August 2020 - Chris Molanphy

Chris Molanphy talks to the coiners of Yacht Rock about how they define the genre they invented. <iframe title="The Bridge: Yacht Or Nyacht?" src="https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=SLT6663014493&light=true" frameborder="no" height="200" scrolling="no" width="100%"></iframe> First, we have a few announcements about the future of Hit Parade—and it’s good news for both Slate Plus members and non-Plus listeners. While the economic challenges [...] Read more

Slate Why Is This Song No. 1?

How “WAP” Became the Dirtiest No. 1 in Hot 100 History

20 August 202017 October 2020

The video is a smash, but it’s the song that put it on top. This month marks the centennial of vaudeville performer Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues,” a watershed for both blues recordings and Black women’s cultural expression. Smith’s August 1920 recording, lamenting a love gone wrong, eventually sold about 2 million copies and, over the next [...] Read more

Slate Why Is This Song No. 1?

Why Harry Styles Just Scored His First No. 1 Song

14 August 202017 October 2020

Like any boy band alumnus, he first had to overcome radio’s bias against teen heartthrobs. Late summer is a great time for sleeper hits: songs that have been hanging around the charts for months and finally hit their stride. Four years ago, in August 2016, Sia’s “Cheap Thrills” reached No. 1 after knocking around the [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

Wednesday Night Live: Hit Parade Music Trivia

14 August 202014 August 2020

Slate staffers go head-to-head with Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy for the ultimate chart-trivia roundup. <audio title="Wednesday Night Live: Music Trivia" src="https://traffic.megaphone.fm/SLT7510393630.mp3" class="slate-megaphone__audio-player" tabindex="0" preload="metadata" controls></audio> <iframe title="Wednesday Night Live: Music Trivia" src="https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=SLT7510393630&light=true" frameborder="no" height="200" scrolling="no" width="100%"></iframe> Get More Hit Parade Slate Plus members get extended, ad-free versions of our podcasts—and much more. • Exclusive [...] Read more

Slate Why Is This Song No. 1?

Why Taylor Swift Is Finally Back at No. 1

7 August 202017 October 2020

With Folklore, she figured out the streaming era—and she didn’t even have to turn herself into a rapper. Maybe it’s appropriate that, in the dead of August in a year when we mostly can’t leave the house, our No. 1 song has the counterintuitive title “Cardigan.” But then, Taylor Swift has long been the music [...] Read more