Hit Records 1954-1982

The Music Vendor trade magazine began publication in 1947 and furnished charts based on surveys of record performances in juke boxes nationwide. On October 4, 1954, it introduced a weekly “Popular Programming Guide” chart which featured 80 titles, far surpassing the number of songs on other charts of the time. Reporting solely on jukebox plays and record sales, the chart was a clear indication of what was being played in hamburger joints and purchased at record shops. As radio airplay was not a factor, there was a great deal of R&B on the Music Vendor chart; teens were buying original rock ‘n’ roll (Fats Domino vs. Pat Boone) long before it was embraced by radio. Evidence for this is clearly seen in Hit Records with the hundreds of rock ‘n’ roll songs that hit nationally but do not appear in any of our other books!

In 1964, two former Cash Box employees purchased Music Vendor and renamed it Record World. It remained one of the leading music trade magazines during the heyday of the vinyl record, until it ceased publication in 1982.

The main section of Hit Records is an artist-by-artist listing of every song that appeared on the Music Vendor/Record World pop charts. Listed for each title is its debut date, peak position, total weeks charted, B-side, record label & number, and a special star symbol indicating that the song does not appear with chart information in our Top Pop Singles book. Also included is a song title index and song and artist rankings.

In Hit Records, you will discover:

• Thousands of classic hits with chart data from The Clovers, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, George Thorogood, and on and on
• Major artists with many more charted hits
• Hundreds of new ‘oldies’ artists
• The Beatles 24 #1 hits
• 3 #1 hits for CCR
• Original R&B songs hitting the charts alongside their pop covers in the mid-‘50s

This is a must-have reference for music-history enthusiasts!