Chicago Top 40 Charts 1960-1969

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Summary: Wow, a truly comprehensive reference!
Review: A masterful, visually beautiful, and astonishingly thorough music reference for Chicago's Top 40 charts in the 1960s. I look forward to the author's '70s companion book.

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Summary: Regional sixties music unfolds in these pages
Review: As a broadcaster for the past 30 years, I know that a set of Joel Whitburn's Billboard chart books are indispensible. But often, it was the local and regional hits that drove popular music. For example, twenty times in the 60's, a song reached the top ten on WLS in Chicago without ever appearing on the Billboard Hot 100. In Chicago Top 40 Charts 1960-1969, I identify every tune to reach the WLS Silver Dollar Survey by title and artist, along with their debut and peak dates, highest position reached and weeks on the survey. I've attempted to bring to a local music chart, the professional research Joel brings to his Billboard books. In the early sixties, WLS in Chicago called itself 'One of America's two great radio stations'. Though they never identified, the other, there's little doubt this was true. For record collectors or radio enthusiasts, this book should bring back incredible music memories.

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Summary: Essential with one quibble
Review: I've given this must-have book four stars for one striking omission. Smith does identify every tune to reach Chicago's WLS weekly music survey by title and artist, along with the debut and peak dates, highest position reached and weeks on the survey, along with the top songs of each year and the entire decade. There is also a section collecting the data from the WLS R&B chart that ran for a few months in late 1964. What is missing is a listing of the number ones week-by-week or at the very least some indication of how many weeks a given number one hit spent at the top. Still, this is an essential reference for those whose interest in the charts extends beyond merely the national Hot 100. I hope Mr. Smith puts out a 1980s volume to go along with this volume and the companion 1970s volume, and that some other people with access to source material get the same idea and do similar works on some of the other regional markets.

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Summary: Ron Smith's book rocks!
Review: Mr. Smith has done a great job with this book. It's a must-read for any Chicagoan who appreciates our diverse local music tastes and longs for the nostalgia of what is one of the great radio markets in the U.S. WLS-AM in Chicago was indeed 'One of America's two great radio stations'. And Ron Smith is one of America's great music resources.

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Summary: Another Boring List Book
Review: This book would have been a lot more interesting if it included reproductions of every survey from the decade.
A monkey could have compiled these lists.

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Summary: "Gotta Get It"
Review: This is a "Gotta Get It!!". Every once in awhile a book comes along for the music fan or record/music collector that's a "Gotta Get It". This is certainly one of them. Did you love WLS in the 1960's? Are you a music/record collector? Are you a music survey enthusiast? If you answered "yes" to any one of those questions, then this book is a "Gotta Get It"!! It's very easy to use and very concise. I'm a record/music collector (and have been for many many years) and I always want to grab a book and find the precise information that I need very quickly. This will give you precise WLS chart information from the 1960 through 1969. In short, it's a "Gotta Get It" and Gotta Get It NOW!!!