iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

P.S. Huge thanks to @lindsayzoladz.bsky.social for shouting out my Cannonball chat w/Wesley about “Choosin’ Texas” at the end of the latest installment of her @nytimes.com column #TheAmplifier. I am indeed a loyal reader! www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/a...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

It happened: Ella’s “Texas” has taken the #Hot100 wks@No1 record. (I give Mariah 2 Christmases to get it back…) Wanna know how + why? I offer my latest @slate.com #WhyIsThisSongNo1? column (slate.trib.al/Da3cHmt) or my chat w/Wesley Morris on @nytimes.com Cannonball: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/p...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

A fun project, done with love. I would have made “Be My Baby” the top pick, but I get why y’all went the way you did. Attaching 2 small correx—swap in “Cherish” on Madonna’s list of No2s (“Isla” peaked@No4) & the 4 Seasons had a 5th No1 in the ’70s that you may have heard! (at any no. of weddings…)

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Here’s an audiogram excerpt of my appearance on @thetonearm.com podcast—about why, after all these years, the #Hot100 is still our trusted flagship pop chart. And why a song’s chart peak is not always the last word on its legacy—from “Tiny Dancer” to “Running Up That Hill.”

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

A hint about that sad (but very wealthy) man, and the chart week that sealed his fate forever.

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

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...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Fun w/charts: The news that Robert Smith (!) guests on the new Stones LP (!!) sent me back to fall ’89 to see if my suspicion was right that the Cure & Stones mixed it up on the #Hot100. Boy howdy, did they! One week after this, the Cure’s biggest-ever pop hit rose to its No2 peak; Stones held@ No5.

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Wow—the #PoliticalGabfest hyped my show again this week! This time, it was promo for the #HitParadePod Power Ballads episode, and David Plotz got @jdickerson.bsky.social & Emily Bazelon to chime in. You haven't lived until you’ve heard David sing a bit of REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling.”

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

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...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

I am a longtime, diehard @slate.com #PoliticalGabfest fan—literally since week one, over 2 decades ago—so I was thrilled to hear Gabfest host David Plotz shout out my latest #HitParadePod toward the end of this week’s show! The full Gabfest episode can be heard here: slate.com/podcasts/pol...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

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.

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

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.

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Critics may not have mattered to its success but a certain earnest 23-year-old CMJ scribe gave the CD a near-rave in summer ’95. When it went platinum I was proud I called it right. I wish I liked “#1 Crush” better—such an odd track to be their only No1 hit. All of their ’95+’98 singles are better.

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

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.

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

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...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

I not only encourage you to read @radiomatt1.bsky.social’s chart analysis of Bad Bunny ahead of #SuperBowlHalftime. I urge you to read thru his recap of José Feliciano’s ’68 Detroit national-anthem controversy & its chart/career impact—the more things change… www.graphsaboutsongs.com/p/um-actuall...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

I’m not even a metalhead & this is delightful—good for #Megadeth. This is 10yrs almost to the week after Bowie scored his only No1 LP ★. Of course I have Bowie on the brain cuz of my latest #HitParadePod, but turns out there’s a chart connection, as per the article: www.billboard.com/music/chart-...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

When you noted Dishwalla’s used-bin-clogging CD I had to Google to remember its generic cover. I feel like we should coin a mini-genre for this alt-band era: Clip Art Rock—when a band was so nondescript the label’s art dept created a cut-n-paste CD cover for them. Even Radiohead briefly fell victim.

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

All my thanks to #HitParadePod listeners & subscribers for enjoying my labor of love in 2025 (+a special shoutout to the @slate.com Plus community). As always, we covered a lot—spanning genres and decades. Now’s a good time to catch up on any Hit Parade episodes you missed! slate.com/podcasts/hit...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

Some buried news at the bottom of this week’s @billboard.com report on the new #Hot100 …yes the all-Xmas top 24 is a big deal but to me the bigger news is HUNTR/X’s “Golden” finally reaching No1 on the Radio chart—Kpop’s 1st time topping the all-format airplay list. www.billboard.com/lists/mariah...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

Did you mean the original ’63 LP or the ’70s reissue? Because that has a far more insane cover… (I find the original w/all the Philles Records groups popping out of gift boxes charming in a kitschy way. Plus—no Phil S., which helps you focus on the great, great music & not the wackjob who made it.)

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

A correction (admittedly this is a small item in the story): Run-DMC did indeed score rap’s first platinum album—but it’s not ‘King of Rock,’ it’s ‘Raising Hell.’ Though KoR came out first, RH was certified platinum first, according to the RIAA.

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

Few directors brought me such pure joy. Notwithstanding the sad end of his life, that joy is how I will choose to remember Rob Reiner. R.I.P. Marty/Meathead—let’s boogie. 🎥 getyarn.io/yarn-clip/46...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

First scene in his first movie, he parodies the self-regard of a hack director. And then in real life, he goes on this insane run: 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘐𝘴 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘯̈𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘢𝘱. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘔𝘦𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺… 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘺. 𝘈 𝘍𝘦𝘸 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘔𝘦𝘯. In a row! To START his career! Not a dud in the bunch.

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Yup—here’s the Top 5. And…well, it’s a very decent Top 2. As songs, I like Nos 3–5 to varying degrees (even the Swims single, before it wouldn’t die!) but that parade of reruns is, to quote a ’60s No1 hit, kind of a drag.

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Y’all have a typo in this writeup—“Luther” debuted@ *No3* on Hot Rap Songs in Dec ’24, not No1 (“Squabble Up” was No1 that week). Just tagging this in case @augetoffmygold.bsky.social or someone else on staff wants to fix it…

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

The big #Hot100 news isn’t that Tay’s “Ophelia” is No1 a 2nd week—it’s at the end of the story where @billboard.com announces a big change to the chart’s recurrent rule that I expected. Bottom line, songs will pulled sooner & I say thank heaven—& bye “Lose Control” which shoulda been gone eons ago.

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

I must say, this latest chapter in their apparent cold war suggests that what Taylor did to Charli last summer on the UK charts was every bit as deliberate as fans surmised. www.theguardian.com/music/articl...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

The guy best equipped to answer this is my friend, fellow chart columnist & famed übertall person @tombreihan.bsky.social. He has strong incentive to know…& in his @stereogum.bsky.social column #TheNumberOnes he guesstimates that Montell Jordan was indeed tallest: www.stereogum.com/2179979/the-...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

🤣 No it was not! Congrats—you’ve discovered my Ron Burgundy moment, the most embarrassing thing in #HitParadePod history. There was a script typo, I read it like that & nobody caught it. It’s now HP podcast lore. Hope it amused you. 🤦🏽 (Pictured: me in the “meekrat” tee loved ones gave me to F w/me.)

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

I’m back on the #CultureGabfest on @slate.com for our cherished annual hot-weather tradition, Summer Strut! Julia Turner, Dana Stevens & Steve Metcalf cull the list + I demystify the bops. This year we jam to Lola Young…Bad Bunny…Haim…Diana Ross & Del tha Funkee Homosapien. slate.com/podcasts/cul...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

#DriveByBodyPierce When “Loser” hit it signaled 1994 was gonna be the most ’90s year of the ’90s. IIRC ‘Mellow Gold’ was the newest album in the Top 100 Best Alternative Albums list published in this SPIN guide. It came out in ’95—if it’d come out a year or 2 later they’d could’ve ranked ‘Odelay.’

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Out today! An “Expanded Edition” of 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙆𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙤𝙡 by @euny.bsky.social w/new chapters on BTS, SquidGame & Parasite (I make a cameo in the BTS chapter). A decade ago Euny chronicled S.Korea’s cultural takeover. This new edition captures how right she was.🇰🇷📕 us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

I’m on this week’s #CultureGabfest on @slate.com, talking about the new #LadyGaga album 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘩𝘦𝘮. We talk about Gaga as comeback queen, as dancing queen, as pastiche queen—including that uncanny Taylor–Yaz mashup—and how she is reheating her own damn nachos. slate.com/podcasts/cul...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

P.S. For similarly solipsistic reasons, I also loved one team’s incorrect answer. C’mon, guys! If you read my @dukepress.bsky.social #Singles book, you’d know that “Old Town Road” spent more than twice as many weeks at No. 1. 🤠

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Today #PopCultureJeopardy! dropped its last set of quarter-finals & one Final Jeopardy answer was a delight for Billboard nerds. I got it but had to apply my meager SportsBall knowledge. Fortunately I remembered this song spent 9wks@No1 for personal reasons related to my @slate.bsky.social column.🤓👑

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Just say the word: loved joining @augetoffmygold.bsky.social for a Billboard #GreatestPopStars podcast on Phil Collins & his most Imperial year, 1985. Booming drums! Concorde flights! Heartbreak ballads! A gal named Sussudio! We cover it all—so give us 1…more…night. www.billboard.com/music/pop/ph...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Here’s the 2nd of my 2025 Oscar-season appearances on #BelowTheLine podcast—this time talking Best Original Song. Louis Weeks, Tom Peyton & I discuss: Does either ‘Emilia Pérez’ song stand apart? Why does Elton keep winning? Should we be rooting for Diane Warren? www.belowtheline.biz/e/s22-ep-7-9...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

As #Oscars season heats up, I’m back playing movie-music pundit on #BelowTheLine podcast. First, we talk Best Score—Louis Weeks, Jennie Callender & I discuss: Whose music is darker—‘Brutalist’ or ‘Conclave’? Do ‘Emilia’s’ showtunes top ‘Wicked’? No ‘Challengers’? www.belowtheline.biz/e/s22-ep-6-9...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

I want this #Grammys predix out there before tonight, in case I called it right: Last June in my #HitParadePod episode on Quincy Jones, I talked about his earnest, eclectic ’89 album/’91 AotY winner “Back on the Block’ & said if ‘Cowboy Carter’ finally gets Bey AotY it’ll be cuz she pulled a Quincy.

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

Do you BELIEVE in life after pods? Did you love Part 1 of my Cher chat w/@djlouiexiv.bsky.social on #PopPantheon? Holy Cannoli, Johnny Cammareri—are you gonna love Part 2! From disco Cher to Oscar-winning Cher…hair-metal Cher to Auto-Tune Cher…we TURN! BACK! TIME! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

I get this Q a lot and while I wouldn’t oppose such a rule change, it wouldn’t solve the thing my fellow chart nerds really hate—the random-ass fleeting superstar No1s. The likes of Drake’s “What’s Next” or Taylor’s “Is It Over Now” would still debut@No1—they just wouldn’t be joined by 20 more hits.

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

I’m delighted as always to join @djlouiexiv.bsky.social on his awesome #PopPantheon podcast—this time for a deep dive on the great #CHER. In Part 1 of our chat Louie & I cover her origin story, the Sonny&Cher years & the start of Cher’s solo years. You better sit down, kids: pod.link/1556457357/e...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

…and in my #HitParadePod episode on the subject: slate.com/podcasts/hit... Transcript excerpt attached.

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

My deepest thanks to #HitParadePod listeners who enjoyed my podcast in 2024. (And a special shoutout to the @slate.bsky.social Plus community.) Once again we covered so! much! music! across artists, genres & eras. Now’s a good time to catch up on any HP episodes you missed! slate.com/podcasts/hit...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Touched by this email from #HitParadePod listener @akoseff.bsky.social +impressed by his essay ranking all 66 Grammy AotY winners. I’m sharing the post cuz his writing is sharp. I wouldn’t rank the albums exactly the same—neither would you—but it’s respectable: daily-cut.blogspot.com/2024/12/ever...

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

An upset win for Billboard’s top song of 2024 that I honestly totally expected—not the Shaboozey song that set a new weeks@No1 record, nor the Post/Wallen song that took Song of the Summer, but rather the song that spent a single week@No1 but sat stone in the Top10 all year. As ever, longevity wins.

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

“Give me a single image from a film that immediately makes you hear the song from the soundtrack playing in your head.” #198NINEthenumber #anothersummer #soundofthefunkydrummer

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Chris Molanphy @cmolanphy.bsky.social · 06/11/2024

Want to think about ANYTHING else right now? Here are 2 podcast chats about the legacy of the great #QuincyJones. First, I joined @byagoda.bsky.social for an episode of his podcast #TheLivesTheyreLiving. I broke down Q’s jazz background & the sound he pioneered by the ’80s pod.link/1744211348/e...

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