Your Hit Parade (Time-Life Music)
Encyclopedia
Your Hit Parade -- was a 40-volume series issued by Time-Life
during the late 1980s and early 1990s, spotlighting popular music
from the pre-rock era years of 1940-1954, and non-rock and roll songs from 1955 through mid-1960s.
Much like Time-Life's other series chronicling popular music, volumes in the "Your Hit Parade" series covered a specific time period, including single years in some volumes and stylistic trends in others. Each volume was issued on a compact disc
, cassette or (on volumes issued through 1990) 2-LP vinyl record set
. Individual volumes generally contained anywhere from 22-24 tracks, and represented the highlighted time period's most popular and noteworthy tracks. Also included was a booklet, containing liner notes written by some of the most respected historians of the genre, photographs of the artists, and information on the songs (writers, performers and peak position on Billboard magazines Best Sellers chart (or, for songs released in 1958 onward, the Hot 100
)).
, Bing Crosby
, Perry Como
, Frankie Laine
, Guy Lombardo
, Patti Page
, Frank Sinatra
and others -- had their biggest hit songs included in the series at one point or another.
As was the case with Time-Life's other series, "Your Hit Parade" was advertised in television and magazine advertisements
, and direct mail. The series was available by subscription (by calling a 1-800 number
); those who purchased the series in that fashion received a new volume roughly every other month (on the format of their choice), and had the option of keeping the volumes they wanted.
Each volume was also offered for individual sale. When the series was fully issued, a customer could purchase the entire series at once (or a group of albums, as packaged by Time-Life as part of a promotion), often at a discounted price.
New volumes in the original continued to be issued through 1993, the final one being a volume titled Your Hit Parade: Golden Goofers (an album of novelty songs from the 1940s through 1968). A Christmas album was issued in 1991, and additional volumes were released through 1997.
Time-Life continued to offer "Your Hit Parade" through the early-2000s, after which it was replaced by other series.
Time-Life
Time–Life is a creator and direct marketer of books, music, video/DVD, and multimedia products. Its products are sold throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia through television, print, retail, the Internet, telemarketing, and direct sales....
during the late 1980s and early 1990s, spotlighting popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
from the pre-rock era years of 1940-1954, and non-rock and roll songs from 1955 through mid-1960s.
Much like Time-Life's other series chronicling popular music, volumes in the "Your Hit Parade" series covered a specific time period, including single years in some volumes and stylistic trends in others. Each volume was issued on a compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, cassette or (on volumes issued through 1990) 2-LP vinyl record set
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
. Individual volumes generally contained anywhere from 22-24 tracks, and represented the highlighted time period's most popular and noteworthy tracks. Also included was a booklet, containing liner notes written by some of the most respected historians of the genre, photographs of the artists, and information on the songs (writers, performers and peak position on Billboard magazines Best Sellers chart (or, for songs released in 1958 onward, the Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
)).
History
"Your Hit Parade" was first issued in the spring of 1988, with the first volume in the series titled Your Hit Parade: 1951. Many of the era's biggest singers -- The Andrews SistersThe Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews , soprano Maxene Angelyn Andrews , and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews...
, Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
, Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
, Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and others -- had their biggest hit songs included in the series at one point or another.
As was the case with Time-Life's other series, "Your Hit Parade" was advertised in television and magazine advertisements
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
, and direct mail. The series was available by subscription (by calling a 1-800 number
Toll-free telephone number
A toll-free, Freecall, Freephone, 800, 0800 or 1-800 number is a special telephone number which is free to the calling party, and instead the telephone carrier charges the called party the cost of the call...
); those who purchased the series in that fashion received a new volume roughly every other month (on the format of their choice), and had the option of keeping the volumes they wanted.
Each volume was also offered for individual sale. When the series was fully issued, a customer could purchase the entire series at once (or a group of albums, as packaged by Time-Life as part of a promotion), often at a discounted price.
New volumes in the original continued to be issued through 1993, the final one being a volume titled Your Hit Parade: Golden Goofers (an album of novelty songs from the 1940s through 1968). A Christmas album was issued in 1991, and additional volumes were released through 1997.
Time-Life continued to offer "Your Hit Parade" through the early-2000s, after which it was replaced by other series.
The series
As with many of Time-Life Records' multi-volume releases, the volumes were not issued in a logical, sequential order by date or era of the subject; that is, issuing volumes covering 1962 and the early 1960s before progressing to 1963. In the track information section, the volumes will be listed sequentially by era; the following list is the order in which the volumes were released.1989
- Your Hit Parade: 1953
- Your Hit Parade: 1945
- Your Hit Parade: 1952
- Your Hit Parade: 1949
- Your Hit Parade: 1954
- Your Hit Parade: 1946
- Your Hit Parade: 1955
- Your Hit Parade: 1947
1990
- Your Hit Parade: 1958
- Your Hit Parade: 1948
- Your Hit Parade: 1959
- Your Hit Parade: 1944
- Your Hit Parade: 1956
- Your Hit Parade: 1941
- Your Hit Parade: 1957
- Your Hit Parade: 1942
1991
- Your Hit Parade: The Early '50s
- Your Hit Parade: 1943
- Your Hit Parade: The Mid '50s
- Your Hit Parade: 1940
- Your Hit Parade: The Late '50s
- Your Hit Parade: The War Years
- Your Hit Parade: The '50s
- Your Hit Parade: The Late '40s
- Your Hit Parade: The Unforgettable '50s
1992
- Your Hit Parade: The Fabulous '50s
- Your Hit Parade: The '40s
- Your Hit Parade: '50s Instrumentals
- Your Hit Parade: The '50s Forever
- Your Hit Parade: Into the '60s
- Your Hit Parade: Christmas Memories
1993
- Your Hit Parade: The Early '60s
- Your Hit Parade: '60s Instrumentals
- Your Hit Parade: The Fun Time '50s and '60s
- Your Hit Parade: The '50s Pop Revival
- Your Hit Parade: The '60s
- Your Hit Parade: The '50s Generation
- Your Hit Parade: '60s Instrumentals: Take Two
- Your Hit Parade: Golden Goofers
Special Issues
Unlike the volumes in the original series, these volumes were 2-CD sets and available for individual sale upon release.1997
- Your Hit Parade: Love Songs of Your Hit Parade
- Your Hit Parade: Golden Groups of Your Hit Parade