Also! While #HitParadePod –The Bridge episodes are only for Slate Plus members, non-Plus listeners can now hear Pt2 of our November episode on “Mutt” Lange, superproducer of arena überpop. Mutt pumped up rockers, pop stars & country divas—AC/DC to Billy Ocean, Def Leppard to Shania. Pts1&2 are here:

Thx to #HitParadePod listeners who’ve been sending kind words about our latest episode on Mutt Lange—the überpop producer behind smashes from Def Leppard to Shania Twain. For those who’ve asked our accompanying Spotify playlist is now live—find it on the @slate.com show page for the episode…or here:

You managed to make this fundamentally uninteresting hit more interesting—so nice work. This was one of the No1s I skipped & I can’t say I regret it. What was that teacher thinking, playing “34+35”?

And here’s Part 2 of my interview with @jmkarmstrong.bsky.social for #TheMinistryofPopCulture —about how poptimism made #HitParadePod possible, why music podcasters support each other, and the best idea I ever had in the shower (it involved Prince).

I know it’s wrong, but backseat Jimmy’s “…and finding out she’s 5” still makes me LOL. Probably wouldn’t fly today but more absurd than actually creepy.

Nicely done re:the pedantry. For BonusBeats I was convinced you were gonna include the “Ironic” installment of Donal Logue’s Jimmy the Cab Driver MTV ad. To this day my sister @catherinetinker.bsky.social & I still say “DONCHOO THINK?” like Jimmy.
P.S. The Spacehog song’s a 10—wish it’d gone to No1!

Again…why I enjoy yr column—you know the future so you complete the story arc from when I covered these hits in the moment. I made no predix re:Golden/Dior when they went to No1—you’re right that the whole wavelet feels like a blip now. Also 8wks@No1 was overkill but I still ain’t mad at that hook.

P.S. For me the 10 is “Cherub Rock.” Still pumps me up—what a build.
P.P.S. Don’t forget their VMAs VotY win w/"Tonight”—their Panic! at the Disco moment. If you skipped it cuz ‘1979” is the better Dayton/Faris video, I agree.
P.P.P.S. That Why Don’t We song has no chorus! Should’ve bitten that too.

I know it’s tough to pack the history of a totemic band into a single No1 song but you captured well Corgan’s skill/aspiration/insecurity/obnoxiousness.

BTW having seen SP headline the ’94 Lolla I can confirm you didn't miss much. One of my 3 worst concerts, even before BC began berating the crowd.

That's basically where I came out when I wrote about this for #WhyIsThisSongNo1? back in 2020—it’s better as a meme than a song, but it’s a charming/globally unifying phenomenon. It hasn’t aged well 5yrs later—honestly it’s all but disappeared—but as very online phenomena go it was rather wholesome.

Also! While #HitParadePod –The Bridge episodes are only for Slate Plus members, non-Plus listeners can now hear Pt2 of our October episode on Sting, the hook machine trying everything from punk to funk…swing to symphonies…reggae to Raï. Every little tune he wrote was chart magic. Parts 1&2 are here:

To me the cheekiest thing is how the “Wonderwall” video is having its Beatle cake and eating it, too. It’s clearly styled after ‘Help!’ the movie—specifically that video-like sequence in the film: the B&W cinematography, the tight closeups, the shag hair. This is not a complaint—steal from the best.

This FTW: “It sounds like something that would soundtrack a party scene in a movie where the producers didn’t want to pay to license the song that would really be playing at that party.” 😂 DING.

In a world where Chris Brown is still scoring hits Travis’s penalty-box time was always gonna be brief.

Much as I love M.I.A.’s early work, can’t we agree that the crazy was always laying dormant there, waiting to pop off with the right heel-turn moment? A lot like Ye, come to think of it.

P.S. re:Baby Animals—a US label tried to make them happen here in ’92 & it didn’t take: “Painless” hit No29 Album Rock + a followup whiffed. At the time I didn’t comprehend how big they were in Australia until this movie scene a couple years later where Muriel’s shitty friends liken them to Nirvana.

To me the great lyric in this dopey song is “I’m never alone/I’m alone all the time” which I’ve always related to. I also love lyrics that knowingly contradict themselves a la ODB’s "Got Your Money” line “I don't have no trouble with you fuckin me/But I have a little problem with you not fuckin me.”

Details here…also not sorry to see “Beautiful Things”/“Die w/a Smile” yanked. It’s cosmically appropriate this happens in a week w/a dozen Taylor hits cuz when they landed last week I was hoping they’d push “Lose Control” below the old recurrent threshold & hence off the chart. Not an issue anymore.

P.S. Thank you for not devoting that last chapter of your book to “Old Town Road.” 😉😅

I’m biased, but I do think you chose well and were onto something.