Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia - One and Done, Part 1
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Slate
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 18 September 2020
⏱️ 48 minutes
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Summary
Hit Parade is back for non-Slate Plus listeners! Upcoming episodes will be split into two parts, released two weeks apart. For the full episode right now, sign up for Slate Plus and you'll also get The Bridge, our Trivia show and deep dive into our subjects. slate.com/hitparadeplus.
“One-hit wonder” is a popular term in our culture—and not just in music: sportscasters, Wall Street analysts and news anchors all use it. But what does “one-hit wonder” actually mean on the pop charts? Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy has thought a lot about this—and he has rules to determine who’s really a one-hit wonder. They might surprise you: Dexys Midnight Runners? They’re a one-hit wonder. Men Without Hats? Nope, not fair. Lou Reed? Yes. Marky Mark? No. In this episode, Chris breaks it all down, explaining why “Take on Me” is a pop classic but A-ha are still only one-hitters in America.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening ad-free on Amazon Music. |
| 0:03.1 | Hey there, hit parade listeners. As we announced in August, we are thrilled to be bringing |
| 0:09.5 | our full-length episodes back to non-slate plus listeners. Starting in September, |
| 0:15.4 | non-plus listeners will hear our episodes in two parts. What you're about to hear is part one of this episode. Part |
| 0:24.0 | two will arrive in your podcast feed at the end of the month. Would you like to hear this episode |
| 0:30.3 | all at once the day it drops? Sign up for Slate Plus. It's just $35 for the first year, and it supports not only this show, |
| 0:40.6 | but all of Slate's acclaimed journalism and podcasts. Just go to slate.com slash hitparade plus. |
| 0:48.8 | You'll get to hear every hit parade episode in full the day it arrives. Plus, Hit Parade The Bridge, |
| 0:56.6 | our bonus episodes, with guest interviews, deeper dives on our episode topics, and pop chart |
| 1:03.8 | trivia. Once again, to join, that's Slate.com slash Hit hit parade plus. Thanks. |
| 1:10.8 | And now please enjoy part one of this hit parade episode. |
| 1:20.7 | Welcome to Hit Parade, a podcast of Pop chart history from Slate magazine about the hits from |
| 1:29.8 | coast to coast. |
| 1:31.2 | I'm Chris Malanfi, chart analyst, pop critic, and writer of Slate's Why Is This Song Number |
| 1:37.0 | One series? |
| 1:38.5 | On today's show, some of the biggest hits in Billboard Hot 100 history were tough acts to follow, such as the 80s New Wave classic you're listening to right now, British techno-pop duo Soft Cell, with their cover of the Gloria Jones single, Tainted Love. |
| 1:59.0 | Now I'll run from you. This tainted love you've given. Gloria Jones single, Tainted Love. |
| 2:19.4 | Soft Cell's Tainted Love peaked at number eight in the summer of 1982, and it was a huge sleeper hit, spending 43 weeks on the Hot 100. |
| 2:26.4 | To that date, an all-time longevity record. |
| 2:30.6 | But unless you're a die-hard soft-cell fan, you probably don't recall their next U.S. single, a song called |
| 2:39.9 | What? |
| 2:49.4 | What? |
... |
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