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Joel Whitburn
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The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 9th Edition: Complete Chart Information about America's Most Popular Songs and Artists, 1955-2009 Paperback – October 5, 2010

by Joel Whitburn (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 390 ratings
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The Essential Reference Guide to America’s Most Popular Songs and Artists Spanning More than Fifty Years of Music
 
Beginning with Bill Haley & His Comets’ seminal “Rock Around the Clock” all the way up to Lady Gaga and her glammed-out “Poker face,” this updated and unparalleled resource contains the most complete chart information on every artist and song to hit Billboard’s Top 40 pop singles chart all the way back to 1955. Inside, you’ll find all of the biggest-selling, most-played hits for the past six decades. Each alphabetized artist entry includes biographical info, the date their single reached the Top 40, the song’s highest position, and the number of weeks on the charts, as well as the original record label and catalog number. Other sections—such as “Record Holders,” “Top Artists by Decade,” and “#1 Singles 1955-2009”—make The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits the handiest and most indispensable music reference for record collectors, trivia enthusiasts, industry professionals and pop music fans alike.
 
Did you know?
 


   • Beyoncé’s 2003 hit “Crazy in Love” spent 24 weeks in the Top 40 and eight of them in the #1 spot.
   • Billy Idol has had a total of nine Top 40 hits over his career, the last being “Cradle of Love” in 1990.
   • Of Madonna’s twelve #1 hits, her 1994 single “Take a Bow” held the spot the longest, for seven weeks—one week longer than her 1984 smash “Like a Virgin.”
   • Marvin Gaye’s song “Sexual Healing” spent 15 weeks at #3 in 1982, while the same song was #1 on the R&B chart for 10 weeks.
   • Male vocal group Boyz II Men had three of the biggest chart hits of all time during the 1990s.
   • The Grateful Dead finally enjoyed a Top 10 single in 1987 after 20 years of touring.
   • Janet Jackson has scored an impressive 39 Top 40 hits—one more than her megastar brother Michael!
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    912 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Billboard Books
  4. Publication date
    October 5, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    7 x 1.9 x 9.17 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0823085546
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0823085545
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

JOEL WHITBURN, widely recognized as the foremost authority on charted music, has published more than 100 books based on Billboard charts both for the trade market and for his own mail-order company, Record Research, based in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Record Research began as a hobby and is now a liscensee of Billboard magazine. Joel's other Billboard Books titles include The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits and The Billboard Book of Top 40 R&B and Hip-Hop Hits.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Billboard Books; Revised, Expanded edition (October 5, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 912 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0823085546
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0823085545
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.59 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 1.9 x 9.17 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 390 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
390 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

T. Curry
5.0 out of 5 stars Great reference for popular American-charted songs and charted songs
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2023
Verified Purchase
There is nothing more to say. Great book as a reference for popular songs in the USA
and American charts.
Question: How many songs total listed here? I wish to do an estimation of
how much data or gigabytes ALL the songs listed here would take up?
.WAV or .FLAC files estimates if ALL of the popular songs were collected in
a library like for radio station. Thank you.
One person found this helpful
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R. Dixon
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Reference!!!
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2010
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This book is probably the greatest single reference for the modern popular music fan. The last edition of "Top 40 Hits" that I owned only covered up to 1990, and it was around 600 pages long. This new edition goes all the way up to 2009 and it's huge---900 pages---almost a third longer. I have been without one of these Whitburn "Top 40" references for a while and I had forgotten how much I missed having it as a music listening tool. With this book you can identify your favorite top 40 hit record (from 2009 back to 1955) when you hear it on the radio, or just look up your favorite song titles to see when they were hits, and learn their peak chart position. Or you can see just how many of your favorite band or artist's songs made it to Top 40 hit status. The thoroughness of Whitburn's research is unbelievable! In this latest edition there is still trivia about many of the bands and artists including listings of many bandmembers and their previous and subsequent musical involvement. And in the hands of a skilled music programmer, this book is a powerful programming tool. So it is both entertaining and useful. I guess it's all a matter of perspective, but since I received my copy it has never been up on the shelf. It is out on the table, and used almost constantly. This was some of the best reference book money I have spent in a long time.
25 people found this helpful
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Randall L. Turner
5.0 out of 5 stars I purchased this one to enjoy in my leisure time
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2017
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This book was a vital source of information when I was in the radio business. I've worn out two copies over the past twenty-plus years and am now on my third copy. Being a music lover with an appetite for knowledge of Top 40 chart history, I purchased this one to enjoy in my leisure time.

Thanks to Joel Whitburn and his staff for their diligence in compiling the chart information in this book. There are many variations of Billboard chart info books in print, but this is the most valuable and basic reference source available. It contains the info you need and the layout makes it easy to use. If you're into music research or just hungry for personal info about your favorite songs, this is the book you want. There has been a copy of this book in every radio control room I've ever stepped into. I honestly don't know what I would have done without this book and the valuable information it contains.
6 people found this helpful
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Rob
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent resource for music
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2013
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I've been using Joel Whitburn's books since I was in middle school (and they were a lot thinner back then). They're a great resource for anyone who works with music as a DJ or who just loves music trivia. I have the Kindle edition, which is perfect for what I do. I carry it everywhere in my Kindle PaperWhite and my Nexus 7. For serious work, I use the Cloud Reader. The Kindle navigation is very helpful.

This edition lists every song to ever hit the Billboard Top 40 and has a nice index in the back with a list of #1 hits broken down by year and the top 25 songs of each decade. I use these to build my playlists and find music to add to my collection. There's also a great index of the top artists by decade and of all time along with the scoring matrix to explain it.

The only thing I'd like to see added is a copy of the Billboard End of Year Top 100 charts for each year. Also, because the "Top 40" has become a train wreck of music since about 1990, I'd like to see a similar compilation done for the "Hot AC" format, but that's just me.
8 people found this helpful
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tammy rober
5.0 out of 5 stars loved it!
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2023
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itS GREAT FOR A MUSIC BUFF .. GOOD TRIVIA
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Bent steel.
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth its weight in gold.
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2023
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The latest edition is complete and accurate as its predessors.I missed the previous edition and chose to be update ,was not disappointed.Marvelous to know some of my favorite artists are still hanging in there,as the Top 100.
2 people found this helpful
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M Roy Clark
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and invaluable resource.
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2020
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This book is wonderful and exactly as it's billed. And unlike most Joel Whitburn books it's not horribly ugly (they really have some terrible designers, there). I have picked it up at least once a day since purchasing it a month or so ago. Highly recommended.

I had to dock a star, though, because the cover's glossy laminate removed itself within a couple of weeks. The book is still in decent shape, but the low quality doesn't necessarily instill a lot of faith that the book will last me as long as I'd hoped. Without the glossy film on the cover, it's basically thin poster-board, and susceptible to moisture and bends too easily.
2 people found this helpful
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H. D. Espinosa
5.0 out of 5 stars Great reference book for music lovers
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2014
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Music lovers will definitely find this book a "must-have". As you flip through the pages, you will get to remember that long-forgotten song you used to listen back in the day, how popular it was and when it reached its peak position at the Billboard's top 40. The book is essentially organized by artist and their chart achievements, but there are also smaller sections where song titles are organized alphabetically (with its peak position and year), #1 songs by year (and # of weeks at the position) and artist rankings based on chart performance. So all that means that regardless of your research criteria, you will probably find this book friendly and easy to navigate. It's been great not only to read, but also to build my music library organized by dates and discover "new" old songs I've never paid attention to. If you subscribe to one of these streaming services and plan to build an entirely different playlist to share and enjoy, this book might be of great help.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Ricardo V.
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente Libro
Reviewed in Mexico on May 3, 2022
Verified Purchase
Es un excelente compendio de éxitos de los Artistas y Canciones de EUA de año 1955 al 2009.
Muy detallado y gráficamente sencillo de comprender.
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Barrie Kelley
5.0 out of 5 stars Marvellous reference material
Reviewed in Canada on December 29, 2020
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This book is a wealth of information for collectors and music history nerds like myself.
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S. Tong
4.0 out of 5 stars Good reference guide for American pop music charts
Reviewed in Australia on August 8, 2023
Verified Purchase
A good reference for American Billboard pop music charts from 1955 to 2009. It includes mainly the top 40 charted singles released by the artists within the period. The book provides enough information for me to discover many other songs and artists that I haven't heard before. Great for any pop music lovers.
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Peter Höller
5.0 out of 5 stars Tolle Aufmachung - toller Inhalt!
Reviewed in Germany on January 21, 2017
Verified Purchase
Endlich wieder auf einem neueren Stand! War bisher im Besitz einer Ausgabe
von 1973! Damals zwar noch Top 100, aber das hätte den Umfang der neuen
Ausgabe (900 Seiten) eindeutig gesprengt! Ein Muss für jeden Sammler!
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W. Baker
5.0 out of 5 stars A great source of information on US hit records spanning a period of more than 50 years.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2016
Verified Purchase
I was delighted to find that this book was still available. As a presented on local radio, I use it almost daily as a reliable and clear source of information on popular music spanning a period of more than 50 years. In addition to the hit record listings, the summary information of each of the artists is particularly interesting and adds greatly to the value and interest of this book.
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