Chris Molanphy

She’d rather die than let it go: My latest #WhyIsThisSongNo1? on @slate.com is about pop overlord Taylor+her 4th smash in 12mos “Patient Zero.” Misbegotten title aside…what’s up w/the #Hot100 success+meh reviews? How does Tay’s ubiquity help on the charts & hurt w/haters? Wanna party? She’s got you.

They say you gotta stay hungry: My new #HitParadePod on @slate.com is another in my #NearMissHits series—No2s, 11s & 41s that became legendary. This time…the ’80s: how Go West went south of the Top40…how a No11 Stevie Nicks hit outlasted her Top10s…how the Boss missed No1 thanks to another MTV icon

I’m getting in late here, but @augetoffmygold.bsky.social nails it in this all-encompassing explainer of the “Choosin Texas” phenomenon. He covers all the angles I’ve been prattling on about in articles+podcasts since August & more besides. The analogy to Teddy Swims 2yrs ago is especially astute.

Just because they can: my latest #HitParadePod on @slate.com connects the late great Dolly Parton + currently dominant Ella Langley. How’d Dolly stay country while crossing pop—and what did she bequeath Ella’s generation, who are “Choosin’ Texas” while topping the pops? Talk about a cup of ambition.

I loved joining Wesley Morris to talk about Ella Langley’s #Hot100 record-setter “Choosin’ Texas,” on his @nytimes.com podcast #Cannonball. We get into the merits of the song…why some audiences haven't heard it…why country music is having a moment + what our current hits say about the national mood.

Hey @tombreihan.bsky.social, happy mutual birthday to my fellow chart-chronicler. Here's a thematically appropriate banger—if Billboard had launched the Modern Rock chart just 6 months sooner in '88, I'll bet you would've gotten to write about it for #AlternativeNumberOnes. Have a great day! 🎂

UPDATE: I called it—“Jolene” reenters@ No16, “I Will Always Love You” debuts@ No27. (First #Hot100 appearance ever for the latter!) I’m esp.proud I called which returning hit would be biggest—“IWALY” is more apropos to the moment but I just knew…folks love “Jolene.” www.billboard.com/music/chart-...

A “fun” read from @totcharts.bsky.social+a must-read for bellow chart junkies—even as it will not restore your faith in either the music biz or artist fandoms. I learned a few things—I missed that 6ix9ine leaked the #Hot100 formula & forgot Dua’s “Levitating” (likely) got robbed from a rightful No1.

Incredible bluegrass song. Incredibly a Billy Joel cover. Thanks @cmolanphy.bsky.social for turning me on to this on your Billy Joel episode of hit parade. youtu.be/40wdYXbpv5U?...

Looking for silver linings on this sad, sad day—want to put this prediction out there now… On next week’s #Hot100 I look forward to this immortal No1 country, No60 pop song—already her top Spotify track—finally becoming the Top 40 pop hit it has long deserved to be. Rest in Power to a legend. 💔

Doesn't take a crystal ball to see: my #WhyIsThisSongNo1? series on @slate.com takes another look at “Choosin’ Texas” now that it’s about to tie an all-time #Hot100 record. Already #SongOfTheSummer, it’s pulling other country songs into the pop Top5. Country’s having a moment—but also…it’s the data.

And I say…it’s all right. My latest #HitParadePod —now live on @slate.com—chronicles the hit the Beatles left on the table: “Here Comes the Sun,” George’s Abbey Road deep cut. It’s now their most-played digital song, over any Lennon–McCartney joint…how did Harrison’s self-care inspire a stealth hit?

It’s all coming back: my latest #HitParadePod —now live on @slate.com—is about Canadian chanteuse Céline Dion, training like an Olympian for her stage comeback. We go deep on her imperial ’90s when she turned flops into smashes & supercharged the soundtrack. Is your mom’s fave finally…a little cool?

In @newyorker.com, the great @luxante.bsky.social on Daft Punk’s master single: “We need ‘Get Lucky’ too, because we need romance, or at least hope. The struggle we face is not just political but existential…we need to dance and to love, so that we don’t forget what we’re ultimately fighting for.” 😭

Allow him to reintroduce himself: my new #HitParadePod —live on @slate.com—celebrates 30yrs of JayZ rocking the mic. His 4 #Hot100 No1s are teamups w/female singers & you can organize his career around them: Striver Jay…Imperial Jay…Mogul Jay + Elder Statesman Jay. He’s never had girl problems, son.

It’s a gas…it’s a hit: my new #HitParadePod on @slate.com is about Pink Floyd & the alltime album-chart record #TheDarkSideoftheMoon still holds. How does this LP keep seducing new generations of HS stoners+vinyl buyers? What competing LPs are creeping up on Floyd’s record? slate.com/podcasts/hit...

Don’t fear the repeat: my new #HitParadePod on @slate.com is about 2-Hit Wonders—fluky acts who could’ve been one-hitters but made lightning strike twice. It’s all about the hit gap—the best 2HWs come back years, even a decade after their 1st hit…from Gloria Gaynor to Murray Head to Golden Earring.

What can I say about the last days of @slate.com #CultureGabfest? It’s been my honor to help @juliaturner.bsky.social @thehighsign.bsky.social & Steve Metcalf curate Summer Strut—their annual collection of hot-time bops. I’m on this week to help them strut into the sunset. slate.com/podcasts/cul...

They remembered they loved her: my latest #WhyIsThisSongNo1? article on @slate.com is about Taylor Swift’s instant chart-topper from #ToyStory5. Why’d it take her so long to score a No1 soundtrack hit? And why did country radio welcome her back like her 15-year pivot to pop never happened? Giddy up.

Forever yours—faithfully: What is a power ballad? My new #HitParadePod episode on @slate.com explores how these climaxing…cringy…kinda awesome mini-melodramas took over the charts in the ’70s–’80s—from Styx to Skid Row. Does a PB require spandex…or an Olympic voice? And who’s keeping them alive now?

Guess I can retire—an article I wrote for @slate.com 6 years ago became an answer in the semifinals of Netflix’s #PopCultureJeopardy! The article, from the start of the pandemic—my #WhyIsThisSongNo1? piece on The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights”: slate.com/culture/2020... “FLAILING…ARMS & LEGS” FTW.

Live&let die? Think again! My new #HitParadePod on @slate.com is a tour of near-miss hits—No2s, 11s & 41s that became legendary. In this episode…the ’70s: How’d Wings’ No2 Bond theme outlast a No1 ballad? Why’d Steely Dan’s yacht rockers miss the Top10? How’d Elton’s blue-jean baby miss Casey Kasem?

Announcing the return of my @slate.com podcast #HitParadePod! We now offer single-episode topics more frequently in a conversational style. For our comeback I go deep on ’80s shapeshifter + Rock Hall inductee Billy Idol. How’d the sneer king fuse punk w/pop+dance+goth+metal to rule MTV & the charts?

This @billboard.com factoid should come w/10 asterisks. Sure…technically ‘Number Ones’ is “new” to the Billboard 200’s Top10 this week…but for over a month in 2009 it was America’s top-seller, excluded from the chart only cuz of a now-defunct rule that purged catalog titles. A dubious MJ chart feat.

As part of Slate’s commemoration of my 100th episode of #HitParadePod, this week EIC Hillary Frey interviewed me for her weekly Friday email to Slate Plus members. It was fun reminiscing about how charts have changed, why Casey Kasem mattered, favorite HP episodes and my recent musical comfort food.

This ranking is fun but w/all due respect to @augetoffmygold.bsky.social & the Billboard gang, ranking JT’s “SexyBack” No1 & the still-superior, Pitchfork-poptimism totem “My Love” No37 is revisionist madness (not like opinion changed in 20yrs—cf @tombreihan.bsky.social’s ratings on The Number Ones)

If you missed it last week, check out our annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Voter's Guide episode - this year with an actual voter!!! Special thanks to @cmolanphy.bsky.social for guesting while in town for PopCon at USC

Billboard Bildungsroman: For the 100th episode of #HitParadePod on @slate.com I go deep on my chart-geek history. Part 1: my musical memoir, Solid Gold to Nirvana. Part 2: the story of Casey Kasem, original #AmericanTop40 host—how he nationalized countdowns, invented the LDD & survived the Dead Dog.

I joined @djlouiexiv.bsky.social on his #PopPantheon podcast along with pop critic @popsamcam.bsky.social to debate the past & current state of the #Hot100 and what a No1 hit means. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...

It was a blast joining the #BeyondYachtRock gang— @jdryznar.bsky.social @hollywoodsteve.bsky.social Hunter & Dave—in the Fart Dungeon™ for a #RockHall ballot podcast chat. What genre is Billy Idol? Why can’t we agree on Mariah? Why do JD & NO belong together? And why does everybody diss the Crowes?

If "Sinners" had won would the ending sketch be Conan meeting Buddy Guy in '90s Starter jacket clothes