THE BOOK REVIEW 

Paperback 

Reviewer: PJ 

Essential, indispensable, a must have.  In a nutshell this 3rd edition of the mighty Complete Book of the British Charts continues the mammoth work of the authors and their quest to compile every single act who has ever made the British singles, ep’s and LP charts.

Bang up to date, the book features chart listings right up to the end of 2003 and includes for the first time previously unpublished Record Retailer EP and singles charts from the 1960’s.

Set out in an easy to use a-z encyclopedia format each artists entry features a listing of all their material that has made the charts, whether it be single, ep or album as well as country of origin info, what label they were on, where they got to in the charts and how long they stayed there. There’s no biographical info for any of the acts but that is not necessarily a bad thing as it cuts down on the endless cross referencing you often find yourself doing in works of this kind.

There are also some great appendices in this book beginning with a chart chronology and a listing of every number one single in date order as well as sections looking at various chart facts and feats.

When you consider the hugeness of this book and the fact that up until 15 February 1969 there were no official charts published, only those published in magazines and papers such as Melody Maker, New Musical Express and Record Retailer,  the guys have performed major miracles in putting this book together.

The kind of book you can open at random and discover new facts and the perfect book for solving a multitude of music arguments. Absolutely essential for any music fans book shelf.