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80smusicfreak
MusicFan
Joined: 14 October 2004
Location: United States
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Posts: 527
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| Posted: 21 October 2004 at 7:28am | IP Logged
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I know you've been publishing the "Top 40 Music on
Compact Disc" book for a dozen years now, Pat, but the
current 10th edition is the first one I've ever owned, so
I hope these questions about some of the wording in the
book aren't redundant...
01) In the "Introduction", on page vii, you state that
the first section "is an alphabetical listing of all
artists who scored a consensus Top 40 hit single on
national trade publications' charts and is not a
Billboard magazine Top 40 hit single listing." Knowing
that you'd previously researched and published books on
the "Cash Box" charts, I at first interpreted the above
as meaning that the criteria for including songs in your
CD book was that they had to have made the Top 40 in both
"Billboard" and "Cash Box" - hence, if a song scraped
into the Top 40 in one magazine but not the other, it
wouldn't be included. But having had a couple weeks to
scan it now, I see that apparently isn't the case...
Examples: Page 700, where Marshall Hain's 1979 hit,
"Dancing in the City", is included (hit #39 in "Cash
Box", but only #43 in "Billboard"); as well as page 711,
where Mass Production's 1979 hit, "Firecracker", is
listed (reached #33 in "Cash Box", but stopped at #43 in
"Billboard"). And at times, it seems to work the other
way as well, such as on page 716, w/ Mac McAnally, and
his 1977 hit, "It's a Crazy World" (only #58 in "Cash
Box", but did climb all the way to #37 in "Billboard") -
and even his one other hit, 1983's "Minimum Love", seems
questionable (#38 in "Cash Box", but only #41 in
"Billboard"). And those are all just in the M's. I could
also cite plenty of additional songs that made the Top 40
in either "Cash Box" or "Billboard", and not the other,
but AREN'T included in your book (how about Charlie's
1983 hit, "It's Inevitable", which made only #43 in "Cash
Box", but did hit #38 in "Billboard" - yet the song has
no entry)...
Please don't get me wrong, as I'm actually quite glad to
see all of those "borderline" Top 40 hits noted above
included in your book! Just wondering if you could better
explain to us how/where you draw the line w/ the song
entries that make it into in your book (and perhaps
include that more detailed info in the 11th edition)???
Thanks!
02) When distinguising between album and single versions
of the same song, for some entries, you use the wording
"(LP version)" and "(45 version)", while for other songs,
you state "(LP length)" and "(45 length)". I assume there
is no difference, and that the terms "(LP version)" and
"(LP length)" - or "(45 version)" and "(45 length)" - are
completely interchangeable??? Or am I missing
something???
03) When citing more than one running time for either dj
or commercial copies of singles, do you always mean that
two (or more) different physical singles for the song
exist, that more than one version of the song appears on
the same physical single (e.g., one on the A-side; the
other on the B-side), or a mix of both??? It appears to
be a mix of both, and since we've already discussed Rick
Springfield in another thread, I'll again use him as an
example: On page 1036, you note that dj copies of his
1981 hit, "I've Done Everything for You", ran (2:42) and
(3:16). Definitely true, and we both know that these were
two DIFFERENT physical singles. But then we jump over to
page 1037, where you note that dj copies of his 1985 hit,
"State of the Heart", ran (3:48) and (3:58) - again,
true, but in this case, we're talking about only ONE
physical single, as the A-side of the dj copies had the
(3:58) commercial version, while the B-side contained the
exclusive (3:48) edit. So for collector purposes, while I
certainly find this info about different versions/mixes
valuable, I also feel it's a bit confusing. Would it be
possible to make this info a bit more distinguishable in
future editions???
Oh, and one additional error that I'd like to point out
in the 10th edition:
On pgs. 668 & 1285, Denise Lopez's hit, "Sayin' Sorry
(Don't Make it Right)", is shown as a 1985 hit, instead
of the correct year, 1988. This appears to be an error
that you inadvertently carried over from your other book
that I have, "Cash Box Pop Singles Charts,
1950-1993"...............................
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EdisonLite
MusicFan
Joined: 18 October 2004
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2237
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| Posted: 22 October 2004 at 7:04am | IP Logged
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80sMusicFreak writes:
<you use the wording
"(LP version)" and "(45 version)", while for other songs,
you state "(LP length)" and "(45 length)". I assume there
is no difference, and that the terms "(LP version)" and
"(LP length)" - or "(45 version)" and "(45 length)" - are
completely interchangeable??? Or am I missing
something??? >
I don't know if your question is directed only to Pat, but I can answer this. When "length" is used, the only difference between "LP length" and "45 length" is that one fades earlier than the other, and that's it. (And btw, it doesn't always mean the 45 fades first. There are cases where the single has the longer fade, like Daryl Hall's "Dreamtime" and also Jessica Simpson's "I Think I'm In Love With You".) When "version" is used, it means the difference between the 45 and LP is more involved than that -- like a different mix or in other cases, it's the same mix but an edit has been performed for the 45. (And sometimes I believe the single is an entirely different recording.)
Re: dj 45s with two different timings listed, I was originally not clear on this either, and Pat explained to me by email that sometimes it can mean there are two physical 45s involved, and other times it's one 45 with different lengths on each side.
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Pat Downey
Admin Group
Joined: 01 October 2003
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1742
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| Posted: 22 October 2004 at 8:59am | IP Logged
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EdisonLite answered 2 of the 3 questions asked by 80smusicfreak so I guess I should answer the remaining question. My legal counsel years ago cautioned me about using copyrighted music chart information without permission, especially openly advertising that say my top 40 database is comprised of any song that hit either the Billboard or Cash Box top 40 charts. Either publication or both could haul me into court for such a statement. Billboard flatly denied my request to use their top 40 database and Cash Box did allow me to use their database for the 1st edition of Top 40 Music On Compact Disc only. So to avoid any litigation, I now use a composite of a number of different publications which I don't care to divulge based on legal counsel.
Edited by Pat Downey on 22 October 2004 at 8:59am
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Topic: Questions about wording in book...
