The Billboard Book of Top 40 R & B and Hip-hop Hits

Book excerpt: Back in the days of Louis Jordan and Bullmoose Jackson and His Buffalo Bearcats, swing, and World War II,Billboardmagazine started keeping tabs on the best-sellers in record stores in New York City’s Harlem. That Harlem Hit Parade chart of 1942, the starting point of this book, wasBillboard’s 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-G’s 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