Customer Reviews

The Book of Hit Singles: Top 20 Charts from 1954 to the Present Day (3rd Ed)

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A variation on pop-chart history books, McAleer summarizes a month's worth of charts into a single top twenty. Each page contains 3 months of singles charts, with the even numbered pages showing UK charts directly opposite the same month's summary in the US. The margins are filled with the music trivia of the day. The odd format of monthly charts exaggerates the chart success of songs that were around at the start of the month, but hurts songs that peaked in mid-month. Also odd, each country's chart also include a cross-reference to the WEEKLY position in the other country. But as a nostalgia tool, it's great fun to see what songs were popular in a given month, such as a birthday, wedding or graduation. Also includes an All-time US 100 (with The Twist at #1) and UK Top 100 (where Rock Around the Clock reigns), and cross reference by song title & artist.

I really love this book and pop/rock music fans will spend hours with it...HOWEVER this book really needs an editor to catch those little mistakes, ie, its "Topsy II" (Cozy Cole) not "Topsy Li"; "Affair of The Heart" (Rick Springfield) not "Affair of The Night". And with each succeeding edition, the charts need to be updated, (Britney Spears, for instance, has had more than one hit- "Baby, One More Time" listed as first and last both right off the bat in each succeeding edition! Adam Ant had a US Top 20 hit with "Goody Two Shoes",(1983) so why is the book listing "Room At The Top"(1990)as his first and last, just as it did with "Goody Two Shoes"?), the listings need updating, not merely added onto. Again, this is a book worth its weight in gold...but it could be SOLID GOLD with a thorough revisioning, revising.

I love this book because it is a great way to compare and contrast the music scenes in the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as some music history tidbits and photos as well.

No music fan's library should be without this book, especially if you have a collection of CDs from the United Kingdom as well as the United States.

This is also a great way to try a new singer out, by checking out their singles output.