‘Hit Parade’ podcast charts 1989 U.S. breakthrough by British alternative titans

Here at Slicing Up Eyeballs HQ, we’ve been huge fans of Chris Molanphy’s deeply nerdy chart-history podcast “Hit Parade” since its debut in 2017. But the latest episode — the “Lost and Lonely Edition,” which charts the slow rise to U.S. hit-making status by the likes of The Cure, Depeche Mode and New Order — was practically made for us.

The 85-minute episode of the Slate podcast — which can be streamed below via Spotify, or downloaded from all the usual podcast providers — tracks the progression of dark-and-moody U.K. post-punk from Bauhaus and Joy Division in the late ’70s to the increasing popularity of acts like The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Smiths, New Order and more throughout the course of the ’80s.

The culmination comes in 1989, when The Cure’s “Lovesong” peaks at No. 2 on the Billboard charts and Depeche Mode and Love and Rockets break through with their own smash singles “Personal Jesus” and “So Alive,” respectively. Similarly, solo hits from Morrissey and singles from New Order’s Technique dominate Billboard’s then-new modern rock chart.

It was the time when the so-called alternative crossed firmly into the mainstream, setting the stage for the genre’s full-blown commercial takeover in the early ’90s.

Check it out below.

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