Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits and Classic Cuts

"Singles" is a richly-illustrated, entertaining and informative chronological history of over 50 years of the pop music single. As influential and popular hits are profiled, so themes emerge that run through the book, to be picked up again in subsequent years. So, uniquely, "Singles" puts the spotlight on individual hits and the bigger picture, offering a fresh look at the history of popular music, from a unique perspective. It also features: profiles of some of the unsung heroes behind great singles, from Leiber and Stoller, authors of "Jailhouse Rock" and countless other classics, to the Neptunes, producers of recent mega-hits for Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and others. It takes a look at the impact of radio and television on the life of the single, alongside portraits of memorable characters and programming from both industries, including Alan Freed, "American Bandstand" host Dick Clark, and the influential British disc jockey John Peel. It presents a brief history of the various formats and delivery systems associated with the single, and offers a look at the evolution of the charts system in the U.S.A. and the U.K.