There are many books and websites which catalogue the British singles and albums charts. And there are a wealth of biographies of pop stars and rock groups in book and magazine format. But there isn’t a year-by-year review which documents the best sellers, the major festivals and tours, the award winners, the films and television shows, the industry’s financials, the headline news stories and the unlikely trivia which go together to create the vibrant and diverse British music scene. The Music Chronicle aims to rectify that.

 

With chapters covering Singles, Albums, Live Music, the Music Industry, Music & the Media, Global Music, Awards and Music People, plus a Review of the Year, the Music Chronicle presents in a series of about 200 lists, charts and short articles, all aspects of popular music from a single year.

 

The benefit of hindsight makes it possible to pick out the musical trends of the period, the debuts, break-ups, births and deaths which had most impact, and the singles and albums which have endured. The majority of the lists and all of the graphics have been compiled exclusively for the Music Chronicle, using original research that has sourced information from both contemporary and more recent publications.

 

The first edition in what is planned as a series, covers 1980. The spotlight is shone on ABBA, the Police, Madness, UB40, John Lennon, Diana Ross, Roxy Music, Rose Royce, Pink Floyd, Joy Division, Barry Manilow, Status Quo, the Nolans, Eagles, David Bowie, Sheena Easton, Pretenders, Barbra Streisand, 2 Tone, Postcard, Pye, Monsters of Rock, the Rainbow Theatre, Not The Nine O’Clock News, the Eurovision Song Contest, chart hyping and much more, in this informative and entertaining book.

 

Who were the biggest selling songwriters and producers of 1980 ? Which festival had the largest attendance ? What were the critics’ favourite albums of the year ? What were the biggest American hits that failed to chart in the UK ? Which artists sold more records in 1980 than they did in any other year ? What breakthrough technologies were launched that year ? What music was on television at Christmas ? How much of the cash spent on an LP went to the artist ? Who are the most successful musical stars that were born in 1980 ? Which Greatest Hits album contained the most hits ? Which number one single is now worth £50 ? Which victim of identity theft was detained on suspicion of fraud ? Which performer on a number one single is the sister-in-law of a member of Oasis ? Who adapted Shakespeare to criticise their Government on a hit ? Which best sellers list places the Three Degrees at #1 and AC/DC at #2 ? What did the Royal National Lifeboat Institute, Chinese literary classics and Fibonacci have to do with popular music ? All of these questions are answered amongst the wealth of information that builds to tell the complete story of popular music in 1980.

 

The Music Chronicle 1980 is available for £5.45 + p&p directly from the publisher or £5.95 + p&p from eBay.

 

e-mail the publisher: musicchronicle@yahoo.com

 

 

CONTENTS

 

SAMPLE PAGES

 

 

 

 

This looks pretty interesting!

Would like to see a kindle version of this, especially if it's going to be part of a series!

Thank you very much to everyone who has already purchased a copy of The Music Chronicle 1980. We sold out the first batch, but don't worry, we have put more copies up for sale on eBay.

 

And, don't forget, you can save nearly 10% off the price if you buy directly from the publisher. Many people have already taken this route. Just send an email to musicchronicle@yahoo.com

 

 

 

A couple of people have already posted very kind reviews about the book.

 

The first said: "The 1980 Book is excellent. Full of details about Sales and many Lists of various types

of Best Selling Formats and Genres. I highly recommend it, as it is well worth its price.

 

I study the UK Charts avidly, but there were many details in the Book that I was unaware

of. I cannot praise the Book enough.

 

Hopefully, there will be further Books from the compiler, such as one on 1976 and 1979, where

the BMRB, (Chart Compilers), ended the Sales Year, around 3 Weeks before those Years ended. It

would be good to see estimated Year End Singles and Albums Chart for those Years, showing Sales

for the full Year. (BMRB = British Market Research Bureau, who compiled the UK Charts in 1976

and 1979 etc. The OCC of their time).

 

In the meantime, I urge every UK Chart Fan to buy the 1980 Book. It is a great addition to any

Chart Books collection..."

 

 

And the second said: "I ordered a copy of this and it really is a fantastic source of information for the price. I sincerely hope you carry on, at least through the 80s and 90s - and preferably the other decades too!"

Edited December 8, 20195 yr by Music Chronicle

Regarding the MASH song, I remember it being banned and them playing an instrumental version on the chart rundowns. I mean the line "suicide is painless" can give people who are feeling down the idea of killing themselves.

Just ordered a copy from Ebay. £5.90 plus £1.95 delivery. Quite reasonable that.

Regarding the MASH song, I remember it being banned and them playing an instrumental version on the chart rundowns. I mean the line "suicide is painless" can give people who are feeling down the idea of killing themselves.

You are quite right. You'll find more on that subject on page 40 of the book. Thank you for ordering it.

 

 

The MASH song was championed by Noel Edmonds, one of the biggest stars of the 70's on Radio 1. Wonder why it didn't strike him that the title may not be appropriate..

That MASH song is a classic!

That MASH song is a classic!

 

 

It is good yeah.

The MASH song was championed by Noel Edmonds, one of the biggest stars of the 70's on Radio 1.

Again, correct. The Music Chronicle 1980 notes this, and also mentions the other unlikely hit that was given national exposure by Noel Edmonds.

 

Happy New Year to everyone at BuzzJack.

 

We have now dispatched copies of the Music Chronicle 1980 to France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, as well as customers in Britain.

 

Here are some of the comments about it which have been posted on various websites and forums:-

“A great addition to my music book library. The content is outstanding. I'll happily recommend it to people.”

“Sean seems to have covered all the important and interesting musical facts and events of the year very well. I get the feeling I may be referring to this book often in the future and look forward to seeing other years in the series.”

“The 1980 Book is excellent. I highly recommend it, as it is well worth its price. I urge every UK chart fan to buy the 1980 book. It is a great addition to any chart books collection.”

“I study the UK Charts avidly, but there were many details in the book that I was unaware of. I cannot praise the book enough.”

“It's an excellent book, full of fascinating stats and information.”

“I can highly recommend the 1980 book which I received this week. Excellent and loads of facts and trivia.”

“I ordered a copy of this and it really is a fantastic source of information for the price.”

“Amazing value and hours of reading and digesting! Couldn't even begin to imagine how much work went into this!”

 

The Music Chronicle 1980 is available for £5.95 + P&P from eBay

 

or directly from the publisher at

musicchronicle@yahoo.com

 

 

Just received my copy of the book. It is an exceptional piece of work for the price. i'd recommend it to everyone. When is 1981 and beyond coming out?!

Just received my copy of the book. It is an exceptional piece of work for the price. i'd recommend it to everyone. When is 1981 and beyond coming out?!

Thank you very much for your kind comments.

 

It is our plan to produce the 1981 book this year. However, we need to sell a few more copies of the 1980 book to justify the effort. Word-of-mouth is helping sales tick over, so please continue to talk about the Music Chronicle to anyone who has a fascination with the minutiae of the British music scene.