The Comparison Book 1954-82

The latest Record Research book is now up for a pre-publication sale at out website (recordresearch.com).

It's an artist-by-artist compilation/comparison of the three big music trade publications from 1954-82.

The printing will be limited, so don't delay, order today!

Just went over to the RR web site and checked it out, including the sample pages - I agree it's definitely a great idea for a new book, Paul!

80smusicfreak wrote: (Just wish Record World had lasted about another 10 or 15 years beyond 1982, like Cash Box!)

When I made the above comment in response to another post of yours in a different thread all of three days ago, I had NO idea this new Comparison Book was in the works. The main reason I made that statement was because in 1982 - when Record World ceased publication - the music biz (including top 40 radio) was just starting its huge upward swing after going through the "post-disco slump". Thanks to the dawn of MTV, the "second British Invasion", etc., things were starting to get exciting again - not to mention that was exactly when I started to take a major interest in music myself. :-) So IMHO, Record World couldn't have gone under at a worse time - yet Cash Box still managed to hang on for another 14 years (until 1996), just long enough to cover the last interesting & worthwhile era for music. (I don't think I'm alone in saying that!)

So if I may offer some constructive criticism, I just wish that this upcoming Comparison Book could be extended to November 16, 1996 - when Cash Box ended its existence - instead of making 1982 the cut-off date, due to Record World throwing in the towel...

I also haven't forgotten the following comments you made only some five months ago (April 22) in the "Cash Box chart question" thread:

Paul Haney wrote: The problem with Cash Box in the late 1980s/early 1990s is the songs that were obviously hits that didn't even make their Top 100 chart. Some examples: "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" by Spin Doctors, "Nothin' To Hide" by Poco and "You Could Be Mine" by Guns N' Roses (although that one, at least, hit #104 on the "Looking Ahead" chart).

If extended to 1996 instead, wouldn't this Comparison Book be an EXCELLENT opportunity to expose those Cash Box vs. Billboard discrepancies that you mentioned above??? Heck, you certainly had my interest piqued back in April - in fact, are you sure that wasn't actually a veiled teaser for this new book, since it clearly would've already been in the works then?!? ;-)

RR's books have been a part of my life for 30 years now, and I'm thrilled to see that you guys have acquired the rights to use the CB and RW charts as well. So great work as always, Paul, but I really do think you could be losing some potential customers by making the cut-off date in this new book more than 32 years ago. Is it too late to reconsider??? I know I wouldn't mind any additional delay - and yes, if it means adding another $10 or $20 to the cost of the book, I'd definitely pay it! :-)

The Comparison Book will be at our offices tomorrow morning (2/10) and we'll be shipping out all the pre-orders this coming week.

Thanks again to everyone here that purchased a copy!

Santa brought my last gift today, and considering it's colder now than it was December 25th, and that there's maybe two inches of snow on the ground vs. none on 12/25, it's all the more timely.

Paul, what a great research tool/time-waster! :) The best part for me is being able to easily locate the many sub-100 (or thereabouts) charters from my college radio years in one super-convenient book.

It's also a great way to quickly date some non-Billboard unreported extras that were played on stations but never listed on their surveys.

Well done!

I got my copy yesterday and I've yet to put the book
down. It is great having all the information there in the
one volume. This might be the most important release ever
for Record Research.

Now a question for Pat and/or any others who may have
important information to add to this discussion.

There are many songs in this book that have, if you were
to take the three chart peaks and average them out, an
average that would seem to qualify the song for inclusion
in the online Top 40 database. Here is just one example I
came across:

"So Close" by Jake Holmes from 1970. The three numbers
are 27 (RW), 29 (CB) and 49 (BB) for a total of 105 or an
average of 35 (rounding up). So the question is: Are
there any other music charts that would also be factored
in to determine if this song merits inclusion in the
online database?

BTW, even tho this song never made the Billboard Top 40,
Casey Kasem actually played the song on the first year of
AT40 for the Dec. 19 countdown. It was #39 instead of the
correct song "Love The One You're With" by Stephen
Stills. I recently heard the error on a replay at the end
of last year. I read on this board that there were a few
of these mistakes but never actually heard one myself
until now.