Slate Archives - Page 13 of 33

Why the Year’s Most Popular Song Never Went to No. 1

6 December 202123 January 2022

Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” is Billboard’s top song of 2021, even though it never topped the Hot 100. Chart historians rank 1965 among pop’s greatest years. An amazing array of totemic songs topped Billboard’s Hot 100 that year. Five straight No. 1s by the Beatles—a sweep from “I Feel Fine” through “Yesterday”—and the first two by [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

The Bridge: Sexism’s Eternal Flame

3 December 202123 January 2022

Stereogum’s Rachel Brodsky joins Chris Molanphy to talk about how The Bangles and their pop peers survived the ’80s. Listen & Subscribe Choose your preferred player: Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Amazon Music Stitcher Overcast TuneIn RSS Feed For questions about subscriptions or your Slate Plus feed, check our FAQ. Please enable javascript to get your [...] Read more

Slate Why Is This Song No. 1?

Did Taylor Swift Just Make Billboard Chart History?

25 November 202126 November 2021

She’s given The Beatles and Don McLean a 10-minute run for their money. “So, are you gonna be writing about Bob Dylan’s No. 1 song?” my rather giddy father asked me on the phone one day, a little over a year and a half ago. “Isn’t that what you write about?” I had to patiently [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

Hit Parade: Be the One to Walk in the Sun Edition

20 November 202123 January 2022

Cyndi Lauper, the Bangles, and Aimee Mann fought ’80s sexism while riding the major-label rollercoaster. View Transcript View Transcript Listen & Subscribe Choose your preferred player: Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Amazon Music Stitcher Overcast TuneIn RSS Feed For questions about subscriptions or your Slate Plus feed, check our FAQ. Please enable javascript to get [...] Read more

Slate Why Is This Song No. 1?

Adele’s Return to No. 1 Is Almost Too Easy

30 October 202121 November 2021

Another sulking ballad, another instant hit. But will it stick? A little less than a dozen years ago, in February 2010, Sade—the British group led by the striking Nigerian-born singer Sade Adu—debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with Soldier of Love. It was the group’s first album since their 2000 opus Lovers Rock, [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

The Bridge: Everything Is Emo

29 October 202121 November 2021

Author and emo expert Andy Greenwald joins Chris Molanphy to discuss how emo engulfed everything from punk to indie to rap. 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 javascript [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

Hit Parade: I Write Sins, Not Tragedies Edition

16 October 202121 November 2021

The pop-punk and emo boom of the ’90s and ’00s shows how punk keeps selling out and buying in. 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 javascript to [...] Read more

Hit Parade Slate

The Bridge: She Feels the Earth Move

24 September 202121 November 2021

Ann Powers joins Chris Molanphy for a retrospective of 1971, from its foundational music to its social movements. 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 javascript to get your [...] 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