Synopses & Reviews
Back in the days of Louis Jordan and Bullmoose Jackson
and His Buffalo Bearcats, swing, and World War II, Billboard magazine started keeping tabs on the best-sellers in record
stores in New York Citys Harlem. That Harlem Hit Parade
chart of 1942, the starting point of this book, was Billboards
first accounting of the growing interest in the music that
would come to be known as R&B. Today, more than sixty
years later, Billboard is proud to present the first edition of
The Billboard Book of Top 40 R&B and Hip-Hop Hits, packed
with complete, authoritative chart information
on the most popular songs and artists,
including everyone from the Nat King
Cole Trio to Ray Charles to Mary J.
Blige to Jay-Z. Great for music fans,
record collectors, industry professionals,
and trivia lovers, this book
will answer questions, resolve arguments,
and inspire new ideas.
• Capitalizes on one of W-Gs top-selling
titles, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits
more than 50,000 copies sold of the 7th
edition!
• Complete history of Top 40 R&B and
hip-hop hits, covering 62 years
• 300 pictures of top recording artists
• Author Joel Whitburn is the leading
authority on charted music
About the Author
Joel Whitburn began
collecting records in the
1950s, filing each one
according
to the position it
reached on Billboards
charts. He went on to
publish this
informationand his
business, Record
Research, was born.