Hit Parade: The Imperial Elton and George Edition

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4.2 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 June 2017

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When Elton John came out as bisexual in 1976, it was a really big deal. It was covered on the evening news. There were angry letters and a decline in sales. And for a generation of queer musicians, like George Michael, it was a lesson: Be careful what you reveal about your sex life to the public. On this episode, we look at the friendship, collaboration, and chart rivalry of the two British icons, who collided on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week in 1988—and later topped the chart together. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by Pepsi Max. Christmas is great, but there's loads of ways to make it better.
0:08.0	Like sneaking some chili into the gravy for some extra ink,
0:12.0	or building a playlist that will even get your
0:14.8	nann up on the table. Or just cracking open an ice cold Pepsi Max.
0:20.1	Christmas.
0:23.0	Better with Pepsi Max. Welcome to Hit Parade, a podcast of Pop Chart History from Slate and Panapel, about the hits from
0:37.7	Coast to Coast.
0:39.0	I'm Chris Malanfi, Chart Analysts, pop critic, and writer of Slates,
0:43.0	Why Is This Song Number One series?
0:46.0	On today's show, six months ago, on Christmas Day 2016,
0:50.0	the music world mourned the loss of a singing superstar and pop craftsman, George Michael.
0:57.0	Both with his duo Wham and in his solo career, George Michael scored a long list of hits including such smashes as
1:05.0	careless whisper freedom and one more try and also this up-tempo chart- topper. Thepper. Monkey.
1:13.0	Monkey.
1:17.0	Monkey.
1:21.0	Monkey is
1:22.0	Monkey is perhaps less well remembered among George Michael's big hits, but it did top
1:28.4	Billboard's Hot 100 in the summer of 1988. Its success was a sign of just how popular he was around the world at the time.
1:38.0	So popular that, the weak monkey topped the Hot 100,
1:42.0	it prevented this other song in the runner-up slot from reaching the top.
1:47.0	And I don't want to go on to you like that.
1:51.0	Don't want to be a better in your cab. That's another British popular.
	...

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