CD DETECTIVE: In the baseball world, Jerry...

CD DETECTIVE: In the baseball world, Jerry Reuss is best remembered as a pitcher who won 220 major league games, a good number of them for the Dodgers.

In the pop world, he may become known as the tracer of lost hits.

With researcher-publisher Joel Whitburn, Reuss has put together a reference book that lists where on CD you can find some 10,000 old pop-rock hits. Titled “Top Pop Singles/CD Guide 1955-1979,” it costs $24.95 and can be ordered by phoning (414) 251-5408.

Trying to track down such oddities as Buchanan & Goodman’s 1956 novelty “The Flying Saucer,” or the Buggles’ frisky 1979 record “Video Killed the Radio Star,” the first song ever played by MTV? Reuss guides you to, respectively, Rhino Records’ “Billboard Top Rock ‘n’ Roll Hits--1956” and Island Records’ “Island Story.”

Reuss, who broadcasts the minor league Las Vegas Stars games on radio and TV, began compiling a list of CD tracks during the ‘80s when he made cassette tapes to carry along on Dodger road trips. He says there are still hundreds of old hits that haven’t been released in CD. Most them are by long-forgotten one-hit wonders, but some are surprisingly well known.

The most famous single not on CD?

Chubby Checker’s “The Twist.” Reuss explains, “It’s one of the many Cameo-Parkway recordings that hasn’t been licensed for CD. But it’s just a matter of time. Eventually, we’ll probably see almost everything back in circulation.”

He’s right.

Allen Klein, whose ABKCO company owns the rights to the Cameo-Parkway recordings, reports that “The Twist” and dozens of other Cameo-Parkway recordings will finally be released next year on CD.