Mic The Snare joins Pop Pantheon to unpack the wild, unbridled genius of pop’s ultimate enigma, Kate Bush. Louie & Mic The Snare dig into Kate’s teenage record deal and her debut single, 1978’s “Wuthering Heights.” From there they discuss her debut album The Kick Inside, her legendary first – and only – full live tour and her early, pre-MTV adoption music videos for singles like “Babooksha.” Then they work through her gloriously sprawling career, from her 1982 debut on the U.S. album charts, The Dreaming to her most indelible record, 1985’s Hounds of Love, and her U.S. breakthrough in 1989, The Sensual World, through to her 2005 comeback Aerial and her final album, 2011’s 50 Words for Snow. Finally, they rank Kate Bush in the Official Pop Pantheon.

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It seems like every single Main Pop Girl has dropped an album this year: Ariana, Kacey, Beyoncé, Taylor, Dua, Billie and Charli. And we're only six months in! It's been a whole lot of new music to process but now that we've had a minute to sit with these records, Keep It's Ira Madison III joins DJ Louie to reflect on all of these records, what they have common, what makes each stand out, and debate which they liked and disliked. Ira and Louie give each of the girlie's albums a "Pitchfork rating" and end the show with a final ranking of all the Main Pop Girl Albums of 2024... so far.

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Normani's debut solo album has been over five years in the making. Now that Dopamine is finally here, was it worth the wait? And with the heat having died down on her career, does it matter? Rolling Stone's Larisha Paul joins the show to help break it all down. 

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Tre Johnson returns to Pop Pantheon for a special Pride episode about one of pop's greatest disruptors, Frank Ocean. Louie and Tre discuss Frank’s first foray into the industry, writing for artists like Brandy and Justin Bieber and his rapturous breakthrough mixtape, 2011’s Nostalgia Ultra, which instantly turned Frank into a critical darling and rewrote the aesthetic and commercial rules of pop. Then they tackle his major label debut, 2012’s Channel Orange, which was accompanied by his version of a coming out, his sparse and meandering 2016 visual album, Endless, and his first independent release, the esoteric, beautiful Blonde. Finally, they discuss his output since 2016 and rank Frank Ocean in the official Pop Pantheon.

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Charli XCX's sixth studio album Brat, which dropped Friday, was posited as a dance album. What we actually got was something quite a bit more complicated. On this week's episode, Louie and Russ break the whole thing down.

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To kick off Pride Month, Freelance Music Writer Trish Bendix and Senior Editor at Xtra Magazine Mel Woods join Louie to track the conspicuous rise of sapphic-ness in mainstream pop. From BoyGenius to Chappell Roan to Billie Eilish, girls who like girls and make that a huge feature in the music are crossing over onto the top of the Billboard charts. How did we get here? When did this story begin to happen?  And what does it say about our culture that this is finally allowed to happen?

Read Trish's Piece "Long cast aside, queer women are starting to get their due from the music industry" in NBC News

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Molly Mary O’Brien returns to Pop Pantheon to unpack the unlikely longevity of Pink. Louie and Molly chart Pink’s emergence in Philadelphia clubs as a teenager through to her brief girl group career and her pop debut as a blue-eyed R&B product at the turn of the millennium with 2000’s Can’t Take Me Home. From there they discuss “Lady Marmalade,” Pink’s rocker image overhaul with 2001’s Linda Perry-assisted juggernaut Missundaztood, 2006’s hit-filled I’m Not Dead and 2008’s Funhouse, which brought her reincarnation as pop’s greatest circus performer. Then they unpack her mid-career hits, from “Raise Your Glass” to 2012’s The Truth About Love and her long-lasting career as a stadium-filling live act. Finally, they rank Pink in the Official Pop Pantheon.  

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The most recent in a long lineage of music biopics, Back to Black, which purports to chronicle the life of the late great Amy Winehouse came out in the US last week. The film received mostly negative reviews and underperformed at the box office. So why are these movies, generally speaking, so unsuccessful and why do we keep making then? Movie Critic Keith Phipps join DJ Louie to discuss Back to Black, the history of music biopics, why the good ones are good and why most of them are so bad.

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Billie Eilish released her third album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, last Friday. The LA Times' Mikael Wood joins DJ Louie to chronicle the latest evolution in Billie and Finneas' ongoing collaboration and how it fits into the broader glut of Main Pop Girl releases in 2024.

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Yale University’s Dr. Daphne Brooks returns to Pop Pantheon to unpack one of the foundational blueprints for pop stardom as we know it, Tina Turner. Dr. Brooks and Louie trace Tina’s roots in Tennessee, her debut as a nightclub act in St. Louis and her early work with Ike Turner, from their hit single “A Fool in Love” to their string of R&B hits, fiery live revue and work with Phil Spector. They recount Tina’s influence on the major white rock acts of the period, Ike and Tina’s 1971 hit “Proud Mary” and her first solo album, Tina Turns the Country On. Then they recount her split from Ike and 1984’s blockbuster Private Dancer – one of the greatest comebacks in pop history. Finally, they discuss her continued global success through to her passing, her seismic influence and legacy and rank Tina Turner in the Official Pop Pantheon.

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