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80smusicfreak
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| Posted: 22 February 2005 at 1:14pm | IP Logged
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I hope Pat doesn't mind me posting this here. :-) But
like me, it sounds like many of the other regulars on
this chat board have an extensive number of music chart
books in their personal libraries, so I'm hoping someone
here may be able to help me...
I'm in search of what is likely a relatively obscure U.S.
chart book - although it's only about 10 years old, at
the most. Back in the mid to late '90s, I'd frequent
different stores in the Tower Records chain, and often
checked their fairly extensive selection of music books
in their book dept. On many occasions over a several-year
period, I remember seeing this book that ranked the top
100 pop singles for each year of the entire rock era (up
to the early '90s, anyway), based on "Billboard"
magazine's "Hot 100" chart. The concept was the same as
Joel Whitburn's "Pop Annual", but the author(s) used
their own (i.e., very different) formula to rank the
songs in order of popularity. (And again, it ranked only
the top 100 songs of each year, not all of the songs that
cracked the "Hot 100", like Whitburn. If you were to use
Whitburn's "Pop Annual" as a guide, the top 100 songs in
any given year would comprise roughly the ones that made
the top 10 or top 15 on the "Hot 100".) While I flipped
through this book on several different occasions, alas, I
never bought it! Problem is, now I can't even recall the
author(s) or title of the book...
I believe it was actually credited to two authors. (Even
though it used the "Billboard" chart, it was definitely
NOT a Joel Whitburn or Record Research book, or by Pat,
for that matter.) It was a paperback, and had a fairly
distinct all-yellow cover. To the best of my
recollection, it measured roughly 6" x 9", and the cover
price was maybe $15-$20. Like Pat's CD book, I believe
there was more than one edition published, w/ the last
being sometime in the mid '90s. I'm 99% certain it's now
out-of-print. (Although I ran across it in one or two
other places, I know I haven't seen it in any Tower
stores for a good 5-6 years now, as I've continued to
keep an eye out.)
So, does anyone here possibly have this book, or at least
know the one I'm talking about??? I don't necessarily
expect anyone to part w/ their copy; I just need accurate
info on the author(s) and title, to at least begin a
definitive search! Thanks in advance...
:-)
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Todd Ireland
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| Posted: 22 February 2005 at 4:14pm | IP Logged
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80smusicfreak:
It sounds like the book you're looking for is Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits by Fred Bronson. You'll be happy to know that the book was updated a couple of years ago and is still very much in print. You should have no problem finding a copy on websites like amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com. Fred is also the author of the popular Billboard Book of Number One Hits, which chronicles and documents every #1 Billboard Hot 100 chart single since 1955.
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80smusicfreak
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| Posted: 23 February 2005 at 4:57am | IP Logged
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Thanks for at least taking a stab, Todd. :-) But I'm
afraid that's definitely not the one. :-( While I don't
have the book "Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits", I have
seen it in stores quite often, and very recently. (I do,
however, have an old edition of Bronson's "Billboard Book
of Number One Hits", and usually read his "Chart Beat"
column every week in "Billboard" magazine, so I'm well
aware of his writings.)
As I noted above, the book I'm looking for is much more
obscure. I remember it was from a small publisher, and
definitely NOT associated w/ Billboard Publications, Inc.
(which handles Bronson's books) or Record Research
(Whitburn's company). Obviously, the author(s) of this
book were still able to get permission to use "Billboard"
chart data, though...
I just remember that I found their formula for ranking
the 100 most popular songs from each year to be quite
fascinating. They used a point-system, instead of going
strictly by peak chart position (followed by weeks the
song held that position, weeks in the top 10, etc.), as
Whitburn does in his "Pop Annual" (which I have several
editions of, including the latest). They took into
account weeks charted, and the song's position on the
chart each week, and some other factors - thus, using
1983 as an example, songs such as Frida's "I Know There's
Something Going On" and "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" by
Peabo Bryson & Roberta Flack (which rank only #99 and
#112 in Whitburn's book, respectively), got a huge boost
due to their staying power on the "Hot 100" at 29 weeks
each, even though they only peaked at #13 and #16,
respectively. (Yet songs like "Human Nature" by Michael
Jackson and "Undercover of the Night" by the Rolling
Stones rank higher in Whitburn's book [#61 and #70,
respectively], just because they cracked the top 10, even
though they were both gone after a mere 14 weeks!)
I think the only real reason I didn't buy this book at
the time was because it ranked only the top 100 songs
from each year. Had it gone deeper - say, the top 200, or
even every song that made the "Hot 100", as Whitburn's
"Pop Annual" does - I would've headed to the cash
register immediately, because their formula was
definitely far superior to Whitburn's! But at just 100
songs per year, I guess it somehow seemed a bit
incomplete to me, and thus wouldn't have given me reason
enough to toss my copy of Whitburn's book. Of course, now
I regret it - guess I shoulda bought it while I had the
chance!
(*sigh*)...
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Brian W.
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| Posted: 23 February 2005 at 5:41am | IP Logged
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Was it a book or more like a booklet? Did it have a yellow cover with red letters?
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mike sparrow
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| Posted: 23 February 2005 at 2:37pm | IP Logged
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The book you're remembering is "Rock 100" by Jim Quirin and Barry Cohen. When the first edition came out in 1976, it was the only book of its kind. I picked it up at a Peaches' Record Store. It has been updated several times since, most recently in 1992. It's a no-frills approach to ranking the songs to be sure, but I still refer to it often. It's available used on Amazon, but it's a little pricey.
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80smusicfreak
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Joined: 14 October 2004
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| Posted: 23 February 2005 at 4:27pm | IP Logged
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Thank you, mike sparrow!!! I just went over to Amazon w/
the info you provided, and "Rock 100" is indeed the book
I've been trying to remember! :-) A shame that Quirin and
Cohen haven't updated it for some 12-13 years now; after
reading the reviews, it appears there are others who'd
like them to do so as well. I knew it was likely
out-of-print by now, and sure enough, that's the case.
(You're right, the used copies currently being offered
through Amazon aren't cheap, but I might just end up
biting the bullet!) I'm just glad I can finally stop
driving myself crazy after several years - a tip of the
hat to you! :-)
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80smusicfreak
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Joined: 14 October 2004
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| Posted: 06 February 2008 at 5:55am | IP Logged
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Just bumping this thread back up to the top, for any newcomers, or those who may have missed it...
As noted in the "Devil's Gun" thread, this is the one where I initially inquired about Jim Quirin & Barry Cohen's book, "Rock 100", in 2005. Again, for more detailed info, they have their own web site at: www.chartmasters.biz...
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Top 40 Music on Compact Disc : Chat Board
Topic: In search of chart book...
