Which Decade Is Tops For Pops?

Simpsons fans beware: there are some factual inaccuracies ahead, as our extra tracks playlist will confirm - also featuring DJ Trev's Platonic ideal of a kids song, the first single Mike ever bought, and B.Bumble's woeful Radio One afterlife. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ballet class nostalgia, pop merchandising's 19th century roots, problematic cover art, a songwriting team of 26, techno as a pejorative term, and a questionable quest for self-discovery. YouTube playlist // Spotify playlist // extra tracks & bonus bits Bonus playlists: Kim Fowley tracks // Kris Kross samples To join in with the voting, please submit your 1st, 2nd and 3rd favourites, plus your...

Sian Pearce becomes our first ever female guest on the podcast, joining Mike, Nick and Trev for a thorough dissection of the latest set of voting. Did Dizzy beat Dizzee? Did anyone like Cliff? Did anyone have anything to say about Shanks & Bigfoot? How did ska-punk lead to the Muppet Show? And should we be filling our bladders with lean? Only one way to find out... Hosted on Acast. See acast.c...

If it hadn't been for that pesky Jason Donovan, all these Number Two hits would also have been chart-toppers. Dizzy meets Dizzee, Angela Trimble has lost her cat, Sir Cliff scores a century, UKG struggles to travel north, and country's new Golden Age starts right here. YouTube playlist // Spotify playlist // extra tracks & bonus bits To join in with the voting, please submit your 1st, 2nd and...

In which we look back at the 60 tunes that featured in Season Three, counting down the final totals on the Master Scoreboard, and seeing where this leaves our cumulative Mother Board. Playlst for Season Three, in chronological order We'll be back with Season Four at the end of June. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With no guest and no Master Scoreboard, we thought this would be a quick one. But then we got talking about periods when pop treads water, and the democratisation of its means of production, and the She Drives Me Crazy thwock, and the baffling 2006 disdain for Bridge Over Troubled Water, and communal/collective pop vs introspective headphone music, and cats in panto, and pretending to be gay in st...

A demobbed King reclaims his crown, the Wichita Lineman crew triumph again, the sound of 1976 reappears in 1980, a choreographer jives with a cat, the Cosmo Smallpiece of millennial R&B plays fast and loose with co-writing credits, and a player gets played right back. YouTube playlist // Spotify playlist // extra tracks & bonus bits To join in with the voting, please submit your 1st, 2nd a...

It's raining meh, hallelujah! Patreon subscriber (and actual real-life musician) Jeff draws the short straw and joins us to pick over the results of Episode 9: a selection of tunes so forgettable that we end up discussing carp. Yes, carp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

DJ Trev says: Do you love the Meh Zone? Are you all about those tunes that are "OK, I guess"? Then you need to listen to the next episode of Which Decade Is Tops For Pops - because it's A-Meeeeeh-Zing! Nick Parkhouse says: This is not an episode where everything's a 5-star a la carte entree, or everything's absolutely terrible and I've vomited into the sink - this is an episode where a waiter serv...

With the help of Patreon subscriber Mark, we unveil the latest set of results, with digressions that include a statistical history of fadeouts in chart pop, alarming encounters with dancehall MCs, a big-up for The Heritage Chart Show podcast , and a mouth-watering soundbite to get your juices flowing for Episode 9. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Don & Phil's "death disc" flip gets Nick emotional, Macca swaps groundbreaking for cosycore, Kim bigs up the new wave scene around Lake Tahoe, it's another Trev x Mike smackdown as legions of rock legends fail to take down global capitalism, RikRok's girlfriend poses more questions than answers, and Ms Shamazing gives us yet another I Will Survive. YouTube playlist // Spotify playlist // extra...

David Belbin joins us to pick over the latest set of votes, also featuring your suggestions for the best runs of Number One singles in chart history. David tells us about his musical memoir, Don't Mention The Night , and we also recommend BBC Radio 4's extended examination of Wichita Lineman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's three boys versus three girls - oh no, wait, BLONDIE IS A BAND - in one of our favourite selections ever, with songs of love, longing and going out on the lash. You might struggle to rank 'em this time, but rank 'em you must! YouTube playlist // Spotify playlist // extra tracks & bonus bits Bonus Spotify playlist:  hit singles with "glass" in the title   To join in with the voti...

Malcolm the Break Doctor joins us to pick over the latest set of results, with digressions that include a crowd-sourced list of trios, a Dionne Warwick gaffe and a power ballad origin theory. This bulletin also comes with its own extra tracks palylist . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A trio of Little Miss Dynamites, a trio of Oscar-hungry old tarts, "humanity in three minutes", and the band that The Jam could have been. YouTube playlist // Spotify playlist // extra tracks & bonus bits To join in with the voting, please submit your 1st, 2nd and 3rd favourites, plus your "most bad and hated" selection, to: The Patreon Supporters Club // X: @whichdecadetops // Facebook // whi...

Patreon subscriber John Pearce joins us for the launch of our new spin-off podcast, What Do You Think Of We Built This City By Starship. Oh, and there are some results along the way as well. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Preposterous pop and global mega-smashes abound, as we tackle a nursery rhyme twist, a Beethoven/Berry mashup, globetrotting accountants, a toast/knife trade-off, a battle rapping brat and a wazzock who may just be a genius. YouTube playlist // Spotify playlist // extra tracks & bonus bits To join in with the voting, please submit your 1st, 2nd and 3rd favourites, plus your "most bad and hated...

Our first international guest, hedgerow from California, joins us to chew over the latest set of results. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lav Nacinood rocks but gently, a Little Lady eschews fame, a grotty sports centre is transformed, nasty men on the telly are shouting at you, a bittersweet memory is trampled underfoot, and a six-year old Elvis impersonator conquers the world. YouTube playlist // Spotify playlist // extra tracks & bonus bits To join in with the voting, please submit your 1st, 2nd and 3rd favourites, plus your...

James Errington of Centuries Of Sound joins us for the results, in which we discuss the viability of a Now That's What I Call Meh compilation, and ruminate on what music, if any, would most effectively crush our libidos. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mike's first gig, an almighty ding-dong over hit single legitimacy, the rave afterlife of new age, an extended Bake Off metaphor, an actual genuine X Factor breakout star, and a revelation which leaves two of us in dumbfounded shock. YouTube playlist // Spotify playlist // extra tracks & bonus bits To join in with the voting, please submit your 1st, 2nd and 3rd favourites, plus your "most bad...

Patreon subscriber (and author of the world's only book about bowls and rock and roll) Alex Marsh joins us for the rollout, where digressions range from village shop bangers to champion banjo players, and the history of The Troggs' "OH NO!" is excavated in further detail. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reg Presley's bunch get banned for lewdness, Australian pop royalty become one-hit wonders everywhere else, Britpop makes its Which Decade debut, Mike has a LOT to tell you about his erstwhile favourite band, and a motherboarding Starboy tries to have it both ways. YouTube playlist // Spotify playlist // extra tracks & bonus bits To join in with the voting, please submit your 1st, 2nd and 3rd...

The Master Scoreboard has been reset, and we have the first set of results from Season Three (plus a generous dollop of Ainsley Harriott digression content). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Season 3 kicks off with chart-topping debuts, novelty tunes, maverick producers, drug references, the space age, a tin whistle, a traditional cooking pot, and our first glimpse of The Beatles. Following victories for the Sixties and the Eighties, which decade will triumph this time? (And could this season climax with a Chicory Tip gig? You have the power!) YouTube playlist // Spotify playlist // e...