Reviews

All 605 singles to reach the top spot on Billboard 's pop charts during the rock era are profiled in this handsome reference work. Coverage begins July 9, 1955 with Bill Haley's ``Rock Around the Clock'' and ends April 13, 1985 with USA for Africa's ``We Are the World.'' Each full-page entry includes a picture of the artist(s) and lists label number, songwriter(s), producer(s), date first reached number one, weeks at top, and the top five hits for that first week. The accompanying essays give important background information on the songs and artists. Norm N. Nite's Rock On books are more comprehensive but not as detailed on the top hits and hitmakers as Bronson. Suitable for all but the smallest libraries and highly recommended as a worthy companion to Joel Whitburn's The Billboard Book of Top Forty Hits ( LJ 11/15/83). Thomas Jewell, Waltham P.L., Mass.

YA Songs which reached number one on the Billboard charts between July 1955 (Rock Around the Clock) and April 1985 (We Are the World) are covered. One page is devoted to each song, with a black-and-white photograph of the performer(s) (the same picture of the Bee Gees is used several times in different sizes and cropped differently), a short history of the song and performer(s) and a list of the top five songs for the week(s) it was number one. A ``top 40'' history of rock and pop during the last 30 years, not as complete as other rock encyclopedias or histories, but still useful as a supplement and a fun browsing item.