Another great #HitParadePod from @cmolanphy.bsky.social for sure!
The song they’re playing on the radio: my new #HitParadePod on @slate.com is a celebration of #Bowie —Starman, soulman, art-rocker & Blackstar. How’d his personae overlap w/his aspirations? I walk thru 8 chart phases of Bowie—glam…funk…new wave…altrock…even jazz—he kept finding ways to ch-ch-change.
Bowie Built His Fame by Knowing When to Be an Oddity and When to Dance
How rock’s freakiest alien built his pop stardom through a series of ch-ch-ch-changes.
slate.com
January 19, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Another great #HitParadePod from @cmolanphy.bsky.social for sure!
Just because they can: my latest #HitParadePod on @slate.com connects the late great Dolly Parton + currently dominant Ella Langley. How’d Dolly stay country while crossing pop—and what did she bequeath Ella’s generation, who are “Choosin’ Texas” while topping the pops? Talk about a cup of ambition.
How Dolly Parton’s Crossover Career Paved the Way for Pop Fans to Start “Choosin’ Texas”
Older chart rules held back many of Dolly Parton’s hits on the pop charts, but the streaming era is rectifying that for modern country stars.
slate.com
September 26, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Just because they can: my latest #HitParadePod on @slate.com connects the late great Dolly Parton + currently dominant Ella Langley. How’d Dolly stay country while crossing pop—and what did she bequeath Ella’s generation, who are “Choosin’ Texas” while topping the pops? Talk about a cup of ambition.
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.
April 18, 2026 at 4:01 PM
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.
All my thanks to #HitParadePod listeners & subscribers for enjoying my labor of love in 2025 (+a special shoutout to the @slate.com Plus community). As always, we covered a lot—spanning genres and decades. Now’s a good time to catch up on any Hit Parade episodes you missed! slate.com/podcasts/hit...
December 31, 2025 at 10:32 PM
All my thanks to #HitParadePod listeners & subscribers for enjoying my labor of love in 2025 (+a special shoutout to the @slate.com Plus community). As always, we covered a lot—spanning genres and decades. Now’s a good time to catch up on any Hit Parade episodes you missed! slate.com/podcasts/hit...
I tried something different at #PopCon2025: I delivered a paper +a new #HitParadePod episode on the same topic within 24hrs. The versions complemented each other—paper more visual+ #MadMen focused; podcast ep longer, deeper, w/song clips. Thx PopCon organizers+ @nedraggett.bsky.social for these pix.
And wrapping up the panel with the mighty @cmolanphy.bsky.social with “Mad Men and the Forgotten ‘60s” — check out the #HitParade episode that just dropped too! #PopCon2025
March 15, 2025 at 7:26 PM
I tried something different at #PopCon2025: I delivered a paper +a new #HitParadePod episode on the same topic within 24hrs. The versions complemented each other—paper more visual+ #MadMen focused; podcast ep longer, deeper, w/song clips. Thx PopCon organizers+ @nedraggett.bsky.social for these pix.
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...
The full Gabfest episode can be heard here: slate.com/podcasts/pol...
June 7, 2026 at 4:50 AM
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...
The full Gabfest episode can be heard here: slate.com/podcasts/pol...
…and in my #HitParadePod episode on the subject: slate.com/podcasts/hit...
Transcript excerpt attached.
Transcript excerpt attached.
January 2, 2025 at 6:47 PM
…and in my #HitParadePod episode on the subject: slate.com/podcasts/hit...
Transcript excerpt attached.
Transcript excerpt attached.
My deepest thanks to #HitParadePod listeners who enjoyed my podcast in 2024. (And a special shoutout to the @slate.bsky.social Plus community.) Once again we covered so! much! music! across artists, genres & eras. Now’s a good time to catch up on any HP episodes you missed! slate.com/podcasts/hit...
December 31, 2024 at 9:03 PM
My deepest thanks to #HitParadePod listeners who enjoyed my podcast in 2024. (And a special shoutout to the @slate.bsky.social Plus community.) Once again we covered so! much! music! across artists, genres & eras. Now’s a good time to catch up on any HP episodes you missed! slate.com/podcasts/hit...
Cuz we are living in an Imperial world: new #HitParadePod on @slate.bsky.social is about the Imperial phase—the moment where a pop star can do no wrong & all is gold—from Beatles to Taylor, Bee Gees to Gaga. I offer 8 Imperial rules & go deep on a legendary Imperial phase: Madonna’s ’80s hit streak.
Pet Shop Boys Coined This Term. In the ‘80s, Madonna Embodied It.
There’s success—and then there’s unstoppable, do-no-wrong success. Here’s how to know when an artist is “imperial.”
slate.com
February 16, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Cuz we are living in an Imperial world: new #HitParadePod on @slate.bsky.social is about the Imperial phase—the moment where a pop star can do no wrong & all is gold—from Beatles to Taylor, Bee Gees to Gaga. I offer 8 Imperial rules & go deep on a legendary Imperial phase: Madonna’s ’80s hit streak.
A fast machine, kept his motor clean: My new #HitParadePod on @slate.com is about superproducer “Mutt” Lange, mystery man of arena-rocking überpop. Mutt’s anthemic sound worked across genres—AC/DC to the Cars, Foreigner to Billy Ocean, Def Leppard to Shania. Let the magic man pour some sugar on you.
The Reclusive Producer Who Shook the Charts All Night Long
Mutt Lange avoided the spotlight while crafting some of the loudest, catchiest, and bestselling records of all time.
slate.com
November 16, 2025 at 4:09 AM
A fast machine, kept his motor clean: My new #HitParadePod on @slate.com is about superproducer “Mutt” Lange, mystery man of arena-rocking überpop. Mutt’s anthemic sound worked across genres—AC/DC to the Cars, Foreigner to Billy Ocean, Def Leppard to Shania. Let the magic man pour some sugar on you.
It’s a gas…it’s a hit: my new #HitParadePod on @slate.com is about Pink Floyd & the alltime album-chart record #TheDarkSideoftheMoon still holds. How does this LP keep seducing new generations of HS stoners+vinyl buyers? What competing LPs are creeping up on Floyd’s record? slate.com/podcasts/hit...
July 17, 2026 at 4:34 PM
It’s a gas…it’s a hit: my new #HitParadePod on @slate.com is about Pink Floyd & the alltime album-chart record #TheDarkSideoftheMoon still holds. How does this LP keep seducing new generations of HS stoners+vinyl buyers? What competing LPs are creeping up on Floyd’s record? slate.com/podcasts/hit...
Was just listening to an episode of #HitParadePod about Donna Summer that also covered this - how influential she was but didn’t get the respect she deserved because of anti-disco bias.
Also, “Bad Girls” is a perfect album.
slate.com/podcasts/hit...?
Also, “Bad Girls” is a perfect album.
slate.com/podcasts/hit...?
Donna Summer’s Three-Decade Chart Reign
The disco legend reinvented dance music—and then took over pop.
slate.com
April 11, 2026 at 11:10 PM
Was just listening to an episode of #HitParadePod about Donna Summer that also covered this - how influential she was but didn’t get the respect she deserved because of anti-disco bias.
Also, “Bad Girls” is a perfect album.
slate.com/podcasts/hit...?
Also, “Bad Girls” is a perfect album.
slate.com/podcasts/hit...?
I spoke w/Dane Haiken for his Substack interview series #HowWeRead, focusing on how I research episodes of my @slate.com podcast #HitParadePod —from Billboard chart books to memoirs by Nile Rodgers, John Fogerty & Phil Collins. Also, my origin story a la Paul McCartney’s apocryphal “Scrambled Egg.”
HWR #11: Chris Molanphy
A pop historian in New York City
howweread.substack.com
August 27, 2025 at 6:49 AM
I spoke w/Dane Haiken for his Substack interview series #HowWeRead, focusing on how I research episodes of my @slate.com podcast #HitParadePod —from Billboard chart books to memoirs by Nile Rodgers, John Fogerty & Phil Collins. Also, my origin story a la Paul McCartney’s apocryphal “Scrambled Egg.”
Thanks to @cmolanphy.bsky.social and #HitParadePod for bringing this column to life about the varying things that being #1 means these days. #AT40
In Part2 of my latest #HitParadePod on the history of No1 debuts (link below) I used data gathered by @rossonradio.com to track how songs that opened atop #Hot100 do on the air now. In the June week Sean checked the stats “Trollz” got 3 radio spins. I’d love to know who still plays that shit at all.
The Odd Alchemy That Sends a Brand-New Song to the Top of the Charts
For decades, No. 1 debuts were unheard of in America. Then the record labels and digital music hacked the Hot 100.
slate.com
September 22, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Thanks to @cmolanphy.bsky.social and #HitParadePod for bringing this column to life about the varying things that being #1 means these days. #AT40
It’s life’s illusions we recall: new #HitParadePod episode on @slate.bsky.social is about forgotten ’60s hits from the Singing Nun to Jeannie C Riley. I identify 5 categories of forgotten hits—like easy listening, instrumentals &bubblegum—from a Boomer decade that was more ‘Mad Men’ than ‘Big Chill’
Forget Woodstock and the Summer of Love. This is What the ‘60s Really Sounded Like.
A decade known for revolutionary sounds was a lot cornier than you might think.
slate.com
March 16, 2025 at 6:59 PM
It’s life’s illusions we recall: new #HitParadePod episode on @slate.bsky.social is about forgotten ’60s hits from the Singing Nun to Jeannie C Riley. I identify 5 categories of forgotten hits—like easy listening, instrumentals &bubblegum—from a Boomer decade that was more ‘Mad Men’ than ‘Big Chill’
Mighty Real: my new #HitParadePod on @slate.com celebrates #LGBTQ+ hitmakers who shaped how pop sounds, signifies, shimmies+shakes. How’d queer artists navigate the charts while coming out? We salute titans from Little Richard to Lil Nas X…Dusty Springfield to Sylvester…Boy George to Chappell Roan.🏳️🌈
LGBTQ Music Has Long Been Coded and Even Denied, Yet Never Absent From the Pop Charts for Long.
Queer artists have continually redefined pop even when the culture wouldn't let them do so openly.
slate.com
June 14, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Mighty Real: my new #HitParadePod on @slate.com celebrates #LGBTQ+ hitmakers who shaped how pop sounds, signifies, shimmies+shakes. How’d queer artists navigate the charts while coming out? We salute titans from Little Richard to Lil Nas X…Dusty Springfield to Sylvester…Boy George to Chappell Roan.🏳️🌈
Almost heaven/hopelessly devoted: My new #HitParadePod episode—now live on @slate.com—is on John Denver & Olivia Newton-John, titans of ’70s pop who crossed over via country & tangled w/Nashville. They went Hollywood, then took different paths—she aerobicized…he went full Muppet. Embrace the mellow.
Nashville Turned Its Back on Two Country-Pop Upstarts. Then Hollywood Came Knocking.
Long before Taylor Swift and Morgan Wallen, Olivia Newton-John and John Denver took country roads to pop superstardom.
slate.com
February 15, 2026 at 10:04 PM
Almost heaven/hopelessly devoted: My new #HitParadePod episode—now live on @slate.com—is on John Denver & Olivia Newton-John, titans of ’70s pop who crossed over via country & tangled w/Nashville. They went Hollywood, then took different paths—she aerobicized…he went full Muppet. Embrace the mellow.
I’m not even a metalhead & this is delightful—good for #Megadeth. This is 10yrs almost to the week after Bowie scored his only No1 LP ★. Of course I have Bowie on the brain cuz of my latest #HitParadePod, but turns out there’s a chart connection, as per the article: www.billboard.com/music/chart-...
February 1, 2026 at 8:45 PM
I’m not even a metalhead & this is delightful—good for #Megadeth. This is 10yrs almost to the week after Bowie scored his only No1 LP ★. Of course I have Bowie on the brain cuz of my latest #HitParadePod, but turns out there’s a chart connection, as per the article: www.billboard.com/music/chart-...
@cmolanphy.bsky.social Was that the first time Phish has been played on #HitParadePod? Warming up for a jam band episode I hope?
March 16, 2025 at 2:08 PM
@cmolanphy.bsky.social Was that the first time Phish has been played on #HitParadePod? Warming up for a jam band episode I hope?
What else should we be? My new #HitParadePod on @slate.com covers ’90s alt-rock from Cobain to Creed. How did GenX bring the left of the dial to the middle of the road & make Modern Rock our bizarro Top 40? How’d grunge become post-grunge & the new pop? Come as you are—back when Losers were winners.
From Cobain to Creed, How Alt-Rock Went Mainstream in the ‘90s
Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam led an explosion in alt-rock that brought the underground to the surface.
slate.com
May 17, 2025 at 8:36 PM
What else should we be? My new #HitParadePod on @slate.com covers ’90s alt-rock from Cobain to Creed. How did GenX bring the left of the dial to the middle of the road & make Modern Rock our bizarro Top 40? How’d grunge become post-grunge & the new pop? Come as you are—back when Losers were winners.
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?
Bleached Hair + an Elvis Sneer = MTV Immortality
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.
slate.com
May 16, 2026 at 7:36 PM
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?
I enjoyed talking w/Lawrence Peryer for his cultural conversation podcast @thetonearm.com. We had a wide-ranging chat—from Taylor Swift to James Taylor…why I loved Bruce Hornsby & couldn't abide Bon Jovi…why Billy Idol + Pointer Sisters are great #HitParadePod topics…& why Ella Langley is still No1.
Chris Molanphy on the Hot 100, Poptimism, and Music Trends
The Hit Parade host on what better data revealed about hit songs, why country radio guards its gate, and his refusal to believe in guilty pleasures.
podcast.thetonearm.com
August 2, 2026 at 9:44 PM
I enjoyed talking w/Lawrence Peryer for his cultural conversation podcast @thetonearm.com. We had a wide-ranging chat—from Taylor Swift to James Taylor…why I loved Bruce Hornsby & couldn't abide Bon Jovi…why Billy Idol + Pointer Sisters are great #HitParadePod topics…& why Ella Langley is still No1.
You probably think this pod is about you—my new #HitParadePod from @slate.com is a history of diss records, which predate hip-hop+even rock. From Eddie Cantor bitching about “Bananas” to Carly Simon puncturing vanity…an army of Roxanne,Roxannes or K-dot ethering Drake…beef on wax has served up hits.
From Beatles to Biggie, Carly to Kendrick, Diss Records Are a Pop Fixture
They weren’t always called diss tracks, but pop stars have been trading insults since Tin Pan Alley.
slate.com
July 20, 2025 at 8:17 PM
You probably think this pod is about you—my new #HitParadePod from @slate.com is a history of diss records, which predate hip-hop+even rock. From Eddie Cantor bitching about “Bananas” to Carly Simon puncturing vanity…an army of Roxanne,Roxannes or K-dot ethering Drake…beef on wax has served up hits.
I want this #Grammys predix out there before tonight, in case I called it right: Last June in my #HitParadePod episode on Quincy Jones, I talked about his earnest, eclectic ’89 album/’91 AotY winner “Back on the Block’ & said if ‘Cowboy Carter’ finally gets Bey AotY it’ll be cuz she pulled a Quincy.
February 2, 2025 at 5:37 PM
I want this #Grammys predix out there before tonight, in case I called it right: Last June in my #HitParadePod episode on Quincy Jones, I talked about his earnest, eclectic ’89 album/’91 AotY winner “Back on the Block’ & said if ‘Cowboy Carter’ finally gets Bey AotY it’ll be cuz she pulled a Quincy.
He’ll be earworming you: My new #HitParadePod on @slate.com is about Sting, the jazzy pop-generator who keeps getting paid. In the Police he blended reggae+new wave. Solo, he tried jazz, classical, funk, rap…even Raï. Whether on your radio or getting sampled, every little thing Sting tries is magic.
Every Breath Sting Takes, Every Hit Sting Makes—We’ve Been Watching Him.
Everyone knows "Every Breath You Take"—but Sting's legacy is built on hits from the unexpected genres.
slate.com
October 19, 2025 at 11:56 PM
He’ll be earworming you: My new #HitParadePod on @slate.com is about Sting, the jazzy pop-generator who keeps getting paid. In the Police he blended reggae+new wave. Solo, he tried jazz, classical, funk, rap…even Raï. Whether on your radio or getting sampled, every little thing Sting tries is magic.