Welcome to Hit Parade, a podcast of Pop Chart History from Slate Magazine, about the hits from coast to coast.

I'm Chris Malanfi, chart analyst, pop critic, and writer

of Slate's Why is this song number one series. As we kick off our 101st episode of Hit Parade,

we're doing things a little differently. I'll still be talking about the charts and combing

through the nerdiest corners of pop music history.

Here's what's different, starting with this show.

Instead of releasing two-part episodes that stretch across a month,

most of our shows will now be about a single topic,

and we'll release them a little more frequently, generally every other week.

And in the spirit of getting these episodes out more frequently, we're also going to record

and produce them differently. So, you'll notice my speaking tone is a bit more conversational.

That said, for those who love the granular

details and chart nerdery, hit parade is known for, don't worry. We are still diving deep

and plumbing the depths of pop, still discussing the artists, producers, genres, and chart phenomena

that have shaped the way we consume our music.

And speaking of artists, in this hit parade episode, we're talking about an icon of rock and

a rebel of pop. You might say he was an idol who was never idle.

We're here to talk about an artist who, while I was putting this episode together, was

just announced as an inductee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the man born William Broad, who is better known to the world as Billy Idol.

It's a nice day to start again.

Billy Idol's presence on the Rock Hall ballot this year got me thinking about how we define various genres.

That's what makes Idol exceptional or unusual.

...