Music Trivia: The Christmas Music Edition

Summary

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

Episode: Music Trivia: The Christmas Music Edition
Date: December 14, 2018
Host: Chris Molanphy
Guest: Jessica Goldstein (Culture Editor, Think Progress), Grayson Holmes (Slate Plus member, former Jeopardy! contestant)

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Episode Overview

This holiday-themed mini-episode of Hit Parade: The Bridge delves into the cultural and musical forces behind iconic pop hits—especially the late-90s teen pop explosion—and celebrates Christmas music chart trivia. Host Chris Molanphy welcomes journalist Jessica Goldstein to reflect on Britney Spears' debut and the Swedish pop wave, while trivia enthusiast Grayson Holmes faces Chris in a challenging Christmas-music-centric quiz.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Revisiting Late-90s Teen Pop & Britney Spears

(00:29–10:10)

• Nostalgia and Cultural Memory:

  • Chris highlights the lasting influence of Swedish pop hitmakers, especially Max Martin, as a bridge from early-90s pop to the late-90s teen explosion.
    • "Beautiful Life was the first American top 40 hit for producer, songwriter and pop mastermind Max Martin…a bridge between the early 90s era of grunge and gangster rap and the late 90s era of boy bands and bling bling." (00:29)
  • Jessica reflects on the lasting nostalgia and changing perceptions surrounding Britney and the TRL era:
    • "It's been very interesting and surreal to talk to peers...To have gone from just consuming that culture thoughtlessly as children to now...looking at her as the very young girl she was." (02:41)

• Britney’s Agency:

  • Both guests underscore that, contrary to stereotypes, Britney had significant creative input.
    • "Everyone I talked to who worked with her was adamant that it was her choice, that it was her vision....The video treatment was her idea. The outfit was her idea. The attitude all came from her." — Jessica (04:02)
  • Chris recounts director Nigel Dick’s revelation:
    • "I'm a grown man taking orders from a 16 year old girl...She knows this better than I do." (04:36)

• Swedish Pop Writers and Cultural Alchemy:

  • Max Martin’s mysterious public persona and accidental lyrical genius ("hit me baby one more time") are discussed as key factors in pop success.
    • "So much of it works because Max Martin's English was still a bit of a work in progress…If he had spoken English like an American, he never would have written such an...electric lyric." — Jessica (07:06)
  • Chris expands on how misused English yields memorable hooks, referencing ABBA, Ace of Base, and Roxette.
    • “A line like the Rockset line, ‘Hello, you fool, I love you, come and join the joyride’—ridiculous English, but it makes for a great, memorable pop refrain.” (07:33)
    • Jessica adds: “What is 'I Want It That Way' about? No one knows…for some reason, the song just clicks.” (08:15)

• Industry Views on Britney’s Uniqueness:

  • Jessica shares insight from Joe Levy (Rolling Stone):
    • “If the record company could have created more than one Britney, they would have done it. And they tried. And Mandy Moore is an actress, right? Sorry, Mandy Moore. But he’s not wrong.” (08:57)

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Christmas Music Trivia Challenge

(10:10–20:02)

• Contestant Introduction:

  • Grayson Holmes, longtime listener, Slate Plus member, and Jeopardy! winner, joins for the trivia round.

• Round 1: Britney Spears Singles (12:14)

  • Q: Which was the second single from Britney’s “Baby One More Time” album produced by Max Martin's Cheiron team?
  • A: B. “Sometimes”
  • Chris's clarification: “‘Sometimes’—a mid-tempo ballad—was the immediate follow-up to the ‘…Baby One More Time’ single.” (13:29)

• Round 2: UK Christmas Number Ones (14:32)

  • Q: Which song held “Fairytale of New York” at #2 in 1987 for the UK Christmas number one?
  • A: B. “Always On My Mind” by Pet Shop Boys
  • Chris: “Pet Shop Boys’ cover…was the upset winner of the UK Christmas number one.” (14:55)

• Round 3: Novelty UK Christmas Topper (15:24)

  • Q: Which of these was NOT a UK Christmas number one?
    • A) Axle F (Crazy Frog)
    • B) There’s No One Quite Like Grandma (St Winifred’s School Choir)
    • C) Mr. Blobby (Mr. Blobby)
    • D) Can We Fix It (Bob the Builder)
  • A: A. Axle F (Crazy Frog)
  • Chris: “Axle F...reached #1 in June of 2005. Six months later...a cover of Jingle Bells...peaked at #5. All the others were Christmas number ones.” (16:18)

• Grayson’s Turn: Stumping Chris (17:07)

  • Q: According to Billboard (as of Nov 2016), which song (after Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You”) was the most downloaded US holiday song since 2003?
    • A) Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
    • B) Mistletoe (Justin Bieber)
    • C) Do You Want to Build a Snowman (Frozen)
    • D) Last Christmas (Wham!)
  • A: C. Do You Want to Build a Snowman
  • Grayson: “Frozen goes large.” (18:26)
  • Chris, stumped: “That was going to be my second choice, but that doesn’t count, so you totally stumped me.” (19:01)

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The British Tradition of the Christmas #1

(20:18–22:31)

• Previewing the Next Episode:
  • Chris outlines how the next full-length episode will explore the UK’s obsession with the “Christmas number one”—a tradition of gambling and pop culture.
    • "It is a fascinating tradition that...you need to know about this crazy, crazy contest.” (20:34)
  • Jessica references Love, Actually for US listeners' most common exposure to the tradition:
    • “I think if I’m remembering correctly, it is one of the many, many plot points in Love, Actually. Do I have that right?” (21:45)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Britney’s agency:

  • “Britney...had more agency and drove more of how she was portrayed in the media and how this song was rolled out than I think people give her credit for.” —Chris (03:30)
  • “Did she realize at the time how that vision would translate to other people? Who knows? She was so young. But certainly, the video treatment was her idea. The outfit was her idea. The attitude all came from her.” —Jessica (04:02)

• On Swedish pop’s happy accidents:

  • “If he had spoken English like an American, he never would have written such an...electric lyric for this song.” —Jessica (07:06)
  • “What is ‘I Want It That Way’ about? What do they want? In what way? No one knows exactly, but for some reason, the song just clicks.” —Jessica (08:15)

• A reflection on Christmas music saturation:

  • “I wonder if people just didn’t download as many copies of ‘Last Christmas’ because ‘Last Christmas’ is now so omnipresent you don’t actually need to own a copy of it.” —Chris (19:20)

Trivia: Chris Gets Stumped!

• “That was going to be my second choice, but that doesn’t count, so you totally stumped me on that one.” —Chris (19:01)
• “Well, Grayson, I really appreciate that stumper of a trivia question. That was an excellent trivia question. I enjoyed getting stumped by that one.” —Chris (19:35)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:29 — Intro to Swedish pop influence and Britney nostalgia
• 02:41 — Jessica on the power of revisiting teen pop as an adult
• 04:02 — Britney’s creative control over her career
• 07:06 — The role of language and “happy accidents” in Swedish pop
• 08:57 — Britney’s unique stardom, per music insiders
• 10:10 — Grayson Holmes trivia challenge begins
• 12:14 — Britney Spears album trivia question
• 14:32 — 1987 UK Christmas #1 trivia
• 15:24 — UK Christmas novelty #1 trivia
• 17:07 — Grayson’s Billboard digital downloads stumper
• 20:18 — Chris and Jessica discuss the tradition of the UK Christmas #1
• 21:45 — “Love, Actually” as gateway to British Christmas chart tradition

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Tone & Style

The episode maintains a spirit of fun and festive curiosity, blending pop music analysis with personal anecdotes and engaging, good-natured trivia. The language is conversational, insightful, and laced with affectionate humor about both music’s oddities and history.

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Summary Completed — For listeners of all backgrounds, this episode offers an enjoyable exploration of pop music nostalgia, insider trivia, and the wondrous weirdness of Christmas chart culture.

Transcript

[Jessica Goldstein]

You're listening ad free on Amazon Music.

[Chris Melanfi]

Hey everybody, this is Chris Melanfy, host of Hit Parade, Slate's podcast of pop chart history. Welcome to the Bridge.

[Guest Singer or Chorus]

It's a Beautiful Life. It's a Beautiful Life It's a beautiful.

[Chris Melanfi]

Life That's Beautiful Life, 1995 hit single by Swedish pop group Ace of Bass, taken from their second album called, appropriately enough, the Bridge. We're playing this song to close the book on our last Hit Parade episode, which was about late 90s teen pop and the Swedish craftsmen who were behind the Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC and Robin hits you recall from the MTV TRL days, Ace of Bass were a precursor to that whole teen pop wave. Beautiful Life was the first American top 40 hit for producer, songwriter and pop mastermind Max Martin. He would go on to score dozens more. This relentlessly chipper song would serve as a bridge between the early 90s era of grunge and gangster rap and the late 90s era of boy bands and bling bling. And as always, these mini episodes bridge our full length monthly episodes and give us a chance to catch up with listeners and enjoy some trivia. This month we have a very special guest. Jessica Goldstein is the culture editor at Think Progress and and a journalist whose work has appeared in Vulture and the Washington Post, among other places. Her October article for Entertainment Weekly, Britney Spears wanted to be a An oral history of Baby One More Time was an inspiration for my November episode of Hit Parade. Jessica even interviewed me for the piece and I am now returning the favor by having her on our December episode of Hit Parade, the Bridge. Hello, Jessica.

[Jessica Goldstein]

Hello.

[Chris Melanfi]

So, Jessica, you write all over the place, but was this your first article for Entertainment Weekly?

[Jessica Goldstein]

Yes. Yes it was.

[Chris Melanfi]

And you know, you and I talked like over the summer. So I guess, you know, this anniversary of Baby One More Time was kind of a cultural event, right?

[Jessica Goldstein]

Yeah. I had seen this call out for ideas about pop anniversaries and this was the first thing that came to my mind.

[Chris Melanfi]

So I guess that leads nicely into a question about, you know, your own memories. I mean, more than most of my Hit Parade episodes, this episode seemed to hit a nostalgia sweet spot for a certain segment of my listeners. Did you get similar feedback on your article and what are your memories of that peak TRL teen pop era?

[Jessica Goldstein]

What's really fascinating is to revisit that time now as an adult, because I am younger than Britney and when this song came out, I loved it. I watched MTV every day. I was transfixed by the video and I really did not understand why adults thought anything about it was, to use a 2018 word, problematic. Because I thought she seemed very grown up. So it's been very interesting and surreal to talk to peers of mine about that same experience. To have gone from just consuming that culture kind of thoughtlessly as children to now thinking about it, still enjoying it, still feeling like all of those, all that nostalgia, but to also be looking at her as the very young girl she was.

[Chris Melanfi]

Yeah, no, she really was. I mean, one of the things that captivated me about your piece and you know, you talked to a bunch of people. Like we said, it was an oral history. So you were talking to everyone from Nigel Dick, who directed the Baby One More Time video, to Bari Weiss, who was the president of her label back then. And the impression I got was that Britney, contrary to stereotype, had more agency and drove more of how she was portrayed in the media and how this song was rolled out than I think people give her credit for. Would you say that's right?

[Jessica Goldstein]

I agree. I think that there's this perception of Britney as a creation of middle aged male record executives. And while I don't think they were disappointed in the path that she chose, everyone I talked to who worked with her was adamant that it was her choice, that it was her vision. Did she realize at the time how that vision would translate to. To other people? Who knows? She was so young. But certainly the video treatment was her idea. The outfit was her idea. The attitude all came from her.

[Chris Melanfi]

I particularly loved the story from Nigel Dick about how he's like, I'm a grown man taking orders from a 16 year old girl. But then he realized, you know what? She knows this better than I do. I'm just gonna roll with what she's proposing. Like, she came up with the Catholic schoolgirl uniforms. Right. She came up with kind of the whole treatment.

[Jessica Goldstein]

Yeah. His original idea was what ended up being the video for Oops I Did It Again. It was Britney on Mars dancing with astronauts.

[Guest Singer or Chorus]

I did it again. I played with your heart Got lost in the game oh baby, baby and.

[Jessica Goldstein]

Britney, which I think a lot of chutzpah for someone who had just gotten her first record deal and was not like the world's savviest person, you know, with very little life experience, was like, get me on the phone with him because I have a better idea.

[Chris Melanfi]

And she did.

[Jessica Goldstein]

And to his credit, he. He listened to her?

[Chris Melanfi]

Yes, he did. One of the things we talked about when you called me last summer was the fact that Max Martin never gives Interviews anymore. I shared some stuff with you from the early aughts that was in the Billboard book of number one hits, but that was about 15 years ago. So, like, in your reporting, I know you didn't get to talk to Max. Nobody gets to talk to Max.

[Guest Singer or Chorus]

If only.

[Chris Melanfi]

If only. Yeah. But did you find that people's impressions of Max and his song and especially his career had evolved? I mean, it's 20 years later. He's now rivaling Lennon McCartney for most number one hits on the Hot 100. Right.

[Jessica Goldstein]

What's kind of wild is I think at the time there was a sense of him as very talented, as kind of like a worthy gamble. And now the perception is that his excellence is inevitable and that he's a given that he's one of the greats. And I'm sure due in part to his air of mystery.

[Chris Melanfi]

Right.

[Jessica Goldstein]

He doesn't give interviews, he doesn't talk to anyone. It makes the whole process that much more intriguing. Like, how does he do it? What are the secrets? What is the algorithm inside of his brain?

[Chris Melanfi]

Well, and the fact that also, it took some people saying to him, well, this is not really an R and B song. We know you think it's an R and B song, but what it is is this kind of version of maximalist pop. And I'll bet this teenager we just signed who, you know, actually kind of wanted to sing like an R and B diva to begin with. That would be a good fit, you know, I don't know. There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen, I guess you could say.

[Guest Singer or Chorus]

Yeah.

[Jessica Goldstein]

One of the things to me that is so wild and great about the alchemy of the song is that so much of it hinges on some cultural misunderstandings.

[Chris Melanfi]

Right.

[Jessica Goldstein]

So much of it. So much of it works because Max Martin's English was still a bit of a work in progress, and he did not foresee how people would interpret the phrase, hit me, baby, one more time. He didn't know why anybody would have an issue with it. And then he refused to change it. But if he had spoken English like an American, he never would have written such an. Such a great and electric lyric for this song.

[Chris Melanfi]

Exactly. And that inspired me to go back in the history of, you know, Swedish craftsmen, Swedish artists, producers, songwriters, who have, you know, dominated our charts over the decades, going all the way back to abba. Because, yeah, the English factor, it. I don't know. I tried to portray in the episode that it's a happy accident the way some of these things turn out, that you know, a line like the rock set line, hello, you fool, I love you. Come and join the joyride is ridiculous English. But it makes for a great, you know, very memorable pop song refrain, right? Or, you know, all that she wants is another baby. Like, nobody would say it that way. Who, you know, knows idiomatic English, but it makes for a. Oh, absolutely.

[Jessica Goldstein]

I mean, what is I want it that way about? What do they want? In what way? No one knows exactly, but for some reason, the song just clicks.

[Chris Melanfi]

So, Jessica, you spent a period of probably weeks researching Baby One More Time and Britney Spears, what surprised you? I mean, did you develop a newfound appreciation for any part of Britney's catalog or, you know, any other part of the late 90s teen pop boom? Or was it more or less as you expected?

[Jessica Goldstein]

That's interesting. I would say what surprised me was hearing so many people, particularly men, insist that Britney is the architect of her career and that she has not been given the credit that she is due for the kinds of things that we frequently give men credit for, like having a creative vision, sensing where the marketplace was going, knowing how to connect with her fans. I mean, one of my favorite lines in the whole piece was from Joe Levy of Rolling Stone, who essentially was like, if the record company could have created more than one Britney, they would have done it. And they tried. And Mandy Moore is an actress, right? Sorry, Mandy Moore. But he's not wrong.

[Chris Melanfi]

No, he really isn't wrong.

[Guest Singer or Chorus]

I'm Mrs. Extra. Extra. It's just thin. You want a piece of me? She's too big now. She's too thin. You want a piece of me?

[Chris Melanfi]

We're now gonna move on to our trivia round. Joining us for this month's episode of Hit Parade, the Bridge, and our trivia round is Grayson Holmes. Grayson, are you there?

[Grayson Holmes]

I am, yes. Hi, Chris.

[Chris Melanfi]

Hi. Where are you calling us from, Grayson?

[Grayson Holmes]

I'm calling from just outside Seattle, Washington.

[Chris Melanfi]

Fantastic. And you are a Hit Parade listener, I take it?

[Grayson Holmes]

I am since the first episode.

[Chris Melanfi]

Oh, well, I'm very flattered by that and I understand. And this is actually an important detail. You are also a Slate plus member, is that right?

[Grayson Holmes]

I am, yes.

[Chris Melanfi]

About how long have you been a Slate plus member? Do you know?

[Grayson Holmes]

So I think I looked it up today. It's maybe just over a couple of years, so sometime in 2016, I think.

[Chris Melanfi]

That's fantastic. I bring this up, of course, because as I like to remind folks, every month, while this bridge episode of Hit Parade is available to all Hit Parade subscribers, we only open our trivia Rounds to Slate plus members. So if you are a member of Slate plus and would like to be a trivia contestant like Grayson, visit slate.com hitparadesignout that's slate.com hit parade signup. So I understand. Grayson, before we jump into the trivia that you were on the ultimate trivia competition. Am I right about that?

[Grayson Holmes]

I was.

[Chris Melanfi]

You were a contestant. A contestant on Jeopardy. Is that right?

[Grayson Holmes]

I was back in 2004. So a while back.

[Chris Melanfi]

But was it nerve wracking? How did you do?

[Grayson Holmes]

I won two games.

[Chris Melanfi]

Spectacular.

[Grayson Holmes]

And I, I, I blew a lead on Final Jeopardy. In the last game. Otherwise I would have won three.

[Chris Melanfi]

But what's exciting about our trivia round, far less exciting than a televised game of tr. Jeopardy. I must admit, is that we're gonna ask you three questions and then you are going to. I don't think you got to turn the tables on Alex Trebek when you were on Jeopardy. Am I right?

[Grayson Holmes]

I did not know.

[Chris Melanfi]

No. So you're going to get to turn the tables on me and ask me a trivia question. Uh, and last month, we, our contestant Richie ran the table. He not only got all three questions correct, he actually stumped me. So I've been getting stumped the last couple of months. So I am prepared to eat some more crow this month, particularly against a. A Jeopardy. Competitor.

[Grayson Holmes]

That, that's a pretty high standard, but I'll do my best.

[Chris Melanfi]

Okay. Are you ready?

[Grayson Holmes]

I am, yeah.

[Chris Melanfi]

All right, here we go. Question one. Our last show centered around Baby One more Time, the first Hot 100 number one hit not only for Britney Spears, but also writer producer Max Martin. In the episode, we also played the second top 40 hit from the Baby One more time album also produced by Martin's Cheiron team in Stockholm. What was that second single? A born to make you happy, B sometimes C, you drive me crazy or D, from the bottom of my broken heart.

[Guest Singer or Chorus]

Hmm.

[Grayson Holmes]

So I think the last three were on that album, but I believe the one that was by Ciron was C. You drive me crazy.

[Chris Melanfi]

I'm sorry, Grayson. The correct answer was B. Sometimes.

[Guest Singer or Chorus]

Sometimes I run somet.

[Chris Melanfi]

Sometimes. A mid tempo ballad was the immediate follow up to the Baby One more time single, and it peaked on the Hot 100 at number 21. The album's third single, You Drive me crazy returned Britney and Max to the top 10 in the summer of 99. Okay, so questions two and three will both be previews of the next full length episode of Hit Parade. Here we go. Question 2. In 1987, the song Fairy Tale of New York by the pogues with Kirsty McCall, now a beloved holiday standard, peaked at number two on the British charts, missing its chance to be a UK Christmas number one. What? 1987 number one hit held off the Pogues and McCall and went down as that year's Christmas topper. A Rick Astley, when I Fall in love B Pet Shop Boys always on my mind C Tapow China in your hand or D Mel and Kim rockin around the Christmas tree.

[Guest Singer or Chorus]

Hmm.

[Grayson Holmes]

That really could be any of those. I'm going to guess though, the Pet Shop Boys. B I think that was.

[Chris Melanfi]

And you would be correct, Grayson. That is absolutely right. Always on my mind. Pet Shop Boy's cover of the classic was first recorded for a UK television special about Elvis Presley on the 10th anniversary of Elvis's death. Released as a single, it was the upset winner of the UK Christmas number one, beating the heavily favored Rick Astley and Mel and Kim singles, as well as the now classic Fairy Tale of New York. Excellent. All right, good comeback on that one. Here we go. We're going to do one more question that is a preview of next month's episode. Are you ready?

[Grayson Holmes]

Sure.

[Chris Melanfi]

Okay, question three. In the nearly 50 years that UK citizens have been closely following and betting on their Christmas number one song, a number of novelty records have taken the title, often beating more serious or solemn fare for the number one spot. Which of the following UK chart toppers was not a Christmas number one? A Axl F by Crazy Frog, B There's no one quite like Grandma by the St Winifred's school choir, c Mr. Blobby by Mr. Blobby or d Can we fix it by Bob the Builder?

[Grayson Holmes]

Wow. Okay, so I'm pretty sure the Bob the Builder song made it. I feel like I heard that somewhere. I really don't know any others. I'm gonna say Blobby.

[Chris Melanfi]

I am sorry. The correct answer was Axle F by Crazy Frog. Wow. This obnoxious hit was a UK chart topper and one of Britain's bestsellers of the aughts. It reached number one in June of 2005. Six months later, the Crazy Frog team did put out a cover of Jingle Bells, but it peaked at number five. All the others were Christmas number ones in 1980, 1993 and 2000, respectively. Well, all right, one one out of three ain't bad. And that last one was a real stumper, so I'll take it. I think you can hold your head up high on. On nailing the Pet Shop Boys. Now here's your chance to get a little revenge on me. Now's your opportunity to ask me a question. Do you have a question for me?

[Grayson Holmes]

I do.

[Chris Melanfi]

All right. Fire away.

[Grayson Holmes]

So, in late 2016, Billboard published a list of the most downloaded holiday songs in the US based on data from the Nielsen company, which began tracking digital downloads in 2003. As should come as no surprise, Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is Yous was number one on that list with over 3.2 million downloads, more than twice that of any other song on the list. But what song was number two on that list, with a total of 1.6 million downloads as of November 2016? Was it a Christmas Eve? Sarajevo 1224 by Trans Siberian Orchestra B Mistletoe by Justin Bieber C Do you want to build a snowman By Christian Bell, Agatha Lee Mann and Katie Lopez or D Last Christmas by Wham?

[Chris Melanfi]

Wow, that is a darn good question, because I can think of at least two plausible candidates there, and I'll bet it is an unintuitive one. You know, the temptation is to go for the obvious classic, which is Last Christmas by Wham, but something tells me it's gonna be a quirky one. I may be overthinking this, but by chance, is it a the Trans Siberian Orchestra track?

[Grayson Holmes]

It is C. Do you want to build a C again? So Frozen goes large.

[Guest Singer or Chorus]

Do you want to build a snowman? Or ride our bike around the halls? I think some company's overdue. I've started talking to the pictures on the walls Hang in there, Joan. It gets a little lonely all these.

[Jessica Goldstein]

Empty rooms Just watching you that, you.

[Chris Melanfi]

Know I really should have known that I the Frozen connection would make that one the winner, so that was going to be my second choice, but that doesn't count, so you totally stumped me on that one.

[Grayson Holmes]

I believe the Trans Siberian Orchestra was number three on the list, so at least you were close.

[Chris Melanfi]

I was close. I was close. That's surprising that it outsold Wham's Last Christmas, which is a total classic.

[Grayson Holmes]

Yeah, Yeah. I think Wham was like 9th or 10th on the list. And Mistletoe, I think, was right behind the Trans Siberian Orchestra.

[Chris Melanfi]

I wonder if people just didn't download as many copies of Last Christmas because Last Christmas is now so omnipresent you don't actually need to own a copy of it.

[Grayson Holmes]

That's true. And there also are some covers out there. Like, I know Glee did a cover and some other folks, so it's possible those got split amongst the Artists, too.

[Chris Melanfi]

That is a very good theory. Well, Grayson, I really appreciate that stumper of a trivia question. That was an excellent trivia question. I enjoyed getting stumped by that one. And I want to thank you for taking part in our trivia round. You were a good sport and it's fragile, frankly, an honor to have a former Jeopardy. Winner on our show.

[Grayson Holmes]

Well, thank you. I enjoyed doing it even. And I'm glad at least I could hold up my end of the stump. Chris, bargain excellent.

[Chris Melanfi]

Thanks so much, Grayson.

[Grayson Holmes]

Great.

[Chris Melanfi]

Thank you. Happy holidays, by the way.

[Grayson Holmes]

Oh, happy holidays to you.

[Chris Melanfi]

So, Jessica, I was still. How ashamed should I feel for not knowing the answer to that last question?

[Jessica Goldstein]

Do you think you know, the fact that you forgot about Frozen, I think is revealing.

[Chris Melanfi]

It is, isn't it?

[Jessica Goldstein]

But, you know, it's like, was that 2016? Who can remember? It feels like it was 10,000 forevers ago.

[Chris Melanfi]

It really does. I mean, it was the total history. Right. Of the of digital sales. So I should have known that a song from Frozen would have amassed, like, just a ridiculous number. Frozen spent so many weeks at number one on the regular album chart, not just like, you know, a kiddie album chart, but like the regular Billboard 2 album chart that I wound up writing about it a lot three or four years ago. So I really should have known that one. So, as those last two trivia questions indicated, we are going to be doing a very seasonal theme for our next full length Hit Parade episode. We're going to be talking about the history of a British tradition, turning our attention away from the American charts on the Hot 100 and talking about the Christmas number one, which is a peculiar tradition that only England has institutionalized every year. The British obsessively talk about, bet on, literally. There are bookies who take bets on this, on what will be number one on the UK charts the week of Christmas. It is a fascinating tradition that if you are a chart fan, even an American chart fan, you need to know about this crazy, crazy contest. Jessica, is that something you had ever come across before?

[Jessica Goldstein]

I think if I'm remembering correctly, it is one of the many, many plot points in love, actually. Do I have that right?

[Chris Melanfi]

That is exactly right. I was gonna say, because Americans, if they know about this at all, they probably know about it because of Love actually. That brilliant. One of the many plots in love actually, probably the funniest plot in love actually is the aging rock star played by Bill Nighy.

[Jessica Goldstein]

Yes.

[Chris Melanfi]

And he's recording a terrible, by his own admission, terrible cover of Love is All around that he has turned into Christmas Is all around in a naked bid to score a Christmas number one. And hijinks ensue. So, Jessica, I really want to thank you for joining us for this episode of Hit Parade, the Bridge. It was such a pleasure talking to you both before your article came out and here today. So thanks very much. Seriously.

[Jessica Goldstein]

Likewise. Lovely to be here.

[Chris Melanfi]

And I want to thank everyone for listening and thank Grace and again for playing along with us on our trivia round. I'm Chris Melanfi. Keep on marching on the one?

[Guest Singer or Chorus]

Christmas is all around me? And so the feeling grows? It's written in the wind? Silver, Where I go? If you really love Christmas? Come on and let it snow?