Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

Slate Podcasts

What makes a song a smash? Talent? Luck? Timing? All that—and more. Chris Molanphy, pop-chart analyst and author of Slate’s “Why Is This Song No. 1?” series, tells tales from a half-century of chart history. Through storytelling, trivia and song snippets, Chris dissects how that song you love—or hate—dominated the airwaves, made its way to the top of the charts and shaped your memories forever.

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219 episodes
Updated July 25

Episodes219

Newest first

Feb 13, 2021 · 42 min
The AC/DC Rule, Part 1
From AC/DC to Lady Gaga, follow-up albums often do better on the charts than more-loved classics.
Jan 29, 2021 · 1 hr 18 min
These Are the Good Times, Part 2
How the sleek disco group Chic spawned hip-hop and new wave and shaped acts from Diana Ross to Duran Duran.
Jan 19, 2021 · 52 min
These Are the Good Times, Part 1
How the sleek disco group Chic spawned hip-hop and new wave and shaped acts from Diana Ross to Duran Duran.
Dec 31, 2020 · 46 min
Smells Like Christmas Spirit, Part 2
In Part 2 of this episode of Hit Parade, we continue the story of how Nirvana’s Nevermind ousted Michael Jackson’s Dangerous from the top of the Billboard album chart,
Dec 14, 2020 · 29 min
Smells Like Christmas Spirit, Part 1
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
Nov 27, 2020 · 38 min
Friends in Low Places, Part 2
Brooks took on chart competitors from Guns n’ Roses to Madonna to Mariah Carey and bested them all … until he tried taking on the Beatles.
Nov 16, 2020 · 1 hr 16 min
Friends in Low Places, Part 1
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
Oct 30, 2020 · 52 min
Turn Around, Bright Eyes, Part 2
Chris Molanphy continues the story of how Steinman moved on from Meatloaf to emerge as a hitmaker for other artists like Bonnie Tyler with "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and Celine Dion with “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now”.
Oct 16, 2020 · 49 min
Turn Around, Bright Eyes, Part 1
Forever’s gonna start tonight.
Oct 2, 2020 · 48 min
One and Done, Part 2
In part two of our one-hit wonders show, we propose three rules to identify a one-hit wonder, which is not as easy as it sounds
Sep 18, 2020 · 48 min
One and Done, Part 1
What makes a one-hit wonder? On this episode of Hit Parade we explore the history and context of the one-hit wonder.
Aug 28, 2020 · 49 min
The Bridge: Yacht Or Nyacht?
Chris Molanphy talks to the coiners of Yacht Rock about how they define the genre they invented.
Aug 14, 2020 · 4 min
Wednesday Night Live: Music Trivia
Chris tries to stump your favorite Slatesters.
Jul 31, 2020 · 8 min
What a Fool Believes Edition
This is the story of Yacht Rock.
Jul 17, 2020 · 7 min
The Bridge: Lilith’s Winding Road
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. 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, as of April 2020, Hit Parade episodes are available to Slate Plus members only. To listen to future episodes in full, 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. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 30, 2020 · 7 min
Building a Herstory Edition
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.
Jun 12, 2020 · 4 min
The Bridge: Many Ways to be OutKasted
Chris Molanphy talks to OutKast expert Dr. Regina Bradley about what they meant to Southern hip-hop.
May 29, 2020 · 7 min
Shake It Like a Polaroid Picture Edition
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.
May 15, 2020 · 3 min
The Bridge: Piano Man, Everyman
Chris Molanphy talks to special musical guest Julian Velard about Billy Joel’s singular authenticity.
Apr 30, 2020 · 7 min
Still Billy Joel to Me Edition
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.

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

The AC/DC Rule, Part 1

These Are the Good Times, Part 2

These Are the Good Times, Part 1

Smells Like Christmas Spirit, Part 2

Smells Like Christmas Spirit, Part 1

Friends in Low Places, Part 2

Friends in Low Places, Part 1

Turn Around, Bright Eyes, Part 2

Turn Around, Bright Eyes, Part 1

One and Done, Part 2

One and Done, Part 1

The Bridge: Yacht Or Nyacht?

Wednesday Night Live: Music Trivia

What a Fool Believes Edition

The Bridge: Lilith’s Winding Road

Building a Herstory Edition

The Bridge: Many Ways to be OutKasted

Shake It Like a Polaroid Picture Edition

The Bridge: Piano Man, Everyman

Still Billy Joel to Me Edition