Tim Malcolm

1991: The Year of Grunge, SoundScan, and Dance Parties

It’s a big year in music. 1991 starts with Whitney Houston’s memorable interpretation of “The Star Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl XXV. It continues with massive changes in the Billboard charts thanks to SoundScan, then ends with a sound heavy in guitar distortion.

Listen to our newest episode to find out our top-12 songs of the year. We talk about the mainstream emergence of grunge, the progression of house-inflected dance music, and the next batch of great songs in rap.

After listening to Tim and Chris, VOTE for the greatest songs of all time! Songs from 1991, plus tunes from 1990, ’89, ’88, ’86 and ’85 are up for a shot to make the Hall of Songs! VOTE BELOW and come back on October 28, 2022, to find out which song or songs get in!

Listen to the full episode for more, and then vote for the songs that you think are the greatest of all-time. SCROLL DOWN TO VOTE. Then, come back on October 28, 2022 to find out the voting results, and October 30, 2022 for our discussion on 1992.

36th Election Results: Does a Song From the 1990s Enter the Hall of Songs?

It’s time for the recap show for the Hall of Songs’ 36th election, which featured songs we nominated dating back between 1985 and ’90. How did songs by artists like Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Depeche Mode, Mariah Carey, Garth Brooks, and Alice in Chains fare on the ballot?

Listen now to find out if any songs got the support needed to enter our hall of fame for songs, and then hear how the whole election shook out.

(We also made it explicit because Tim said the “F” word very late in the episode.)

Listen by clicking above, and subscribe at Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Full results coming soon!

1987-90 Veterans Committee: The Newest Nominees Kinda Suit Us, Anyway

Welcome back to another Veterans Committee episode of Hall of Songs!

In this episode, where we take a look at the last four years in our podcast timeline and pick out a couple songs to place on our ballot, we investigate whether the Grateful Dead’s biggest hit is worthy of nomination.

Spoiler: One of our co-hosts loves the Grateful Dead.

We also nominate a couple other big songs from the late 80s and very very very early 90s. Then, we go deeper into things we love about this period in time, musically.

1990: Madonna, Mariah Carey, Garth Brooks and More Usher in the 1990s!

Welcome to the 1990s, a decade of excess, exuberance (irrational, even), and extremely awesome songs. Hall of Songs is here to sort through it all, starting with our top-12 songs of 1990.

Tim and Chris reveal their picks, including massive hits from massive hitmakers like Madonna, Mariah Carey, and Garth Brooks. Who else gets the Hall of Songs shine?

After listening to Tim and Chris, VOTE for the greatest songs of all time! Songs from 1990, plus tunes from 1989, ’88, ’86 and ’85 are up for a shot to make the Hall of Songs! VOTE BELOW and come back on October 7, 2022, to find out which song or songs get in!

Listen to the full episode for more, and then vote for the songs that you think are the greatest of all-time. SCROLL DOWN TO VOTE. Then, come back on October 7, 2022 to find out the voting results, and October 9, 2022 for our discussion on 1991.

35th Election Results: Are Hall of Songs Voters Crazy ‘Bout Elvis?

Come on in for our latest recap show, highlighting the results from the latest Hall of Songs election, our 35th overall.

Songs from 1985-89 were on the ballot this time, including gems by Janet Jackson, Public Enemy, De La Soul, Bobby Brown, Depeche Mode, Madonna, and more.

Find out if any songs got into the Hall of Songs from this election, and then learn the full results of this latest round of voting!

Listen by clicking above, and subscribe at Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Full results coming soon!

Hall of Wrongs: Our Least-Favorite Songs of the 1980s

Some will say that the 1980s is when some of the most ear-splitting songs were recorded. We at Hall of Songs don’t buy this, but we’re at least willing to have fun with it.

Join Tim, Chris, and special guest Libby Cudmore (@libbycudmore) as we present our least-favorite songs of the 1980s.

This conversation is easily the most un-Hall-of-Songs conversation ever (note the explicit rating), so let it all go, relax, and enjoy.

Buy Libby’s hipster mystery novel The Big Rewind here!

Move Your Body! We Pick Our Top-12 Songs of 1989

Hall of Songs gets a little electronic as the 1980s come to a close. Our latest episode takes you through 1989, a year when keyboards truly are everything. We hear major steps forward in dance, rap, and hard rock, and we can tell where the 1990s are heading.

Join Tim and Chris as they pick their top-12 songs of 1989. These are nominees for the prestigious Hall of Songs, the hall of fame for songs that currently includes 77 songs.

After listening to Tim and Chris, VOTE for the greatest songs of all time! Songs from 1989, plus tunes from 1988, ’87, ’86 and ’85 are up for a shot to make the Hall of Songs! VOTE BELOW and come back on September 23, 2022, to find out which song or songs get in!

Listen to the full episode for more, and then vote for the songs that you think are the greatest of all-time. SCROLL DOWN TO VOTE. Then, come back on September 23, 2022 to find out the voting results, and September 25, 2022 for our discussion on 1990.

34th Election Results: Small Ballot … Big Results!

We knew going into the 34th election that we could see some fireworks.

The latest ballot was the smallest in Hall of Songs history: 18 songs, all of which released between 1984 and ’88. With records by the likes of Prince, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, N.W.A., Metallica and more on the list, we were pretty excited heading into this show.

Listen to find out if any songs … or how many songs … got enough voter support to be inducted into the Hall of Songs.

Listen by clicking above, and subscribe at Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Full results coming soon!

Chris Molanphy on The Hot 100, Billy Joel, Garth Brooks + More!

It’s time for another bonus episode of Hall of Songs!

The Hot 100 has been the leading arbiter of song popularity within America since its conception in 1958. To better understand its nooks and crannies, and to better contextualize what makes a song so popular nationwide, we brought in the chart expert himself, Chris Molanphy (@cmolanphy), to break it all down. Molanphy is the author of the Slate series “Why Is This Song No. 1?” and the host of the Slate podcast Hit Parade.

In this conversation, Tim, Chris, and Chris discuss popular songs, changes in the charts, and specific Hall of Songs topics such as freestyle, Billy Joel, and the fall and rise of country music as a crossover-capable genre.

Read Chris Molanphy’s work here, and listen and subscribe to his podcast Hit Parade here.

1988! An Historic Year When Pop Expands: Our Top-12 Songs!

1988 is a wild year in music. Most of the big names that defined the 1980s are taking a break, leaving the door open for a number of new faces to break in and help define the sound that’ll take us into the 1990s. This is a year of rap, of freestyle- and house-inspired dance, of alternative rock, and of off-centered mainstream pop.

Join Tim and Chris as they pick their top-12 songs of 1988. These are nominees for the prestigious Hall of Songs, the hall of fame for songs that currently includes 72 songs.

After listening to Tim and Chris, VOTE for the greatest songs of all time! Songs from 1988, plus tunes from 1987, ’86, ’85 and ’84 are up for a shot to make the Hall of Songs! VOTE BELOW and come back on September 9, 2022, to find out which song or songs get in!

Listen to the full episode for more, and then vote for the songs that you think are the greatest of all-time. SCROLL DOWN TO VOTE. Then, come back on September 9, 2022 to find out the voting results, and September 11, 2022 for our discussion on 1989.