The Chart King, Joel Whitburn, 1939 – 2022

He was the man that fueled millions of chart fanatics around the world. A man who never lost his love for Billboard or its many music charts. A man who took one small book and turned it into a small but beloved musical empire. Joel Whitburn, the founder of Record Research, passed away in his sleep on Tuesday June 14, he was 82 years old. His passion for music and for the Billboard music charts in particular spurred Joel to write his first book, the aptly titled “Record Research – The Billboard Hot 100 Chart 1958-1969”  in 1970. Since then,

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TKR – The Past, The Present…and the FUTURE

So over the past several months, I’ve been really thinking about what I have always wanted my music site to be, and over the last couple of weeks, I’ve sat down and made some notes about things I want to change, things I want to upgrade, things I want to introduce and more. And I thought I’d talk a little bit about it with you. First off, I will be cleaning up the charts area of the site. I was recently looking at things, and as cool as it is to finally have (almost) all my years of personal charts

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Out with the old, in with the new…HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Hey all, I’m so sorry things just kinda went dark here in mid-September. I didn’t even do my annual Junior Eurovision coverage because of a bunch of issues in real life, I am so sorry about that. Things are finally settling down, and I’m able to get stock of things. However, it is the end of the year, and I will be starting the new year with a BANG! In addition to a slightly redesigned site logo, which made it’s debut a few weeks ago, I have also added TKR Video Central, the TKR YouTube channel, to the sidebar courtesy

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Countdown to Eurovision ’21: #06 – Switzerland

#6 – Switzerland “Tout l’Univers“ Gjon’s Tears Songwriters: Gjon Muharremaj, Nina Sampermans, Wouter Hardy, Xavier Michel The Kirkham Report welcomes you to my coverage of the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest!  From April 3 to the end of May, I’ll be here with all the latest ESC news and info, and of course, through May 11, that means I’m also bringing you all the info on each song this year ranked in order of my personal preference from bottom to top. I’ll give the reasons for my personal rankings, and some background info on the song, artist, songwriters, and such.  Again, these

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ESC Chart Watch – It’s not over for “Arcade” yet, peeps…

As noted recently, 2019 Eurovision champ Duncan Laurence has done the nearly-impossible – two weeks ago, he broke the 25 year drought of ESC songs on America’s oldest, and most-revered chart, the Billboard Hot 100! “Arcade” debuted on the Hot 100 AT number 100 two weeks ago…and then fell off the chart after just one week. This week, he rebounds, re-debuting at #94, six notches above his first debut!  No matter what happens in the future, though, Laurence’s  2019 Eurovision champ was the little song that could, becoming the first ESC-connected song to chart in the USA since 1996’s “Ooh

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ESC/Billboard Chart Update: “Arcade” misses again, and sadly may not have the fire to do it…

I reported a couple of weeks ago here on TKR that Duncan Laurence‘s 2019 ESC-winning entry “Arcade” was mere millimeters from becoming the first ESC-connected song to hit Billboard‘s revered Hot 100 chart in in 25 years. Now, sadly, the moment for the Netherlands’ winner MAY have passed. In checking Billboard‘s other reference charts, despite still-growing airplay on AC and Hot AC radio, and decent runs on those charts, “Arcade” hit #101 – just ONE FRIGGIN’ SPOT below the official Hot 100 – two weeks ago. As of this morning’s issue, the song is at #109 on what is known

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IT’S ALMOST HERE! Eurovision Countdown starts Saturday

GREETINGS PEOPLES!  It’s that time of year again! I wish I hadn’t had life get in the way over the last six or so weeks when I was hoping to do more on National Finals coverage and all that stuff, but I’m not going to dwell in the past – the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest Countdown starts this Saturday, April 3! 39 songs to be ranked, 39 artists to spotlight, plus news and other ESC related specials – all coming between now and the official broadcasts beginning with the first semifinal on May 18, followed by the second semifinal on

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DAILY VID: “Too Shy” by Kajagoogoo

A blast from the past is what I’m in the mood for today, and Kajagoogoo fits the bill! Released in 1983, it quickly blasted up the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #5. Although they would continue to hit the UK charts for the next two years, both before and after the band fired lead singer Limahl, they never hit the Top 40 again in America; Limahl would manage the same feat in 1984 with his first solo hit “The NeverEnding Story“, which peaked at #17 on the US chart. Both songs are fond memories of both people. I’ll do some

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