The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits [Paperback]

Joel Whitburn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1992

Here's the latest edition of the ultimate reference book on the pop singles and artists who have hit Billboard's Top 40 chart. The book spans the entire rock era, from 1955 to mid-1991, and boasts a bonanza of 300 new photographs, along with expanded biographical data and trivia on nearly every artist.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An essential reference that can quickly tell you everything from how many No. 1 hits Roy Orbison had (two) to the name of the group that did "I'm Too Sexy" (Right Said Fred)." - Boston Herald; "I love paging through it, looking for songs I know and songs I should know." - Keyboard" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Joel Whitburn, the foremost authority on charted music, has published nearly eighty books based on Billboard charts both for the trade market and for his own mail-order company, Record Research, based in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 674 pages
• Publisher: Billboard Books; 5th/Rev&En edition (April 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823082806
• ISBN-13: 978-0823082803
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,143,653 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mandatory reference book for the pop music historian, May 8, 2005

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (Billboard Book of Top Forty Hits) 8th Edition (Paperback)

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 40 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 40 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 40 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 40 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 40 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?

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect music companion, February 7, 2002

By 

Westley (Stuck in my head) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (Paperback)

I have purchased each new edition of this book and have never been disappointed. The 7th edition chronicles every Top 40 hit through the end of the millenium. I'm not in the music business, but love seeing what hits each artist has had and how how they went on the chart. This book does a great job of cross-referencing songs, so if a song is officially credited to Puff Daddy featuring Mase, then it is listed in this book under both artists. This is incredibly helpful given the recent proliferation of guest artists on chart singles. Whenever I hear an unknown oldies hit on the radio, I can't help but look it up in this book and find out the artist. A must for every fan of music.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars PURE AMERICANA! (Well, Sort Of), September 25, 2005

By 

STEPHEN T. McCARTHY (a Mensa-donkey in Phoenix, Airheadzona.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (Billboard Book of Top Forty Hits) 8th Edition (Paperback)

What is America? How does one go about comprehending the "American Ideal"? Where would you send a foreigner who sought to gain a tangible understanding of the most influential and powerful nation on Earth over the course of these last two hundred and thirty years? Me, I'd send him to three written sources: The Declaration Of Independence; The U.S. Constitution; and THE BILLBOARD BOOK OF TOP 40 HITS. The first one explains the premise upon which this country was founded. The second illustrates the dynamic system under which it was organized. The third recounts the progression (or regression) that the country experienced under the world's longest-running Republican form of government.

OK, OK! Maybe I have overestimated the social importance of this tome, but why not aim as high as we can, and see if we can't make some of it stick? (Besides, some suckers will fall for ANYTHING!) Truth is, I almost feel a little embarrassed writing a review for a book like this, but then - to borrow a line from those old geezers who really do seem to "gather no moss" - I know it's only Rock 'N' Roll, but I like it!

Of course, it's not really ONLY Rock 'N' Roll. American Pop music encompasses a wide range of musical styles: There's FOLK ('The City Of New Orleans' by Arlo Guthrie. #18 in '72); COUNTRY ('Good Hearted Woman' by Waylon and Willie. #25 in '76); BLUES ('The Thrill Is Gone' by B.B. King. #15 in '70); JAZZ ('Take Five' by Dave Brubeck. #25 in '61); SOUL ('I'll Be Doggone' by Marvin Gaye. #8 in '65); DISCO ('Hot Stuff' by Donna Summer. #1 in '79); and RAP...Oh, never mind. Don't get me started! And of course, it's not really ONLY American either. Afterall, those four blokes from Liverpool were from...well...Liverpool.

THE BILLBOARD BOOK OF TOP 40 HITS is one of those mysterious, time-sucking publications. You pull it off the shelf to look up one little item and the next thing you know, you realize that you've floated from ABBA to ZAPPA and 40 minutes have passed!

The book has been beautifully organized by the premier music charting-impresario, JOEL WHITBURN. The broadcaster Bruce Morrow's blurb on my back cover says, "Joel Whitburn's books are as much a part of my radio stations as my transmitters. Any time I buy or build a radio station, the first two pieces of equipment I purchase are Joel's book and my Billboard subscription." If you're waiting for a BETTER recommendation, our Republic will be defunct by the time it arrives! I own the 6th Edition (1955-1995), but since my real interest in American Pop music extended only as far as about 1984, this one suits me fine.

Although naturally, the book provides information on all of the music that cracked the Top 40 - its date, highest postion reached, and the amount of weeks it retained its Top 40 status - I find the charts toward the back perhaps the book's most interesting feature. Whitburn has concocted a point system formula utilizing info on chart position & weeks charted from which he determines the top songs and artists. He then presents these outcomes to us by decade and overall career position. While each reader might want to tweak the system by making an adjustment here or there according to how he or she prioritizes, I can't imagine that the results would be markedly different. These charts illustrate some surprising findings. For instance...

Did you know that BOYZ II MEN (Whoever they are. I'm 46!) are responsible for 3 of the Top 10 singles of ALL-TIME?

Did you know that despite the overwhelming perception of their One-hit Wonder status, TONY ORLANDO AND DAWN actually rank as the 16th most popular artist of the 1970s?

Because of their "un-cool" persona, it was rare to find a teenager in the '70s willing to publicly confess to being a Carpenters fan. And yet, the Pop duo was the 4th most popular music-maker of that decade. They sure sold a lot of records for a group that no one claimed to like!

Here's the fact that REALLY surprised me: Having been a teenager in the 1970s, I can attest that by then the consensus was that ELVIS PRESLEY was a has-been. Led Zeppelin ruled our world, and 'Stairway To Heaven' was the teen national anthem. I don't think most of us even knew that Elvis was still alive. He seemed as far removed from the contemporary American scene as Washington and Jefferson did. And yet, I learn from Whitburn that "The King" was the 11th most popular artist of the decade! I LIVED through it, and that STILL astounds me!

And by the way, the next time you hear someone refer to ELVIS as "THE KING OF ROCK 'N' ROLL", don't make the mistake of thinking that's a contestable opinion. According to Whitburn's calculations, Elvis scores 8,002 total lifetime points. The "Fab Four" come in a DISTANT second with 4,549; followed by Elton John and Stevie Wonder with 4,103 and 3,685 respectively. I was never a fan of his, but I'll concede that Elvis is still "The King."

Yeah, you probably should acquire a copy of THE BILLBOARD BOOK OF TOP 40 HITS. Without it, how would you ever know that...

* Only one month after the plane crash that killed BUDDY HOLLY, he collected his last Top 40 hit, appropriately titled, 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore.'

* STEVIE WONDER (real name: Steveland Morris) had just turned 13 years old when he scored his first #1 hit song.

* On the day that the United States Of America celebrated its bicentennial, the song at the apex of the Pop music chart was "LOVE HANGOVER" by Diana Ross. Which begs this question: Were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and George Mason tapping their toes in their pine boxes, or were they turning over in their graves?