Customer Reviews

Rock On Almanac: The First Four Decades of Rock 'N' Roll : A Chronology

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST,TOP 20 POP SONGS OF EACH MONTHS,ESSENTIAL FOR RADIO PROGRAMMING.

The best reference book on the subject of Rock and Roll Music. The reader or researcher is informed about members of groups, time lines, and record labels without being served up up too much un-necessary knowledge.

This book provides a great resource for artists, recordings and rock and roll news for various years throughout the 4 decades 1950-1989. But there are a few errors with incorrect dates?? (although I guess this could be debated and some incorrect artist information). Overall its a good buy and if you are looking for a book with this information in it, this is probably the one.

On a negative, pretty much all this information is available on sites such as wikipedia, rockalmanac.com, and can be found without searching too hard.

Received the book a little late for Christmas, but did receive it, with a few pages not in the best of shape, but only about 4 pages and the cover, which was mentioned before buying. Otherwise, the recipiant was happy with it.

The best thing about the Rock On books is that they don't *just* cover the hits, like the BillBoard books --- which cost ridiculous amounts of money and don't properly represent alternative music influences in most of the '80s, '90s, and beyond. Only problem..... the data ends in '92 in the second edition and '89 in the first.

NORM, WHERE ARE YOU WHEN WE NEED YOU??????????????????

Norm N. Nite who is or was an employee at New York's FM radio station,WCBS,compiled so much useful information regarding the rock 'n roll era,which continues today. For instance,in July 1940,Billboard magazine began charting popular songs,and back in the era of swing! The first 33 1/3 long play album(microgroove) debuted in 1948,but then there was no stereo. Ten years later,the first stereophonic album debuted. Longtime pop music mogul Dick Clark also contributed to this book. The book begins its listings of hits debuting each month starting with January 1954(earlier years don't list months). This continues through May 1989(this book went to press immediately afterward). There are also lists of musical artists with their debut years and singles. However,some of the photos were taken long after some of the artists' debuts. For instance,the Bee Gees debuted in 1967 in the US,and the photo of the band was taken years later(late 70's or early 80's). This book was updated only once,containing monthly listings from June 1989 to July 1992. There are also lists of the top albums,hits,movies and television shows every year. Music and news highlights also.

An absolutely indispensible reference for anyone trying to build a collection of oldies or just settle trivia questions. My only regret is that the book was published in 1989, so no information on later songs and artists is available. Maybe someone will update it. Meanwhile, this book is a great asset to our library.

This an outstanding reference if you are a fan of rock and roll music. I frequently use it to orient me to popular culture for the period of the sixties and seventies as I do research for a book. It addresses not only music but other areas, such as movies, as well. If you can find a used copy, it is well worth your trouble.