The Virgin Book of Top 40 Charts

Book excerpt: Updated and republished after a twelve-year gap, Top 40 Charts is the most comprehensive record of the UK singles chart ever produced. The charts are the evening news of the music industry. Collected here, they show the rapid rise or demise of each single as it enters the charts, either winning over a large audience or just making music for its own smaller group of fans. Top 40 Charts is required reading for every music buff, and for anyone else who'd like to know what song was number one on their birthday or any other memorable day. With every Top 40 singles chart from 1960 to the present day, this is the definitive chart book. Includes the song title, act, record label and total number of weeks on chart for every single, as well as a detailed history of the pre-1960s charts,