Customer Reviews

Top Adult Contemporary 1961-2001: Hardcover

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

 

 

An excellent book with tons of information and insight. It's great to see the many different types of artists who have landed on the Adult Contemporary charts and also great to see my favorite AC group the Carpenters ranked as one of the most successful of alltime.

What a great book. Almost as great as other RR books. It's always cool to see rock stars of the past like Clapton, Stewart and Billy Joel make great strides on the Adult Contemporary chart. In this book you will see how well all the pop acts have done with soft rock radio in the last 40 years. From Perry Como to Jim Brickman, from Rita Coolidge to Enya. The book even has a great section of the AC hits from 1955-early 1961.

My only complaint is that with the growing success of adult-rock music, I kind of wish Record Research would have put a special bonus Adult Top 40 section (based on research from Billboard's Adult T40 chart). It would have fit in well with this book. It may be another ten years for another revision of this book but enjoy this one while it is totally up-to-date to 2002.

Very good book for those that want to know old adult contemporary songs from the past. Just one problem in that from July 1993 - March 1996 Billboard magazine only issued an adult top 40 chart (which was called Hot Adult Contemporary). Because Whitburn only goes by Billboard as a source for this book many AC songs from this period of time aren't listed in the book. For example not listed in this book are the following songs/artists: Steep - Lauren Christy, Angel eyes & If you believe - Jim Brickman, This time - Curtis Stigers, Take It On Faith - Joshua Kadison which were all top ten songs on Dick Clark's Countdown America show which compiled its listings from Radio & Records Adult Contemporary chart. There's more songs that peaked from #11-#30 most notably: Only A Woman's Heart - Eleanor McEvoy #15, The Day I Stop Loving You - Oleta Adams #16, I Owe You One - Aaron Neville #16, If We Were Lovers - Gloria Estefan #17, Stop Loving Me, Stop Loving You - Daryl Hall #18 that aren't listed here. Plus there is many inconsistencies as such he has "Standing Right Next To Me" by Karla Bonoff and "In Your Eyes" by Dan Hill & Rique Franks listed as reaching #38 when it hit #10 on Dick Clark's show in 1994. I felt all these songs should've been acknowledged in the book better by adding Radio & Records Adult Contemporary chart info from July 1993 - Mar 1996 as many of these songs got quite a lot of airplay on AC radio stations back then. Hopefully one day Joel will take notice of this and add that R&R AC info from 1993-1996 in a possible future update of this book. Otherwise this book as it is now has inconsistencies and a gap in it for those years.

This book has everything that you could possibly want to know about Adult Contemporary music. It gives you a whole new slant on The Beach Boys, Beatles, John Lennon, George Harrison, Elvis and many many more. I've discovered hits about these artists and many more that I never knew exsisted. Highly recommened!

Billboard Books & Joel Whitburn & his Record Research team have Indeed come up with a treasure trove of AC chart INFO. This body of work is a must have for those of us who Love"Soft Rock".Or Better Still,as the Record Research motto on the back of the book says"for those who have a HEART for the Charts.Has Listings of the 200 most succesful AC Artists.This book also cross references w/ Pop Chart Information under ea.Artist.I Love This Book!I can't Wait for updates to this,It'll be Awhile!ENJOY!

As always with Joel Whitburn's Record Research books, the detail is spot on - exactly what it says on the tin. A fascinating insight into the changes that have occurred in what is considered "adult" music over 4 decades. Way back in the sixties, the phrases "easy listening" and "middle-road" were applied to what is now called the "adult contemporary" chart - that gives you a good indication as to the sort of music that generally qualified in those days.

I particularly like the fact that B-side details are also given, which seems to be the case with the latest issues of the RR singles books.

Whether or not this volume is of interest or use to you depends on what you want to use it for. If you merely want to scan it for interest and entertainment, then get the volume that addresses the Hot 100. If you need it for research purposes, or your interest goes beyond the pop charts, then this is a fabulous book.