Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 880 pages
- Published by: Billboard Books; 8 Exp Rev edition July 28, 2004
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0823074994
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0823074990
-
Book Dimensions:
9.2 x 7 x 1.9 inches
- Weighs: 3 pounds
Reader Reviews
It was during my pop music Renaissance in high school that I encountered the concept of how all those singles that I had been awakened to were on Billboard's Hot 100 charts, and those that entered the Top 40. It was my buddy Keith Webster who turned me onto that concept and how Casey Kasem's American Top forty was aired every Sunday on our local radio station. Then of course, the highlight was finding out who the Top Ten were, and finally, at the end of the show, who was the new No. 1 or still at No. 1. There was this horserace dynamic going on. Yes, having any Billboard book may make one a music nerd, but I consider that epithet a compliment. Of the two Billboard tomes I consider essential to any pop music buff, not having Joel Whitburn's Billboard Book of Top forty hits, revised every now and then, is tantamount to having green tea leaves and no hot water and cup. I cannot stress how vital this tome is. Whitburn's book consists of all singles that hit the Top forty from Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock," up through 2003, when Outkast's "Hey Ya" was at the top of the charts. The book is lexically indexed by artist or group, with a brief blurb of the group, including members, instruments they played, DOB, and info on if any of them died, or if any entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. From there, the columns under each artist/group consists of when the song debuted on the Top 40, its peak position, its duration in the Top 40, the title of the song, and the song's record label and number. If a single hit the Top Ten, it is highlighted in bold so one can count how many Top Ten hits a particular artist had. A round bullet to the left of the song title means the song went gold (sold a million copies), whereas a triangular bullet indicates platinum status (sold two million copies or above). To use the masterpiece of my favourite group the Beatles, "Hey Jude," it debuted on the charts on 14 September 1968, nearly three months after my birth, it was a #1 single for 9 weeks (yay!), spent 19 weeks on the Top 40, it went 4 times platinum, and the single was Apple 2276, the first Top forty single from Apple Records, by the way. I must've spent years peering through but not buying this book due to the price, and it's only after twenty odd years that it's in my collection of vital reference books. In closing, I offer this tidbit for those who might feel miffed that a song they particularly liked either didn't make the Top 40, didn't stay at #1 longer than it should have, or reached #2 when it should've reached #1, or songs they didn't think deserve to reach #1, and believe you me, there are quite a few of those on my list. The phrase "It ain't No. 1 till it's No. 1 on Billboard" is touted by Billboard. The Hot 100 and Top forty are well, just a way of measuring a song's sales and airplay, and those in turn play a part in how high a song reaches the charts. But in the final run, it all comes down to how much you like a song. After all, what's in a number?
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