British Hit Singles and Albums (Guinness 19th Edition)

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Customer reviews

review by: Feltano date: 2008-02-22 rating:
A bible for all music and chart fans - massively useful
Barcode: 9781904994107

I've lost track of how many times i've dipped in and out of the this book for information. It really has got everything you'd ever want to know about the UK charts in it. Ever heard a song played on the radio and want to know moe about it? Chances are you'll find it in the index.

As well as listing complete chart records and catalogue numbers for every artist to ever enter the top 75 you'll find a fun Number 1 timeline going right back to when it started in 1952 up to 2005. Really good if you want to see what the number single/album was on your birthday.

There's also interesting facts sprinkled throughout the book and a top 500 of the UK's most successful artists in the charts, i've always liked looking at where my favourite bands/singers are in the chart and working out how many more weeks they need to be on the chart before they overtake so and so...

It's also very useful for making sure say, all your track information on your iTunes is correct or if you wanted to do maybe a playlist of all the number ones of a certain year.

So, all in all, just the most informative book you could ever wish for, it really is a must have for any music fan. I can't wait for the next edition!

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review by: date: 2008-02-15 rating:
why cant u buy this in the shops
haveing to buy this book online could not buy it in no shops in town where i live cant understand why the book shops dont sell this they couldent even order it had to buy it online just waiting 4 it to come now.

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review by: date: 2007-05-29 rating:
ATOMIC KITTEN BETTER THAN HENDRIX ?
If you are looking for chart stats then this should be your first port of call.
However,I have a problem with the stats contained at the end.
They are now so biased in favour of modern music. The main reason being that the charts are now the top75..whereas in the 60's you only had the top20 recorded for a long time. Therefore a minor hit now could hang around between 50 and 75 and rack up "weeks on chart" whereas a classic single from The Beatles or The Rolling Stones in 1965 would not be counted as soon as it dropped to no.21 ! A younger reader may look at the stats at the back of the book and see Westlife or Atomic Kitten above greats like Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix and that can't be right. Maybe the writers could even out the stats by only counting anything which was in the top 20 all the way through ?
Overall though, a decent book and a handy reference when you want to find out what was no.1 on your birthday !!

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review by: date: 2006-07-16 rating:
Great On Everything After The 1960's
This is an excellent volume and the best general book available for charts statistics if you are willing to accept the Record Retailer Chart as the "bible".

Up until the late 1960's it was not accepted as the main chart which has led to decades of debate over who has had most number one's and so on. I also think that EP's should be included. Sure they are forgotten now but in the 60's they had their own charts and much music was released on EP only which is now being forgotten.




review by: teenage_tree_hugger date: 2006-06-16 rating:
My bible
This fantastic book is an absolute must for music lovers of all ages. Packed with information regarding the UK music charts, "British Hit Singles and Albums" leaves no stone unturned. As well as listing every single and album to have entered the charts since 1952 and 1956 respectively, this book gives you each single and album's peak chart position, total weeks spent on chart, date of entry, catalogue number, record label... I am in absolute awe of Guinness. How much effort must go into creating these beautiful paving slabs every year?

And this edition is one of the biggest slabs yet, containing 720 pages and having grown to a larger height than usual. This, of course, has permitted the inclusion of a multitude of special features, such as the customary pop review of the year, Oscar-winning songs, artists with the most UK no. 1 albums, a celebratory page dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the first punk hit by the notorious Sex Pistols, and much more besides.

The information you desire is clearly laid out and, consequently, is easy to find. Guinness have painstakingly added up each act's total weeks on the UK singles and albums charts and have constructed a Top 500 list of acts according to their totals, so in addition to simply discovering everything you will ever need to know about a certain single or album, you will also find a biography of those acts making it into this Top 500. The Top 100 acts are listed in all their glory over two pages in the book, and I could not help but be astounded at the incredible chart week totals clocked up by Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard, as well as the Beatles, Queen, Michael Jackson, Abba and U2 to name but a few.

In my opinion, "British Hit Singles and Albums" reigns supreme over its fairly new rivals, and if there is one book that I swear by as a music lover, this is certainly it.

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