Chicago Top 40 Charts 1970-1979

About the Book

Chicago Top 40 Charts 1970-1979 examines the Windy City's top hits as documented by the weekly record store surveys issued by radio station WLS. As rock 'n' roll music entered its third decade, it was finding itself increasingly fragmented, which challenged the ratings dominance top 40 radio had exhibited throughout the 1960s. But while FM listening overtook AM in the rest of the country by the decade's end, Chicago was the exception. WLS managed to stave off its competition with their commitment to playing Chicago's favorite music- regardless of genre. That music is documented in this book. Chicago Top 40 Charts 1970-1979 lists every song to reach the WLS survey alphabetically by title and artist, with debut and peak dates, highest position reached and number of weeks on the charts. The top songs of each year and for the entire decade are ranked as well. As an added bonus, it features the "Big 89 Artists of the 1970s". For those who grew up listening to Chicago radio as well as for record collectors from anywhere, Chicago Top 40 Charts 1970-1979 will be a valued addition to their music reference libraries.

About the Author

Ron Smith has been involved in Oldies radio for over 40 years as a Disk Jockey, Program and Music Director, most recently as the Music Director and Evening DJ at Real Oldies 1690 in Chicago. He also served for more than eight years as Music Director of WJMK-FM, Oldies 104.3 in the Windy City. He was Senior Music Programmer of Internet Radio for Radiowave.com and created and hosted streaming channels for MusicNow.com, including the Net's only all-Elvis station. His '50s Hits and '60s Hits channels are currently enjoyed on Slacker.com. And, since 1995, he has delighted fans of '50s, '60s and '70s music with the Internet's premiere Oldies web site- www.oldiesmusic.com. Smith is the author of five reference books of Chicago music charts. He resides in suburban Chicago with his vast music and book libraries.