Hit Parade Archives - Page 18 of 18

Hit Parade: The Def Jams Edition

23 February 20184 January 2019

Listen to Episode 10 of Slate’s Hit Parade: Slate Plus members: Get your ad-free podcast feed. Watching this year’s Grammy Awards, it’s clear hip-hop is the dominant genre in popular music. But back in the 1980s, it was an influential but still underground style looking for a place on the charts—and some mainstream respect. That is, [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

Hit Parade: The B-Sides Edition

26 January 20184 January 2019

Live from Brooklyn’s Bell House, it’s a very special Hit Parade about B-sides that improbably became classics, or even No. 1 hits. Listen to Episode 9 of Slate’s Hit Parade: Slate Plus members: Get your ad-free podcast feed. Sometimes record executives and even musicians—from the Beatles to Beyoncé—get it totally, completely wrong, thinking that throwaway, [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

Hit Parade: The Silver Medalists Edition

28 December 20174 January 2019

On the Billboard Hot 100, two is often the loneliest number. Listen to Episode 8 of Slate’s Hit Parade: On the Billboard Hot 100, two can be the loneliest number. While having a No. 1 song can define an artist’s career, there’s much less glory in finishing one spot shy of the top slot. Yet [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

Hit Parade: The Queen of Disco Edition

27 November 20174 January 2019

Donna Summer set chart benchmarks and managed to stay relevant for more than three decades. Why didn’t she get more respect from the rock establishment? Listen to Episode 7 of Slate’s Hit Parade: Donna Summer was a hit-maker for two decades and a dance floor deity for more than three. Her collaborations with Giorgio Moroder [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

Hit Parade: Le Petty Prince Edition

27 October 20174 January 2019

Tom Petty and Prince only played together once. But their careers paralleled each other for four decades. Listen to Episode 6 of Slate’s Hit Parade: Subscribe in iTunes ∙ Download ∙ Play in another tab Slate Plus members: Get your ad-free podcast feed. In 2004, Prince joined Tom Petty onstage at the Rock and Roll Hall [...] Read more

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Hit Parade: The Great War Against the Single Edition

29 September 20177 September 2023

The story of how the recording industry made you shell out $18 for one good song in the ’90s. Listen to Hit Parade No. 5 with the audio player below. Ever since the ’60s, the recording industry emphasized the album over the single. By the ’80s, they were milking as many hits as possible from [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

Hit Parade: The Charity Megasingle Edition

28 July 20174 January 2019

In the mid-1980s, big, loud, multicelebrity pop songs were briefly all over the charts and the radio. How’d that happen? Listen to Episode 4 of Slate’s Hit Parade: Subscribe in iTunes ∙ RSS feed ∙ Download ∙ Play in another tab Slate Plus members: Get your ad-free podcast feed. In the mid-1980s, “Do They Know [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

Hit Parade: The Imperial Elton and George Edition

30 June 20174 January 2019

Listen to Episode 3 of Slate’s Hit Parade: Subscribe in iTunes ∙ RSS feed ∙ Download ∙ Play in another tab Slate Plus members: Get your ad-free podcast feed. When Elton John came out as bisexual in 1976, it was a really big deal. It was covered on the evening news. There were angry letters and [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

Hit Parade: The Fab Four Sweep Edition

26 May 20174 January 2019

How a major label screw-up helped the Beatles sweep the Billboard top five. Listen to Episode 2 of Slate’s Hit Parade: In Episode 2, Chris Molanphy takes a look at the historic week the Beatles swept the entire Billboard top five. You can see that chart right here. It’s a feat that’s never been repeated. [...] Read more

Hit Parade

Hit Parade: The Rogue DJ Edition

28 April 20174 January 2019

A new podcast about how that song you love—or hate—became a smash. Neil Diamond performs in 1976. Jessie Eastland/Wikipedia https://megaphone.link/PPY8123266549 In this debut episode, Chris Molanphy tells the story of “Red Red Wine,” a song written in the 1960s by a certain journeyman singer-songwriter who loves a Hot August Night. Improbably, it became a reggae song, [...] Read more