This ranking is fun but w/all due respect to @augetoffmygold.bsky.social & the Billboard gang, ranking JT’s “SexyBack” No1 & the still-superior, Pitchfork-poptimism totem “My Love” No37 is revisionist madness (not like opinion changed in 20yrs—cf @tombreihan.bsky.social’s ratings on The Number Ones)

On a new #HitParadePod –The Bridge, my guest @slate.com editor Forrest Wickman says the trick of both my podcast & column #WhyIsThisSongNo1? is making connections between modern chart-toppers & hits of yore—an Archies-to-Huntr/x continuum. Plus—Casey Kasem trivia & words of gratitude from your host.

If you missed it last week, check out our annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Voter's Guide episode - this year with an actual voter!!! Special thanks to @cmolanphy.bsky.social for guesting while in town for PopCon at USC

Billboard Bildungsroman: For the 100th episode of #HitParadePod on @slate.com I go deep on my chart-geek history. Part 1: my musical memoir, Solid Gold to Nirvana. Part 2: the story of Casey Kasem, original #AmericanTop40 host—how he nationalized countdowns, invented the LDD & survived the Dead Dog.

I joined @djlouiexiv.bsky.social on his #PopPantheon podcast along with pop critic @popsamcam.bsky.social to debate the past & current state of the #Hot100 and what a No1 hit means. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...

It was a blast joining the #BeyondYachtRock gang— @jdryznar.bsky.social @hollywoodsteve.bsky.social Hunter & Dave—in the Fart Dungeon™ for a #RockHall ballot podcast chat. What genre is Billy Idol? Why can’t we agree on Mariah? Why do JD & NO belong together? And why does everybody diss the Crowes?

If "Sinners" had won would the ending sketch be Conan meeting Buddy Guy in '90s Starter jacket clothes

I’m back playing #Oscars pundit on the music categories for #BelowTheLine podcast. First up…Best Score—Louis Weeks, Jennie Armon & I discuss: Will the Academy go for 𝘉𝘶𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢 weirdness or 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘪𝘯 lushness? Why’s 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘯𝘦𝘵’s best tune ineligible? And does Göransson have the prize locked for 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴?

Two-steppin' round the room: my new #WhyIsThisSongNo1? on @slate.com is about “Choosin’ Texas,” Ella Langley’s country smash that’s improbably tops@pop—the 1st song by a woman to top #Hot100, Hot Country +Country Airplay (a decade after #Tomatogate). How did Ella go where even Dolly&Taylor couldn’t?

wrote a little about Langley/Moroney and What It All Means in my latest for @billboard.com ! www.billboard.com/music/countr...

On a new #HitParadePod –The Bridge, live on @slate.com, my guest @cantkill.bsky.social says Olivia Newton-John & John Denver were just part of a ’70s country-to-pop crossover wave, as Nashville acts covered a slew of rock&pop hits. Plus trivia…and a next-episode preview that’s ready for a milestone.

It's all right…dancing through the lightning strikes: my latest #WhyIsThisSongNo1? on @slate.com is about “Opalite,” which gives Taylor her first followup No1 hit since her ‘1989’ heyday. How did the celeb-studded video & clever sales tactics push it to the top? And why does it deserve to be there?

Always a delight to join @augetoffmygold.bsky.social on @billboard.com’s Greatest Pop Stars podcast. This time, for Andrew’s Vintage Pop Stars series, I’m on to talk about David Bowie’s ’83—his commercial peak. How well do hits like “Let’s Dance” & “Modern Love” hold up? Has “China Girl” aged badly?

¡Métase to'l mundo! My new @slate.com #WhyIsThisSongNo1? column is about Bad Bunny’s “DTMF”—beneficiary of his halftime triumph+the 1st all-Spanish #Hot100 No1 since “La Bamba.” Out of all of Benito’s hits why’d this one top the charts? And what does it have to do w/the country song it replaced@No1?

Almost heaven/hopelessly devoted: My new #HitParadePod episode—now live on @slate.com—is on John Denver & Olivia Newton-John, titans of ’70s pop who crossed over via country & tangled w/Nashville. They went Hollywood, then took different paths—she aerobicized…he went full Muppet. Embrace the mellow.

The roll call of Latin countries (plus the US and Canada!) at the close had me in my feelings. ¡Muchissimas gracias, Benito! #Halftime #BadBunny

Okay, that Grammy cameo was a nice flex. Hey, MAGA—how ya like me now? #BadBunny #Halftime

Speaking as a half-Italian half-Cuban, I heartily endorse the cross-cultural exchange between #Gaga and #Benito. 🇮🇹 🇨🇺 🇵🇷

Anyone else wish “Die with a Smile” had been this way all along? #Gaga #BadBunny #Halftime

I not only encourage you to read @radiomatt1.bsky.social’s chart analysis of Bad Bunny ahead of #SuperBowlHalftime. I urge you to read thru his recap of José Feliciano’s ’68 Detroit national-anthem controversy & its chart/career impact—the more things change… www.graphsaboutsongs.com/p/um-actuall...

I’m looking forward to all of the queens I follow doing spoken word lip synchs of this new classic! God bless Cher! #glaaaaadiator2026

Theories of the case (#AlbumOfTheYear): • the (Dixie) Chicks effect: voting for Benito was a political act • the Latino vote: the Recording Academy added hundreds of Latin #Grammys voters last year • duh, DTMF is a great album

Bad Bunny is having a moment. We get it, Benito. #Grammys #AotY

Yay, Amy Allen! Smartest songwriter in pop today. #Grammys

SZA, a kind correction: You are NOT a small part of that record. #Grammys

I love how Jack Antonoff is so ubiquitous they couldn’t get through a whole #Grammys without him winding up onstage. With Kendrick!

I guess 13 weeks at No1 gets you a big #Grammy. From a befuddled Cher. #Luther #Kendrick #SZA

Most #Cher moment: “Okay, sit down please.” #Grammys

It’s important to keep in mind that Roberta wasn’t just an R&B queen, she was #Grammys royalty—the first artist to win Record of the Year in back-to-back years.

It’s a mark of the quality of D’Angelo’s scant 3-album discography that he’s getting the same extended #Grammys “In Memoriam” tribute as Brian Wilson, Bob Weir and Ozzy Osbourne. (I assume Sly Stone is next?)

Any other Girl Talk fans hear this Sabbath intro and now think of the opening of #AllDay? I’m waiting for the Jay Z “HIT ME!” to drop in. #Grammys

This Tyler #Grammys performance has big #MartySupreme energy: hyper, dramatic/comic, manic, and just a touch of ’80s vibe.

Guys! I love Billie, truly, and “Wildflower” is lovely, but…y’all know you’re not obligated to give her #Grammys every time she’s nominated, right? OTOH, that speech… 🔥👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

I know this Trevor/Benito #Grammys shtick is just comic filler but man, if this doesn’t turn out to be foreshadowing of the big prize later, some folks are gonna be mad disappointed.

Wow, go Lola Young! She looks even more pleasantly shocked than I am that she won. #Grammys

Bruno, still No1 on the #Hot100 with this disco bop, defending his left flank from an incoming Harry Styles with a little #Grammys promo. Best defense is a good offense. #strategery

This rocked-up #Gaga arrangement is giving KISS “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” energy. #Grammys

Ugh. The JellyRollification of the music biz persists. #Grammys

I guess this Noah Kahan followup album is getting a hard push this year. That #Grammys ad was a de facto pay-for-play music video.

“If we fight, we have to do it with love.” -Benito 💚🙌🏼🙏🏼 #Grammys

Called it.

Bieber = Sheeran with even more footpedals and fewer clothes? #Grammys

New #Grammys tux theory: Bad Bunny and Kendrick both showed up in black tie cuz they both know they’re thisclose to winning the big one. It really is a 50/50 shot.

I called it! (Okay, not my most daring call.) #Grammys #BestNewArtist

I’m a middle-aged man w/spotty vision so I sympathize, but surely someone can get the much younger Chappell some decent contacts so she can read teleprompters better. Between this #Grammys presentation and her Cyndi induction at the #RockHall she’s really squinting and struggling.

Glad Sombr went with his most disco song. He’s giving that Barry Manilow “Copacabana” energy. #hisnamewasRico #hewasashowboy

No shade, honest: Olivia Dean is a charisma firecracker but let’s be honest, she’s probably winning BNA cuz that performance could’ve been on the #Grammys in 1986.

That Lola Young rearrangement of “Messy“ may well be the remembered highlight of this #Grammys Best New Artist medley.

Appropriately, this Alex Warren #Grammys performance feels like it was choreographed in a megachurch.

Did two random dudes in a stairwell just photobomb Alex Warren‘s #Grammys performance?!