If any of you are chart junkies, like I am, I found what appears to be a sweet deal on the new "Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Albums" book. Record Research of course sells this one for the list price of $79.95 + shipping. At AmazWAN, you can get it for the list, but free shipping. Well...a little looking around produced the following:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?dest=9999999997&product_id=5649755&sourceid=0100000030900866402498

Yup...$48.36 + $0.97 shipping and your local sales tax if applicable. Walmart shows the available date as 4/30/07, so this is a pre-order, but it's a great price. My order is in.

If you're looking for any of the Whitburn books, including some of the Hot 100 Decade books, Walmart has a bunch of them, all nicely discounted.

Thanks for the link Walter. I just ordered a copy.

Jim

This book came out last year, I think during the summer. This is a good price but it has been out awhile.

Amazon shows the following:

Product Details

Hardcover: 441 pages
Publisher: Record Research; 6 edition (April 4, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0898201667
ISBN-13: 978-0898201666
Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.3 x 2.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 4.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #91,421 in Books (See Top Sellers in Books)
(Publishers and authors: improve your sales)

so I'm wondering if Joel Whitburn's Record Research kept an exclusive on it for a year. It makes sense that since it only goes through the end of 2005 that it could have easily been published last year.

It's a cool book and it lists every song on every album that charted. It is 1,440 pages not 441. It also points out which songs on the album hit the Hot 100 and what was the charting.

I have every Billboard chart book known to man dealing with Rock and albums and singles and this did come out last year. The info is through 2005. I got it for Christmas last year-the newest book is the Adult Songs book which now includes Adult Top 40 hits as well as AC hits so now you see people like Collective Soul, Coldplay, Better Than Ezra alongside the standard Elton John, Barry Manilow, John Denver, Bread, James Taylor, etc. and recent hits by Duran Duran, Tears For Fears and others which makes it quite interesting.
This came out a few months ago and I just picked it up through Record Research.
The new Hot 100 Singles book should be out this fall as it's been 5 years since the last one-anyone know if this is on the way?

The best place would be to check Joel Whitburn's site. The last version of the singles book will be the last for me. All these songs I've never heard of by bands/rappers/american idols I don't care about.

Maybe I could ask you pros for some advice -

If a guy wanted to see the Top songs that charted *after* the Top 40 for each year of the 1960s - what book would that be ? In other words, what Whitburn book would list the Top 200 songs for each year of the 1960s ?

I am quite bored with the Top 40 songs of each year, as I've heard them all a zillion times. But it would be fun for me to research the songs that charted at #41 - #200 for those years.

Thanks

didn't even occur to me that he had a web-site.
I'll check it out immediately - thanks

Danno O,
The Whitburn book you are looking for is called The Billboard Hot 100 Annual (formerly Pop Annual) as it ranks all songs to make the Billboard Hot 100 charts every year from 1955 through 2005 by year and then by chart position. A great handy reference guide to see how records did on a national basis. Flip through the pages and watch your entire life pass before your eyes.

Yes! The book I asked about and figured was due soon because 4 years have passed, is out in September-the new Top Pop Singles 1955-2006 book. Cool news for any chart buff, and off the top of my head, despite how hideous the singles charts are now and that I usually can't even tell any of the Top 10 songs, I do know from sneaking a peek at various issues when I would read Billboard for free at Tower or Barnes And Noble, there are some good, veteran bands that will have new entries as well as some good recent artists.
Among those I can remember-The Eagles, Weird Al Yankovic, Fleetwood Mac, Hall And Oates, Depeche Mode, The Strokes, Velvet Revolver, Jane's Addiction, U2, The Killers, Keane, Nine Inch Nails, Seal, Foo Fighters, Lenny Kravitz, Iron Maiden, Red Hot Chili Peppers and many more will get updated and there are some cool new features as well.
Check out the Record Research website for more info!

I love the Whitburn books, however, don't count on that Top Pop Singles book until late-October or November. As great as the books are, the Whitburn books never get released by the announced date. It's laughable really. I can't tell you how many times I pre-ordered things from Record Research and waited and waited and waited...