{"podcast":{"title":"Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia","slug":"hit-parade-music-history-and-music-trivia-59900","podcast_index_feed_id":59900,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/695d4ed8d1ba84fb8f043f94","website_url":"https://slate.com/podcasts/hit-parade","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/695d4ed8d1ba84fb8f043f94/show-cover.jpg","author":"Slate Podcasts","episode_count":215,"summary":"What makes a song a smash? Talent? Luck? Timing? All that—and more. Chris Molanphy, pop-chart analyst and author of Slate’s “Why Is This Song No. 1?” series, tells tales from a half-century of chart history. Through storytelling, trivia and song snippets, Chris dissects how that song you love—or hate—dominated the airwaves, made its way to the top of the charts and shaped your memories forever. Get more of Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of \"The Bridge,\" and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the our show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/hit-parade-music-history-and-music-trivia-59900"},"episode":{"title":"The White and Nerdy Edition Part 2","slug":"the-white-and-nerdy-edition-part-2","published_at":"2025-08-29T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/hit-parade-music-history-and-music-trivia-59900/the-white-and-nerdy-edition-part-2","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/hit-parade-music-history-and-music-trivia-59900","url":"https://shows.acast.com/hit-parade/episodes/695d4eef0c30a1408dc29139","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/695d4ed8d1ba84fb8f043f94/e/1000722047319/media.mp3","summary":"Sped-up voices. Wacky instruments. Songs about cavemen, bathtubs, bikinis, and mothers-in-law. From the dawn of rock ‘n’ roll through the 1970s—the age of streaking, CB radios, disco and King Tut—novelty songs could be chart-topping hits. But by the corporate ’80s, it was harder for goofballs to score hits on regimented radio playlists. Until one perm-headed, mustachioed, accordion-playing parodist who called himself “Weird” rebooted novelty hits for the new millennium. In the second part of this encore episode of Hit Parade, Chris Molanphy explores the history of novelty hits on the charts. Podcast production by Justin D. Wright and Kevin Bendis. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"Sped-up voices. Wacky instruments. Songs about cavemen, bathtubs, bikinis, and mothers-in-law. From the dawn of rock ‘n’ roll through the 1970s—the age of…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2580,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/hit-parade-music-history-and-music-trivia-59900/episodes/the-white-and-nerdy-edition-part-2/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/hit-parade-music-history-and-music-trivia-59900/the-white-and-nerdy-edition-part-2.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}