding grooves. Kool & the Gang’s jungle boogie. Earth, Wind and Fire’s jazzy crescendos. But when funk began fusing with rock and disco took over the charts, would these acts have to give up the funk?

Join Chris Molanphy as he traces the history of funk’s first big decade. You’ll ride the mighty, mighty love rollercoaster and get down just for the funk of it.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Lost Hits vs. Legacy Hits

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 21:15:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy welcomes radio industry analyst and programming consultant Sean Ross, editor of the Ross on Radio newsletter. Sean’s ongoing “Lost Hits” series analyzes how big hits in their day might go unplayed on the radio today—songs like Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” or Buckner & Garcia’s “Pac-Man Fever.” And he and Chris also talk about how “legacy hits”—the opposite of lost hits—wind up becoming radio programmers’ go-to favorites, from “Super Freak” to “Brown Eyed Girl.”

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

A promotional note for listeners in South Carolina! On Thursday, October 20, at 6:30 p.m., Chris will be making a live appearance at the Richland Public Library, sponsored by the University of South Carolina’s School of Information and Communications. It’s free and open to the public. Chris’s talk will be about “Pop Culture, Music, and South Carolina,” and his discussion of a certain Palmetto State musician may make it into a future Hit Parade episode. More details here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At Last, My Legacy Has Come Along

Sat, 17 Sep 2022 13:50:28 GMT

What do you call a song that bombed on the charts back in the day, that now booms out of radios and streaming apps nationwide? Chris Molanphy has a name for these songs: legacy hits. Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.” Etta James’s “At Last.” The Romantics’ “What I Like About You.” Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime.”

Many catalysts can change a song’s trajectory, from movie scenes to stadium singalongs, wedding DJs to evolving tastes. Sometimes the hivemind just collectively decides that this Whitney Houston hit, not that one, is her song for the ages.

Join Chris as he explains how the charts sometimes get it wrong, and how legacy hits correct the record—and counts down 10 of his favorite flops-turned-classics.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis and Merritt Jacob.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Let Me Be the One

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 22:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy welcomes Maura Johnston, the eclectic critic and contributor to the Boston Globe and Time magazine. In her study on Latin freestyle dance-pop in the 1980s, Maura pointed out that the music’s themes were surprisingly sad, with an ache that was not unlike goth and synthpop. And freestyle’s penchant for melodramatic ballads meant it was often played alongside hair-metal on the radio, another genre packed with power ballads.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Point of No Return

Sat, 16 Jul 2022 01:00:00 GMT

After the so-called-but-not-really “death” of disco, dance music in the 1980s moved to its own beat. There was synthpop, electro, hi-NRG and house. But the scrappy genre that seemed to pull it all together was called freestyle—a breakbeat-tempo, Latin-flavored genre fortified with dizzying, proudly synthetic beats. Freestyle grew out of the clubs and streets of New York and Miami and briefly dominated ’80s dance-pop.

Freestyle’s flagship artists were only medium-level stars: Shannon. Exposé. Lisa Lisa. Stevie B. Nu Shooz. Sweet Sensation. But these acts—most especially their yearning, floridly romantic, rhythmically hectic songs—punched above their weight on the charts and even affected the hits of superstars from Madonna to Duran Duran, Whitney Houston to Pet Shop Boys.

Join Chris Molanphy as he defines the byways of this bespoke dance genre and traces how it bridged the disco era into the hiphop era.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Sync Is Both Stranger and Shameless

Fri, 01 Jul 2022 23:30:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy welcomes Mara Kuge, President of Superior Music Corporation, who has placed hundreds of songs in various media—including the High Strung’s “The Luck You Got” as the theme to Showtime’s Shameless and shows like Killing Eve and Succession. Mara says that, in the era of peak TV, there are more opportunities than ever to place her clients’ music. But the job means “running a gauntlet” of music supervisors, showrunners, producers and networks—and a song isn’t guaranteed to make the final cut until the show airs. When it works, the rewards are great: After Shameless, the songwriter for the High Strung gained the financial freedom to pursue his passion as an author.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia and gives him a chance to turn the tables with a question of his own. Plus, this month, Chris explains why the latest full-length Hit Parade topic changed at the last minute (thanks to a name that rhymes with “late mush”). Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Deal with the TV God Edition

Sat, 18 Jun 2022 01:00:00 GMT

For decades, British alt-pop goddess Kate Bush had never had a Top 10 hit in America. Now, in 2022, she finds herself in the

Hot 100’s Top Five—and television got her there. Her classic “Running Up That Hill” is featured prominently in the latest

season of Netflix’s hit ’80s horror fantasy show Stranger Things.

This puts Bush in a long lineage of hits spawned or made bigger by TV, dating all the way back to Davy Crockett and Peter

Gunn, through Hawaii Five-O and Happy Days, and peaking in the ’80s with Miami Vice and Family Ties.

Join host Chris Molanphy as he walks through more than six decades of hits from the so-called boob tube and reveals

why—thanks to our streaming age—Kate Bush’s hit might be the biggest TV tune of all.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Like the Legend of the Phoenix

Fri, 03 Jun 2022 21:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy welcomes Jason King, Chair of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, who has advised producer Timbaland on music litigation and has had a front-row seat for Pharrell Williams’s mentoring of artists. Jason credits the Virginia Beach superstars with clairaudience, or clairvoyance of sound—the ability to hear into the future. And he says Missy Elliott, Pharrell’s and Tim’s peer from Virginia, still isn’t given enough credit for her David Bowie–like ability to shape-shift in a pop context and fuse the visual with musical genius.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives him a chance to turn the tables with a question of her own, and previews next month’s full-length episode. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Flip It and Reverse It

Sat, 21 May 2022 00:00:00 GMT

What was in the water in Virginia Beach? Starting in the ’90s and peaking in the ’00s, Pharrell Williams, Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley and Missy Elliott—friends and family from the Tidewater Region—made nerdy pop normal on the charts. Their productions whirred, gurgled, pinged and rumbled—the handiwork of studio geeks—while their lyrics embraced the freaky: Missy demanding that you work it…Pharrell declaring he’s a hustler, baby…Timbaland bringing sexy back.

Join host Chris Molanphy as he explains how these three supa-dupa fly Virginia Beach geniuses helped us get our freak on. For over two decades, they never left you without a dope beat to step to.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Podcast Folklore, Hit Parade Evermore

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 22:50:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy reunited with Steve Lickteig, cofounder of podcast developer Small Good Thing and the man who greenlit Hit Parade when he was at Slate five years ago. Steve talks about the radio sensibility he brought to the show as our first producer and why the combination of music and stories makes the show compelling for listeners. Plus, he counts down his own top five favorite Hit Parade episodes—his list is heavy on country music, unusual takes, albums for road trips…and songs both he and Chris Molanphy hate.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I Got Five on It

Sat, 16 Apr 2022 01:15:00 GMT

Five years ago this month, Hit Parade launched on the Slate podcast network. What have we learned in that half-decade? And what episodes did you love the most? We asked you to vote—and the results may surprise you. Sure, you enjoyed our shows about Madonna, Nirvana, Whitney, Mariah, Bruce, Stevie and Janet. But even more than that, you loved our nerdy deep dives about the producers behind “Le Freak”…the rules for One-Hit Wonders…the college-rockers from Athens, Ga.…the man behind Meat Loaf…the smooth players behind Yacht Rock…and that explainer about why you had to pay top dollar for CDs in the ’90s with only one good song.

Join host Chris Molanphy as he shares his founding principles for Hit Parade, and counts down your 20 favorite shows. Happy fifth birthday to us! We’re finally old enough for kindergarten.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: All Hail the Queens

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 17:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Danyel Smith, longtime music journalist and editor, and author of the new book Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop. Smith explains how her passion for music was fueled by seeing a pint-size Janet Jackson onstage in the ’70s and playing records by everyone from Nancy Wilson to Chaka Khan. How she saw Dionne Warwick forge an egalitarian partnership with white songwriters and eventually become a pop auteur. How Roberta Flack sang songs with stories, but Lauryn Hill expressed story with the tone of her voice. And how Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle rebelled against the Motown model and forged personae that Smith calls “the epitome of free.”

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Host

Chris Molanphy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Killing Me Softly

Sat, 26 Mar 2022 00:10:00 GMT

The early ’70s was a great time for R&B queens on the charts: Roberta Flack. Dionne Warwick. Patti LaBelle. Chaka Khan. They had come through the ’60s—Dionne as a smooth pop-and-B star, Patti as a girl-group frontwoman, Roberta as a cabaret pianist—and found themselves in a new decade with limitless possibilities. Flack turned folk songs into chart-topping, Grammy-winning R&B. Warwick shifted from Brill Building pop to Philly soul. LaBelle threw her insane voice at rock, funk, and glam. And a relative newcomer, Rufus frontwoman Chaka Khan, followed in their footsteps, commanding the band and converting to disco, then electro. By the ’80s, all four women were ready for a major chart victory lap.

Join host Chris Molanphy as he traces four parallel careers that expanded the definition of soul from the ’60s through the ’80s and beyond. These soul sisters, flow sisters, bold sisters…killed us softly, walked on by and were, finally, every woman.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: On the Wheels of Steel

Fri, 04 Mar 2022 07:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Michaelangelo Matos, the author of The Underground Is Massive: How Electronic Dance Music Conquered America. He contributes regularly to Mix-mag and the New Yorker, and joins us to follow up on our previous episode about the history of the remix, digging into remix culture in hip hop, 80's pop, and more.

Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We Invented the Remix

Sat, 19 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Today on Hit Parade, we trace the multifarious history of the remix: a musical term with a universe of meanings. Rethinks. Reboots. Reinventions. Rerecordings. Even instances where the so-called remix came before the supposed original. (How is that even possible?) In a way, the most pivotal “remix” in chart history was the one so transformative, it compelled a change in our understanding of what a remix even is.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Learn How to Face It, She’s Gone

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 12:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Senior Editor at Xperi, whose database of music information is available at Allmusic.com. In his quarter-century with Allmusic, Tom has written thousands of record reviews and biographies. Chris and Tom expand on the latest full-length episode about Daryl Hall and John Oates, tracing their chart successes and failures through the ’70s, a decade when Tom says the duo tried a little of everything—from gentle folk, to psychedelia and glam rock, even proto–New Wave—before they could arrive at their Imperial ’80s sound. The cross-genre appeal they generated attracted teenage MTV fans and adult soul aficionados alike.

Plus, Hit Parade says goodbye to a longtime producer and friend of the show. Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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Rock ’n Soul

Sat, 15 Jan 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Daryl Hall and John Oates: Their songs were earworms, their videos cheap and goofy. John Oates’s mustache and Daryl Hall’s mullet are relics of their time. And…for about five years, their crazy streak on the pop charts was comparable to Elvis, the Beatles and the Bee Gees.

They were also more cutting-edge than you may realize, essentially inventing their own form of cross-racial new wave after spending the ’70s trying everything: rock, R&B, folk, funk, even disco. At their Imperial peak in the early ’80s, Hall and Oates commanded the pop, soul and dance charts while still getting played on rock stations. And decades later, when the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ignored them, it was Black artists—rappers and soul fans—who pushed them in.

Join Chris Molanphy for a dissection of the Philly duo who invented “rock ’n soul” and made their dreams come true.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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The Bridge: Jingle Bells?

Fri, 31 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by producer Asha Saluja to look back on the latest full-length episode and the year in Hit Parade. Chris shares his favorite episodes of the year, answers some questions from the listener mailbag, and issues corrections for 2021.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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Chestnut Roasters

Sat, 18 Dec 2021 05:15:00 GMT

Bing. Nat. Dean. John and Paul. Darlene. Mariah. Ariana. Musicians so famous, with so many classic hits, you don’t even need their last names. Now here are a few more, with fewer hits: Vince Guaraldi. José Feliciano. Donny Hathaway. The Waitresses. What do all of these acts have in common? Years from now, each of them may be known primarily for a single holiday chestnut. In fact, in the streaming era, some of them already are consumed largely in December.

In this holiday episode of Hit Parade, Chris Molanphy dives deep into radio, streaming and Billboard chart data to compare these acts’ long hitmaking histories to the majority-merry ways they are consumed today. And none has been more condensed by Christmas than another artist who was once famous enough to go by her first name: Brenda. A ’60s chart dominator and double–Hall of Famer, Brenda Lee is now mostly known for that tune about Christmas tree rockin’. How did the legendary “Little Miss Dynamite” become Santa’s little helper? And will she ever pass Mariah and go back to No. 1?

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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The Bridge: Sexism’s Eternal Flame

Fri, 03 Dec 2021 16:15:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Rachel Brodsky, writer and editor at Stereogum, to expand on the latest full-length episode—on the careers of Cyndi Lauper, Aimee Mann and The Bangles. Rachel recently interviewed Bangles member Susanna Hoffs, and she tells Chris about Hoffs’s ongoing career pursuits, her friendship with Aimee Mann, and her reflections on her time with The Bangles.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives him a chance to turn the tables with a stumper question of his own, and previews next month’s full-length episode. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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Be the One to Walk in the Sun

Sat, 20 Nov 2021 21:40:00 GMT

Thirty-five years ago, in the fall of 1986, women with rock foundations and pop sensibilities were doing quite well on the charts. Three acts in particular were drawing sizable attention—and they were all singing on the same album: Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors, which featured backing vocals by the Bangles and ’Til Tuesday’s Aimee Mann.

It turns out these women had more than that brief coincidence in common. Lauper, Mann and the Bangles came up at the same postpunk, new-wave moment in ’80s pop. And they fought many of the same battles: record-label machinations…a media that stoked rivalries, whether or not they existed…and a sexist music industry that repeatedly underestimated their skills. In this Hit Parade episode, Chris Molanphy recounts how these women emerged from distinctive rock scenes––from punk-era New York and Boston, to L.A.’s Paisley Underground—then outgrew them. They found critical and commercial acclaim and remain influential decades later, in a variety of media, from Hollywood to Broadway. What forces were they up against, and how did they fight to define themselves?

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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The Bridge: Everything Is Emo

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 11:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by podcaster, screenwriter, and author Andy Greenwald to dissect the latest full-length episode of Hit Parade on pop-punk and emo. When Andy wrote his book Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo in 2003, he thought the music had gotten pretty big. He hadn’t seen anything yet. Andy and Chris discuss how a scattered movement of DIY-scene bands gave way to a wave of commercial emo on the pop charts, from the soul-baring Dashboard Confessional to the goth-clad My Chemical Romance—even the vexing, genreless Weezer. Emo never really had one sound—and while it reached its apex with Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco, the emo sensibility never really went away. It lives on everywhere from pop’s biggest megastars to indie-rock and even rap.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives her a chance to turn the tables with a stumper question of her own, and previews next month’s full-length episode. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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I Write Sins, Not Tragedies

Sat, 16 Oct 2021 04:20:00 GMT

“Punk happened, past tense.” That’s what Boomer-era critics and true-believer punks told the younger generations. Punk’s whole reason for being was rejecting the mainstream. But punk wasn’t just a movement—it was also a genre. And 20 years after it first emerged, punk went from underground to overground, dominating the radio for the first time.

In this episode of Hit Parade, Chris Molanphy traces how punk traveled from Sid Vicious to strip mall, through the lineage of ’90s bands Green Day, Offspring and Blink‑182, and ’00s emo artisans Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco and their skinny-jeans-wearing, smarty-pants contemporaries. From the CBGB era to the current Billboard Hot 100, punk is no historical artifact—it’s still morphing and adapting. And for all its supposed opposition to convention, the dirty little secret is: Punk has always been catchy.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja with help from Rosemary Belson.

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The Bridge: She Feels the Earth Move

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 10:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by NPR Music critic and author Ann Powers to dissect the latest full-length episode of Hit Parade. Ann and Chris discuss how a range of social movements—the flowering of Black, women’s and worker’s-rights activism, the mainstreaming of pornography, even the music business’s shift from groups to soloists—all conspired to make 1971 an exceptionally fruitful year for pop.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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Spirit of ’71

Fri, 10 Sep 2021 21:20:00 GMT

At any given time, the music world is celebrating some anniversary, but 1971 has received more than its share of commemorations this year. And with good reason: Carole King. Marvin Gaye. Joni Mitchell. Sly Stone. Janis Joplin. The Who. All released their best work a half-century ago.

For our 50th episode of Hit Parade, we go back 50 years, celebrating the semicentennial of the year when, critics claim, “music changed everything.” The Quiet Beatle became the Favorite Beatle, when Mick Jagger sang lyrics even he regrets, when Carole King graduated from songwriter to singer-songwriter, and commercial juggernaut, when blaxploitation took over the charts and the Oscars, and when the radio was somehow awash in Osmonds. It wasn’t a perfect year—but Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy is fond of ’71 for personal reasons.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja with help from Rosemary Belson.

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The Bridge: Get-Down Showdown

Fri, 20 Aug 2021 22:00:00 GMT

In this special summer trivia mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by the host and producers of Slate’s new podcast One Year, which introduces you to the people and ideas that changed American history—one year at a time. The first season of One Year, which wrapped up just this week, covers 1977: a year when gay rights hung in the balance, Roots dominated the airwaves, and Jesus appeared on a tortilla.

Besides all these happenings, 1977 was also a big year for music: from Rumours to Saturday Night Fever to Never Mind the Bollocks. And our next episode of Hit Parade will be about another musically significant year, 1971—the year of Tapestry, Imagine and Shaft. So we’re celebrating with a ’70s trivia extravaganza. See If you can beat One Year host and Slate national editor Josh Levin, One Year co-producer Evan Chung, assistant producer Madeline Ducharme, and Slate senior culture editor Allegra Frank. You can listen to One Year on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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The Bridge: Everybody’s Got a Hungry Chart

Fri, 30 Jul 2021 20:40:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Caryn Rose, music writer, archivist and Bruce Springsteen authority, to dissect the latest full-length episode of Hit Parade. Chris and Caryn discuss Bruce’s relationship with writing Top 40 hits, for himself and others—and the conditions necessary to reign in his storytelling impulses to pen tight pop singles. They dive into The Boss’s relationship with his E Street Band and muse about his future as a touring artist and multimedia polymath.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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Tramps Like Us

Sat, 17 Jul 2021 03:00:00 GMT

Bruce Springsteen has been a legend so long, it’s easy to forget that, for his first decade, he had trouble getting a hit. Yes, even the legendary “Born to Run”: It missed Billboard’s Top 20. And yet, several of Springsteen’s songs became big hits for others: the song with the misheard lyric about “a deuce” that went to No. 1 for a British band. The song he couldn’t finish that became a hit for a punk priestess. The song he refused to let his record label hear that became a massive hit for the Pointer Sisters. The hit he almost gave away to the Ramones.

In his second decade, on the other hand, Springsteen wasn’t just a hitmaker—he was the archetype: the symbol of flag-waving American rock, even when the song was less patriotism than protest. Advertisers, other pop stars, President Ronald Reagan—everybody glommed onto Bruce, and virtually all of them got him wrong. Just in time for summer, Hit Parade takes on the Boss, pop star. How did Bruce Springsteen invent his persona and find his truth?

Production by Asha Saluja, with help from Rosemary Belson.

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The Bridge: Beats, Rhymes and Life

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 11:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Oliver Wang, professor of sociology at California State University, Long Beach, music writer and co-host of the music podcast Heat Rocks. Chris and Oliver chat about the latest episode of Hit Parade, which dives deep into the origins of rap music to identify when rappers started singing. Oliver dissects the gendered boundaries that used to define rap and R&B, and the two discuss the myriad pivot points that caused these boundaries to fall.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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Say My Name, Say My Name

Fri, 18 Jun 2021 14:00:00 GMT

Let’s be clear: Rap has always been musical. But back in the day, rappers generally, well, rapped: talked in cadence over a beat. Fans judged MCs primarily by their rhymes and rhythms, not their melodies.

Now? Rappers are mostly singers: MCs from Drake to DaBaby slip seamlessly in and out of melody. Some hits that appear on Billboard’s Rap charts feature literally no rapping. When did this change?

In this episode of Hit Parade, Chris Molanphy walks through the history of hip-hop—from Gil Scott-Heron to Lil Nas X—to trace the evolving role of melody in rap’s conquest of the charts. The broadening of rap to include more female MCs, from Queen Latifah to Lauryn Hill, had a lot to do with it. But all roads lead through rap-and-B’s power couple, Jay-Z and Beyoncé. The pivot point may have been when Queen Bey realized she could sing with triple-time flow like the baddest MC.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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The Bridge: Hip-Hop, Hit Pop

Fri, 28 May 2021 14:30:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Amherst pop-music professor Amy Coddington to provide some context on how Milli Vanilli helped change the sound of pop music at the turn of the ’80s and ’90s. She says Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan—and whoever vocalized for them—made rap more palatable for both adults and kids. From a 2021 vantage point, it seems quaint that music buyers would be outraged and demand a refund for an album not sung by the pretty faces on the cover. But Americans in the late ’80s were still acclimating to post–hip-hop, post-MTV standards of pop.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives her a chance to turn the tables on him with a clever question of her own about birthday No. 1 hits, and previews next month’s full-length episode. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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Blame It on the Feign

Thu, 20 May 2021 19:00:00 GMT

For a musical project that’s synonymous with deceit, Milli Vanilli sold an awful lot of records. They also have quite a legacy: a blend of pop, dance and rap that now seems commonplace but was still relatively novel in 1989. If you’ve danced to Europop that fronts like hip-hop, you’re living in a world Milli Vanilli helped create.

In this episode of Hit Parade, Chris Molanphy breaks down the history of Milli Vanilli mastermind Frank Farian’s musical career: from his days with Boney M, a hit-making, half-real, half-fake group that was a precursor to his later scheme; to his enlistment of European model–dancers Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan to be the faux-frontpeople of Milli Vanilli. From MTV News to Behind the Music, the Milli Vanilli story has been told and retold. But the Billboard chart feats achieved by Rob and Fab, and their accomplices, reveal just how addicted America was to their music—and maybe, how they won that Grammy.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja with help from Rosemary Belson.

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The Bridge: You Said You Needed "Space"—WHAT?!

Fri, 30 Apr 2021 12:30:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy brings on Rolling Stone Senior Writer and devoted Swiftie Brittany Spanos to talk about the latest episode of Hit Parade focused on the country-to-pop crossover of Taylor Swift. Brittany tells Chris about the birth of her Taylor fandom on Tumblr, about the experience of following an artist as she navigates your same stages of life, and about why Swift’s catalogue is catnip for celebrity gossip fans.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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Taylor’s Version of Country

Sat, 17 Apr 2021 03:55:00 GMT

Taylor Swift’s new album is a reboot of an old album: Fearless, her 2008 chart-topping juggernaut that made her the biggest star on the Billboard charts. But Fearless (Taylor’s Version)—filled with banjos, steel guitars and fiddles—is also a reminder for those who forgot: Swift was once the top act in country music, too. From Dolly Parton to Shania Twain, the Chicks to Faith Hill, no country artist has ever crossed over to pop the way Taylor did, utterly dominating one genre before she took over another.

In this episode, Chris Molanphy focuses on Taylor: the country years, dissecting how she gradually, step by step, became the new queen of pop one irresistible song at a time. She went from interviewing bigger stars on MTV’s red carpet one year, to being the talk of the Video Music Awards the next—even before Kanye took that microphone away from her. He told Taylor he would let her finish, but the game was already over. Swift had the most played song in the USA.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja, with help from Rosemary Belson.

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The Bridge: Tuesday Night Trivia Club

Fri, 02 Apr 2021 10:00:00 GMT

In this special episode of Hit Parade’s “The Bridge,” it’s like you’re sitting at the end of the bar for the ultimate pop-music pub quiz: On Tuesday night, March 30, host Chris Molanphy quizzed eight different Slate Plus listeners on trivia questions taken from specific episodes in the last year of Hit Parade. Chris’s stumpers range widely, from Latin Pop to Yacht Rock, OutKast to Billy Joel. Hear how his brave contestants did—and quiz yourself, too!

After the trivia, Chris takes questions from the crowd. Listen to the Q&A to hear him preview the next episode of Hit Parade, dish on his favorite music documentary, and settle an age-old bet between a husband and wife about which is the best year of the ’80s in Billboard chart history. Plus, one listener offers perhaps the cleverest Turning the Tables trivia question in “Bridge” history.

Live event production by Faith Smith and Britt Pullie. Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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Don’t Know Much About History

Tue, 23 Mar 2021 10:00:00 GMT

The Oscar-nominated film One Night in Miami… imagines the conversation between Sam Cooke, Malcolm X, Cassius Clay and Jim Brown the night in 1964 they gathered to celebrate the soon-to-be Muhammad Ali’s heavyweight victory. Malcolm X challenges Sam Cooke to use his amazing voice to help “the struggle.” Little did he know Cooke had already recorded his civil‑rights masterpiece, “A Change Is Gonna Come.”

In this episode, Chris Molanphy sets the record straight on the man now called the King of Soul. In his too-brief career—seven years as a gospel star, then seven more as a chart-conquering superstar—Sam Cooke took a remarkable journey: from the pathbreaking pop of “You Send Me,” to the wistful R&B of “(What a) Wonderful World,” to the yearning romance of “Bring It on Home to Me,” to—of course—the now-legendary “Change Is Gonna Come.” Meet the man who defined what soul music was and could be.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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The Bridge: Another Saturday Night in Miami

Fri, 26 Feb 2021 12:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by U.Va. professor and Slate pop critic Jack Hamilton, author of Just Around Midnight: Rock and Roll and the Racial Imagination, to discuss his recent article on the portrayal of soul legend Sam Cooke in the acclaimed film One Night in Miami. Jack explains how the film, for all its merits, elides Cooke’s legacy between his 1957 pop breakthrough and his final major hit, “A Change Is Gonna Come.”

Then, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives him a chance to turn the tables on him, and previews next month’s full-length episode. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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The AC/DC Rule

Sat, 13 Feb 2021 04:25:00 GMT

Quick, what was the only No. 1 album by Jimi Hendrix? How about the first No. 1 by Billy Joel? Jackson Browne? Pat Benatar? Pearl Jam? Lady Gaga?

In all cases, the answer isn’t obvious—it’s not the album you know best, the one with the most hits on it. It’s the album after that classic that goes to No. 1. And there’s no better example than AC/DC, the Australian-by-way-of-Scotland hard rock band that’s sold more than 20 million copies of Back in Black. But it was their next album (can you name it?) that topped the Billboard album chart.

Chris Molanphy has coined a term for this weird chart phenomenon: He calls it The AC/DC Rule. Just as less-good movie sequels open better at the box office than classic first installments, follow-up albums often chart higher than their slow-growing but hit-packed predecessors. Some of the rock and pop legends who fell prey to this chart phenomenon might surprise you…might just leave you shook all night long.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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The Bridge: Sampler’s Delight

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 11:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is first joined by “The Bridge” producer Asha Saluja to answer some listener mail. Find out the connection between Chic, Diana Ross and Star Wars!

Next, Chris is joined by hip-hop journalist Mosi Reeves to discuss one particular storyline from the latest episode of Hit Parade: the immortal bassline from Chic’s “Good Times,” which was sampled in hip-hop’s first smash hit “Rapper’s Delight.” Mosi provides a brief history of sampling in rap, from the early interpolation of disco recordings to the legal disputes that eventually changed the rules of the game.

Finally, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives her a chance to turn the tables on him, and previews next month’s full-length episode. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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These Are the Good Times

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 10:00:00 GMT

How can you tell disco didn’t really die at the start of the 1980s? Because half of ’80s pop owed its sound to one of disco’s most seminal acts. Chic—cofounded by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards—would be legendary if all they’d done was record the’70s disco smashes “Le Freak,” “I Want Your Love” and “Good Times.” Indeed, the “Good Times” bassline spawned a slew of copycats, from “Rapper’s Delight” to “Another One Bites the Dust” to “Rapture.”

As if that wasn’t enough, over the next decade, the Chic masterminds became the secret sauce for a range of cutting-edge pop acts, producing and writing for everyone from Diana Ross and David Bowie to Madonna, Duran Duran and the B-52’s. Nile Rodgers even scored a hit in the 2010s with a pair of French robots who “got lucky” with another take on the Chic groove.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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The Bridge: Radio-Friendly Unit Shifters

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 10:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is first joined by “The Bridge” producer Asha Saluja to digest the latest episode of Hit Parade about how Nirvana launched the post-Christmas music sales phenomenon. Chris recalls his most memorable (and sultriest) post-Christmas CD purchase from his college years. And Asha shares her Hot 100 chart-topper from the week she was born, a banger that handily beats Chris’s schlocky birth-week song. (You’ll want to hear this one—it’s a doozy!)

Next, Chris is joined by Geoff Mayfield, a veteran music industry analyst and journalist who managed Billboard’s charts department in the 1990s as the magazine adopted SoundScan technology for point-of-sale tracking—fundamentally changing the way its charts were tabulated, and telling music-biz honchos some news they didn’t always want to hear.

Finally, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives him a chance to turn the tables on him, and previews next month’s full-length episode. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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Hit Parade: Smells Like Christmas Spirit

Mon, 14 Dec 2020 15:00:00 GMT

When Nirvana’s Nevermind ousted Michael Jackson’s Dangerous from the top of the Billboard album chart, it made headlines in early 1992. Only, it didn’t really happen in ’92. What gave Nirvana the win happened right after Christmas ’91. Teenagers who were home for the holidays voted with their gift cards, and they gave Kurt Cobain’s band the win over the King of Pop.

This month, Chris Molanphy examines the chart dynamics that not only ushered in the grunge era but also invented a new music sales strategy, the post-Christmas album: the CD your parents would never give you, that you’d buy for yourself. Before the ’90s were over, a new generation of hip-hop stars, led by barking rapper DMX, were using the post-Christmas gambit to defeat the Celine Dions of the world. And the charts were never the same.

Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch.

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The Bridge: Ropin’ the Charts

Fri, 27 Nov 2020 12:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Melinda Newman, West Coast and Nashville Executive Editor at Billboard Magazine. They talk about the most recent episode of Hit Parade on the history of country music crossover to the pop charts, and the career and legacy of Garth Brooks. Melinda shares the story of how she met Brooks—she barely knew who he was that first night, and she went on to become his most frequent interviewer. She tells Chris about Garth’s skillful bridging of the mainstream to country music, and how he made the mainstream come to country—as well as his vision for pop-and-B alter ego Chris Gaines and his reasons for avoiding music streaming platforms like Spotify and YouTube.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives her a chance to turn the tables on him, and previews next month’s full-length episode. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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Hit Parade: Friends in Low Places

Mon, 16 Nov 2020 14:00:00 GMT

Today your Hit Parade marches to the week ending October 27th, 1990, when “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks was in its fourth week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles and Tracks, the same week his album No Fences instantly went gold and platinum, affirming that he was country music’s biggest star. Soon enough, Brooks would become —more than any rock star, rapper or pop diva—the archetypal artist of the SoundScan era. We explore country music's boom and bust 1970's and 80's before diving into the world that made Garth Brooks megastardom possible, and then on to Brooks's imperial period, misguided concept-pop detours, and his chart rivalry with The Beatles.

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The Bridge: Producer by the Dashboard Light

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 10:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by musician, journalist, and Record Store Day Podcast host Paul Myers for a discussion of songwriter Jim Steinman’s smash 1977 album with frontman Meat Loaf, Bat Out of Hell. Paul shares anecdotes from his book A Wizard, a True Star: Todd Rundgren in the Studio, a biography of the producer, which was a crucial source in the latest episode of Hit Parade about Steinman, the rock iconoclast and king of pop melodrama. Paul and Chris chat about the relationship between Steinman and Rundgren and the persistence it took to bring the Meat Loaf album to fruition.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives her a chance to turn the tables on him, and previews next month’s full-length episode.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

Slate Plus members can get an early start on their holiday shopping at the Slate store. From now until Nov. 13, members have exclusive access to a 15 percent discount on Slate merchandise at shop.slate.com with the code SLATEPLUS15. Again, that's shop.slate.com with the code SLATEPLUS15

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Hit Parade: Turn Around, Bright Eyes

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 06:00:00 GMT

Producers and songwriters have a major impact on how a finished pop song sounds, and feels. But it’s possible no hitmaking mastermind—not even Phil Spector—has had a more specific pop sound than Jim Steinman. His songs have an unmistakable signature: pounding pianos, revving motorcycles, sometimes literal thunder. And power-vocalists singing passionate lyrics that don’t always make sense but always sound like the fate of the world depends on this song.

Chris Molanphy tells the story of a fervent, headstrong songwriter who fused with a singer who called himself Meat Loaf, creating a blockbuster song cycle called Bat Out of Hell. Steinman then went on to spread his pomp-rock to other artists: Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” Air Supply’s “Making Love Out of Nothing at All.” Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.” Every song sounded like a hallelujah chorus and a Broadway show—even though Steinman’s actual Broadway show was a notorious flop. But nothing keeps Jim Steinman down. Forever’s gonna start tonight.

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The Bridge: Some Popstars That We Used to Know

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 12:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade available exclusively to Slate Plus members, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Billboard’s Senior Director of Music, Jason Lipshutz. The two discuss Jason’s recent interview with Lewis Capaldi—which was referenced in the latest episode of Hit Parade about the definition of “one-hit wonder”—and the pressure musicians still face to escape that fate and generate hits after their initial breakout. Plus, Jason and Chris share some of their personal favorite one-and-done hits, from such forgotten hitmakers as the New Radicals and OMI.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives him a chance to turn the tables on him, and previews next month’s full-length episode.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hit Parade: One and Done

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 06:00:00 GMT

“One-hit wonder” is a popular term in our culture—and not just in music: sportscasters, Wall Street analysts and news anchors all use it. But what does “one-hit wonder” actually mean on the pop charts? Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy has thought a lot about this—and he has rules to determine who’s really a one-hit wonder. They might surprise you: Dexys Midnight Runners? They’re a one-hit wonder. Men Without Hats? Nope, not fair. Lou Reed? Yes. Marky Mark? No. In this episode, Chris breaks it all down, explaining why “Take on Me” is a pop classic but A-ha are still only one-hitters in America.

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The Bridge: Yacht Or Nyacht?

Fri, 28 Aug 2020 13:00:00 GMT

First, we have a few announcements about the future of Hit Parade. While the economic challenges of COVID-19 certainly haven’t abated, Hit Parade has attracted enough new Plus members to allow us to take some episodes out from behind Slate’s paywall starting in September.

Starting next month, full-length Hit Parade episodes will debut in the middle of the month, not the end (our next full-length episode drops on Friday, September 18). If you are a Plus member, you’ll hear the whole show all at once, the day it drops. If you are not a Plus member, you will receive the first half of the episode mid-month, with ads, and you’ll have to wait a couple of weeks to hear the second half of the show, at month’s end. Finally, Hit Parade—“The Bridge” episodes will remain Plus-only.

Again, thanks to many of you who signed up for Slate Plus just to hear Hit Parade, and of course the thousands of longtime Plus members. We plan to keep giving you the bonus content you expect.

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by J.D. Ryznar, “Hollywood” Steve Huey, and Dave Lyons, creators of the web series Yacht Rock and follow-up podcast Beyond Yacht Rock. Not only did they invent the very term that inspired the latest episode of Hit Parade, they have kept the fire alive by refining what the genre means.

The Yacht Rockers and Chris discuss the enduring legacy of the term they created—from why the name stuck, to how it was perceived by the various artists whose music it defined. (Boz Scaggs is reportedly not happy.) They also reveal songs they’d re-rate against their signature Yachtski scale, songs commonly tagged Yacht that are actually “Nyacht,” and how they curate the boundaries of the genre. They even offer a Hit Parade–exclusive announcement about what’s next for their smooth creation.

Finally, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, gives her a chance to turn the tables on him, and previews next month’s full-length episode.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wednesday Night Live: Music Trivia

Fri, 14 Aug 2020 15:01:50 GMT

Hey, Hit Parade listeners—we’ve got an unusual schedule for August. Today’s show is a recording of last week’s installment of Slate’s Wednesday Night Live, which was a live Hit Parade trivia edition. I was the host, and I got to quiz several Slate luminaries on Billboard chart brainteasers. We had a blast.

Then, later this month, in the place where we would normally bring you a full-length story, we’ll instead be doing a super-sized edition of our regular Hit Parade—“The Bridge” show. We’ll be following up last month’s Yacht Rock episode with some very special guests. You won’t want to miss it.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hit Parade: What a Fool Believes Edition

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 06:00:00 GMT

This is the story of Yacht Rock. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, a scene and a sound cropped up on the West Coast: polished, perfectionist studio musicians who generated sleek, jazzy, R&B-flavored music. About a quarter-century later, this sound was given a name: Yacht Rock. The inventors of the genre name weren’t thinking about boats…well, unless the song was Christopher Cross’s “Sailing.” Yacht Rock was meant to signify deluxe, yuppified, “smooth” music suitable for playing on luxury nautical craft.

Whatever you call it, this music really did command the charts at the turn of the ’80s: from Steely Dan to George Benson, Michael McDonald to Kenny Loggins, Toto to…Michael Jackson?! Believe it: even Thriller is partially a Yacht Rock album. This month, Hit Parade breaks down what Yacht Rock was and how it took over the charts four decades ago—from the perfectionism of “Peg,” to the bounce of “What a Fool Believes,” to the epic smoothness of “Africa.”

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Lilith’s Winding Road

Fri, 17 Jul 2020 09:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Jessica Hopper, acclaimed critic for publications like Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, GQ, The Guardian, Elle and Bookforum, and author of the books The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic and Night Moves. Her deeply researched September 2019 piece for Vanity Fair, “Building a Mystery: An Oral History of Lilith Fair,” informed and helped inspire the latest episode of Hit Parade. Jessica and Chris discuss the reasons for the festival’s success against the odds, the legacy of its acts big and small, and what a future evolution of a Lilith Fair could look like.

Next, Chris quizzes a very special Slate Plus listener with some music trivia: TJ Raphael, founding co-host and producer of “The Bridge.” TJ originally conceived of the Lilith Fair episode as she departed “The Bridge”—so Chris has invited her back to talk about her earliest memories of woman-fronted alt-rock. Then Chris finally puts TJ in the trivia hot seat.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hit Parade: Building a Herstory Edition

Tue, 30 Jun 2020 06:00:00 GMT

For decades—literally since Woodstock—female musicians had battled music-industry perceptions that amassing too many of them, on the radio or on the road, was bad for business. And yet, by the ’90s, women were vital to the rise of alt-rock and hip-hop on the charts: from Suzanne Vega to Queen Latifah, Tracy Chapman to Sheryl Crow, Natalie Merchant to Missy Elliott.

Sarah McLachlan harnessed this energy into an all-woman tour she dubbed Lilith Fair. Its string of sellouts from 1997 to ’99 affirmed women’s clout in the decade of grunge-and-gangsta. But the festival was also criticized for its narrow focus and for branding “women’s music” as a genre. More than two decades later, Hit Parade assesses the legacy of Lilith on the charts and on the road—how its performers, attendees and musical descendants are helping to ensure the future is female.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Many Ways to be OutKasted

Fri, 12 Jun 2020 09:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Dr. Regina Bradley, Assistant Professor of English and African Diaspora Studies at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia, She is the author of the forthcoming book Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip Hop South; cohost of the southern hip-hop podcast Bottom of the Map on WABE and PRX; and host of the recent YouTube series OutKasted Conversations. Gina and Chris discuss the most recent full-length episode of Hit Parade, OutKast’s roots in Atlanta’s decades-long funk tradition, and what they meant to Southerners who felt alienated not just by bicoastal hip-hop but also by Atlanta’s unequal progress on the challenges faced by its black residents.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, and the contestant turns the tables with a chance to try to stump Chris with a question of his own. Then, Chris teases the upcoming full-length episode of Hit Parade, which will look at Lilith Fair, the all-female festival tour in the late ’90s, how it reflected women’s role in alternative rock, and its legacy to this day.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hit Parade: Shake it Like a Polaroid Picture Edition

Fri, 29 May 2020 06:00:00 GMT

Outkast is inarguably one of the most important acts in hip hop and pop music history, but their impressive chart runs, and the brand of Atlanta hip hop they championed, was far from inevitable. This is the story of Outkast and how they established Atlanta as a major center of hip hop culture in the United States, while racking up some of the most unexpected hits in the history of popular music.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Piano Man, Everyman

Fri, 15 May 2020 11:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Julian Velard, musician and inspiration for Chris’s most recent full-length episode, about hitmaker Billy Joel. As a Jewish, New York–based piano player, Julian admits that Joel remains the most relevant touchpoint in his career to this day—and that he’s fought an existential battle with the song “Piano Man.” Chris and Julian wonder how a modern pop landscape might reward (or litigate) Joel’s tendency toward pastiche, and they discuss his ultimate legacy—to critics, to lovers, to haters and other piano men.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, and the contestant turns the tables with a chance to try to stump Chris with a question of his own. Then, Chris teases the upcoming full-length episode of Hit Parade, which will look at the Southward journey of rap music in the late ’90s and early ’00s, spurred by chart-topping Atlanta rappers OutKast.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Still Billy Joel to Me Edition

Thu, 30 Apr 2020 10:00:00 GMT

Billy Joel’s first Top 40 hit, way back in 1974, was “Piano Man,” and the nickname stuck. But for a guy who became famous sitting behind 88 keys, few of his biggest hits are really piano songs. In fact, on all three of his No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, keyboards are not the primary instrument. This is the story of Billy Joel's hits, and the pastiches he crafted to stay on top of the charts.

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The Bridge: Hits Don’t Lie

Fri, 17 Apr 2020 16:20:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, originally aired on Facebook as part of Slate Live’s Q-Tip Mondays series. host Chris Molanphy is joined by Eduardo Cepeda, music editor at Remezcla. They discuss the most recent full-length episode of Hit Parade about the history of Latin pop on the Billboard charts. Eduardo tells Chris about balancing his fandoms for mainstream American music with his family’s Spanish-language music in his younger years, and offers a critical lens to the Anglophone crossover attempts of the stars of the turn-of-the-millennium Latin pop boomita. Then Eduardo gives Chris a brief history of reggaeton, and shares his current artists to watch within the genre.

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, and the contestant turns the tables with a chance to try to stump Chris with a question of his own. Then, Chris teases the upcoming full-length episode of Hit Parade, which will look at the career of piano man and master of pastiche Billy Joel.

A special Hit Parade announcement: Like many media organizations at the moment, Slate is getting hit pretty hard by what's going on with the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to continue doing our work, providing you with all our great podcasts, news and reporting, and we simply cannot do that without your support. So we're asking you to sign up for Slate Plus, our membership program. It's just $35 for the first year, and it goes a long way to supporting us in this crucial moment.

As part of this effort, we're going to be making Hit Parade episodes available to Slate Plus members only. This will begin with the full-length episode coming on April 30. To listen to that episode in full, and episodes in future months, you'll need to become a Slate Plus member. This is the best way to support our show and our work, and we hope you will pitch in if you can. Your membership will also give access to everything on Slate.com, you'll get ad-free versions of this and other shows, and you'll get bonus segments and bonus episodes of other Slate podcasts. Plus, once you become a member, you can sign up to do trivia with Chris Molanphy on Hit Parade—“The Bridge” episodes.

Please sign up today at slate.com/hitparadeplus. We thank you for your support.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hit Parade: La Vida Loca Edición

Tue, 31 Mar 2020 10:00:00 GMT

Hit Parade takes you back to the turn of the millennium when, for a couple of years, it seemed like a Latin pop star was topping Billboard’ Hot 100 every few weeks: Ricky Martin. Jennifer Lopez. Enrique Iglesias. Marc Anthony. Carlos Santana. Shakira. This wave of Latin crossover was hard-fought and a long time coming—from “La Bamba” to “Macarena,” Spanish-language hits in the 20th century had been treated like novelties by record buyers and radio programmers.

The Latin boom of 1999 changed all that—but did it go far enough? How did we get from the slick Spanglish of “Livin’ la Vida Loca” to the Spanish-first success of “Despacito” and “Mi Gente”? And how did Ritchie Valens and João Gilberto prepare America for J.Lo and Shakira triumphing at the Super Bowl?

Podcast production by Justin D. Wright.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Wesley on Whitney

Fri, 13 Mar 2020 11:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Wesley Morris, Pulitzer Prize–winning critic, New York Times critic-at-large, and co-host of Still Processing. They discuss the most recent full-length episode of Hit Parade about the chart legacy of Whitney Houston, which was inspired in part by Wesley and his co-host Jenna Wortham’s analysis in Still Processing of Houston’s life, identity, and artistry. Wesley talks about his first memory of seeing Whitney on TV, his respect for the versatility of her voice, and his commiseration with her sometimes-cold reception by Black fans.

While this episode is available to all listeners, our trivia round is open only to Slate Plus members.

Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm Your Whitney Tonight Edition

Fri, 28 Feb 2020 11:00:00 GMT

Eight years after her passing—and 35 years after the release of her debut album—Whitney Houston is about to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Predictably, some rock fans have carped that Houston doesn’t belong in the Hall. But they are not the only ones who, historically, have complained about Houston’s bona fides. In the ’80s, at the apex of her success, black fans complained that Houston was courting white pop fans too eagerly, and forgetting her roots in gospel and R&B.

On the charts, by contrast, Whitney Houston’s achievements are indisputable. But they also might be underrated. Houston’s chart records offer a window into exactly how she crossed over…and whether she deserved the backlash. In this episode, Chris Molanphy walks step by step through Whitney’s storied chart records—including a couple that have gone unheralded—that help explain why she was a seminal, singular figure among black female crossover stars, from Aretha and Diana to Beyoncé.

Podcast production by Justin D. Wright.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Living in an Amish Paradise

Fri, 14 Feb 2020 11:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Nathan Rabin, podcaster and writer of two books about “Weird Al” Yankovic. They discuss the most recent full-length episode of Hit Parade, a history of novelty songs on the Billboard charts culminating with the oeuvre of the most successful parody musician ever. Nathan shares the history of his Al fandom and eventual book-length collaboration, and Chris and Nathan theorize about the secrets of Al’s success.

(Want to see Nathan Rabin talk about Weird Al in person? Join him in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 22, 2020, at 3:30 p.m. PST at Dynasty Typewriter—tickets here.)

Next, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, and the contestant turns the tables with a chance to try to stump Chris with a question of his own. Then, Chris teases the upcoming full-length episode of Hit Parade, which will look at the record-breaking career of the late Whitney Houston—now a Rock Hall inductee.

While this episode is available to all listeners, our trivia round is open only to Slate Plus members. If you are a member—or once you become a member—enter as a contestant here.

Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The White and Nerdy Edition

Fri, 31 Jan 2020 11:00:00 GMT

Podcast production by Justin D. Wright.

Follow @cmolanphy on Twitter

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The Bridge: Legacy of the Elusive Chanteuse

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 11:00:00 GMT

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Rich Juzwiak, writer for Jezebel as well as Slate’s advice column How to Do It. The two discuss the most recent full-length episode of Hit Parade, a breakdown of how Mariah Carey’s seasonal hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” finally hit No.1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, an improbable 25 years after its original release. Rich walks Chris through the history of Mariah fandom—both his own and her loyal “Lambs”—and how he appreciates her for her low moments as much as her pop peaks.

Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, and the contestant turns the tables with a chance to try to stump Chris with a question of his own. Then, Chris teases the upcoming full-length episode of Hit Parade, which will look at the history of novelty and comedy hits on the charts.

While this episode is available to all listeners, our trivia round is open only to Slate Plus members. You can enter as a contestant here.

Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Make My Wish Come True Edition

Mon, 23 Dec 2019 11:00:00 GMT

Music fans in 2019 are gobsmacked that the No. 1 song in America is not only a Christmas song but a 25-year-old recording: Mariah Carey’s holiday perennial “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Even more amazingly, it’s the first Christmas song to top Billboard’s Hot 100 in 61 years, since “The Chipmunk Song” in December 1958. This leads to so many “whys”: Why were there no Christmas No. 1s for six decades? Why didn’t ’60s, ’70s and ’80s holiday classics like “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” “Feliz Navidad” and “Last Christmas” become Hot 100 hits? Why did Carey’s classic not chart in 1994, when it was released—and why did it only start charting in the 2010s and seem to get more popular every year this decade?

In this special holiday edition of Hit Parade we answer all of these questions, and explain how virtually everything had to change about the music business for Mariah’s Christmas chestnut to reach No. 1: from Billboard chart rules, to digital music technologies, to even the tragic passing of a fellow music diva. It all combined to give Carey her incredible 19th No. 1 on the Hot 100—just one chart-topper away from the Beatles.

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The Bridge: Queens Bey, Rih and Robyn Reign Different Kingdoms

Fri, 13 Dec 2019 10:00:00 GMT

In this mid-month mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by The Bridge producer Asha Saluja to discuss the most recent full-length episode of Hit Parade, an exhaustive analysis of the top-charting singles of the 2010s. Chris tells Asha why Beyoncé, indisputably one of the decade’s most influential artists, didn’t make it into the episode. Then Chris and Asha talk about a few of their favorite singles of the decade--some made it onto the Billboard Hot 100, and others didn’t. Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, and the contestant turns the tables with a chance to try to stump Chris with a question of his own. Then, Chris teases the upcoming full-length episode of Hit Parade, which will be a look at Christmas music’s record on the Hot 100--including a record that just might be broken this year if a beloved holiday tune by a certain chart-running pop diva hits No. 1. And finally, Chris corrects the record on some mistakes he’s made in Hit Parade this year. Anyone remember “meekrat”?

While this episode is available to all listeners, our trivia round is open only to Slate Plus members. You can enter as a contestant here.

Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rolling in God’s Royal Uptown Road Edition

Wed, 27 Nov 2019 11:00:00 GMT

All decades of pop music swing between trends and fads—but the 2010s was swingier than most. From the maximalist EDM of the early ’10s to the downbeat hip-hop of the late ’10s, the pop pendulum oscillated more widely than you may remember. The same decade that gave us Adele’s stately balladry, Katy Perry’s electro-froth and Taylor Swift’s country-to-pop crossover also gave us the Weeknd’s bleary indie-R&B and Drake’s moody rap. And Bieber—so. Much. Bieber.

With just weeks to go before the end of 2019, Hit Parade walks through the last decade of the Hot 100, year by year, and asks: What was that? Arguably, what drove pop in the ’10s wasn’t just the production sounds of dance music or hip-hop but the technologies we used to consume music, as the shift from downloads to streams changed the contours of chart success. And in the end, one multigenre queen navigated these shifts better than most, finding pop love in a hopeless place.

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The Bridge: Genre v. Generation, ’80s to ’10s

Fri, 15 Nov 2019 10:00:00 GMT

In this mid-month mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Ned Raggett, freelance music writer for All Music Guide and The Quietus and expert on the ’80s U.K. bands celebrated on the most recent full-length episode of Hit Parade. Chris and Ned discuss what they call the “holy quartet” of British postpunk bands—The Cure, The Smiths, Depeche Mode and New Order—and Ned weighs in on the challenge of what to call this wave: Is it goth? mope-rock? Do these bands actually constitute a genre, or more of a generational cohort? Also, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, and the contestant turns the tables with a chance to try to stump Chris with a trivia question of his own. And finally, Chris teases the upcoming full-length episode of Hit Parade, which will be a retrospective look at the 2010s.

While this episode is available to all listeners, our trivia round is open only to Slate Plus members. You can enter as a contestant here.

Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lost and Lonely Edition

Thu, 31 Oct 2019 10:00:00 GMT

If you were an angsty American teenager in the 1980s—whether in real life, or in a John Hughes movie—the rock you loved probably came from the United Kingdom, complete with droning vocals, brooding lyrics, goth hair, and black nail polish. The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Joy Division/New Order, the Smiths: All these U.K. postpunk acts were hard-pressed to score American hits in the first half of the ’80s—the era of fun-loving New Romantic bands like Duran Duran. But to Gen X teens, Robert Smith, Siouxsie Sioux, and Morrissey were icons.

By the end of the decade, however, these bands became American hitmakers, especially after Billboard launched the music bible’s first alternative rock chart. Depeche Mode sold out a California stadium. New Order dominated dancefloors. The Smiths’ Johnny Marr became a guitar god, Morrissey an MTV crush object. And finally, in 1989, the Cure—dark, doomy, and moody as ever—were challenging Janet Jackson for the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Just in time for Halloween, Hit Parade tells the story of how spooky, spidery, U.K. mope-rock became chart-conquering pop.

Podcast production by Justin D. Wright.

Hosted by Chris Molanphy

Follow @cmolanphy on Twitter / https://www.twitter.com/cmolanphy

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The Bridge: Rain Sounds and Moody Goths

Fri, 11 Oct 2019 09:00:00 GMT

In this monthly mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Aisha Harris, culture editor for The New York Times’ Opinion section. Aisha and Chris discuss the Janet Jackson album Rhythm Nation 1814, the topic of the most recent full-length episode of Hit Parade. Aisha tells Chris about her early Jackson fandom, picks her all-time favorite Janet songs, and offers her opinion on the relevancy and influence of Janet’s sound today. Plus, Chris gives an inside scoop on the song template that Jackson’s longtime producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, used to generate multiple chart-topping hits. Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, and the contestant turns the tables with a chance to stump Chris with a trivia question of his own. While this episode is available to all listeners, our trivia round is open only to Slate Plus members. You can enter as a contestant here. Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com. Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

State of the World Edition

Fri, 27 Sep 2019 11:00:00 GMT

In the mid-1980s, Janet Jackson broke away from her world-famous, hit-making family and, with her Control album, rebooted both her career and pop style in the New Jack Swing era. The challenge was following it up—and Jackson and her producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, didn’t make it easy on themselves.

In 1989, they produced an ambitious album with a portentous title: Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814. But what could have been Control, Part 2 instead was a visionary LP that reinvented the socially conscious album from the era of Marvin Gaye for the ’90s, and envisioned what pop would eventually sound like in the 21st century. Rhythm Nation was a smash, generating more hits—and bigger hits—than any album in history. In fact, if Jackson and her label hadn’t pulled their punches with one final radio single, she could have set an all-time Billboard chart record that would have overshadowed any of the Jackson family’s historic achievements.

Podcast production by Chris Berube.

Host Chris Molanphy

Follow @cmolanphy on Twitter / https://www.twitter.com/cmolanphy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Ladies of the Canyon and the Rhythm Nation

Fri, 13 Sep 2019 10:00:00 GMT

In this monthly mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Asha Saluja, operations manager for Slate Podcasts and new producer of these monthly mini-episodes. Asha tells Chris about an episode of Hit Parade about a certain pop queen–turned–EDM goddess that bridged two seemingly unrelated parts of her personal music history. Chris gives Asha the scoop on the anecdote from the last full-length Hit Parade episode about the TV appearance responsible for keeping Joni Mitchell away from Woodstock. Asha shares a letter from a listener with some firsthand perspective on the music of the late 1960’s. Plus, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, and the contestant turns the tables with a chance to try to stump Chris with a trivia question of his own.

While this episode is available to all listeners, our trivia round is open only to Slate Plus members. You can enter as a contestant here.

Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja with engineering by Danielle Hewitt.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We Are Stardust, We Are Gold-Certified

Fri, 30 Aug 2019 17:00:00 GMT

Are you tired of hearing how awe-inspiring the Woodstock Music and Art Fair was 50 years ago for 400,000 lucky hippies in Bethel, New York? Imagine how the people of 1969 felt—specifically the millions who couldn’t go. Yet, in the age before YouTube and social media, the rest of America did catch Woodstock fever—weeks, months, even a year or more later—and they made stars out of many of the performers. By 1970, not only was the Woodstock movie dominating the box office; the soundtrack album and a constellation of Woodstock stars were crushing the Billboard charts.

This month’s Hit Parade offers a new take on Woodstock: To understand its legacy, you have to look at the charts long after August 1969. Chris Molanphy counts down 10 acts—some of them music legends, some of them short-lived hitmakers—who were materially boosted by the festival: from a guy hanging out backstage who got shoved onstage by desperate show organizers; to the band who loathed the whole experience yet saw their albums reach new chart heights; to the young man who arrived with no discography but kicked off one of the longest hitmaking careers in rock history.

Podcast production by Chau Tu.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bridge: Nostalgic for Number Ones

Fri, 16 Aug 2019 09:00:00 GMT

In this monthly mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Tom Breihan, senior editor at Stereogum and writer of their long-term blog project “The Number Ones,” a chronological review of every song that’s hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Tom gives Chris his reviews of the three Lennon-McCartney hits Chris discussed in the last full-length Hit Parade episode. Plus, Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, and the contestant turns the tables with a chance to try to stump Chris with a trivia question of her own. While this episode is available to all listeners, only Slate Plus members are allowed to be on the show. You can enter as a contestant here. Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com. Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

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Without The Beatles

Fri, 26 Jul 2019 06:00:00 GMT

This month, Hit Parade explores the legacy of songs by The Beatles topping the charts...without The Beatles. This is the story of how a discarded Beatles song, a superstar vanity cover, and a bizarre disco medley managed to top the charts with Beatles songwriting credits, but without the fab four.

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The Bridge: Farewell, Lilith Fan

Fri, 19 Jul 2019 10:00:00 GMT

How much do you know about the women rockers who dominated the '90s? Find out in the latest episode of Hit Parade: The Bridge.

In this monthly mini-episode of Hit Parade, Host Chris Molanphy is joined by T. J. Raphael, senior producer of the Slate Podcast Network. Together, they quiz one listener contestant with some music trivia. The player also has the opportunity to turn the tables: They get a chance to try to stump Molanphy, a music journalist for the past 25 years, with one of their own trivia questions.

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now, and then enter as a contestant here. You can also enter if you’re already a Slate Plus member.

Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com.

Podcast production by T. J. Raphael

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The Lullaby of Broadway Edition

Fri, 28 Jun 2019 04:00:00 GMT

Musical theater is one of America’s greatest cultural products—and in the mid–20th century, it also dominated the Billboard charts, from My Fair Lady to West Side Story. But the rise of rock and roll in the ’60s sidelined showtunes on the radio. And even when Broadway tried to rock—from Hair to Jesus Christ Superstar—a new generation grew wary of characters breaking into song (unless they were animated mermaids, teapots or lions). And yet, in the 21st century, Broadway music has staged a cultural comeback: taking over our movie screens, making shows out of jukebox hits, and raising a new generation to believe they can rap like Hamilton and Lafayette. In this Tonys month, Hit Parade dances down the Great White Way to chronicle the tangled history of the Broadway musical on the pop charts.

Email: hitparade@slate.com

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The Bridge: The "Give My Regards" Edition

Fri, 14 Jun 2019 19:15:25 GMT

Think you know music? Hit Parade, the music history podcast from Slate, is back with a new episode of The Bridge.

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, Host Chris Molanphy is joined by T. J. Raphael, senior producer of the Slate Podcast Network. Together, they quiz one listener contestant with some music trivia. The player also has the opportunity to turn the tables: They get a chance to try to stump Molanphy, a music journalist for the past 25 years, with one of their own trivia questions.

Chris is also joined by Elizabeth Craft, an assistant professor of musicology at the University of Utah. Her research focuses on musical theater from the early 20th century to the present; she’s published on the musicals of Lin-Manuel Miranda, including a recent article on the politics and political reception of Hamilton, and she’s currently working on a book on Broadway legend George M. Cohan.

If you’d like to be a contestant on an upcoming show, sign up for a Slate Plus membership, and then enter as a contestant here. You can also enter if you’re already a Slate Plus member.

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The Invisible Miracle Sledgehammer Edition

Fri, 31 May 2019 04:00:00 GMT

When a band member leaves to go solo, usually it means the band’s best days are over. That’s what everybody thought when Peter Gabriel left Genesis in the ’70s. Except not only did the band survive—fronted by drummer-turned-singer Phil Collins, they got bigger. Then Collins went solo…except he didn’t ditch Genesis. In fact, his success made them bigger—one of the definitive pop bands of the 1980s, as Collins’s monstrous drum sound took over pop music. By mid-decade, current and former members of Genesis—even side projects from its guitarists—were all competing head-to-head on the Billboard charts. On Hit Parade, we explore the knotty family tree of Genesis, the unlikeliest group ever to become a Hot 100 juggernaut.

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The Bridge: Monster Drums Edition

Fri, 17 May 2019 09:30:00 GMT

Think you know music? Hit Parade, the music history podcast from Slate, is back with a new episode of The Bridge.

In this mini-episode of Hit Parade, Host Chris Molanphy is joined by Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding of the podcast Switched on Pop. Together, they quiz one listener contestant with some music trivia. The player also has the opportunity to turn the tables: They get a chance to try to stump Molanphy, a music journalist for the past 25 years, with one of their own trivia questions.

If you’d like to be a contestant on an upcoming show, sign up for a Slate Plus membership, and then enter as a contestant here. You can also enter if you’re already a Slate Plus member.

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The Posthumous Hits Edition, Live from Seattle

Fri, 26 Apr 2019 09:00:00 GMT

Spin̈al Tap was right: Death sells. When musical icons die, their songs and albums climb the charts all over again—sometimes, a legendary artist even scores his or her only No. 1 hit. In this very special episode recorded live from the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, Hit Parade pours one out for the legends who topped the charts from beyond the grave. Chris is joined by some of America’s top music writers to discuss the unusual circumstances that brought everyone from Otis Redding to Janis Joplin, John Lennon to Kurt Cobain, Biggie Smalls to Prince to the top of the charts after their untimely passings.

Email: hitparade@slate.com

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The Everybody Say YEAH! Edition

Fri, 29 Mar 2019 09:00:00 GMT

When you think of Stevie Wonder’s legendary career, what chart-toppers come to mind? “Superstition,” right? Maybe “I Wish”? Okay, but what about the start of his career, on the Motown of the ’60s? You may not know that Wonder had only one Hot 100 No. 1 in his first decade—as “Little” Stevie Wonder—and it was truly exceptional, as in bizarre: a semi-improvised live recording of a “12 Year-Old Genius” refusing to leave a Chicago stage and say goodnight. Here’s the story of “Fingertips, Part 2,” and the years that launched a true pop icon. Wonder’s imperial run of classic, chart-topping, Grammy-dominating ’70s albums had their seeds in the joyous virtuosity, and fierce independence, on display in his very first hit.

Email: hitparade@slate.com

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The Bridge: Cover Queens and The Boy Wonder

Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:00:00 GMT

Hit Parade, the music history podcast from Slate, is back with a new episode of The Bridge.

In this monthly mini-episode, Host Chris Molanphy reflects on the previous full length episode of the show, and invites one Slate Plus member to play some music trivia related to an upcoming episode. This month, Molanphy is joined at the mic by T. J. Raphael, senior producer of the Slate Podcast Network. Together, they discuss some of the best cover songs of all time from the likes of Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, and more.

After a break, Molanphy is joined by one listener for some music trivia related to the next full-length episode of Hit Parade, which is all about Stevie Wonder. How does it all work? The contestant is asked three trivia questions, and the player also has the opportunity to turn the tables—they get a chance to try to stump Molanphy, a music journalist for the past 25 years, with one trivia question of their own.

If you’d like to be a contestant on an upcoming show, sign up for a Slate Plus membership here, and then enter as a contestant here. You can also enter to play if you’re already a Slate Plus member.

Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com.

Podcast production by T. J. Raphael

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The Bad Moon on the Rise Edition

Thu, 28 Feb 2019 14:53:25 GMT

In just a couple of years, Creedence Clearwater Revival generated one of the most amazing runs of hits in American pop history: from “Proud Mary” to “Green River,” “Bad Moon Rising” to “Travelin’ Band.” Reportedly, they even outsold the Beatles in America in 1969. But for all their success with those John Fogerty–penned classics, CCR never held the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100. All of those hits were No. 2s: a dubious Billboard chart record they hold to this day, for most No. 2s without a No. 1. True, it was the late ’60s, and CCR had the bad luck to be competing with such chart titans as Paul Simon and Sly Stone…but sometimes they were held back by No. 1 songs that are barely remembered today. In this episode of Hit Parade, we break down the sequence of events that relegated CCR—a future first-ballot Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band—to the charts’ permanent runner-up slot.

Email: hitparade@slate.com

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The Bridge: R. Kelly and Music's #MeToo Reckoning

Fri, 15 Feb 2019 10:00:00 GMT

Hit Parade, the music history podcast from Slate, is back with a new episode of The Bridge.

In this monthly mini-episode, Host Chris Molanphy reflects on the previous full length episode of the show, and invites one Slate Plus member to play some music trivia related to an upcoming episode. This month, Molanphy is joined at the mic by T. J. Raphael, senior producer of the Slate Podcast Network. Together, they discuss the sexual assault allegations facing artist R. Kelly, and whether the #MeToo movement will finally change the music industry.

After a break, Molanphy is joined by one listener for some music trivia related to the next full-length episode of Hit Parade, which is all about Creedence Clearwater Revival. How does it all work? The contestant is asked three trivia questions, and the player also has the opportunity to turn the tables—they get a chance to try to stump Molanphy, a music journalist for the past 25 years, with one trivia question of their own.

Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com.

Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt.

Take the Slate podcast survey here.

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The Gaga is Born Edition

Fri, 25 Jan 2019 21:58:10 GMT

A Star Is Born, the movie Hollywood can’t stop remaking, is a fairy-tale about the American dream factory. But it has also, always, been a reflection of the woman in the lead role—and the latest version stars a woman who has been playing a role for more than a decade: Stefani Germanotta, a.k.a. Lady Gaga. When Gaga scored her first No. 1 hit, “Just Dance,” 10 years ago this month, critics thought her fame might be short-lived. But

Gaga had a lot to say about The Fame, and within a year she had shifted the sound of the Top 40 in her electro- pop direction. And then, in the mid-2010s, she shifted her own sound, belting out pop standards for everyone from Tony Bennett to Julie Andrews. What happens if this shape-shifter pivots from Grammys to Oscars? And what will that say about the themes of A Star Is Born: artifice, authenticity and agency?

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Music Trivia: Grammys and Gaga Edition

Fri, 18 Jan 2019 10:00:00 GMT

Think you know music? Hit Parade, the music history podcast from Slate, is back with a new episode of The Bridge.

In this monthly mini-episode of Hit Parade, Host Chris Molanphy reflects on the previous full length episode of the show, and invites one Slate Plus member onto the show to play some music trivia related to the upcoming episode. How does it all work? Contestants are asked three trivia questions, and the player also has the opportunity to turn the tables—they get a chance to try to stump Molanphy, a music journalist for the past 25 years, with one trivia question of their own.

This month, Molanphy is joined at the mic by T. J. Raphael, senior producer of the Slate Podcast Network. Together, they reveal which artist won the coveted spot of this year’s U.K. Christmas No. 1, look ahead to the 2019 Grammy Awards, and discuss the next full length episode of Hit Parade, which is all about the rise of Lady Gaga.

If you’d like to be a contestant on an upcoming show, sign up for a Slate Plus membership here, and enter as a contestant here. You can also enter to play if you’re already a Slate Plus member.

Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com.

Podcast production by T. J. Raphael.

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The Christmas Is All Around Edition

Fri, 21 Dec 2018 22:28:52 GMT

In the UK, the No. 1 song the week of Christmas is a big deal. The media breathlessly covers the contest, and there are even wagers placed on what song will reach the top of the charts as pop stars and record labels jockey for position. While there are patterns to the kinds of songs that tend to do well in this perennial sweepstakes, often the winner is a fluke: Everything from Queen to the Flying Pickets to Bob the Builder has taken the crown. It was even parodied in the smash British Christmas comedy film Love, Actually—and one year in the late aughts, the British public rebelled en masse against a music-TV impresario, making a statement with the unlikeliest Christmas topper ever. But in an age when songs sell less than they stream, and hits tend to snowball, will the sun set on the fluky British Christmas No. 1 empire?

Email: hitparade@slate.com

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Music Trivia: The Christmas Music Edition

Fri, 14 Dec 2018 18:59:45 GMT

Think you know music? Quiz yourself with the latest episode of Hit Parade: The Bridge.

This month, Host Chris Molanphy is joined by Jessica Goldstein, the culture editor at ThinkProgress and a journalist whose work has appeared in Vulture and The Washington Post, among other places. Her October article in Entertainment Weekly, “Britney Spears wanted to be a star: An oral history of '...Baby One More Time,'” was an inspiration for the November episode of Hit Parade. Chris is also joined by one listener contestant to play some music trivia, which is all about holiday music.

If you’d like to be a contestant on an upcoming show, sign up for a Slate Plus membership here, and enter as a contestant here. You can also enter to play if you’re already a Slate Plus member.

Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com.

Podcast production by T. J. Raphael. Additional support for this episode comes from Danielle Hewitt and Merritt Jacob.

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The Give Me a Sign Edition

Fri, 30 Nov 2018 09:00:00 GMT

From a very young age, Britney Spears seemed destined for stardom. The kid from Louisiana had landed a role on the revived Mickey Mouse Club and styled herself as a belter of power ballads. But to score her first No. 1 hit, Spears would team up with an introverted Swedish songwriter named Max Martin. He was trying to write American R&B and instead, through Britney and her high-school dance formations, created a new template for über–American teen-pop. This month, we go inside the Stockholm music factory—and its decades-long history, from ABBA to Ace of Base—that gave rise to a new generation of millennial pop, from the Backstreet Boys and *N Sync to Robyn and Taylor Swift.

Email: hitparade@slate.com

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Music Trivia: ’90s Teen-Pop Edition

Fri, 16 Nov 2018 10:00:00 GMT

Think you know music? Quiz yourself with the latest episode of Hit Parade: The Bridge.

This month, on the heels of the 2018 midterm elections, Host Chris Molanphy is joined by T. J. Raphael, senior producer for the Slate Podcast Network, to talk about musicians who make political endorsements. Chris is joined by one listener contestant to play some music trivia, which is all about '90s teen pop.

If you’d like to be a contestant on an upcoming show, sign up for a Slate Plus membership here, and enter as a contestant here. You can also enter to play if you’re already a Slate Plus member.

Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com.

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The Oh. My. God. Becky Edition

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 19:10:14 GMT

In Hit Parade’s “Def Jams Edition,” we told you about rap’s first wave in the ’80s. But in this sequel (don’t believe the hype!) we enter the ’90s with still no No. 1 rap hits on the Hot 100—even though the music was starting to dominate both streets and stores: from conscious rappers like Public Enemy, to gangstas like N.W.A, to left-field innovators like De La Soul. It would take Billboard rebooting its charts in 1991 tallying

record sales more accurately than ever with SoundScan data—for rap to get a fair shake on the charts. That boosted a new wave of crossover acts, from P.M. Dawn to Arrested Development to Sir Mix-a-Lot. But rap’s elders were not entirely thrilled at these new chart-toppers…and some rappers literally bum-rushed the show.

The episode is provided ad-free with your Slate Plus subscription. Thank you!

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Music Trivia: The '90s Hip-Hop Edition

Fri, 12 Oct 2018 17:01:58 GMT

Think you know music? Hit Parade is back with a new episode of The Bridge. This month, Chris Molanphy is joined by Slate's Mike Pesca. Together, they reflect on the last full-length Hit Parade episode, which was about The BeeGees, and look ahead to next month, which is all about ‘90s hip-hop.

If you’d like to be a contestant on an upcoming show, sign up for a Slate Plus membership here, and enter as a contestant here. You can also enter to play if you’re already a Slate Plus member.

Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com.

Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt

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The Nights on Broadway Edition

Fri, 28 Sep 2018 12:00:00 GMT

Those falsettos, those white suits, those toothy smiles: You think you know the Bee Gees. But their story goes back much further than the ’70s, and it’s full of twists. From their roots as an eclectic harmony band in Australia and their first wave of Beatlesque fame, through their domination of the disco revolution and their years as an punchline, the Bee Gees stayed alive because of the Gibb brothers’ harmonies and especially their impeccable songs. This month, Hit Parade traces the influence of the brothers Gibb on virtually every popular genre, from pop to R&B, rock to easy-listening, country to…yes, even hip-hop.

Email: hitparade@slate.com

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Music Trivia: The Aretha Franklin Edition

Fri, 31 Aug 2018 14:40:29 GMT

Think you know music? Hit Parade is back with a new episode of The Bridge. This month, we honor Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, who died on August 16th.

If you’d like to be a contestant on an upcoming show, sign up for a Slate Plus membership here, and enter as a contestant here. You can also enter to play if you’re already a Slate Plus member.

Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com.

Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt

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Encore: The Veronica Electronica Edition

Thu, 16 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

In 1998, Madonna was at a career crossroads. After dominating the ’80s with hits like “Like a Virgin” and “Open Your Heart,” she spent the first half of the ’90s wavering between roles as a provocateur (Erotica, Sex) and adult-contemporary balladeer (“I’ll Remember,” “Take a Bow”). That’s when she took a sharp left turn, working with producers and deejays in the burgeoning electronica scene. If it even was a scene: The very term “electronica” was a music-business confection, and by 1997 it was more hype than hit. But the result of Madonna’s experiment—her acclaimed ’98 album Ray of Light—was not only one of her biggest smashes ever. It also helped turn electronic music into viable pop. Email: hitparade@slate.com

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The Feat. Don't Fail Me Now Edition

Fri, 27 Jul 2018 14:00:00 GMT

Guest performers have existed since, literally, the beginning of the pop charts—the first Billboard No. 1 hit had a featured vocal by Frank Sinatra. Throughout the rock era, some very starry guests have helped out with hits by everyone from the Beatles to Carly Simon to Chaka Khan. But for a long time, those guests received no credit at all. Today, their names are all over the pop charts. On this episode, we trace the evolution of the guest performer, from Mick Jagger to Bobby Brown to Cardi B.

Email: hitparade@slate.com

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The Deadbeat Club Edition, Part Two

Fri, 13 Jul 2018 16:15:40 GMT

In the second part of our two-part episode about the B-52’s and R.E.M.—the bands that put Athens, Georgia on the map, and helped define new-wave rock in the early ’80s—we trace how they transformed themselves from hipsters to hitmakers. One band waited years to graduate from an indie label to the majors. The other almost quit after an AIDS-related tragedy, before their pop breakthrough. By the end of the ’80s, their hits—from “Orange Crush” to “Stand,” “Channel Z” to “Love Shack”—brought them squarely into the mainstream, just as “alternative rock” was coming to define a new sound for the ’90s.

Email: hitparade@slate.com

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The Deadbeat Club Edition, Part One

Fri, 29 Jun 2018 16:10:00 GMT

The B-52’s and R.E.M. don’t sound all that much like each other. One group were avatars of kitsch, fusing punk, girl-group and garage rock—even Yoko Ono—into a retro-nuevo style all their own. The other group were mysterious, elliptical, often indecipherable, but they reinvented jangly guitar and classic-rock influences to make a new kind of New Wave. Together, this pair of distinctive bands helped make Athens, Georgia the epicenter of alternative cool in the ’80s and ’90s. In part one of this two-part episode of Hit Parade, we present the story of how the B-52’s and R.E.M. created a scene out of a college town—and became the most prominent queer-friendly, gender-fluid bands of their era.

Email: hitparade@slate.com

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Music Trivia: The MTV and Alt-Rock Edition

Sat, 16 Jun 2018 19:00:00 GMT

Hit Parade's The Bridge is back, and this time it's tackling some music trivia about the heyday of MTV, and some alt-rock favorites. Play along at home and quiz yourself by listening to The Bridge. If you’d like to be a contestant on an upcoming show, sign up for a Slate Plus membership, and then enter as a contestant here. You can also enter if you’re already a Slate Plus member. Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email hitparade@slate.com. Podcast production by T. J. Raphael

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Hit Parade: The Twerking and Chatrouletting Edition

Fri, 25 May 2018 08:00:00 GMT

Even before the launch of MTV, the music video has been making pop songs buzzworthy. And since the early ’80s, it has transformed also-rans into hitmakers—from the Buggles and Duran Duran to Peter Gabriel and a‑ha. But until the early 2010s, watching a video didn’t count on the Billboard charts. That all changed thanks to YouTube—and the biggest immediate beneficiary from the addition of video to the charts was a rising pop star, incubated on the Disney Channel, but looking to change her image. Miley Cyrus was born into hitmaking, line-dancing, multimedia royalty, and she used video titillation—and even the social site Chatroulette—to top the charts. But what did all that provocation mean for…y’know, the music? And how is video still making hits—including the song that’s No. 1 this very week in 2018? Chris Molanphy explains it all.

hitparade@slate.com

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Music Trivia: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Edition

Fri, 11 May 2018 10:00:00 GMT

Think you know music? Hit Parade, the pop-chart history podcast from Slate, is back with a new episode of The Bridge.

In this monthly mini-episode of Hit Parade, Host Chris Molanphy answers some listener mail, and invites one contestant on the show to play some music trivia. Players also have the opportunity to turn the tables on him: They get a chance to try to stump Molanphy, a music journalist for the past 25 years, with their own trivia question.

This month, The Bridge tackles the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and some some music trivia from the ‘00s.

Play along at home and quiz yourself by listening to the The Bridge here. If you’d like to be a contestant on an upcoming show, sign up for a Slate Plus membership, and then enter as a contestant here. You can also enter if you’re already a Slate Plus member.

Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email hitparade@slate.com.

Podcast production by T. J. Raphael

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The You Give Rock a Bad Name Edition

Fri, 27 Apr 2018 08:00:00 GMT

Bon Jovi are many things: platinum-selling, chart-topping and now, Hall of Fame–inducted. That angers music critics, who have been slagging off this band of hard-rock prom kings since the 1980s. Among the haters is Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy, who has loathed Bon Jovi since high school. But even he can’t deny it: Bon Jovi are hugely influential. In the wake of their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Chris puts aside his animus to explain how the biggest band in hair metal have remained strangely relevant—thanks to their deathless hits, their album sales and, more recently, their influence on a certain hair-metal-loving Swedish pop producer.

Email: hitparade@slate.com

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Hit Parade: Call for Contestants

Thu, 05 Apr 2018 18:54:19 GMT

Hi Slate Plus members! Soon, you’ll start hearing from Hit Parade just a little more frequently.

As Hit Parade nears its one-year anniversary—happy birthday to us!—we’re going to be rolling out special mid-month bonus episodes. And these episodes will be focused on you, our Slate Plus listeners.

We are looking for one of you to join us for our mid-month episode to play some trivia with Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy. He’ll ask one Slate Plus contestant three trivia questions about music history, and we'll tape the conversation and feature it in a short mid-month podcast episode that will roll out to the entire Hit Parade audience.

Oh, and by the way—you’ll also have your chance to turn the tables: We’re going to ask our contestant to try and stump Chris with one trivia question.

If you’d like to be a contestant on our upcoming show—or if you have music history questions you’d like us to consider for the podcast—email us at hitparade@slate.com.

Thanks so much—keep on marching on the one.

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The Veronica Electronica Edition

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT

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The Def Jams Edition

Fri, 23 Feb 2018 08:00:00 GMT

Watching this year’s Grammy Awards, it’s clear hip-hop is the dominant genre in popular music. But back in the ’80s, it was an influential but still underground style looking fora place on the charts and some mainstream respect. That is, until Run-DMC met Aerosmith. This month, how some out-of-favor ’70s rockers teamed up with the top crew in rap to remake an old hit—in the process, opening lanes for a trio of punks-turned-MCs, and a witty hip-hop lothario. We’re still feeling the reverberations today.

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The B-Sides Edition

Fri, 26 Jan 2018 08:00:00 GMT

Sometimes record executives and even the musicians themselves get it totally, completely wrong: thinking that throwaway, wacky song was destined for a single’s B-side, only to find it’s actually the No. 1 hit—from the Beatles to Beyoncé. At our first-ever live Hit Parade—recorded at The Bell House in Brooklyn, New York— host and trivia-meister Chris Molanphy and special guest Ted Leo break down some of the most improbable chart-toppers of all time.

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The Silver Medalists Edition

Thu, 28 Dec 2017 08:00:00 GMT

On the Billboard Hot 100, two can be the loneliest number. While having a No. 1 song can define an artist’s career, there’s far less glory in finishing one spot shy of the top slot. Yet some No. 2 hits have gone on to become classics. This month, Chris Molanphy looks at three songs that still loom large in our culture: “Shop Around” by the Miracles; “We Got the Beat” by the Go-Gos; and “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson.

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The Queen of Disco Edition

Fri, 24 Nov 2017 08:00:00 GMT

Donna Summer was a hitmaker for two decades and a dancefloor deity for more than three. Her collaborations with Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte were formative in dance, electronic and rock music, influencing everyone from David Bowie and Blondie to Madonna and Moby. But the rock establishment was stinting in its appreciation—whether at Comiskey Park in 1979, or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the 2000s. This month, we examine how Summer became the Queen of Disco…and how she transcended that role altogether.

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Le Petty Prince Edition

Mon, 30 Oct 2017 07:00:00 GMT

In 2004, Prince joined Tom Petty onstage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony for what is now regarded as the institution’s greatest live performance. They were both first-ballot inductees—but their similarities go much deeper. On this month’s Hit Parade, we track the surprising parallels between two artists gone far too soon: from their fights with the music industry to their hits across genres and generations—and even the songs they gave to Stevie Nicks. Petty and Prince were category-defying, label-infuriating, and among the best pop songwriters of the late 20th century.

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The Great War Against the Single Edition

Fri, 29 Sep 2017 20:00:00 GMT

Ever since the ’60s, the recording industry emphasized the album over the single. By the ’80s, they were milking as many hits as possible from an album to convince you to buy it—from Thriller to Hysteria.

But in the ’90s, labels changed tactics and tried to kill retail singles—promoting hits to radio that you could only buy on full-length albums. Why? They wanted consumers to shell out for more profitable CDs. As a result, musicians ranging from MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice, to Pearl Jam and Alanis Morissette, to Chumbawamba and Lou Bega became multiplatinum-selling artists. The industry’s ploy paid off, but it also created consumer resentment as people grew tired of paying nearly $20 to acquire one song.

Here’s the story of how the recording industry toyed with consumers and chart fans, and how the internet struck back.

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The Charity Megasingle Edition

Fri, 28 Jul 2017 07:00:00 GMT

In the mid-1980s, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and “We Are the World” gathered dozens of the biggest stars in music to put on a show for a good cause. The two songs spawned imitators, but today, the charity megasingle is a relic of pop music’s past, except around the holidays. This month, we examine how good intentions, pique, excess, and vanity led to the rise and fall of the do-gooder celebrity pop song.

Email: ⁠hitparade@slate.com⁠

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The Imperial Elton and George Edition

Fri, 30 Jun 2017 07:00:00 GMT

When Elton John came out as bisexual in 1976, it was a really big deal. It was covered on the evening news. There were angry letters and a decline in sales. And for a generation of queer musicians, like George Michael, it was a lesson: Be careful what you reveal about your sex life to the public. On this episode, we look at the friendship, collaboration, and chart rivalry of the two British icons, who collided on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week in 1988—and later topped the chart together.

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The Fab Four Sweep Edition

Fri, 26 May 2017 06:00:00 GMT

In episode two, Chris Molanphy takes a look at the historic week the Beatles swept the entire Billboard Top Five. You can see ⁠that chart right here⁠. It’s a feat that’s never been repeated. But the Fab Four’s total domination of the pop charts was both a reflection of their massive popularity and a huge screwup by their American record label. Here’s the story of how Capitol Records nearly sabotaged the biggest rock band of all time.

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Red, Red Wine Edition

Fri, 28 Apr 2017 06:00:00 GMT

In this debut episode, Chris Molanphy tells the story of “Red, Red Wine”: a song written in the 1960s by a certain journeyman singer-songwriter who loves a Hot August Night. Improbably, it became a reggae song, before the ’60s were even over—and then, even more improbably, in the 1980s it was transformed into a lilting, toasting reggae-pop global smash. And it would have been a flop in America if it hadn’t been for an enterprising deejay, who ignored the record labels and picked his own hits. With this song, he even started a two-year fad and a radio mutiny.

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