Also! While #HitParadePod –The Bridge episodes are only for Slate Plus members, non-Plus listeners can now hear Pt2 of our March show celebrating our milestone 100th episode. I tell the story of chart king Casey Kasem—how he launched AT40, created the LDD & survived a Dead Dog tape. Pts1&2 are here:
slate.com
What makes a person want to track these rankings? Why do we care about what—or who—is No. 1?
I am a longtime, diehard @slate.com #PoliticalGabfest fan—literally since week one, over 2 decades ago—so I was thrilled to hear Gabfest host David Plotz shout out my latest #HitParadePod toward the end of this week’s show!
The full Gabfest episode can be heard here: slate.com/podcasts/pol...
This ranking is fun but w/all due respect to @augetoffmygold.bsky.social & the Billboard gang, ranking JT’s “SexyBack” No1 & the still-superior, Pitchfork-poptimism totem “My Love” No37 is revisionist madness (not like opinion changed in 20yrs—cf @tombreihan.bsky.social’s ratings on The Number Ones)
This @billboard.com factoid should come w/10 asterisks. Sure…technically ‘Number Ones’ is “new” to the Billboard 200’s Top10 this week…but for over a month in 2009 it was America’s top-seller, excluded from the chart only cuz of a now-defunct rule that purged catalog titles. A dubious MJ chart feat.
As part of Slate’s commemoration of my 100th episode of #HitParadePod, this week EIC Hillary Frey interviewed me for her weekly Friday email to Slate Plus members. It was fun reminiscing about how charts have changed, why Casey Kasem mattered, favorite HP episodes and my recent musical comfort food.
Live&let die? Think again! My new #HitParadePod on @slate.com is a tour of near-miss hits—No2s, 11s & 41s that became legendary. In this episode…the ’70s: How’d Wings’ No2 Bond theme outlast a No1 ballad? Why’d Steely Dan’s yacht rockers miss the Top10? How’d Elton’s blue-jean baby miss Casey Kasem?
The Hot 100 has never been more accurate than it is today.
slate.com
“We Are Family,” “Wild World” and “Tiny Dancer” are signature songs of the ‘70s that fell just shy of No. 1, the Top 10, and the Top 40.
Announcing the return of my @slate.com podcast #HitParadePod! We now offer single-episode topics more frequently in a conversational style. For our comeback I go deep on ’80s shapeshifter + Rock Hall inductee Billy Idol. How’d the sneer king fuse punk w/pop+dance+goth+metal to rule MTV & the charts?
Chris Molanphy
Chris Molanphy
Guess I can retire—an article I wrote for @slate.com 6 years ago became an answer in the semifinals of Netflix’s #PopCultureJeopardy!
The article, from the start of the pandemic—my #WhyIsThisSongNo1? piece on The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights”: slate.com/culture/2020...
“FLAILING…ARMS & LEGS” FTW.
Chris Molanphy
Video
“We Are Family,” “Wild World” and “Tiny Dancer” are signature songs of the ‘70s that fell just shy of No. 1, the Top 10, and the Top 40.
His punk look was unmistakable, but Billy Idol's sound was ever-changing as he explored new wave, glam metal, even club music in his quest for pop stardom.
