Music Trivia: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Edition

Summary

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

Episode Summary: Music Trivia – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Edition (May 11, 2018)

Main Theme & Purpose

This special “Bridge” mini-episode of Hit Parade, hosted by Chris Molanphy and senior producer TJ Raphael, bridges recent episodes through listener mail, trivia, behind-the-scenes insights, and a preview of the next main episode. In this installment, the focus is on the aftermath of the recent Bon Jovi/Hair Metal episode, questions surrounding music’s enduring legends and chart history, and a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame–themed trivia game with a listener contestant.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener Reactions to Bon Jovi & ‘Hating’ Popular Artists

• Listener feedback was notably split on the show’s unapologetic critique of Bon Jovi’s Hall of Fame induction.

  • “It feels like a lot of the feedback we got, it was almost like people were finally being given leave to say, I don’t like Bon Jovi. I don’t get it.”
    —Chris Molanphy (01:29)

• Show Topic Selection & Storytelling Approach:
  Chris explains how episode topics are chosen, emphasizing narrative over mere fan service.

  • “What doesn’t work is what I call a Chris Farley idea… Sometimes folks are just like, I love X Artist. You should do an episode about X Artist. And it’s like, well, okay, but it can’t just be about a great artist. What’s the story? What’s the arc?”
    —Chris Molanphy (03:03)

  • He illustrates using Madonna’s “Ray of Light” comeback as an ideal story arc: “On paper, should have been… a strange curio in her catalog... and it worked like gangbusters.”
    —Chris Molanphy (03:31)

2. Hair Metal: Where Does Chris Stand?

• Listener Michael from Brooklyn asks whether Chris’s Bon Jovi disdain is actually a rejection of all “hair metal.”

  • Michael: “Personally, all these bands sound the same to me, like fingernails on a blackboard... do you find Bon Jovi singularly reprehensible, or do you feel this way about all hard metal bands?” (05:00)

• Chris’s Nuanced Take:

  • Not a top-five genre for him, but:
  • “I like a lot of hair metal. As you can hear in the episode, I kind of love Def Leppard… To me, they’re almost like the new wave band of metal… those Def Leppard hits from the '80s are produced within an inch of their lives.” (06:15)
  • He appreciates the genre’s diversity and craftsmanship, even if Bon Jovi isn’t to his taste.

3. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Representation: Why So Few Women?

• Listener Amara quizzes Chris on the first three women or female acts inducted into the Hall:

  • Chris guesses: The Supremes (correct); misses Aretha Franklin and Bessie Smith.
    • “I should have gotten Aretha. I’m kicking myself over Aretha.”
      —Chris Molanphy (13:46)
  • Amara shares the statistic: “Of the 323 inductees ... only 45 are women. That’s just 13.9%.” (12:28)

• Deserved Inductees:

  • Amara: “Is Whitney [Houston] in?”
    Chris: “Whitney Houston is not in. In fact... I don’t even think the nominating committee has ever put her forward, which is kind of mind blowing.” (15:08)

  • Chris voices support for Kate Bush: “I already voted for Kate Bush on this most recent rock hall ballot. I think she is deeply influential...” (16:34)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On episode curation:

  • “I’m looking not just for a great artist… I’m looking for a story. I’m looking for an arc.”
    —Chris Molanphy (04:23)

• On rock history’s gender gap:

  • “Not enough women have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I wholeheartedly agree with.”
    —Chris Molanphy (14:46)

• Trivia fun:

  • Amara stumps Chris with the Hall of Fame question, leading to good-natured banter and introspection on the difficulties of music history recall.

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Podcast Trivia Game Breakdown

[07:20]

• How it works:
  • Chris quizzes a Slate Plus member (Amara) on three music trivia questions, themed on recent and upcoming episodes, then the contestant gets to quiz Chris.

Trivia Highlights (Timestamps Included):

1. Q: Last Bon Jovi top-5 hit (09:00)

   • A: “Always” (Correct answer after Amara guesses “Keep the Faith”)

2. Q: First K-pop video to hit 1 billion YouTube views (10:02)

   • A: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
     Amara answers correctly.

3. Q: 2013 MTV VMAs infamous pairing (11:09)

   • A: Robin Thicke & Miley Cyrus
     Amara answers correctly.

4. Amara’s question to Chris (12:28): First three female Hall of Fame inductees and the years.

   • Chris only gets The Supremes, misses Aretha Franklin (’87) and Bessie Smith (’89).

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Intro & mailbag setup: 00:03–01:46
• Episode topic curation discussion: 01:51–04:32
• Listener voicemail on hair metal: 04:42–07:20
• On-air trivia game: 07:20–15:58
• Discussion on women in the Hall of Fame & deserved nominees: 14:46–17:35
• Preview of next full episode: 17:49–18:59

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Preview of the Next Full Episode

• The upcoming episode will focus on music from the 2010s, the most modern subject yet for Hit Parade. It will cover both the chart history and evolution of the music video, comparing MTV’s heyday to the YouTube era—with nods to both old and new pop history.

  • “This is going to be the most modern episode of Hit Parade. We have thus far themed episodes around everything from the 1950s and 60s all the way up to the 2000s... We will also be talking about the history of the charts and specifically the history of the music video.”
    —Chris Molanphy (17:49)

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Conclusion & Tone

The episode is equal parts playful, nerdy, and educational—true to Hit Parade’s mission, blending chart trivia, music history, and insightful critique (with shots fired at Bon Jovi’s critical status) in an inclusive, interactive format.

Chris’s tone: Thoughtful, unpretentious, and quick to acknowledge both his strong opinions (on Bon Jovi) and his blind spots (missing Aretha Franklin!).
Producer TJ’s style: Upbeat, facilitative, with a fan’s enthusiasm—she keeps the energy moving and encourages listener engagement.

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This episode of Hit Parade’s “Bridge” mini-series dives deep into what makes a chart story, tackles gender representation in the Rock Hall, and invites the audience to test their musical memory alongside the team. A perfect pit stop for pop music lovers, and a great warm-up for the show’s next main event.

Transcript

[A]

You're listening ad free on Amazon Music.

[B]

Hey, everybody, this is Chris Mullanfi, host of Hit Parade, Slade's podcast of pop chart history. Welcome to the Bridge. In popular music, the bridge is a transition in the middle of a song. It's the section that contrasts with the verse and the chorus and gets you from point A to point B. We call these mini episodes of Hit Parade the Bridge because they serve the same function. It's also our little homage to James Brown, who on his 1970 smash Get Up, I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine, utters what is probably the most famous reference to the bridge of a song ever. He literally takes you to the bridge. Go ahead, take him on to the bridge. Can I take him to the bridge? Take them to the bridge. I'm being joined at the mic today by TJ Raphael, the senior producer of the Slate podcast network. Hello, tj.

[C]

Hey, Chris.

[B]

How are you?

[C]

I'm good. I'm so excited to be here.

[B]

Thank you very much for joining us. So this is now our second episode of these mid month mini episodes. And this is our opportunity to respond to some listener mail we've received to talk about the prior episode, to give a little sneak preview of the next episode and to do some trivia.

[C]

Yeah, we've gotten a lot of listener feedback about Bon Jovi. Some not so happy that you hate him, but a lot really happy that you're not a fan.

[B]

I know it feels like a lot of the feedback we got, it was almost like people were finally being given leave to say, I don't like Bon Jovi. I don't get it. How would you characterize some of the questions we've been getting?

[C]

One of the questions that we get really frequently that I see across episodes and hi everyone, I'm the one reading.

[B]

Your mail and we thank TJ for that enormous service. But go on.

[C]

One of the questions that we get pretty regularly is how do we make Hit Parade? How are the topics chosen? So I want to give you an opportunity, Chris, to answer that question that we get pretty frequently, no matter what the episode is. Tell us about the editorial process. What really goes into making the show and choosing the topics.

[B]

Sure. Well, honestly, I'm just looking for a good story and I've also been asked the question, like, what makes a good, you know, topic for Hit Parade? I almost answer it in the negative. Do you remember the Chris Farley character, may he rest in peace, when he was on Saturday Night Live, he did this character where he would have famous people on and he did a Talk show. And he would ask them, do you remember that time? Let's say it was Paul McCartney. Do you remember that time you were in the Beatles and you did that song? And Paul McCartney would say, yeah, and Chris Farley would go, that was awesome.

[D]

You remember Beatlemania, where those four guys, they dressed. I went on stage and they looked like you, and then they played Beatles songs and yeah, I heard about that. That was awesome.

[B]

What doesn't work is what I call a Chris Farley idea. It's funny because folks are always lobbying, sometimes phenomenal ideas. I've literally gotten a couple of ideas for future shows from things that people have proposed in the Twitter feed or via email. But sometimes folks are just like, I love X Artist. You should do an episode about X Artist. And it's like, well, okay, but it can't just be about a great artist. What's the story? What's the arc? I could have told any number of stories about Madonna. For example, what fascinated me about Ray of Light in particular is, as I say, right at the top of the episode, it shouldn't have worked. That should have been a strange curio in her catalog. That album on paper should have been, you know, woman comes back from long hiatus and decides she wants to be an electronica artist when electronica has barely even been invented. That should not have worked. And it worked like gangbusters. It was like one of her very best albums. One of her most critically acclaimed albums won her her first ever competitive mainline Grammy. Just. It was a triumph on every level. And the story arc is also about how Madonna was, in effect, censured for the first time in her life and career early in the 90s after having this just storied 1980s. And then she makes a kind of comeback, even though she never really went away. She was around all decade. She was scoring hits all decade. So that's the kind of thing I'm looking for. I'm looking not just for a great artist or an interesting artist or a quirky song. I'm looking for a story. I'm looking for an arc.

[C]

Well, when thinking about that, hearing you talk about Madonna, you're so excited, and you're so not excited about Bon Jovi.

[B]

I can't hide that. No, I guess not.

[A]

So.

[C]

So before we move on to trivia, we do have some listener mail, and we got this voice memo from Michael, and let's take a listen now.

[E]

Hi, this is Michael calling from Brooklyn, and I have a question for you. You repeated many times throughout the Bon Jovi episode. How much you despise that band and how you resent their inclusion in the Rock and Roll hall of Fame, a feeling that I completely concur with. I was a bit confused, however, about how you feel about the other hard metal bands mentioned during the episode. Bands like Whitesnake and Motley Crue. You kept your cards close to the vests. Personally, all these bands sound the same to me, like fingernails on a blackboard. My question to you, do you find Bon Jovi singularly reprehensible, or do you feel this way about all hard metal bands?

[B]

So I've been asked that a couple of times. We have. For Slate plus members, we have a Facebook thread that we do every month, like an Ask Me Anything thread where I answer questions about the show. Yet another reason you should become a Slate plus member, by the way. And we had a really good conversation going about the Bon Jovi episode. And one of the very first questions I got was, people said, I can't tell if you only hate Bon Jovi or if you hate the entire genre of hair metal. And the answer is, okay. Hair metal is not one of my, I don't know, top five favorite genres, but I like a lot of hair metal. As you can hear in the episode, I kind of love Def Leppard. Def Leppard, to me, are. I don't know, they're almost like the new wave band of metal. They literally came up with a group of metal bands that were called the new wave of British Heavy Metal. But back when that term was coined, they didn't mean new wave, like, I don't know, Synthesizers and Kajagougou Hair or anything like that. They sort of meant new wave, as in just the next wave of bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. But to me, they really were almost a synth pop new wave band that happened to play heavy metal. I mean, those. I say this as a compliment, not an insult. Those Def Leppard hits from the 80s are produced within an inch of their lives. I mean, those are heavily, heavily produced records. They are not down and dirty rock and roll at all. And that's kind of what I love about them. I mean, they're very. They're these, you know, Mutt Lang Productions, Mutt Lang, their producer, that are very meticulous and synthy. And some of their songs, I believe Rob Sheffield once compared their song Hysteria to the Cure, and he's not wrong. Or like, Orchestral Maneuvers Dark. They sound like they could be a British new wave band that happens to have decided that they're going to be a hair metal band. So I love Def Leppard. I have loved individual songs by everybody from Motley Crue to Rat to, obviously, Black Sabbath, dating all the way back to the 70s. So, no, I like a lot of hair metal.

[C]

So, Chris, now we have trivia, right? We've got a contestant.

[B]

We do indeed. We have a contestant on the line. And just to remind everybody how we structure this. This is really fun. There's a little bit of back and forth here. First, I ask our contestant three trivia questions. One is themed around our most recent episode, the episode that's already out. And the next two are kind of a sneak preview of our next episode. So three in total. And then our contestant turns the tables on me and tries to stump me with one trivia question. So joining me on the line for the May episode of Hit Parade, the Bridge, is Amara. Amara, can you hear me? I can.

[A]

Hello, Chris.

[B]

Hi, there. How are you?

[A]

I'm good.

[B]

Where are you calling from, if you don't mind me asking?

[A]

I'm calling from Charlottesville, Virginia.

[B]

You are? Also, I want to note for the folks out there, a Slate plus member. And as we always do, we want to thank you for supporting the journalism we do. And before we begin the trivia, I'd like to remind everybody that while this episode of Hit Parade, the Bridge is available to all Hit Parade subscribers, we are only opening our contestant hotline to Slate plus members. So if you'd like to enter to play, just become a Slate plus member before we launch into the trivia. Amara, I assume you heard our most recent episode about Bon Jovi and hair metal.

[A]

Yes, I did. Yeah. So I wouldn't say I'm a fan. I'm not a hater. I just feel like they're one of those bands that's in the wallpaper, and I just kind of grew up listening to them. So I thought it was actually pretty funny to hear you kind of hate on Bon Jovi. I think it's great.

[B]

I'm glad you appreciated it, however unusual the episode. So, are you ready for some trivia?

[A]

I am.

[B]

Wonderful. Here we go. Question one. In the last episode of Hit Parade, I mentioned Bon Jovi's final top five hit, a ballad that reached number four in 1995 and spent more weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 than any Bon Jovi song ever. What was that final improbable smash? A, living on a prayer, B, keep the faith or C, always?

[A]

B, keep the faith.

[B]

I'm sorry, the correct answer Was C. Always. Keep the Faith was the flop single in 1992 that only made it to number 29. Always spent a stunning 32 weeks on the Hot 100, peaking in early 1995, longer than any of their 1980s hits. All right, that's okay. We've got two more questions to go. Are you ready for some more trivia?

[A]

Bring it on.

[B]

All right, cool. Question two. Last year, the song Despacito set a record when it became the first video on YouTube to surpass 3 billion global views. It's now passed 5 billion, by the way. But five years earlier, what K pop video was the first to pass 1 billion views? A, the best present by Rain, B Gangnam Style by Psy or C, I got a Boy by Girls Generation?

[A]

B. Gangnam Style.

[B]

Yes, indeed. The correct answer is B. Gangnam Style. Gangnam Style. Gangnam Style by Psy passed a billion views in December 2012, and it still ranks among the five most watched YouTube videos ever. By the way, that's videos, period. Not just music videos. With 3.15 billion views. Awesome. Are you ready for one last trivia question and then I'll let you turn the tables on me.

[A]

I am.

[B]

Question 3 On MTV's 23rd 13 Video Music Awards, held in my hometown of Brooklyn, New York, the night's headline grabbing performance was a pairing of acts with two of the top hits of the summer. One, a white blue eyed soul singer whose hit later lost a lawsuit. And the other, a white woman who infamously imitated a black form of dance. Who were they? A, Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus. B, Justin Timberlake and Katy Perry? Or C. Macklemore and Lorde?

[A]

A, Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke.

[B]

That is exactly right. Robin Thicke performed his number one smash, Blurred Lines, which was later successfully sued by the estate of the late Marvin Gaye for sounding too much like his earlier number one hit, Got to Give It Up. And Miley Cyrus, who accompanied her number two hit We Can't Stop with her attempt at twerking. That was awesome. You got two out of three. Way to go.

[A]

Thanks.

[B]

Now, I'm now going to give you the opportunity to turn the tables on me and see if you would like to try and stump me. Do you have a question for me?

[A]

I do.

[B]

Bring it on.

[A]

The last episode of Hit Parade focused on Bon Jovi and the group's hall of Fame induction. Of the 323 inductees into the Rock and Roll hall of fame, only 45 are women. That's just 13.9%. Can you name the first three women or female acts to be inducted and the years they made it in?

[B]

Oh, gosh. All right. Well, the inductions, I believe, started in 1986. And so the first thing I'm trying to remember is who would have been inducted in the very first year. I'm probably going to screw this up straight away. So I'll just guess. Is Ruth Brown one of them by chance?

[A]

She is not.

[B]

She is not. Okay, should I take a couple more guesses?

[A]

Go for it.

[B]

All right. In 1988, I believe Diana Ross and the Supremes were inducted. Is that one of the three?

[A]

That is absolutely.

[B]

Okay, good. I'm glad I got that one. I know that one pretty well. Man, it's tough. I'm gonna say that I have Diana Ross and the Supremes, and I'm just gonna have to take a bye on the other two. What were the other two?

[A]

Aretha Franklin in 1987 and Bessie Smith in 1989.

[B]

I should have gotten Aretha. I'm kicking myself over Aretha.

[A]

I thought you would have gotten it after the Supremes. I thought that would have tipped you off a bit.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. You know. Okay, so here's what's tricky about Aretha. The Rock and Roll hall of Fame has a rule, of course, that you aren't eligible to be inducted until 25 years after your first recording. So when I remember that the Supremes got inducted based on their first recordings, which were like, 63, 64, I started thinking, well, who would have come after that? What I forgot is that Aretha Franklin recorded for the Columbia label in the early 60s and had almost no hits. She had, like, one minor hit, and then she kind of disappeared for about five years, recorded several more albums, but none of them did very much before she got picked up by Atlantic In, I believe, 66, 67, and recorded all the songs that we now consider legendary, like I Never Loved a Man, the Way I Love youe and Respect and Chain of Fools and all those classics. I'll be honest. Aretha was not even on my radar. I was thinking, oh, Aretha, Shirley got inducted later. But I was wrong.

[A]

Interesting.

[B]

That is a stumper of a question. Thank you for that.

[A]

Awesome. That was fun.

[B]

That was fun. Your question brings up the pointed fact that not enough women have been inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame, which I wholeheartedly agree with. If you had your druthers, if you had total freedom to induct somebody into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame by fiat, whom would you induct?

[A]

Oh, that's such a good question. Is Whitney in?

[B]

Whitney Houston is not in. In fact, to my knowledge. I don't even think the nominating committee has ever put her forward, which is kind of mind blowing. So that's a good.

[A]

Mind blowing. She would be fantastic, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[E]

And.

[B]

Yeah, I think I back you up on that. And I'm not even an enormous Whitney fan, but you can't deny the influence of Whitney Houston. I mean, my gosh, you know, you can't deny it.

[A]

And the. And the move into rock was a big part of that.

[B]

So that is unimpeachable. So thank you so, so much for that, Amara, and congratulations on stumping me. Congratulations on getting two out of three of our questions correct. And thank you so much for being a slate plus member and participating in our bridge episode.

[A]

This is super fun. Thanks for doing it, and I hope you do more live shows. I missed the first one, but I would totally come to another one.

[B]

Oh, wonderful. No, we would love to do more, and we're. We're talking about it, hoping to do more.

[A]

Awesome. Well, thank you both.

[C]

Oh, man, Chris, Amara really got you there with that question, huh?

[B]

I know. I'm a little embarrassed, but I'm glad I at least got one out of the three because, man, that was a tough one, and I got completely befuddled by the Aretha answer. Anyway, no excuses. That was a good question. She got me.

[C]

Well, yeah, I mean, we asked her who she would induct into the hall of fame. Which woman? What about you? Do you have anyone that you can think of off the top of your head?

[B]

Women in particular? I already voted for Kate Bush on this most recent rock hall ballot. I was delighted that they finally put her on the ballot. I think she is deeply influential, From Tori Amos on down to lorde, even. I mean, I just saw lorde in concert live about a month ago, and there are so many moments, and I don't think lorde is stealing anything or, you know, just borrowing. Lorde does her own original thing, but she absolutely is indebted in her presentation to somebody like Kate bush in terms of the art and the depth of emotion and depth of feeling. So, yeah, gosh, I really want to see Kate Bush inducted. She's already been on the ballot once, but she needs to. They keep. They need to keep putting her back on that ballot until they vote her in.

[C]

Awesome. Well, I know we have to wrap up soon, but do you want to tell everybody or give them a little taste about what's coming up in the next full length episode of Hit Parade. I'm really excited for this and I want to let you tease everyone, but don't give too much away.

[B]

Yeah, I don't want to give up too, too much. I think you can hear it in those last two questions that I just asked Amara for our trivia round. Basically, this is going to be the most modern episode of Hit Parade. We have thus far themed episodes around everything from the 1950s and 60s all the way up to the 2000s. We had one episode where I talked about Kelly Clarkson's hit Since youe've Been Gone, which was a hit in early 2005, but we've never really other than making quick references to hits from the 2010s, we've never done an episode that's sort of around the last decade of music. And this episode was will mostly, not entirely, but mostly focus on the last, let's say eight years of music basically since the start of the 2010s. However, like so many of our episodes, if you know, I'm sure regular listeners have noticed that I will often start in the present day, but then immediately shift back several decades. We will also be talking about the history of the charts and specifically the history of the music video. So if you are a fan of early mtv, we're going to be talking a little bit about that and comparing it to the charts of the 2000 and tens. So hopefully folks will enjoy it.

[C]

That's the music I grew up with. I can't wait.

[B]

Awesome. Awesome.

[C]

Well, thank you so much. And I just want to remind everyone to please rate and review Hit Parade. It really helps everyone out there find the show and we could really use your support. So please rate us, review us in Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. And thanks so much. I'm TJ Raphael.

[B]

And I'm Chris Melanfi. Thanks so much for joining us for this episode of Hit Parade the Bridge. We'll see you in a couple of weeks with our full length episode. In the meantime, keep on marching on the one.