Welcome to The Lost Songs Project, where we remember, replay, and go really deep on forgotten top 10 hits.

The Lost Songs Project is run by Mark Blankenship. That’s me! (And here’s my website!)

I’m a culture journalist whose obsession with pop music started in seventh grade, when I tracked the weekly Billboard charts that were printed in my local paper. I also love recommending songs to people, because it truly brings me joy to share music.

Plus, I’m fascinated by songs that were big hits for a moment and then pretty much disappeared. Where did they go? Why did they go? And isn’t it possible they’re fantastic, or at least have fantastic back stories?

In my experience, lost songs can be the most interesting, because they’re both entertaining and instructive. As we’re tapping our toes or shaking our groove things, we also can get a window into particular moments in time. Or to put it another way: When we rediscover lost songs, we rediscover part of ourselves.

Every Monday, subscribers will be sent a forgotten top 10 hit from the Hot 100, along with relevant fun facts, analysis, and history. Occasionally, you’ll also receive bonus posts about songs selected by founding subscribers.

Paid subscribers get even more: For $5 a month or $55 a year, you get…

* a weekly bonus post about a lost hit from one of Billboard major genre charts: alternative, rock, country, or R&B.

* a monthly round-up of excellent new songs. Think of it as a curated playlist of the latest, hottest tunes.

* exclusive access to bonus content, including interviews with the artists behind lost hits.

* exclusive permission to comment on posts and participate in other community activities. (More on that below.)

* access to the complete archive of posts.

The Lost Songs Project is solely supported by subscribers like you (though if you’d like to purchase advertising, feel free to email me at lostsongs@substack.com.)

Without your support, the project can’t exist, so subscribe today!

What makes a song “lost?”

We’re calling a song is “lost” if it reached the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 (or a genre chart) and has fewer than 10 million streams on Spotify.

What’s this I hear about an LSP community?

The rumors are true! Half the fun of doing this is talking to each other about the music, so we’re going to keep discussion threads going about everything from current entries to overlooked subgenres to weird high school memories that get sparked by hearing “Just Another Dream” by Cathy Dennis.

Meanwhile, you can follow me on Twitter or check out my pop music podcast, Mark and Sarah Talk About Songs.