Flop Redeemer

Amy Winehouse broke through in a big way with her 2006 album Back To Black, earning the British Singer-Songwriter five Grammy Awards for her unique, modern take on vintage soul music. Pop music pundits wondered whether her success signaled a cultural turn toward a retro renaissance. Today we’re talking through some of the winners and losers in the world of throwback pop music.

Rock band Paramore broke through with their 2007 single “Misery Business” and lead singer Hayley Williams was once lauded by John Mayer as “The Great Orange Hope.” In 2017, the band released their fifth studio album After Laughter featuring a newish sound with a newish lineup into a pop musical landscape that had grown increasingly unfriendly toward rock music in the preceding decade. Today we’re talking about the lead single from that effort, the disco new wave fantasia, “Hard Times.”

Today, we're talking about Cher's 1982 post-disco flop, "I Paralyze," which didn't just paralyze her music career, it shot it and put it in a five year coma.

What does it take to sustain a pop music career for multiple decades? Talent? Charisma? Sheer force of will? Twelve-year-old singer Mariah Carey's attempts to remain in the pop cultural spotlight for over thirty years have given us some of the highest of highs and lowest of lows. Today we're discussing one of those lows, 2012's non-album single "Triumphant (Get 'Em)" and its accompanying Throwback Remix.

Today, we're talking three holiday songs that we believe should be on every holiday playlist: "Joyful Joyful" by Jazmine Sullivan (and Pentatonix), "Joy To The World" by Whitney Houston, and Barbra Streisand's chaotic "Jingle Bells?" Happy Holidays!

In 2007, actress and singer Miranda Cosgrove rose to stardom on the hit Nickelodeon sitcom iCarly, a show which inspired the youth of America to seek fame by broadcasting themselves on the internet with seemingly little concern over their personal privacy or safety. In 2010 she took an obligatory turn at pop stardom and released her debut album, Sparks Fly. Though a moderate hit, the album may not have reached as many non-iCarly fans as hoped, and by the time iCarly ended in 2012, so too had Miranda Cosgrove’s recording career. Today we’re talking about her 2010 song, “Disgusting.”

Today we're talking about the actress Brittany Murphy and her cover of Queen's "Somebody to Love" from the 2006 animated penguin film Happy Feet, as well as the fantastic Stevie Wonder cover by Fantasia, Patti LaBelle, and Yolanda Adams on the same soundtrack.

In 2002, Kelly Osbourne parlayed her role in her family's reality show into a major label record deal and a buzzy pop punk single featured on MTV. In 2005 she debuted an entirely new synthpop sound, and though audiences seemed to be warming up to this new iteration of Kelly, the effort proved to be her swan song. Today we're talking about her final single, "One Word."

Today we're talking about "Million Dollar Bill," Whitney Houston's last single released during her lifetime, which, after more than 25 years topping the charts, hit number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In the 90s, pop singer Jennifer Lopez rode a wave of success, starting as a Fly Girl on TV's "In Living Color" and ending the decade as a certified triple threat. But after a string of hit movies and albums, 2007's Brave proved a threat to no one and its second single "Hold It Don't Drop It' failed to chart.