Whitburn Books

[Fitz]

I guess this is the place to ask. (Forgive me, I'm still new. Consistently ignorant isn't a plus, either!)

Is there anyplace a cyber-version of a Joel Whitburn book (or even a copycat) is available?

I don't have the skill or patience to input an alphabetical listing of all the artists & songs I've collected in a lifetime, and the numbers have exceeded clear memory. Add too, the changes in formats, and I may not be sure if a song in my collection exists on tape, 45, LP, CD, or hard drive.

(Plus, the books are pretty pricey to go marking up, but if I could find cheap copies a few years obsolete, this would be nice.)

What I'd like to do is find an alphabetical listing of top R&R tunes & artists from like, 1955 to '80 or '85, and edit it to reflect my collection. Would this be possible? I've looked at the Whitburn site, and books are available in hard copy, but I don't know if any such books have been published as software for computer use.

Have I made myself understood?
Does anyone know anything that might help me?

Many thanks.

[H2IZCOOL]

fitz said:

I guess this is the place to ask. (Forgive me, I'm still new. Consistently ignorant isn't a plus, either!)

Is there anyplace a cyber-version of a Joel Whitburn book (or even a copycat) is available?

I don't have the skill or patience to input an alphabetical listing of all the artists & songs I've collected in a lifetime, and the numbers have exceeded clear memory. Add too, the changes in formats, and I may not be sure if a song in my collection exists on tape, 45, LP, CD, or hard drive.

(Plus, the books are pretty pricey to go marking up, but if I could find cheap copies a few years obsolete, this would be nice.)

What I'd like to do is find an alphabetical listing of top R&R tunes & artists from like, 1955 to '80 or '85, and edit it to reflect my collection. Would this be possible? I've looked at the Whitburn site, and books are available in hard copy, but I don't know if any such books have been published as software for computer use.

Have I made myself understood?
Does anyone know anything that might help me?

Many thanks.

Fitz, I have looked for the same thing a few times, and have never been able to find anything like that. All that exists is the hard copy as far as I know.

I think that Billboard magazine itself is available on line - of course at a fee, and likely a steep one, but they may have a service in which you are entitled to search their archives, I'm not sure.

I fully understand your desire to find an easier way to catalog your music. I own about 5,000 45s probably somewhere about 500 LPs, and lesser amounts of tapes and CDs. I keep my 45s in 7 drawers of legal-sized filing cabinets. 14 inch wide shelves means I can keep two rows of records per shelf. The records are alphabetical by artist (and for each artist, the records are alphabetical by "A" side titles. To back all this up I have a card catalog -- a 3 x 5 card for each "A" side, for the "B" side hits and for hit tracks off my albums. These are all alphabetical by title. Nothing for tapes or CDs yet. For the past five years, I have been copying my cards into an electronic spreadsheet. I am not yet half done - obviously I procrastinate a lot.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

[Dawn]

This is a great site, and sounds like it might be very similar to what you're looking for:

www.gramble.com/music/top40.html

It has all the top 40 hits from the 1950s through 1999 indexed by date, title, or artist, and the top 100 hits from 1960-2003 indexed by date and chart position. I've used it quite a bit for quick reference when answering posts here on the Click.

[H2IZCOOL]

admin said:

This is a great site, and sounds like it might be very similar to what you're looking for:

www.gramble.com/music/top40.html

It has all the top 40 hits from the 1950s through 1999 indexed by date, title, or artist, and the top 100 hits from 1960-2003 indexed by date and chart position. I've used it quite a bit for quick reference when answering posts here on the Click.

Hey, Dawn! This is great. I never knew it existed. Thanks!

[Fitz]

admin said:

This is a great site, and sounds like it might be very similar to what you're looking for:

www.gramble.com/music/top40.html

It has all the top 40 hits from the 1950s through 1999 indexed by date, title, or artist, and the top 100 hits from 1960-2003 indexed by date and chart position. I've used it quite a bit for quick reference when answering posts here on the Click.

FAN-TASTIC! I'll bet my collection has as many bottom 40 as top, but this is a place to start! Thanks bunches!!

[Laura--I wuv u all :)]

I'll bet my collection has as many bottom 40 as top...

Hey. Sometimes, the songs that don't chart as high are the most fun. (partly because you don't get burned out from hearing them on the radio all the time)

[H2IZCOOL]

fitz said:

admin said:

This is a great site, and sounds like it might be very similar to what you're looking for:

www.gramble.com/music/top40.html

It has all the top 40 hits from the 1950s through 1999 indexed by date, title, or artist, and the top 100 hits from 1960-2003 indexed by date and chart position. I've used it quite a bit for quick reference when answering posts here on the Click.

FAN-TASTIC! I'll bet my collection has as many bottom 40 as top, but this is a place to start! Thanks bunches!!

Fitz, since you're interested in some of the more obscure songs, you might want to look at a couple of series of posts that we have going around here.

Pete has a series called The Bottom 20. It's songs that made the top 40, but never the top 20. He has made several posts together with analyses of "what went wrong".

I have a series called No One Else Remembers. These are songs that were all played at one time or another on what used to be "Top 40 radio", but none of them made the top 20, few made the top 40, most did not, and some didn't chart at all. I've got several annotated lists of ten at a time on the boards.

Both Pete's and my series are on the Opinions boards.

[Laura--I wuv u all :)]

admin said:

This is a great site, and sounds like it might be very similar to what you're looking for:

www.gramble.com/music/top40.html

It has all the top 40 hits from the 1950s through 1999 indexed by date, title, or artist, and the top 100 hits from 1960-2003 indexed by date and chart position. I've used it quite a bit for quick reference when answering posts here on the Click.

Cool website, Dawn! Thanks!