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RoknRobnLoxley
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| Posted: 22 March 2023 at 7:07am | IP Logged
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Hey yall, I've got great news. Unknown to me until 2 weeks ago, there has been an author churning out high quality Canadian chart books over the past 8 years. Brian Tarling has published the following Canadian chart books:
--RPM's Pop Charted Songs 1964-90, 854 p, 1.7" thick
--RPM's Pop Charted Tracks 1990-2000, 432 p, (now sold out)
--CHUM's Charted Songs 1957-1986, 568 p, 1.2" thick, (now sold out)
--Vancouver's Charted Songs 1956-78, 719 p, 1.4" thick
--Vancouver's Charted Songs 1979-93, 310 p, 0.7" thick
I bought 4 of these books, and they are most impressive. 8.5 x 11" each, paperback. Type size is nice and big, 1st class books all the way, very similar to the quality of the Record Research Whitburn books, just not hardcover. No artist bios or photos. Definitely worth the cost and the expensive air mail shipping.
And each is 2 books in one. Each book contains the usual records by artist section, but also includes a pop annual section broken down year by year, with records ranked by chart peak, similar to the Whitburn singles Pop Annual. A meticulous introduction with info on methodology, history, notes, etc. A stats and rankings section, with the usual song title section. See the link below for more info, sample pages, pricing, etc.
Brian is also working as we speak on a new RPM Pop Albums book, due out soon. I don't think a book on RPM albums has ever been done before. I don't think Ted Kennedy did albums, Nanda Lwin did albums but I think only for The Record magazine charts.
So if anyone is interested in these, go for it. If you want copies of the 2 sold out books, ask Brian to go for a reprinting, or to try and set up a print-on-demand. He's done 3 editions of the first Vancouver book, so there is hope for the other sell outs. His contact info / email is on the 'home', 'details', and 'buy now' pages of each book at the link below.
I had been trying to find copies of Canadian chart books by Ted Kennedy (RPM + The Record singles) and Nanda Lwin (The Record singles and albums) for over 10 years, new or used in any condition, and they are impossible to find anywhere, other than in libraries in Canada, ugh. These Brian Tarling books just fell outta the sky. Great googly moogly !! Prices are in Canadian $, so multiply by 0.7317 to get to US $.
Operators are standing by, happy chart rocking !! Link:
Brian Tarling Canadian chart books
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vanmeter
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| Posted: 22 March 2023 at 8:57am | IP Logged
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Well I just went shopping - thank you!
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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 22 March 2023 at 11:17pm | IP Logged
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These sound really interesting. Are RPM & CHUM simply 2
different versions of the Canadian Pop charts, like how we
have Billboard & Record World....?
Edited by EdisonLite on 22 March 2023 at 11:17pm
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Paul Haney
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| Posted: 23 March 2023 at 3:02am | IP Logged
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Thanks for the info, Robin!
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jebsib
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| Posted: 23 March 2023 at 4:59am | IP Logged
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EdisonLite -
CHUM was basically the radio playlist chart of the most influential Canadian
Top 40 station (Toronto) at the time.
Per Wikipedia, Canada didn't have an official chart till RPM in 1964, so from
1958 - 1964, CHUM info is used as the de facto Canadian chart. Then RPM,
despite the 2 co-existing for years. My parents lived in Canada in the 40s and
50s and can confirm that Canada did indeed have music charts back then, they
just don't recall the source.
At the same time, Billboard used a variety of sources in their mag during the
60-90s: CBC, Maple Leaf System, CRIA and most notably, The Record from
1983-1996.
RPM appears to be the only chart with 100 positions.
Anyone know how many positions the Record generally had?
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Hykker
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| Posted: 23 March 2023 at 5:22am | IP Logged
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Looking at the sample pages, I noticed a number of songs with a notation to the effect of "off the chart for x weeks due to RPM policy".
Curiously, what was that all about?
'.
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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 23 March 2023 at 2:15pm | IP Logged
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[DELETED]
Edited by EdisonLite on 23 March 2023 at 2:23pm
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RoknRobnLoxley
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| Posted: 25 March 2023 at 11:36am | IP Logged
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Hykker wrote:
Looking at the sample pages, I noticed a number of songs with a notation to the effect of "off the chart for x weeks due to RPM policy".
Curiously, what was that all about? |
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This RPM singles chart policy went something like this, briefly over a 14 month period. From Jan 1965 to Mar 1966 when the chart was still a Top 40, if a record did not move up or maintain its peak for the new week, then it was removed from the chart. Ugh !! Even #1's and Top 10's, yikes !! This rule was done away with in late Mar 1966 when the chart was expanded to a Top 100. So when this rule was thrown out, there were some records that had been removed from the Top 40 chart that were now allowed back in under the new Top 100. These records were thus "off the chart for x weeks due to RPM policy".
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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 02 April 2023 at 12:08pm | IP Logged
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There were also gaps in the '70s (and perhaps '80s) where there were 4, 6
or 7 weeks where there simply was no RPM chart. Unfortunately, some
songs never reached their highest chart position because of this.
I received the RPM's Pop Charted Songs 1964-90 book about a week ago.
It's GREAT! I highly recommend buying it if you like the Whitburn Hot 100
book. Or any chart book.
As for his 2 sold-out Canadian chart books:
--RPM's Pop Charted Tracks 1990-2000, 432 p, (now sold out)
--CHUM's Charted Songs 1957-1986, 568 p, 1.2" thick, (now sold out)
He told me he's thinking of printing a one-time only book (made on
demand) if he gets a request, or doing an official reprint of either or both
books if he gets the requests for them.
Is anyone here interested in getting those?
If so, go to Brian's page and let him know you'd like to buy those. It could
make all the difference:
Brian Tarling Canadian chart books
http://www.vancouverschartedsongs.ca/
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RoknRobnLoxley
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| Posted: 03 April 2023 at 11:03am | IP Logged
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EdisonLite, good point/reminder on those RPM singles chart gaps of 4-6-7 weeks from 1975-80-81. I sent Brian Tarling an email suggesting future reprints might could go with using a competitor chart for these weeks lost to history, such as the CHUM or Vancouver charts. (The Record charts did not begin until 1983.)
Similar to what was done in the UK, the 'official' BMRB album charts were not published for 8 weeks in early 1971, so the chart books at first 'froze' them. Not good !! Eventually UK chart expert/historian/guru Alan Smith appealed to the Guinness Books to use a competitor chart for these 'frozen' weeks, and so they did, and filled them in with the Melody Maker album charts. The 'official' charts ended up going along with this too.
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torcan
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| Posted: 03 April 2023 at 8:58pm | IP Logged
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I received the 1964-90 book late last week and would
highly recommend it. It's interesting comparing Canadian
charts to US charts. There's a lot of similarities but
some surprising differences as well.
It really captures the 45 era in Canada, which kind of
ended by the summer of 1990 as labels phased them out in
favor of cassette singles. Unfortunately, nothing prior
to mid-64 is included because RPM didn't start until that
time.
The book does list a handful of hits in 1989 and '90 that
were US-pressed 45s. CBS Records (mostly) started
importing some 45s towards the end with the designation
"made in USA for sale in Canada" in place of where the
barcode would be, but they still should be considered
domestic releases because they were easily available at
local record stores and at regular prices.
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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 06 April 2023 at 12:34am | IP Logged
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<There's a lot of similarities but
some surprising differences as well. >
I felt the same way while reading it. Some artist's hits had very parallel chart
careers in Canada. On the other hand, I found many examples where in the
US the artist had one big hit and one minor hit, and I found it very
interesting that in Canada the two songs were reversed.
And of course, there were many Canadian-content artists I'd never heard of
and I want to check out many songs on YouTube (especially the '70s), as
there are probably lots of good finds in this book.
I haven't read all the introductory pages yet - but obviously there are some
4-week, 6-week, and 7-week periods that were never published back then.
But do they give the reason why? It seems odd that a national publication
would do that.
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Paul C
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| Posted: 06 April 2023 at 6:56am | IP Logged
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EdisonLite wrote:
I haven't read all the introductory pages yet - but obviously there are
some
4-week, 6-week, and 7-week periods that were never published back
then.
But do they give the reason why? It seems odd that a national
publication
would do that. |
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The reason there were these periods that RPM did not publish
was......Canadian postal strikes.
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jebsib
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| Posted: 06 April 2023 at 1:17pm | IP Logged
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Got the book (RPM 64-90) and loved it.
The introductory pages are a home run - they describe the retail landscape in
Canada very well.
Honestly, this is an incredible book - and I am desperately wanting a copy of
that sold out 1990s follow up.
Bet Mr Tarling is surprised by all this sudden traffic / inquiries!
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torcan
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| Posted: 08 April 2023 at 7:44pm | IP Logged
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jebsib wrote:
Honestly, this is an incredible book - and I am
desperately wanting a copy of
that sold out 1990s follow up.
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I'm considering getting that one too. If you thought the
singles market in the US was confusing in the '90s, it
Canada it was even more so.
There were still 45s released in Canada after the
2/10/1990 cut-off date of the first book, but as
mentioned in the introductory notes, the RMP charts
didn't even list catalog numbers of singles anymore.
By summer, most singles released were cassette - but
while the US still had all the chart hits available
commercially, many chart hits weren't released on
commercial singles in Canada - it was hit and miss. The
record companies here seemed more nervous about singles
canniballizing album sales than they were in the US.
Cassingles never really caught on here like they did
there, and faded out rather quickly. CD singles came
next but many were quite expensive, at least in the
beginning. Finally, by the later '90s, all the companies
made an effort to have a viable singles market again and
cheap CD singles were plenty (usually about $3.99) and
available on most chart hits. This lasted several years,
but by the early 2000s when downloading (legally or
illegally) became popular, the singles market all but
dried up.
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RoknRobnLoxley
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| Posted: 11 April 2023 at 7:41am | IP Logged
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Just to reiterate, any of us who'd like to purchase copies of Brian's 2 sold out Canadian chart books [RPM Pop Charted Tracks 1990-2000, CHUM's Charted Songs 1957-86], please let him know this !! ASAP would be groovy, so he can decide on reprinting them. Either by a new full print run, or going with a print-on-demand. Shoot him an email. Fab groovy keen !!
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jebsib
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| Posted: 11 April 2023 at 11:09am | IP Logged
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Someone has already - within the last 2 weeks (!) started updating / correcting
many, many Wikipedia entries based on the data in these books.
The power of this site!!
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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 11 April 2023 at 4:09pm | IP Logged
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<Honestly, this is an incredible book - and I am desperately wanting a copy of
that sold out 1990s follow up.>
At first, I wasn't too interested in getting the '90s decade, but after reading the
'64'-89 book, I definitely want to buy it. I'll let Brian know. I already expressed
interest in the CHUM book.
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RoknRobnLoxley
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| Posted: 12 April 2023 at 6:17am | IP Logged
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A heads up on Brian Tarling's upcoming Canadian "RPM Pop ALBUMS" chart book: it too will also include an ANNUAL section, LPs ranked each year by peak position. Great googly moogly !!
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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 18 April 2023 at 1:45am | IP Logged
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I got this response from Brian, as I'm sure some of you would be interested.
I was asking about the out-of-print CHUM book & the RPM ’90-00 book
Hi Gordon,
I am currently working on my 6th book.
I will make available both 'out of print books' in due course. I am
considering an alternative printer,
so, I'm not sure as to the timeline. I'm hoping for late May, but it might be
earlier.
I have noted your request.
Thanks for your interest.
Brian
***
Late May isn't too far off, so let's hope that turns out to be the case.
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Topic: Canadian Chart Books
