The Driving Force Behind
American Top 40 Music
Songs and Artists of the Top
40
Having a hit record is quite an
achievement, especially in these days of fierce competition.
Getting into the American Top 40 will guarantee airplay and
a place in the record books.
The first Billboard chart appeared way
back in 1936 and the first Hot 100 came out in 1958. Today,
music fans look to the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 and there
are also charts for separate genres, such as rock, country,
dance, jazz, R&B, rap and Latin.
How to Get Listed on the Top 40
Charts
Breaking into the singles and album
American Top 40 is the real milestone. Of course topping the
chart is even better. The Billboard Book of Number One Hits
by Fred Bronson lists every chart topper since 1955, showing
all the relevant chart statistics.
The charts go up to 2003 and there is
a history for each record with background information from
the artists, producers and songwriters involved. The first
entry is for Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and the
Comets and the latest entry is for Bump Bump Bump by B&K
and Puff Daddy.
The Joel Whitburn Story
Joel Whitburn is a remarkable music
historian and author of several books on the history of the
Billboard charts, one of which is the Billboard Book of Top
40 Hits: Complete Chart Information about America's Most
Popular Songs and Artists 1955 - 2003 (8th Edition).
The book contains cross referenced
lists of artists and singles in alphabetical order with
other lists detailing the artists with the most chart hits,
the most Top 10 hits and the most Number 1 records. It also
shows how many weeks the artist remained at Number 1.
Each single is given its peak
position, the date it charted, how many weeks it stayed in
the chart, the record label and any relevant trivia. There
is a brief biography for each artist and an American Top 40
Trivia Quiz. Whitburn has also written the Billboard Book of
Top 40 Country Hits, the Billboard Book of Top 40 R&B
and Hip-hop Hits and Billboard Pop Hits: Singles and Albums
1940 - 1954.
Joel Whitburn's painstaking research
and attention to detail has resulted in his reference books
being used by fans, DJs and music professionals all over the
world. He founded Record Research Inc and began his
documentation of all the music and video charts produced by
Billboard with the assistance of a team of researchers.
112 books have been published in
total. He has amassed one of the largest collections of
phonograph records in the world, which he keeps in an
underground vault. This incredible collection contains
almost every copy of every 78rpm, 45rpm, Long Player, and CD
single to have appeared on the Billboard chart.
Top 40 Music - Then and Now
A lot has changed since the start of
Joel Whitburn's research and there has been many technical
innovations, including computer downloads, iPods and so on.
The charts have reflected these
changes. The main priority for the fans is to find out what
the American Top 40 looks like with each passing week and
they listen to the radio to find out if their favorite
record has made the grade.
|
