Hit Parade

Singing Nuns and Green Tambourines Edition

The 1960s will always be associated with counterculture and the Summer of Love, but the decade’s pop charts were full of novelty, schlock, and bubblegum.

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Episode Notes

When you think of music in the 1960s, some groundbreaking artists probably come to mind: Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and the Jefferson Airplane, for example. But the pop charts paint a very different picture of that decade, which embraced easy listening, groovy bubblegum, novelty and instrumental records—even a guitar-strumming Belgian nun.

In other words, the soundtrack of the era was more like Mad Men and less like Forrest Gump.

Join Chris Molanphy as he unearths forgotten hits from Bobby Vinton, Kyu Sakamoto, Jeannie C. Riley, and other unlikely chart-toppers, on a still-strange trip through the ‘60s.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

The Bridge: Ballad of the Forgotten Hits

Producer, music archivist, and historian Andy Zax on why we love groovy ’60s hits but forget the Green Berets.

About the Show

Chris Molanphy, a 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.

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Host

  • Chris Molanphy is a feature writer and critic who writes widely about music and the pop charts.