Switched on Pop

We have Confessions to make...

Madonna has returned this summer with Confessions II: an album full of huge hooks, pounding bass, and sincere emotion. It’s the queen of pop's first record in seven years, and serves as a sequel to her 2005 smash hit, Confessions on a Dance Floor. The record ties together threads that have existed throughout Madonna’s entire discography, but it also serves a greater purpose. Confessions II is Madonna’s biopic, allowing her to tell her story on her own terms. On this episode of Switched on Pop, producer (and Madonna superfan) Reanna Cruz walks Charlie and Nate through the record, and makes the case for it being the best Madonna record of the last twenty years. CREDITS Reanna Cruz: Producer Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer Dion Lee: Art Director Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer Nick Ripps: Video Editor Nate Sloan: Host Lissa Soep: Editor Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions. Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠ Songs discussed: Madonna, Sabrina Carpenter – Bring Your Love Madonna – Express Yourself Madonna – Hung Up Madonna – Danceteria Madonna – Vogue Lou Reed – Walk On the Wild Side Madonna – Get Together Madonna – I Feel So Free Donna Summer – I Feel Love Madonna – One Step Away Madonna – Nothing Fails Madonna – Everything Madonna – Fragile Madonna – Frozen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A piano lesson that will change how you listen (ft. Lang Lang)

For many people – including Charlie and Nate – studying classical piano as a child always felt like a chore. Now, as adults, there’s a newfound appreciation for classical music, but the art form isn’t always accessible. One of the people trying to change that is the world-renowned pianist Lang Lang, classical piano’s greatest interpreter. On this episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie sits down with Lang Lang at the Steinway showroom in New York City to see how taste changes over time, the different ways a master pianist can interpret a work, and ultimately, why classical music is still important. CREDITS Reanna Cruz: Producer Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer Dion Lee: Art Director Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer Nick Ripps: Video Editor Nate Sloan: Host Lissa Soep: Editor Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions. Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

IV. Take It to the Bridge (ft. Tayla Parx)

Bridges open up the world of a song: they're a breath of fresh air and a point of contrast, typically delivered right before the final chorus. But sometimes they accomplish even more, changing the whole meaning of a song by introducing a note of doubt, or even defiance. This is what the best artists do, from Beyoncé to the Beatles to Taylor Swift, but some critics are concerned that the bridge is in danger of being demolished. On this episode, Charlie and Nate speak to songwriter and artist Tayla Parx, who's worked with everyone from Ariana Grande to Panic! At the Disco, to learn why the bridge matters more than ever — and why an artist might still want to skip it altogether. CREDITS Reanna Cruz: Producer Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer Dion Lee: Art Director Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer Nick Ripps: Video Editor Nate Sloan: Host Lissa Soep: Editor Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions. Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠ Songs discussed: James Brown, "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" Led Zeppelin, "The Crunge" Aretha Franklin, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" Judy Garland, "Over the Rainbow" "On the Sunny Side of the Street" The Beatles, "No Reply" The Beatles, “We Can Work It Out" The Beatles, "Something" Beyoncé, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" Chappell Roan, "Good Luck, Babe!" Maisie Peters, "I'm Trying (Not Friends)" OutKast, "Hey Ya!" Taylor Swift, "Cruel Summer" Taylor Swift, "Getaway Car" Ariana Grande, "7 rings" Ariana Grande, "pov" JENNIE, "like JENNIE" Ravyn Lenae, "Saturday Night" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

III. Preaching to the Chorus (ft. Cypress Hill and Trevor Horn)

The chorus was once the part of the song that brought us together, the place we gathered to sing. Now it's the most engineered thirty seconds in music. Legendary producer Trevor Horn and hip-hop icon B-Real of Cypress Hill help Charlie and Nate answer the question on their minds: when everything's a hook, is anything a chorus? CREDITS Reanna Cruz: Producer Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer Dion Lee: Art Director Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer Nick Ripps: Video Editor Nate Sloan: Host Lissa Soep: Editor Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions. Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠ Songs discussed: Whitney Houston, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" Bruce Springsteen, "Born in the U.S.A." Handel, "Hallelujah Chorus" (from Messiah) Pete Seeger, "Oh! Susanna" Odetta, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, “Ain't No Mountain High Enough" Handel, "Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted" (from Messiah) Joan Morris & William Bolcom, "After the Ball" Judy Garland, "Over the Rainbow" Chuck Berry, "Johnny B. Goode" The Beatles, “Yesterday" The Beatles, "Getting Better" Otis Redding, "Respect" Aretha Franklin, "Respect" Dolly Parton, "I Will Always Love You" Whitney Houston, “I Will Always Love You" The Buggles, "Video Killed the Radio Star" Prince, "I Wanna Be Your Lover" Katy Perry, "Roar" Calvin Harris, “I Need Your Love" (ft. Ellie Goulding) Britney Spears, "(You Drive Me) Crazy" Katy Perry, "Teenage Dream" Maroon 5, "Payphone" (ft. Wiz Khalifa) Bad Bunny, “Si Veo a Tu Mamá" Drake, "Janice STFU" Lykke Li, "I Follow Rivers" Charli xcx, "Rock Music" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

II. Justice for the verse (ft. Audrey Hobert)

Everybody sings the chorus, but superfans quote the verse. On this episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie and Nate trace the verse from Shakespeare through opera to TikTok, and songwriter Audrey Hobert shares her philosophy of specific verses and anthemic choruses: you can't have the payoff without the setup. CREDITS Reanna Cruz: Producer Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer Dion Lee: Art Director Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer Nick Ripps: Video Editor Nate Sloan: Host Lissa Soep: Editor Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions. Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠ Songs discussed: Aretha Franklin, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" Edward Meeker, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" Third Eye Blind, "Semi-Charmed Life" Zara Larsson, "Lush Life" John Denver, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" Rick Astley, "Never Gonna Give You Up" William Smith, Choir of New College, Oxford, Edward Higginbottom, "Opening Versicles and Responses" Georges Bizet, Michel Plasson, Angela Gheorghiu, Les Éléments, Orchestre National Du Capitole De Toulouse, "Bizet: Carmen, WD 31, Act 1: Habanera. "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" (Carmen, Chœur)" Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" Built to Spill, "Joyride" The Killers, "Mr. Brightside" Gracie Abrams, "That's So True" Audrey Hobert, "Sue me" Lizzo, "About Damn Time" Audrey Hobert, "Drive" Audrey Hobert, "Bowling alley" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices