FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What possessed you to compile this info?

A: I started working on this while I was working at radio station Z-93 (WBWZ) in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1995. It was an all-70s station at the time and gave me access to all of Billboard's Hot 100 lists from the 1970s. Being alone at a radio station late at night with full access to a copy machine, I compiled the information for my own reference and posted it online when I learned HTML. Over the years, I have expanded the site whenever I was able.

I see new content. Are you planning on adding more info?

A: I've expanded the site from 2008-'09 to include Top 40 LP info and am adding Country chart data currently. Planned additions in the future include single info from the Billboard R&B charts. As time goes on, I'd like to add full LP chart info and other formats such as adult contemporary, disco, "bubbling under" and other formats. I'm also exploring a redesign that will have separate artist pages, but that's a little farther down the road.

Did you get this info out of any book?

A: Yes and no. I compiled the data myself and supplemented that by using a number of reference materials. I found Joel Whitburn's Top 40 Singles and Fred Bronson's Hottest Hot 100 Hits particularly helpful; in fact, these two books belong on the bookshelf of anybody who claims to be serious about the history of popular music.

Here are some links to some of the books I used in building this site. The first one has every weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart for January 1970-December 1979 and is well worth getting.

Do you have a list of top songs by year?

A: Yes. See a list of the decade's top singles. There is a box at the top of the list that will allow you to hear a 30-second snippet of most fo those hits, and also to purchase them in MP3 format through Amazon. The lists are abbreviated versions of the ones Fred Bronson compiled in Hottest Hot 100 Hits. The book has a list of top 100 singles by year and decade from 1955 through 2007. To get the book, follow the link above.

Billboard magazine's list of its Top 100 by year isn't included in this site because of the way Billboard's year-end issue has to go to press; a cutoff point was used in order to tabulate the data and get the issue on the newstands in time for the final week of the year, usually in November. In some instances, big hits (For instance, "I Think I Love You", which hit #1 late in 1970 but does not show up on Billboard's Top 100 for either 1970 or 1971) are never ranked. Bronson's method allows every single to be ranked in the year it peaked, which allows every hit to be counted.

Speaking of Billboard, check out the new and improved Napster, which allows you to look through some of the magazine's charts and listen:

How do you read the data on this site?

A: I tried to design the site to be easy to understand. Here's a random one-hit wonder from the site:

DADDY DEWDROP

Debuted	Peak	Top 10	Top 40	Top 100	Title	Download
3/6/71	9	5	11	16	Chick-a-Boom

Under the name Daddy Dewdrop, you will see the studio group had one song that made the charts. "Chick-a-Boom" debuted on the chart on March 6, 1971 and peaked at #9. While it charted, it spent 5 weeks in the Top 10, 11 weeks in the top 40 and 16 weeks in all on the Hot 100. The last item is a link to iTunes, where an MP3 can be downloaded to your computer for a small fee (99 cents for that song, but some longer tracks cost a little more).

Do you have a blog?

A: Yes. I have a blog called 70s Music Mayhem. My weekly post there takes a random week from the 1970s and comments on the new singles debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that week. I also comment on favorite songs or anything else I feel like discussing. Check it out and don't be worried if we don't see eye-to-eye on what we like; that's what makes discussion great.

On your insignificant data page, I see that you were born in 1972. Why are you so interested in 1970s music if you weren't even around for the entire decade?

A: Simply...I like the music. My earliest memories involve 1970s music, whether on the radio or TV or even drifting from some neighbor's portable 8-track player. As I mentioned in the first question, I once worked in radio for an all-70s station (and before that, as "Dr. Funk", did an all-70s show for WFNP in New Paltz, New York). Being old enough to remember what it was like does not necessarily mean I shouldn't like or understand the music; at least I can't say I was too stoned to remember.

Additional point: I am certain that several people who love the music of Mozart aren't quite old enough to remember the late 1700s. And I haven't seen anybody taking classical music fans to task because they "weren't there, man."

Some of your pages have links to iTunes downloads and CDs through Amazon. Others don't. Why?

A: This site is -- simply out -- a work in progress. I am working to add links as often as my work and family schedules allow. The way I have to search for tunes that are available through iTunes and/or search out music from Amazon is very time-consuming and I'm hoping to get through with the task as soon as I can. Hint, hint, wink, nudge: If more products are purchased through the links and I get some commissions, it'll give me more incentive to add stuff.

That said, I'm finding that there is a lot of stuff out there that just isn't available digitally; a lot of the stuff that hit the country and R&B charts -- and more than just songs from one-hit wonders or long-deceased artists -- is inexplicably missing. Furthermore, some downloads don't feature the original recording. Should you come across any link to a song that is a rerecorded version, let me know (and a better link if one exists would be terrific) and I'll get it fixed.

As I'm expanding the site, I hope to eventually have a link for every artist listed. If you know of a good source of info on artists, email me and I will consider using it.

Under Led Zeppelin's entry, I don't see "Stairway To Heaven." That album came out in 1971; what gives?

A: "Stairway" was not a hit on Billboard's charts because it was never released as a single from that album. Of course, with the song being played continually over the past 30 years on AOR radio, that may be hard to believe today. In today's music climate, it's common for songs to be listed on the charts without an official single release but in the 1970s Billboard's rules didn't allow it. Below that Zeppelin entry, you'll see a link to the group's hit LPs. Clicking that will take you to a list of the many hit albums the group had from 1970-'79, including the one that contained "Stairway To Heaven."

There are a few songs and artists not represented on this site because they never placed on the Billboard charts. However, if you find one I missed that did make the charts, email me. I will double-check for accuracy and make the correction to the site within a couple of days.

Do you make money on this site?

A: While my main focus here is not making money, I built this site online to provide info on a subject that is close to my heart. However, there are costs asspciated with building and maintaining a website so I've sought ways to help offset those fees. I have an affiliation with Apple's iTunes and Amazon to allow visitors to purchase MP3s and CDs and get a very small kickback. Additionally, you'll find links to our other sponsors such as Napster and Wolfgang's Vault (which offers more than 1,000 concerts from the 1970s for free -- Click the link below). All funds are used to build my own 1970s music collection and add some additional reference material, which in turn adds to the info placed on this site. Eventually, I may consider adding a podcast to share which 1970s songs and artists are special to me.

I have also set up a Paypal account to accept donations to this site. Anything donated will be used for reference materials, storge and other web-related costs. You may donate simply by clicking the button below.

Why do you have 1970 listed as one of the years of the 1970s? The 1970s ACTUALLY began on Jan. 1, 1971.

A: Every available music chart resource I have come across considers the 1970s as the time period that ran from 1970-1979. When I worked in radio, our format stated that the 1970s ran from 1970-79. I decided not to fight that.

I may have found something inaccurate on your site. How do I get you to change this?

A: I'll be the first to admit that I am human. Much of this site was typed out by hand and coded into the late night hours, so errors are certainly possible. If you find any trouble with info, dates, song titles, bad links, errors on formatting, or anything, email me. I am receptive to suggestions, and will double-check the info.