A decade ago, Rolling Stone magazine called 1984 “Pop’s Greatest Year.” A bold statement…but a lot of critics agree. A confluence of factors—the comeback of dance music, the peak of MTV, the Second British Invasion and the emergence of metal and hip-hop—made the radio a great place to be.

It was a year of fearless genre crossover…cinematic hits…veterans reinventing themselves…ballads that became standards…a newcomer named Madonna…and a movie star who called himself The Kid and made doves cry.

Join Chris Molanphy as he dissects eight reasons why 1984 was awesome for pop fans and walks through all 20 of the year’s No. 1 hits: from “Jump” to “Hello,” “Karma Chameleon” to “Caribbean Queen,” “Let’s Go Crazy” to “Like a Virgin.” This is what it sounds like when pop’s fly.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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For decades—literally since Woodstock—female musicians had battled music-industry perceptions that amassing too many of them, on the radio or on the road, was bad for business. And yet, by the ’90s, women were vital to the rise of alt-rock and hip-hop on the charts: from Suzanne Vega to Queen Latifah, Tracy Chapman to Sheryl Crow, Natalie Merchant to Missy Elliott.

Sarah McLachlan harnessed this energy into an all-woman tour she dubbed Lilith Fair. Its string of sellouts from 1997 to ’99 affirmed women’s clout in the decade of grunge-and-gangsta. But the festival was also criticized for its narrow focus and for branding “women’s music” as a genre. More than two decades later, Hit Parade assesses the legacy of Lilith on the charts and on the road—how its performers, attendees and musical descendants are helping to ensure the future is female.

Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch and Kevin Bendis.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades—literally since Woodstock—female musicians had battled music-industry perceptions that amassing too many of them, on the radio or on the road, was bad for business. And yet, by the ’90s, women were vital to the rise of alt-rock and hip-hop on the charts: from Suzanne Vega to Queen Latifah, Tracy Chapman to Sheryl Crow, Natalie Merchant to Missy Elliott.

Sarah McLachlan harnessed this energy into an all-woman tour she dubbed Lilith Fair. Its string of sellouts from 1997 to ’99 affirmed women’s clout in the decade of grunge-and-gangsta. But the festival was also criticized for its narrow focus and for branding “women’s music” as a genre. More than two decades later, Hit Parade assesses the legacy of Lilith on the charts and on the road—how its performers, attendees and musical descendants are helping to ensure the future is female.

Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch and Kevin Bendis.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Summer in the City.” “I Feel the Earth Move.” “Bette Davis Eyes.” “Whoomp! There It Is.” “Get Lucky.” “Espresso.” What do these big summer hits all have in common? None of them was Billboard’s official Song of the Summer.

Wait…there’s an official Song of the Summer? Isn’t that something that just happens organically? Every year, it seems everybody has an opinion on this musical national pastime. But the Hot 100 often tells a different story. For every “Light My Fire,” “Bad Girls,” “Crazy in Love,” “California Gurls” or “Call Me Maybe”—a hot-weather hit that unites the charts and the punditry—there are confirmed summer smashes that no one would pick out of a lineup, from Zager and Evans to Iggy Azalea.

Join Chris Molanphy as he traces the tangled story of how America came to decide there should be one victorious summer hit to rule them all. And he counts down the best Songs of the Summer by decade. Is it getting “Hot in Herre,” or is it just us…?

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Summer in the City.” “I Feel the Earth Move.” “Bette Davis Eyes.” “Whoomp! There It Is.” “Get Lucky.” “Espresso.” What do these big summer hits all have in common? None of them was Billboard’s official Song of the Summer.

Wait…there’s an official Song of the Summer? Isn’t that something that just happens organically? Every year, it seems everybody has an opinion on this musical national pastime. But the Hot 100 often tells a different story. For every “Light My Fire,” “Bad Girls,” “Crazy in Love,” “California Gurls” or “Call Me Maybe”—a hot-weather hit that unites the charts and the punditry—there are confirmed summer smashes that no one would pick out of a lineup, from Zager and Evans to Iggy Azalea.

Join Chris Molanphy as he traces the tangled story of how America came to decide there should be one victorious summer hit to rule them all. And he counts down the best Songs of the Summer by decade. Is it getting “Hot in Herre,” or is it just us…?

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does a music producer do? If his name is Quincy Jones, a little bit of everything: conducting, arranging, composing. Assembling teams of ace session musicians. Sometimes, even picking a catchy title and telling an artist to go write a song about it— would “Thriller” have worked as well if it had been called “Starlight”?

Quincy Jones was pop’s Renaissance Man, and he could not be limited either by genre or by role. He played in jazz bands…produced teen pop hits…discovered young talent…scored Hollywood films…helped invent Yacht Rock and Yacht Soul…even released hit albums under his own name featuring cavalcades of guest vocalists.

And he worked with so! many! legends! Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Little Richard, Lesley Gore, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan … and all that happened before he even met a former child star named Michael Jackson and helped him produce the best-selling album in history. No wonder only Quincy had the clout to wrangle the superstars for the recording of “We Are the World.”

Join Chris Molanphy as he tells the story of the music man who truly did it all and is known affectionately by the letter Q. He made the world a better place for you and me.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Host

Chris Molanphy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does a music producer do? If his name is Quincy Jones, a little bit of everything: conducting, arranging, composing. Assembling teams of ace session musicians. Sometimes, even picking a catchy title and telling an artist to go write a song about it— would “Thriller” have worked as well if it had been called “Starlight”?

Quincy Jones was pop’s Renaissance Man, and he could not be limited either by genre or by role. He played in jazz bands…produced teen pop hits…discovered young talent…scored Hollywood films…helped invent Yacht Rock and Yacht Soul…even released hit albums under his own name featuring cavalcades of guest vocalists.

And he worked with so! many! legends! Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Little Richard, Lesley Gore, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan … and all that happened before he even met a former child star named Michael Jackson and helped him produce the best-selling album in history. No wonder only Quincy had the clout to wrangle the superstars for the recording of “We Are the World.”

Join Chris Molanphy as he tells the story of the music man who truly did it all and is known affectionately by the letter Q. He made the world a better place for you and me.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Host

Chris Molanphy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Girl groups have long been underestimated—even by the producers and managers who created them.

For women listeners, girl groups narrated profound emotions and expressed personal freedom—even when the singers were not so free themselves. For male listeners, girl groups provided inspiration, and a way to express matters of the heart.

And for all listeners across rock and soul history, girl groups pushed music forward. In the ’60s, the Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes and Shangri-Las kept rock afloat between Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the ’70s and ’80s, girl groups from the Emotions to Exposé rebooted dance music. In the ’90s, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny’s Child fused hip-hop style with old-school soul—and the Spice Girls fired up a new generation through Girl Power.

Join Chris Molanphy as we shimmy and strut through decades of bops to give girl groups the respect they deserve. You’ll love them tomorrow, because friendship never ends.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes. Plus, you’ll get ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Girl groups have long been underestimated—even by the producers and managers who created them.

For women listeners, girl groups narrated profound emotions and expressed personal freedom—even when the singers were not so free themselves. For male listeners, girl groups provided inspiration, and a way to express matters of the heart.

And for all listeners across rock and soul history, girl groups pushed music forward. In the ’60s, the Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes and Shangri-Las kept rock afloat between Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the ’70s and ’80s, girl groups from the Emotions to Exposé rebooted dance music. In the ’90s, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny’s Child fused hip-hop style with old-school soul—and the Spice Girls fired up a new generation through Girl Power.

Join Chris Molanphy as we shimmy and strut through decades of bops to give girl groups the respect they deserve. You’ll love them tomorrow, because friendship never ends.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes. Plus, you’ll get ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you hear “boy band,” what do you picture? Five guys with precision dance moves? Songs crafted by the Top 40 pop machine? Svengalis pulling the puppet strings? Hordes of screaming girls?

As it turns out, not all boy bands fit these signifiers. (Well…except for the screaming girls—they are perennial.) There are boy bands that danced, and some that did not…boy bands that relied entirely on outside songwriters, and those that wrote big hits…boy bands assembled by managers or producers, and quite a few that launched on their own.

From Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers to New Kids on the Block, the Monkees to the Jonas Brothers, Boyz II Men to BTS, New Edition to One Direction, and…yeah, of course, Backstreet Boys and *N Sync, boy bands have had remarkable variety over the years. (In a sense, even a certain ’60s Fab Four started as a boy band.)

Join Chris Molanphy as he tries to define the ineffable quality of boy band–ness, walks through decades of shrieking, hair-pulling pop history, and reminds you that boy bands generated some of our greatest hits, from “I Want You Back” to “I Want It That Way,” “Bye Bye Bye” to “Dynamite.” Help him “bring the fire and set the night alight.”

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you hear “boy band,” what do you picture? Five guys with precision dance moves? Songs crafted by the Top 40 pop machine? Svengalis pulling the puppet strings? Hordes of screaming girls?

As it turns out, not all boy bands fit these signifiers. (Well…except for the screaming girls—they are perennial.) There are boy bands that danced, and some that did not…boy bands that relied entirely on outside songwriters, and those that wrote big hits…boy bands assembled by managers or producers, and quite a few that launched on their own.

From Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers to New Kids on the Block, the Monkees to the Jonas Brothers, Boyz II Men to BTS, New Edition to One Direction, and…yeah, of course, Backstreet Boys and *N Sync, boy bands have had remarkable variety over the years. (In a sense, even a certain ’60s Fab Four started as a boy band.)

Join Chris Molanphy as he tries to define the ineffable quality of boy band–ness, walks through decades of shrieking, hair-pulling pop history, and reminds you that boy bands generated some of our greatest hits, from “I Want You Back” to “I Want It That Way,” “Bye Bye Bye” to “Dynamite.” Help him “bring the fire and set the night alight.”

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices