I have amended the headers at the top of the website today to include a Book Finder – a single page with (hopefully) links to all the books I offer. Since 2017 I have put together over 40 books – some have been remade – and all that are currently available should be listed on the page or via links. It’s a good way of seeing what is available.
In building it, I realised that my 1960’s-1980’s Billboard Decade Hot 100 volumes were not available for individual purchase and this has now been rectified.
I’ve also added a new book to the UK Decade series- the 1990’s (which already existed as a Top 100) but re-made as a Top 200. This contains the Gallup data from 1990-5 Feb 1994 (with sales data and all starred out position shown) and then from then on we list the Compressed Top 200. A special section at the back lists the Uncompressed chart data, derived from Hit Music and lists the charts as they listed them (which is not entirely correct as you will see when you read the volume notes).
You can see the Sample pages here.
The book is simply huge, clocking in at almost 8,000 pages, and a file size of 90Mb, so I do hope that it does not cause any issues for readers. If it does, then I will have to split the book into two volumes.
In other news, I am working away on the Billboard series with 1997 issued shortly. The page count keeps expanding so I am considering dropping some charts when we reach over 5,000 pages per volume. These would be charts that contain records covered elsewhere, or that are dropping in prominence in Billboard. Whilst I dislike doing this, the sere weight of information does make the volumes huge so it is something to consider. The core charts (Hot 100, Country, R&B, Rock and Dance as well as Bubbling) will always remain, but some of the more niche Airplay charts may well have to drop away.
UK Album Series
I always get asked about the UK Album series and when it will start. Plans are in place for 2026, once Billboard has finished. I am looking at what features to include, so if there is any analysis you feel would be nice to include let me know and I’ll have a play around with the database and see what can be included. I am also planning an American Album series – and that title is quite deliberate as some non-Billboard charts may make their way into the set. Both Cashbox and Record World/Music Vendor (prior to 1964) had Album charts and whilst I have all of the Cashbox album charts, I do not have them for Record World, so if you have any of the charts from Record World do let me know. I do have all the ones currently available online at the excellent World Radio History website, so it is others that I am looking for.
Hello Lonnie! First of all, the new Book finder was great and practical. I received your email and came to comment here. Your books are amazing and and as soon as I have an improvement in my health conditions (which I already told you about on Ukmix) I intend to buy all the book albums possible (and eventually the singles ones too). As you suggested, here are some ideas and comments for future ALBUM books:
*The layout of the NME and MELODY MAKER album books are amazing. I think it’s everything we need. Separation by artists, some trivia, milestones and, mainly, the full charts for each week (which for me will always be the “icing on the cake”). I just hope this series continues until the last week of 1988, when both published their final charts.
*A book about the Record Business and MRIB album charts, up to the last days would be a dream come true. It would be amazing if you could get the complete MRIB TOP 75, as far as they went. Despite the abrupt end of the contract with Number One, they continued to provide the charts for Music & Media’s top 100 for much of the 1990s, so I imagine that a top 75 or 100 would still be compiled. Having these complete charts would be very important, even if the number of books to complete the a eventual “RB/MRIB Album series” increased to much in the end.
*Album books about the OCC charts would also be very useful, as long as they had extra information than what is available on the official website or in their books (which are quite mediocre unfortunately). We know that they don’t seem to want to expand much on what is there, but if you could get the license to, for example, publish the complete weekly top 150 albums before the start of Hit Music (and later the top 200) and with the weekly peaks for each country of the United kingdom, it would be really much more complete and relevant information than what is currently available (something like – UK peak: #18. Northern Ireland: #?? Scotland: #?? England: #?? Wales: #??). I really don’t know when they have this information since (possibly 1983, with the begnning of Gallup ERA??), but it would be awesome.
*Album books from the US would also be very welcome, especially those that focus on charts that are not Billboards. A book with the complete collection of Record World (which seen to be the best and more accurate from 70’s in my humble opinion, during the period when Lenny Beer was in charge of the charts, between 1973 and 1978) and, mainly, of the different national charts from the 80s and 90s: HITS from August 1986 onwards, The Album Network, from 1985 (at least) to the end of their Hottest Sales Nationwide charts, Hitmakers in 1990 (which seemed to be published somewhere else before being hosted by Hitmakers) and find out if those many regional Record Pools had any unification in any publication/newspaper at some given time until the early 90s (For The Record NY, American Music Pool LA, Chicago Record Pool, Desert West Record Pool Phoenix and many, many others). If not, try to get hold of these regional charts, which seemed very complete for each region (judging by the number of stores surveyed by each of these local companies).
And that’s it!! Thanks for the information and great services dedicated to chart fanatics around the world.
Cheers, Júlio Oliveira