Music Chronicle

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