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Books About Oldies Bands And Artists
Everybody I Shot Is Dead
Beautifully laid-out 208-page coffee table book by Deborah Chesher with over 400 never-before-published photographs with bios and stories of 48 oldies music bands and artists who have since passed away. For more info, please see our interview of Deborah Chesher.
Get a Shot of Rhythm and Blues: The Arthur Alexander Story
Biography of oldies music icon Arthur Alexander by Richard Younger. For more info, please see our interview of Richard Younger.
Resources For Naming That Tune
When you are racking your brain trying to name some obscure and all-but-forgotten song that, for the life of you, you just cannot find on the Internet no matter how hard you try, the next logical step is to consult printed resources. Below is a list of our favorites.
The Green Book of Songs by Subject: The Thematic Guide to Popular Music
A great resource not only for finding song titles by theme but also for jogging your memory when trying to recall some long-lost tune. Includes over 35,000 songs from around 1900-2002 from 7,000 artists categorized under 1,800 thematic categories and subcategories.
Top Pop Single 1955-2015
Magnificent compilation by Joel Whitburn of Billboard's Pop Singles Hot 100 Charts. Lists every band and artist who had at least one song in the Billboard Hot 100 between 1955-2015. A list of every song by that artist is given, along with the debut date, peak chart position, B-side song, and record label and number. For special songs, the song type (e.g., instrumental, spoken, comedy, foreign language, Christmas) is also given.
Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100: 1959-2004: Joel Whitburn Presents
Complete information as given in Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles for those all but forgotten gems that peaked at only #101-135.
Christmas in the Charts 1920-2004
Lists every Christmas single and album that made the Billboard charts from 1920-2004.
Pop Annual 1955 - 2011
Another fine book by Joel Whitburn. Here, songs are listed year-by-year according to their peak chart positions for those who need to browse or search by year.
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles 1942-2004 (Book)
Complete information as given in Top Pop Singles for those songs that made the Billboard R&B and Hip-Hop charts.
Billboard Top Country Singles 1944-2001
Complete information as given in Top Pop Singles for those songs that made the Billboard Country charts.
British Hit Singles and Albums
Comprehesive compilation of UK chart hits from 1952-present. Song titles, chart positions, weeks spent on charts, record label information, artist bios, and more. Updated annually.
British and American Hit Singles: 51 Years of Transatlantic Hits 1946-1997
This book clears up much of the confusion regarding 45 rpm record labels for those songs that charted in both the US and the UK. For each song title, the year, peak chart position, and record label information for each country are given.
