At Last, My Legacy Has Come Along Edition Part 1

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

Slate Podcasts

Music, Music History, Music Commentary

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2022

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What do you call a song that bombed on the charts back in the day, that now booms out of radios and streaming apps nationwide? Chris Molanphy has a name for these songs: legacy hits. Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.” Etta James’s “At Last.” The Romantics’ “What I Like About You.” Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime.” Many catalysts can change a song’s trajectory, from movie scenes to stadium singalongs, wedding DJs to evolving tastes. Sometimes the hivemind just collectively decides that this Whitney Houston hit, not that one, is her song for the ages. Join Chris as he explains how the charts sometimes get it wrong, and how legacy hits correct the record—and counts down 10 of his favorite flops-turned-classics. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis and Merritt Jacob. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, hit parade listeners. What you're about to hear is part one of this episode.
0:06.3	Part two will arrive in your podcast feed at the end of the month.
0:10.2	Would you like to hear this episode all at once, the day it drops?
0:14.4	Sign up for Slate Plus. It supports not only this show,
0:18.8	but all of Slates acclaimed journalism and podcasts.
0:22.8	Just go to slate.com slash hit parade plus.
0:27.0	You'll get to hear every hit parade episode in full the day it arrives.
0:31.9	Plus hit parade the bridge, our bonus episodes with guest interviews,
0:37.4	deeper dives on our episode topics and pop chart trivia.
0:41.8	Once again, to join that Slate.com slash hit parade plus.
0:47.2	Thanks and now please enjoy part one of this hit parade episode.
0:52.5	Welcome to hip parade, a podcast of pop chart history from Slate magazine,
1:12.4	about the hits from coast to coast. I'm Chris Malamphi,
1:16.0	chart analyst, pop critic and writer of Slates. Why is this song number one series?
1:21.6	On today's show, 50 years ago, Elton John cracked the American top 40
1:28.0	with the lead off single from his album, Mad Man Across the Water.
1:33.2	A majestic story song with lyrics by John's partner, Bernie Topin,
1:38.9	about a fictional character named Levan.
1:42.8	Anchored by Elton's piano and bathed in plush orchestration,
1:47.6	Levan reached number 24 on the hot 100 in February 1972.
2:04.2	Among Elton John's vast catalog of hits, Levan still does pretty well.
2:10.1	At Spotify in the US, the song has been played over 25 million times.
	...

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