Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Top Pop Singles - 14th Edition

 
I just received the latest edition of Joel Whitburn's "Top Pop Singles" book ... and it's nothing short of phenomenal!!!  Joel's been bringing us updates now for over 40 years (in fact, this brand new edition has a special photo page of every "Top Pop Singles" book cover he's ever released ... and I have owned (and still own, in some cases multiple copies) of every single one of them!  What an amazing history.
What I love most about Joel's books is that he always finds a new, exciting and interesting way to bring us this information.
New this time around are the songwriters for every charted hit ... as well as a list of every single Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Inductee AND Nominee!  As in recent editions, you get the B-Side of every charted record ... plus THOUSANDS of titles listed as "Classic Songs" by legendary artists, all of Billboard's "Bubbling Under" hits as well as over 750 regional break-out and territorial hits.
Joel has also inaugurated "The '24 Hit' Club" ... a brand new award for 245 artists who have charted a minimum of 24 Hot 100 / Bubbling Under Chart Hits between 1955 and 2012.  You just may be amazed by some of the names that are on this list ... artists who might not immediately come to mind when compiling a list of the most obvious suspects.  (Sure Elvis and The Beatles are here ... as are The Rolling Stones, The Supremes , Elton John, Ray Charles and dozens of others.  But who would have expected to see Luther Vandross, Taylor Swift, Trace Adkins, 50 Cent, Pearl Jam, Marty Robbins and Drake on a list like this?!?!?) 
Many of these artists had careers that lasted decades ... making THESE major accomplishments all that much more impressive:  The Dave Clark Five (27 hits), Gene Pitney (31 hits), Jack Jones (26 hits) and The Marvelettes (25 hits) scored ALL of their hits in the 1960's!!!
How current is it?  Well, today is July 16th ... and the #1 section at the end of the book lists the #1 Record on Billboard's Pop Singles Chart through June 15th of this year!!!  Now THAT'S current!!!
It's nothing short of amazing!!!  In all, 29,126 Top 100 Hits are listed ... add in the Bubbling Under Hits, the Regional Hits and the Classic Songs, and you'll come up with 41,964 total hit songs listed by an incredible 8627 artists.  (Talk about amazing ... Joel has each and every one of these titles in his personal collection, too!!!)
You'll spend hours flipping through it and then (if you're anything at all like me) continue to reference it on a daily basis.  (I don't think a day has gone by in the past 40+ years that I haven't consulted Joel's books for something ... they're indispensable!)
You're not going to want to miss this one ... if you've never bought a Record Research "Top Pop Singles" book before ... or if it's simply time to update the one you've got ... NOW is the time to order! The books are in stock and available for shipping now.  You can pick up your own copy here: