Pop Annual 1955-1999 [Paperback]

Joel Whitburn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2000 | Series: Pop Annual: 1955-1999

A must for every music enthusiast's bookshelf, our new Pop Annual 1955-1999 is a year-by-year ranking, in numerical order according to the highest chart position reached, of the 23,070 singles that peaked on Billboard's pop singles charts ("Hot 100," "Best Sellers in Stores," "Most Played by Jockeys," "Most Played in Juke Boxes" and "Top 100") from January, 1955 through December, 1999. Features comprehensive, essential chart data and more arranged for fast, easy reference. All new features include: the names of the songwriters for every title that ever made the "Hot 100" or any of Billboard's other pop charts since 1955! All titles from Billboard's "Hot 100 Airplay" and "Hot 100 Sales" charts that did not make the "Hot 100" are now included in a special year-end wrap-up at the end of the yearly rankings. The special bonus section also features: Top 500 artists ranking * charted Christmas singles section * Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning songs and records * complete alphabetical song title list * other artist, songwriter and record achievements.

Product Details

• Paperback: 898 pages
• Publisher: Record Research Inc. (December 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089820142X
• ISBN-13: 978-0898201420
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,001,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect 20th century history of Hot 100 singles year by year, May 8, 2005

By 

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

This review is from: Pop Annual 1955-1999 (Paperback)

The second essential Billboard reference book after the Joel Whitburn's Top 40 book is one mentioned to me by Eric Andrews, my first real Amazon Friend. Again, owning this pricey book indicates one is a pop culture buff. So why have this book in addition to the Top 40 book? Well, ever think about any single that didn't make the Top 40? Or what were the Top Ten singles for each year? This is where Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual comes in. Where the Top 40 book was indexed by artist/group, the Pop Annual is indexed by year, then listing all the singles by position, the #1's, the #2's, #3's, all the way to the songs that sadly peaked at No. 100 on Billboard's Hot 100 charts. Within the songs that reached the same position, what determines its ranking is how long it stayed at #1, weeks in the Top Ten, weeks in the Top 40, and finally weeks in the entire Hot 100. Hence, Bad English's "When I See You Smile" may have spent more weeks in the Hot 100 and Top 40 than Phil Collins' "Two Hearts," despite both spending two weeks at #1, but "Two Hearts" spent a week longer in the Top Ten, so it is ranked above "When I See You Smile."

Each year begins with a time capsule of the top international and national headlines, fads and fashions, sports, and the top movies and TV programs that year. There then follows a list of the Top 20 artists, their score determined by a point system, a 100 points for each week spent at #1, 10 points for each additional week, 90 points plus 5 additional for each #2 single, 80 points plus 3 points for each #3 single, 70 points for each #4-#5 single, 60 points for each #6-#10 single, and on down to 10 points for each #91-100 single. There's more involving airplay, but I'll not dwell on that.

Then there are top songwriters and artist debuts for the year. For the year I graduated high school, the Top debut artist was the Bangles (yay!) the top songwriters were ex-Time members Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis of Janet Jackson fame, and surprisingly it wasn't Madonna or the Bangles who was the top artist that year based on points but Billy Ocean!

Now, for the Top Five singles, there is included its chart positions history, from debut to its last week in the Hot 100. Looking at the #1 list enables on to see who and how many #1 hits they had or indeed how many songs made it to the top spot. For my favourite group, 1964 was a banner year, as they were the #1 artist, #1 artist debut, top songwriters, and had six #1 hits. It wouldn't take a PhD to figure out who I am referring to.

Of additional notes, there is a debut column, a 1 indicating an artist/group's debut on the Hot 100, or a diamond, indicating an artist/group's only Hot 100 charting entry, which may consist of one time duets between lead singers of varied groups, e.g. Ann Wilson and Mike Reno in "Almost Paradise," one-time gatherings like USA For Africa, or novelty acts like Rick Dees or Buckner and Garcia.

Finally, like its companion book, the Top 40, there is an index in the back alphabetized by song, which contains the artist name, its peak position, and year. Some, including me, may think why not have a separate artist index, which would help, but that would probably double the price of this already expensive tome.

Having this book takes me back to Memory Lane, i.e. my musical heyday, the 80's, but also a curious look at the 50's through 70's. Me, I rarely look at anything beyond 1994 due to the type of music that began dominating the charts and still does today-some may call it music. This tome goes from 1955 to 1999, and perfectly encapsulates the Billboard charts for the 20th century.