{"id":2184379,"date":"2026-10-07T21:09:59","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T18:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2184379"},"modified":"2026-10-07T21:09:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T18:09:59","slug":"thelma-houston-kim-carnes-rupert-holmes-more-guest-on-new-podcast-hosted-by-billboard-chart-veterans-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2184379","title":{"rendered":"Thelma Houston, Kim Carnes, Rupert Holmes & More Guest on New Podcast Hosted By Billboard Chart Veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/podcast-studio-equipment-billboard-1800.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

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\n\tLongtime Billboard<\/em> contributor Fred Bronson spent more than a decade writing Billboard<\/em>\u2018s Chart Beat column, chronicling the artists, songs and records making waves on the charts. Michael Ellis, meanwhile, spent years overseeing Billboard<\/em> charts during his tenure as director of charts. Those two Billboard<\/em> chart veterans are now putting their knowledge behind a microphone to share their expertise.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tThe Fleetwoods\u2019 Gretchen Christopher Reflects on Topping the Hot 100 60 Years Ago\u00a0Today\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tTroye Sivan Talks \u2018Chaotic\u2019 New Album & Getting Madonna\u2019s Approval for \u2018Party\u2019: \u2018I Was Pleasantly Surprised\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n\tBronson and Ellis are among the hosts of A Heart for the Charts<\/em>, a new podcast from music chart reference company Record Research Inc. that launched Tuesday (Oct. 6). The series brings together chart history and firsthand stories from the artists who lived it, with a rotating lineup of hosts and guests discussing the records that defined their careers.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe podcast\u2019s first episode, \u201cThe Day I Went to Number One,\u201d features Thelma Houston and The Fleetwoods\u2019 Gretchen Christopher. Houston discusses the road to her 1977 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 \u201cDon\u2019t Leave Me This Way,\u201d while Christopher looks back at The Fleetwoods\u2019 rise from their high school beginnings to the top of the Hot 100 with \u201cCome Softly to Me\u201d in 1959.<\/p>\n

\n\tBronson might be the most recognizable name in the lineup to longtime Billboard<\/em> readers. He began writing Chart Beat in 1993, taking over the column that had been introduced by Paul Grein (Billboard<\/em>\u2018s reigning Awards Editor) in 1981. Bronson is also the author of The Billboard Book of Number One Hits<\/em>, among other books. Ellis brings a different perspective to the conversation. As Billboard<\/em>\u2018s former director of charts, he was responsible for the publication\u2019s weekly tallies, including the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200, both music industry standards.<\/p>\n

\n\tThey\u2019re joined on A Heart for the Charts<\/em> by Record Research Head Researcher Paul Haney, Second Disc founder Joe Marchese and Motown historian Andy Skurow.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe format leaves room for the hosts to get into the details behind famous chart runs, while also hearing directly from the people who experienced them. Judging from the first episode, the show is less about reciting peak positions and more focused on the stories surrounding those numbers.<\/p>\n

\n\tRecord Research Publisher Kim Bloxdorf is scheduled for the Oct. 20 episode to discuss her father, late chart historian and Record Research founder Joel Whitburn. Kim Carnes will follow on Nov. 3 to discuss her 1981 Hot 100-topping smash \u201cBette Davis Eyes,\u201d while Rupert Holmes is set to appear Nov. 17 to relive when \u201cEscape (The Pi\u00f1a Colada Song)\u201d reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1979, making it the last Hot 100 No. 1 of that decade. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe first season is scheduled to conclude Dec. 1.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen to the first episode below.<\/p>\n

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[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/heart-for-the-charts-podcast-1236356388\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/podcast-studio-equipment-billboard-1800.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Longtime Billboard contributor Fred Bronson spent more than a decade writing Billboard\u2018s Chart Beat column, chronicling the artists, songs and records making waves on the charts. Michael Ellis, meanwhile, spent years overseeing Billboard charts during his tenure as director of charts. Those two Billboard chart veterans are now putting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2184379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2184379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2184379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2184379\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2184379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2184379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2184379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}