Hello and thanks for joining us. I'm Chris Malamphi, host of Hit Parade, a monthly

podcast of Pop Chart History from Slate magazine about about the hits from coast to coast.

So what are we doing here?

I am not here today with a new full episode.

That will come in a few weeks, but starting today, we're going to be checking in with you a bit more in the hip parade feed.

Welcome to our new mini episode, The Bridge.

In this short mid-month episode, I'll reflect on our previous show.

I'll be joined by a contestant to answer some music trivia,

and you'll get some clues about what's to come in our next full episode.

So in our last full episode of Hit Parade, we focused on Madonna. Our feedback was generally positive, which I think reflects how affectionate.

Our feedback was generally positive, which I think reflects how affectionate many of us are toward Madonna, all these decades later.

In fact, if I got any pushback, it's from listeners who wanted to hear more Madonna. Where were more of her 80s

hits? Where was her remake of American Pie or her James Bond theme to Die Another Day?

First off, I do not regret leaving off that

misbgotten remake of American Pie, and I suspect even Madge herself wants to

forget that movie The next best thing.

But the challenge with an artist, frankly a pop legend, like Madonna, is knowing what

to leave out.

That's why I made that comparison to the Beatles in that episode.

Madonna is at that level, at least in terms of depth of catalog.

In fact, Madonna has recorded more albums than the Fab 4 did, and she has lasted as a recording artist

three to four times longer than they did as a group.

...