Music Memories – The Kirkham Report

The Chart King, Joel Whitburn, 1939 – 2022

June 16, 2022 TC Kirkham Authors, Charts, Memory Lane, Music, Passages, PNRNetworks, Pop Culture, Records, The Kirkham Report, Thoughts and Musings, Weblogs

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,

TKR – The Past, The Present…and the FUTURE

April 25, 2022 TC Kirkham Announcements, Blog, Charts, COLUMNS, Eurovision, Music, News, PNRNetworks, Pop Culture, Records, The Kirkham Report, Thoughts and Musings, Weblogs

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

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

December 31, 2021 TC Kirkham Announcements, COLUMNS, Music, News, PNRNetworks, Pop Culture, Records, Songs, Spotify, The Kirkham Report, Things N Stuff, Thoughts and Musings, TKR On YouTube, Vinyl Community, Web/Tech, Weblogs

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

TKR on YouTube: Record Store Day Drop Two want list

July 11, 2021 TC Kirkham COLUMNS, Music, PNRNetworks, Pop Culture, Record Store Day, Record Stores, Records, The Kirkham Report, Thoughts and Musings, TKR On YouTube, Vinyl Collecting, Vinyl Community, Weblogs

Time to take a look at this coming weekend – wants for Record Store Day 2021 Drop 2! Check out my friend Katie over at Vintage and Vinyl – you can take a look right here!

TKR on YouTube – An exciting new miniseries coming soon….

June 5, 2021 TC Kirkham Announcements, COLUMNS, Music, PNRNetworks, Pop Culture, Radio, Records, Songs, The Kirkham Report, TKR On YouTube, Vinyl Community, Weblogs

A teaser for my brand new miniseries…it was a time that some have called the greatest musical summer of all time…classic hits, classic albums, classic music…and it all happened in one six month period, and centered in one particular season…an original TKR Miniseries coming in late July…“Summer of ’78” – Please….be here!

TKR on YouTube – Gratitude

May 24, 2021 TC Kirkham COLUMNS, Music, PNRNetworks, Pop Culture, The Kirkham Report, Thoughts and Musings, TKR On YouTube, Vinyl Collecting, Vinyl Community, Weblogs

Taking part in the gratitude thread started by JJ 22 Explosive Hits, shouting out a ton of favorite channels – if you’re not here, I’m sorry – to get a COMPLETE list of everyone I subscribe to, go to my “Channels” section – I have them ALL listed there! As for on the video, I got one name wrong because I forgot they changed the name of their channel (Sorry JT) and accidentally skipped another one on my list (sorry Jeff Whitcher – I have so many on the list – I didn’t mean to forget you, I love your

TKR on YouTube – My First Crate Digging In Nearly TWO DECADES!!

May 16, 2021 TC Kirkham The Kirkham Report

So….it has been YEARS since I actually went crate digging…when I fell out of getting physical media for about two decades, I just didn’t have the time and didn’t make the effort. But now that I am once again collecting CDs and LPs, I couldn’t wait to go out. It’s a shame that there aren’t more places to go that I can get to without too much effort. But I hit our local Savers store, and the Newbury Comics at the mall…and this is what I got….along with a few other observations…and memories…

PASSAGES: Menudo’s Ray Reyes passes at 51

May 5, 2021 TC Kirkham BREAKING NEWS, Music, Musicians, News, Passages, PNRNetworks, Pop Culture, Radio, Records, The Kirkham Report, Thoughts and Musings, Weblogs

If you were a teen girl in the 1980s, chances are you had a poster of Menudo somewhere on your wall; the year (or even the month, heh heh) you had it up would have determined which members of the rotating always youthful Puerto Rican boy band would have been featured. Ray Reyes, who was a member of the band during the days when Menudo attempted (and unfortunately largely failed) to conquer America as they had other countries, passed away on April 30 2021 from a heart attack; he was just 51 years old. Reyes, born in New York City

PASSAGES: Bay City Rollers’ singer Les McKeown dead at 65

April 22, 2021 TC Kirkham BREAKING NEWS, Music, Musicians, News, Passages, PNRNetworks, Pop Culture, Radio, Records, The Kirkham Report, Thoughts and Musings, Weblogs

Another day, another part of my teen years gone… Les McKeown, who sang lead for the major hits from mid-70s teen heartthrob Scottish band Bay City Rollers, died suddenly Tuesday (4/20), he was 65 years old. McKeown was the lead singer for the band during their major hitmaking period from 1973-78, which saw Rollermania spread around the world. They had more hits in their native UK and in Europe than they managed in the U.S. but still managed a number of smashes here, the biggest of which was their 1975 #1 smash “Saturday Night” (which ironically was NOT a single

PASSAGES: Jim Steinman, creator of “Bat Out Of Hell”, dead at 73

April 20, 2021 TC Kirkham BREAKING NEWS, Film, Music, Musicians, News, Passages, PNRNetworks, Pop Culture, Radio, Records, Songs, The Kirkham Report, Thoughts and Musings, Weblogs

He was an incredible songwriter, and an even more incredible producer. Jim Steinman, the man who put Meat Loaf on the map in 1977 with “Bat Out Of Hell” and who helped his career resurgence in 1993 with “Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell“, has died, he was 73. Steinman became one of the most prolific writers and producers in the 1980s and 1990s, writing and/or producing huge hits for a variety of acts that crossed genre lines, including Barry Manilow (“Read ‘Em And Weep“), Barbra Streisand (“Left In The Dark“), Bonnie Tyler (“Total Eclipse Of The Heart”,