PURE AMERICANA! (Well, Sort Of)

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THE BILLBOARD BOOK OF TOP 40 HITS
edited by Joel Whitburn
published: 1996
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What is America? How does one go about comprehending the "American Ideal"? Where would you send a foreigner who sought to gain a tangible understanding of the most influential and powerful nation on Earth over the course of these last two hundred and thirty years? Me, I'd send him to three written sources:
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The Declaration Of Independence; The U.S. Constitution; and THE BILLBOARD BOOK OF TOP 40 HITS. The first one explains the premise upon which this country was founded. The second illustrates the dynamic system under which it was organized. The third recounts the progression (or regression) that the country experienced under the world's longest-running Republican form of government.
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OK, OK! Maybe I have overestimated the social importance of this tome, but why not aim as high as we can and see if we can't make some of it stick? (Besides, some suckers will fall for ANYTHING!) Truth is, I almost feel a little embarrassed writing a review for a book like this, but then -- to borrow a line from those old geezers who really do seem to "gather no moss" -- I know it's only Rock 'N' Roll, but I like it! 
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Of course, it's not really ONLY Rock 'N' Roll. American Pop music encompasses a wide range of musical styles: There's FOLK ('The City Of New Orleans' by Arlo Guthrie. #18 in '72); COUNTRY ('Good Hearted Woman' by Waylon and Willie. #25 in '76); BLUES ('The Thrill Is Gone' by B.B. King. #15 in '70); JAZZ ('Take Five' by Dave Brubeck. #25 in '61); SOUL ('I'll Be Doggone' by Marvin Gaye. #8 in '65); DISCO ('Hot Stuff' by Donna Summer. #1 in '79); and RAP...Oh, never mind. Don't get me started! And of course, it's not really ONLY American either. Afterall, those four blokes from Liverpool were from... well... Liverpool.
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THE BILLBOARD BOOK OF TOP 40 HITS is one of those mysterious, time-sucking publications. You pull it off the shelf to look up one little item and the next thing you know, you realize that you've floated from ABBA to ZAPPA and 40 minutes have passed!
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The book has been beautifully organized by the premier music charting-impresario, JOEL WHITBURN. The broadcaster Bruce Morrow's blurb on my back cover says, "Joel Whitburn's books are as much a part of my radio stations as my transmitters. Any time I buy or build a radio station, the first two pieces of equipment I purchase are Joel's book and my Billboard subscription." If you're waiting for a BETTER recommendation, our Republic will be defunct by the time it arrives! I own the 6th Edition (1955-1995), but since my real interest in American Pop music extended only as far as about 1984, this earlier edition suits me fine.
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Although, naturally, the book provides information on all of the music that cracked the Top 40 -- its date, highest postion reached, and the amount of weeks it retained its Top 40 status -- I find the charts toward the back perhaps the book's most interesting feature. Whitburn has concocted a point system formula utilizing info on chart position and weeks charted from which he determines the top songs and artists. He then presents these outcomes to us by decade and overall career position. While each reader might want to tweak the system by making an adjustment here or there according to how he or she prioritizes, I can't imagine that the results would be markedly different. These charts illustrate some surprising findings. For instance...
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Did you know that BOYZ II MEN (whoever they are. I'm 46!) are responsible for 3 of the Top 10 singles of ALL-TIME?
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Did you know that despite the overwhelming perception of their One-hit Wonder status, TONY ORLANDO AND DAWN actually rank as the 16th most popular artist of the 1970s?
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Because of their "un-cool" persona, it was rare to find a teenager in the mid-'70s willing to publicly confess to being a CARPENTERS fan. And yet, the Pop duo was the 4th most popular music-maker of that decade. They sure sold a lot of records for a group that no one admitted to liking!
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Here's the fact that REALLY surprised me: Having been a teenager in the 1970s, I can attest that by then the consensus was that ELVIS PRESLEY was a has-been. Led Zeppelin ruled our world, and 'Stairway To Heaven' was the teen national anthem. I don't think most of us even knew that Elvis was still alive. He seemed as far removed from the contemporary American scene as Washington and Jefferson did. And yet, I learn from Whitburn that "The King" was the 11th most popular artist of the decade! I LIVED through it, and that STILL astounds me!
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And by the way, the next time you hear someone refer to ELVIS as "THE KING OF ROCK 'N' ROLL", don't make the mistake of thinking that's a contestable opinion. According to Whitburn's calculations, Elvis scores 8,002 total lifetime points. The "Fab Four" come in a DISTANT second with 4,549; followed by Elton John and Stevie Wonder with 4,103 and 3,685 respectively. I was never a big fan of his, but I'll concede that Elvis is still "The King".
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Yeah, you probably should acquire a copy of THE BILLBOARD BOOK OF TOP 40 HITS. Without it, how would you ever know that...
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* One month after the plane crash that killed BUDDY HOLLY, he collected his last Top 40 hit, appropriately titled, 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore'.
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* STEVIE WONDER (real name: Steveland Morris) had just turned 13 years old when he scored his first #1 hit song.
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* On the day that the United States Of America celebrated its Bicentennial, the song at the apex of the Pop music chart was "LOVE HANGOVER" by DIANA ROSS. Which begs this question: Were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and George Mason tapping their toes in their pine boxes, or were they turning over in their graves?
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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