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Hit Parade

What makes a song a smash? Talent? Luck? Timing? All that—and more.

About the Show

Chris Molanphy, a pop-chart analyst and author of Slate’s “Why Is This Song No. 1?” series, tells tales from a half-century of chart history. Through storytelling, trivia, and song snippets, Chris dissects how that song you love—or hate—dominated the airwaves, made its way to the top of the charts, and shaped your memories forever.

Host

  • Chris Molanphy is a feature writer and critic who writes widely about music and the pop charts.

Latest Episodes

Showing 1–20 of 141

Don’t Fear the Repeat Edition

Does lightning strike twice on the pop charts? Yes, but only for the luckiest and most patient—the two-hit wonders.

More Than a Feeling Edition

What is a power ballad? The chart-dominating, climaxing, cringy mini-melodramas go back further than you think—and don’t always involve spandex.

The Bridge: It’s All Coming Back to Me Now

Our popular Slate Plus segment returns with an extended round of power-ballad trivia with Slate culture writer Sam Adams.

Near-Miss Hits: ’70s Edition

The cruelest numbers on the charts are No. 2, No. 11, and No. 41—but some hits that come up short wind up legendary.

Dancing With Himself Edition

Billy Idol reinvented punk for the MTV era, then clawed his way to the top of the charts by trying on multiple genres.

The Queen of Disco Edition (Encore)

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?

Feet on the Ground, Reaching for the Stars Edition

For Hit Parade’s 100th episode, Chris Molanphy reflects on the nature of chart fandom—and salutes the countdown king.

The Bridge: Why Is This Episode No. 100?

Your Hit Parade host talks with Slate culture editor Forrest Wickman about the changing meaning of a No. 1 hit and how it informs the podcast.

Country Roads and Summer Nights Edition

Before Grease and the Muppets, John Denver and Olivia Newton-John defined country-pop crossover in the 1970s.

The Bridge: Take Me Home, Country Crossover

Author David Cantwell explains how Olivia Newton-John and John Denver blazed their own trails through Nashville.

Starman to Blackstar Edition

How rock’s freakiest alien built his pop stardom through a series of ch-ch-ch-changes.

The Bridge: Fame Makes a Man Take Things Over

David Bowie scholar Chris O’Leary traces the Thin White Duke’s lifelong pattern of chasing stardom—then burning it down.

The Bridge: Slate’s Music Club 2025

Our critics’ roundtable recaps how Bad Bunny became imperial, Geese took flight, and a trio of Demon Hunters made K-pop golden.

Hooked to the Silver Screen Edition

After Barbie, Wicked and KPop Demon Hunters, is movie music making a chart comeback?

Pour Some Sugar on Me Edition

Mutt Lange built the sound of arena rock—then ruled the charts for decades.

The Bridge: Any Mutt of Mine

Nashville journalist Brian Mansfield says Shania Twain and producer Mutt Lange rebooted country music for pop crossover.

If You Love Sting, Set Him Free Edition

From the schoolroom to sophisti-pop, Sting’s genre-bending career is packed with hits.

The Bridge: Every Little Thing They Did Was Magic

Biographer Geoff Edgers on what powered the Police, rock’s most combustible trio.

Toppermost of the Poppermost Edition

The odd alchemy that sends a brand-new song to the top of the charts.

The Bridge: You Like My Hit? Gee, Thanks—Just Bought It

A chart-data scholar says No. 1 debuts need an extramusical X-factor.

Here’s The Beef Edition

The Kendrick-Drake feud made it all the way to the Super Bowl, but pop star beefs go back to the earliest days of wax.

The Bridge: How Ya Like Me Now?

Dan Charnas on how rap beefs evolved from Kool Moe Dee to Kendrick Lamar.

Mighty Real Edition

From Little Richard to Chappell Roan, queer artists have always been vanguards of pop, even when they have not been out.

The Bridge: The Closet Was Never Binary

Barry Walters, a scholar of LGBTQ music, says queer artists have long expressed their identities on a spectrum.

All Apologies Edition

From Cobain to Creed, how alt-rock went mainstream in the ‘90s.

The Bridge: Isn’t It Iconic?

Rob Harvilla, host of 60 Songs That Explain the ’90s, on the gap between what was cool and what actually charted during alt-rock’s greatest decade.

Only Girl in the World Edition

Rihanna was the most prolific 21st century chart-topper before bowing out of the game.

The Bridge: Rihanna Is Still Unapologetic

Music journalist Julianne Escobedo Shepherd says Rih always had the swagger to chart her own pop path.

Singing Nuns and Green Tambourines Edition

The 1960s will always be associated with counterculture and the Summer of Love, but the decade’s pop charts were full of novelty, schlock, and bubblegum.

The Bridge: Ballad of the Forgotten Hits

Producer, music archivist, and historian Andy Zax on why we love groovy ’60s hits but forget the Green Berets.

Material Girl in an Imperial World Edition

Pet Shop Boys coined the term “imperial phase” to describe a pop star’s untouchable era. In the ’80s, Madonna lived it.

The Bridge: They Must Be Our Lucky Stars

Pop Pantheon’s DJ Louie XIV ranks pop royalty—and weighs in on imperial phases.

The Freewheelin’ Edition

A Complete Unknown depicts Bob Dylan’s ’60s cultural explosion. His chart success came many years later.

The Bridge: Dylan Was Always Electric

Elijah Wald, whose book inspired the film A Complete Unknown, says the folk icon’s electrified surprise at Newport ‘65 had been gestating for years.