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Pop spent decades coughing politely, speaking in code, and pretending it was “just a character” before finally blurting out “(Sing If You’re) Glad To Be Gay.” Contributing Author Bill Bois traces the long, strange journey from green carnations and raised eyebrows to a punk singalong that left subtlety waiting outside with its coat.
Bob Dylan grows older, louder, stranger, and—annoyingly—more interesting, refusing the easy gravitas play in favor of long songs, sharp elbows, and feral dogs. Contributing Author Stobgopper walks us from “Time Out of Mind” to “Together Through Life”, where the man doesn’t so much age as double down—with accordion, mustache, and opinions fully intact.
You can just imagine the meeting: A Canadian producer looks at the US version of K-tel’s “Music Express,” and politely and quietly built a better (and occasionally cheesier) pop time capsule. Contributing Author Chuck Small rides the rails of 1975 chart logic, regional pride, and the fine art of calling a Top 10 hit what it very clearly was not.
Contributing Author DJ Professor Dan steps away from his usual chart archaeology to take aim at the Internet’s favorite pastime: blaming Spotify for everything but the weather. It’s surgical dissection of the booming cottage industry of gloomy headlines, playlist paranoia, and contradictory claims about “passive listening”—all somehow proven by the same songs, including the ever-abused “Sound & Vision.”
Join DJPD as he checks in on “ghost artists,” the moral panic over background music, and the heroic labor of critics determined to turn algorithmic recommendations into a cultural crisis.
Contributing Author Music Historian returns with the surprisingly dramatic tale of a chart system that once tried to out-Billboard Billboard. It’s a story featuring jukebox math, disputed No. 1s, and an extremely determined crooner who broke the algorithm – before algorithms existed.
Today is gonna be the day that Contributing Author DJ Professor Dan unpacks the moment Oasis tried to manifest legend status by opening an album with “Wonderwall” before anyone knew what a “Wonderwall” was – a power move surpassed only by Tupac strolling out of jail and immediately leveling California. What follows is a guided tour through Britpop beefs, West Coast mythmaking, and at least one chart upset so bewildering it nearly makes Robson & Jerome sound like a threat.
In this week’s dispatch, Contributing Author and historian Bill Bois introduces us to a man who heard a weird noise on Radio Moscow and thought, quite reasonably, that his radio had finally given up. Instead, it turns out Paul Pena was just warming up for his eventual career as Tuva’s most improbable “Earthquake,” proving once again that the universe rewards curiosity—and occasionally, bathroom acoustics.
In this final installment of a three-chapter tour through the 1980s charts, Contributing Author Ozmoe explains why some songs achieved year-end canonization while others apparently slipped behind the office radiator. It’s a data-driven joyride through pop nostalgia where even the numerical footnotes seem to be wrestling with their own identity.
In a studied autopsy of the chart phenomenon known as recession pop, Music Historian revisits the era when America tried to fix its problems with louder choruses. It recalls a time when the GDP crumbled, yet “Gimme More” and “Right Round” remained fully committed to the nation’s most reliable stimulus plan: denial via dancefloor.
December 1985: a month when a certain former psychedelic rock group abandoned hippie ideals for yuppie glory, a famous comedian tried to become the next Prince, and the charts were overrun by 60s cover songs like invaders with perfect hair. Contributing Author DJ Professor Dan guides you through the absurd, the over-the-top, and the gloriously ridiculous moments that made this era unforgettable – synths, shameless DJ patter, and all.
Richard Feynman, a Nobel-winning mind used curiosity, clarity, and a bit of showmanship to change history. In a piece that captures that rare mix of brilliance, mischief, and pure joyful curiosity, Contributing Author and Historian Bill Bois delivers a wonderfully bright portrait of the physicist who treated the universe like a favorite percussion instrument.
Contributing Author And Chart Historian Ozmoe serves up the second installment of his three-part comparative retro-chart odyssey, with the sort of numerical precision that suggests he may actually dream in the Billboard font. It’s a sharp, surprising, and groove-filled look at musical scorekeeping of the 1970s.
Some album titles are clever, the kind that make you knowingly nod and smile. Others? They sound like they were a product of a debate in the recording studio parking lot. Contributing Author Rollerboogie investigates the fine line between inspired wordplay and full-on naming regret.