Slate Archives - Chris Molanphy

Hit Parade: I Write Sins, Not Tragedies Edition

16 October 202116 October 2021

The pop-punk and emo boom of the ’90s and ’00s shows how punk keeps selling out and buying in. View Transcript Advertisement Listen & Subscribe Choose your preferred player: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts TuneIn Spotify Stitcher Overcast RSS Feed Amazon Music For questions about subscriptions or your Slate Plus feed, check our FAQ. Please enable [...] Read more

Slate Why Is This Song No. 1?

Did Drake Just Prove He’s Bigger Than the Beatles?

20 September 202128 September 2021

With his latest Billboard Hot 100 record, he’s one step closer to being bigger than the biggest band of all time. Or is he? I know we have to break down the new No. 1 song in America, but first, I’d like to briefly address our new No. 4 song. It’s called “Champagne Poetry,” and it’s the [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

Hit Parade: Spirit of ’71 Edition

10 September 202128 September 2021

Did the music 50 years ago really “change everything”? How a new generation of singer-songwriters rebooted the charts. View Transcript View Transcript Advertisement Listen & Subscribe Choose your preferred player: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts TuneIn Spotify Stitcher Overcast RSS Feed Amazon Music For questions about subscriptions or your Slate Plus feed, check our FAQ. Please [...] Read more

Slate Why Is This Song No. 1?

The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber Finally Kicked BTS From Billboard’s Top Slot

19 August 202126 August 2021

The K-pop group’s “Butter” is the Song of the Summer, so why doesn’t it feel like it? Tweet Share Comment A year ago around this time, in our family car, I was auditioning my annual summer playlist for my teenage stepkids. The two Zoomers are a useful focus group for this Gen Xer, who’s trying [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

The Bridge: Everybody’s Got a Hungry Chart

30 July 202126 August 2021

Chris Molanphy and Caryn Rose discuss Bruce Springsteen’s artistry and whether he tried to evade pop success. Read more

Hit Parade Slate

Hit Parade: Tramps Like Us Edition

16 July 202126 August 2021

Bruce Springsteen went from “new Dylan” to pop pinup when he learned to keep the catchy songs for himself. 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 [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

Hit Parade: Say My Name, Say My Name Edition

18 June 202126 August 2021

Rappers are singing and singers are rapping. When did these styles merge? Read more

Slate Why Is This Song No. 1?

BTS Are Playing—and Winning—the Billboard Charts Game Fair and Square

5 June 202120 June 2021

Is anyone surprised that BTS’s newest English-language single became an instant hit? I don’t know who’s handling the Twitter feed for Queen these days, but they either don’t know pop history or have some seriously misplaced chutzpah. When “Butter,” the latest single from global pop dominators BTS, dropped in late May, someone at Queen HQ [...] Read more

Slate Why Is This Song No. 1?

Why Olivia Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” Is Rock’s First Hot 100 No. 1 in Years

29 May 202120 June 2021

The versatile Disney star might be the dying genre’s best hope. Tweet Share Comment Tweet Share Comment When Olivia Rodrigo made her much-anticipated appearance on Saturday Night Live two weekends ago, the focus was, overwhelmingly, on the first song she performed, “Drivers License.” Over the winter, that out-of-nowhere chart-topping debut had instantly made her a [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

The Bridge: Hip-Hop, Hit Pop

28 May 202129 May 2021

Chris Molanphy and Amy Coddington give Milli Vanilli props as himbo forefathers of rap and pop cross-pollination. 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 [...] Read more

← Previous