Fred Bronson has done it again...
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This book is amazing. Here is what you get:
Different chart categories such as:
The top songs divided by popular artists (Elvis, Mariah Carey and anyone else with a large singles list)
The top songs from producers and writers.
The top tongs divided into record company.
The top songs of each year from 1955-2001.*
The top songs in various categories (Boys Names, Girls Names, Food, Weekdays etc.)
And the top 5000 songs of all time!!! (from 1955-May 2002)
It also contains biographies of the popular artists, the description of each year and category and an explanation of how he came up with the results.
* The year end charts are not the same as billboard magazine's year-end charts, he used a different methodology, and the songs are categorized under the year in which they hit their peak position.
Great Book, and even if you are not interested in Billboard, it is still very interesting!!
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This isn't your average Hot 100!
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The incredible trivia and detail which Fred Bronson has labored to include in this book are worth the purchase by any music fan! The table of contents alone is six pages long, dividing the book in the top songs by The Artists, The Writers, The Producers, The Labels, Charts and Configurations, The Years, and The Subjects.
So we are taken from the lists showing John Lennon and Paul McCartney writing over 100 hit songs, to producers L.A. Reid and Babyface charting with their Top 50 list. In the record label section, the companies with 100 Top Hits are A&M, Arista, Atlantic, Capitol,Colubia, Epic, MCA, Mercury, MGM, Motown, RCA, and Warner Brothers. Each label's top songs are listed.
The trivia subjects are fun: Top 100 songs about animals (Elvis wins the top two with "Hound Dog" and "Teddy Bear"). Picking out a name for a baby? Here are the Top 100 songs with names of boys or girls in the title.
The Years begin with 1956 and go through 2001, with an added section on the Top 100 of each decade. A special section ends the book: The Top 5000 Songs of the Rock Era. #1? "Smooth" by Santana.
Buy this book if you love music chart facts and trivia with rare photos of the artists who achieved the Top 100.
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SWEET INSPIRATION
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The above title is charted as #4631 of the Top 5000 singles of the rock era and also the feeling one gets when thumbing through this absolutely essential book--absolutely essential for any individual with the slightest interest in popular music of the past 47 years all the way to the deepest trivia buff, anyone who has ever had a taste of list-o-mania. Along with Mr. Bronson's "Billboard Book Of Number One Hits" and Joel Whitburn's "Top Pop Singles", this is the one of the three necessary reference items for any home library with a section dealing with pop music. Mr. Bronson covers the songs, artists (sections for Elvis, Elton, Abba, Aretha, Beatles, Stones, Sinatras, etc.) producers, songwriters and record labels, that have spun around our turntables. cassette decks and CD players since 1955. Specialized sections deal with such diverse subjects as music from motion pictures, names of girls and boys, food, animals and the calendar. It is not just the list that make this book essential; it is the historical articles which feature thousands of little known facts. The ultimate list is the Top 5000 songs of the rock era (1955-present). Some fine illustrations accompany the text. Some readers will take offense that most of the biggest songs of the rock era are from the 1990s. However, Mr. Bronson explains how chart methodolgy created this situation (For instance the highest ranking Beatles song is #41). For those 1960s (or other decades)purists , there are sections devoted to each decade. For the statisticians, the author has revised his methodology to emphasize high chart position, a significant improvement. This book will settle many arguments about popular music and related pop culture issues. In summary, buy it.
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Bronson's Charts Smart!
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Fred Bronson has painstakingly compiled a chart lovers'
companion filled with vital statistics, facts, and glorious pictures. What really sets this book apart is Mr. Bronson's seemingly unending wealth of often fascinating, and sometimes uncanny, chart revelations. Fred Bronson spins his tales of pop culture into gritty bites of timeless trivia. Highlights include The Top 100 Songs from Motion Pictures with fun anecdotes such as 1976 Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci's connection to the movies and The Top 100 Songs of 1963, the year before The Beatles broke and forever changed America's musical landscape.
Many writers have created other chart compendiums of a similar nature, but no one tackles the Rock Era with the zest and creativity of a true chart champion and enthusiast quite like Fred Bronson.
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