Looking at an Elite Singles Club

“TOP POP SINGLES 1955-1996”

Edited by Joel Whitburn

Record Research

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For Anyone With a Heart for the Charts.

That’s the slogan of Whitburn’s Record Research publishing company, which for more than a quarter-century has specialized in books that focus on the history of Billboard magazine’s weekly record charts.

The various books--which look separately at the pop, country and R&B; charts--are such a constant delight for fans of pop history or trivia that Whitburn should also consider printing another slogan on the first page of each volume: “Let the Fun Begin.”

There is probably something on almost all of the nearly 900 pages that will catch your eye in this update of Whitburn’s classic look at the pop singles chart, which ran through 1990. The book ($79.95 hard cover, $69.95 soft cover) is available in selected stores or by mail order: (800) 827-9810.

He not only gives us six more years of information about every single to enter the Billboard Top 100 (including, for the first time, the name of the record’s B-side), but also updates his rating of the most popular singles artists of the modern pop era.

Elvis Presley still dominates Whitburn’s various lists, which have been based in varying degrees over the years on sales, airplay and jukebox play. In overall popularity (based on number of weeks on the charts and the highest position achieved for each record), Presley, with 9,576 points, continues to lead the Beatles by more than 4,000 points.

Elton John, however, has moved up from No. 5 to 3, pushing him ahead of Stevie Wonder and James Brown, who fall to Nos. 4 and 5 respectively. The Rolling Stones remain No. 6, followed by Michael Jackson (up from 10 to 7), Pat Boone (down from 7 to 8), Aretha Franklin (down from 8 to 9) and Madonna (up sharply, from 21 to 10).

Other artists in the Top 40 who also gained five or more places: Prince (27 to 22), Whitney Houston (49 to 36) and Janet Jackson (57 to 37).

Presley also continues to lead in most Top 100 hits (151), Top 40 hits (104), Top 10 (38) and most weeks at No. 1 (80). The Beatles, however, have the most No. 1 singles (20).

One tendency noted in this edition is that records tend to stay on the charts longer than they did in previous decades. In Whitburn’s “Top Pop Singles 1955-1990,” the record for the most weeks on the Top 100 was the 43 weeks established in 1982 by Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love.”

Remarkably, 16 singles in the ‘90s have topped that figure, led by Los Del Rio’s “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” which remained on the chart for 60 weeks.

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