85 Years Of Billboard Charts

I couldn’t not do a Billboard series could I? With most of the charts available easily enough to put into the database, and a wealth of data from places like Discogs and Wikipedia to augment the data, I just couldn’t resit.

I do know of course that Record Research have bene making – and continue to make – chart books from the Billboard charts. The recent launch of their Top Pop 1990-2022 book caused the most number of book sales they ever had in a day, so they are still going strong and their books are still the definitive for accuracy.

So.. why should I do my own series then?

Well, mostly it was because I wanted to focus on a specific chart and see the data pertaining to that chart in one place. Record Research do combine multiple charts into a single line of data – and I do get why in a printed volume. In an online PDF book, I can have an almost limitless number of pages with ease. The new series will feature never before revealed statistics, such as biggest drop in the chart, highest climb, highest new entry, etc. Just have a look at the sample pages from several issues to see the type of data included.

I’ve also been able to make use of colour to highlight various facts, which I hope make it an enjoyable read.

I do understand that their will always be some who wish that I had done a different chart set for my next series (UK Albums keeps getting asked about!) but I do have a plan and as 70 Years of UK Albums is coming up in 2026, I think you can figure out what the series after Billboard Pop Singles might be…

For now though, I hope you subscribe – or find an issue or two you like – or a decade or two you like! – and have a read through the data.