Joel Whitburn The Comparison Book - Billboard, Cash Box, Record World 1954-1982

Gebundene Ausgabe - Record Research Inc. - 576 Seiten - Englisch -
Hardcover - Record Research Inc. - 576 pages - english -

The Comparison Book - Billboard, Cash Box, Record World 1954-1982

Author's Note

Billboard, Cash Box and Record World were America's top three weekly music trade magazines devoted to a wide range of singles and albums charts, reviews and music industry news. Billboard was always considered the granddaddy and continues today as the leading authority of the American music charts. Cash Box provided stiff competition in the 1960s and Record World in the 1970s; however, the well-established Billboard maintained their lead at the top.
From 1954-1982, each published weekly pop singles charts. It was the golden age of the 45rpm record featuring the evolution of rock and roll music into the mainstream of pop culture, ushered on to the airwaves by local disc jockeys with big personalities and sometimes more fame than the artists they played.
Although I have favorite songs and artists across all genres, spanning recorded music's history, this era on the pop charts claims the majority of my favorites. So, following the completion of Cash Box's Pop Hits and Looking Ahead books, I found that I was constantly comparing chart data from these books with my research of the charts of Record World (earlier known as Music Vendor) in my Hit Records and 101-150 books. I pretty much had the Billboard chart data memorized since I've been publishing my research of their charts for more than 40 years. I found it endlessly interesting to compare the chart success of my favorite artists. I wanted to see the basic data from the multiple pop charts for a single artist, all in one place. And so began The Comparison Book.
Following is a prime example of the insight this book quickly offers. From 1963-1982, Stevie Wonder had 50 singles appear on the pop singles charts of the top three music trade magazines. Nineteen of those reached their highest charted position in Billboard, 16 in Record World and 15 on Cash Box. Of those 50, 47 appeared concurrently on the charts of all three trades. Stevie registered nine #1 hits on Billboard's 'Hot 100' charts and another six titles hit #1 on Cash Box and/or Record World: 'For Once In My Life,' 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours,' 'Higher Ground,' 'Boogie On Reggae Woman,' 'Master Blaster (J ammin')' and 'That Girl.'
As you page through this book, you'll discover not only new and interesting data about your favorites but you'll find many one-hit-wonders that have all but faded from memory. Of the thousands within, I enjoyed the comparisons among Brian Hyland, The Crests, Lesley Gore, The Drifters, The Rolling Stones, Dion & The Belmonts, The Fireballs, Bobby Vee, Brenda Lee, J ohnny Burnette, The Crystals, Dean Martin, J ohnny Cash, Sam Cooke, The Ventures, and on and on.
The Comparison Book offers a whole new way of measuring the success of songs during this era. Inclusive yet simple, it is a chart-data only compilation from my five books below. (In parentheses are the charts researched; these books also include research from the predecessors of those charts.)

• Top Pop Singles 1955-2012 (Billboard's 'Hot 100' & 'Bubbling Under the Hot 100')
• Cash Box Pop Hits 1952-1996 (Cash Box's 'Top 100')
• Hit Records 1954-1982 (Music Vendor / Record World's 'Top 100')
• Cash Box Looking Ahead 1959-1993 (Cash Box's '101-150')
• Hit Records 101-150 1959-1982 (Music Vendor/ Record World's '101-150')
 
If you desire comprehensive details on each artist and song, such as biographical and title info, label data, B-sides, songwriters, rankings, awards, symbols for Instrumental and Novelty recordings, and much more, check out the books and see sample pages at www.recordresearch.com. For now, further insights await your discovery in the pages ahead!
Joel Whitburn