Customer Reviews

Billboard's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002 (Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles (Cumulative))

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Every time I pick up this book, I learn something new. So much info is packed into this book. Im making an ultimate MP3 list of songs that I remember listening to in the past 30 years. I have over 930 Cd's so far and this book is always by my side. I plan on getting all of Mr. Whitburn's music chart books.

I recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in music. It is great.
The book arrived with no problem. Amazon must have worked out whatever problem the other reviewers were complaining about.
So many times this book has settled debates at my workplace over which artist did what song or what year a song came out.
This latest edition has many updates and additional information. I especially like the attempt to include bios on all the artists that ever charted. Nice touch.
Buy this book for yourself or anyone who loves music.
You will not be disappointed.

I've employed Joel Whitburn's books for over 20 years to help me know what are the tops songs, to help me remember, to help me remember who did what song.
Cut thru the "greatest hits" nonsense where 1 or 2 songs are known and the rest are filler with "Top Pop Singles".
Each time I go to the record store I take "Top Pop Singles" with me (dog eared and all :) )
It's easy to look-up a song by either song title or artist.
Many artists/groups also contain interesting bios.
Also, #1 Hits by year lists.
Also, Special Christmas singles lists.
The BEST song reference book. I recommend fully.
Any bad comments? Only published once every 4 years. Yes, there are updates available, but for a song/music junkie, like me, I prefer the book!
Check out the other books by Joel Whitburn for other titles as these books are also great reference.
-- Kraig

What a great book! I have most of Joel Whitburn's books and this one is his best ever! Highly recommended for any music fan!

This book gives you almost MORE information than you want! Thorough, correct, and beautifully planned. For the serious researcher and trivia buff. Excellent.

A 1000-page book, Top Pop Singles is almost like an encyclopedia of hit music. It's a book that sums up the pop chart achievements for each recording artist in the US. Basically it is another edition with more recent period coverage (55-2002), but this time with a handful of improvements. Quoting from the book, for the first time ever, key information is now highlighted in red type. Numerous artist/groups that had their own listings in the past edition are now combined with their related artist or group. Biographical information now appears FOR EVERY artists. The chart information on other charts (like Adult Contemporary, R&B, Country and Rock Tracks) is now listed in red type. Song title section is now better organized with key word headings to make finding songs quicker and easier. Interesting detail symbol like 'the first hit in five years' is added.
The book also contains listings of TOP 600 Artists (of all time - 1955-2002), sorted both alphabetically and by ranks, TOP 30 artists for each decade, Top Artists by year & Category, Top Artist Achievements and more.

I've had Top Pop Singles 1955-1990, but Top Pop Singles 1955-2002 has a lot more statistics and interesting charts.

This IS an incrediable book. The information is vast, yet so easy to reference from. I love the book for the information, but also for so much more. It is a check off list of the music a have. It's the listing I use when I want to know if a c.d. REALLY has the hits or not. It lists the b-sides of a 45 r.p.m. so I can tell when I buy a c.d. if maybe some of those extra songs might be pretty good, because their the b-side. I couldn't wrap my head around every situation this book is of value in! You just have to get this book for yourself to know how useful it is! I've had the 1986 edition, from 1986 to now, with my love of music, it was the most used book I owned. I recently bought this updated edition. I am so glad I did, it has so much more information then the 1986 book, and yet, just as easy to use. THIS book is the core of my collection. I would also HIGHLY recommend the country singles book to go with this one, so many "crossover" songs and artists that were pop and went to country, and many c.d.s contain hits from both genre's. To me BOTH are must have reference books.

I bought this book for my husband as a birthday gift. He is a music lover and he completely adored the book! I would recommend it to any music trivia whiz or anyone who loves to keep up with hits! It's a fabulous reference and a great source of information.

An absolute necessity for anyone who collects music or is interested in the history of Rock/Pop music in the United States. A must have book that will Never be on the shelf but always close by for reference.