Links

45cat
Data for thousands of singles, many with label shots and informed comments. See also 45worlds for other formats. Reliable and indispensable.

Discogs
Discographies for 45s, LPs, EPs and 78s, with credits, biographies, release histories, label shots, and sleeve images. Essential reference.

US songwriting copyrights: Songview
↑ Search both major copyright outfits, BMI and ASCAP.
See also:
• US Copyright Office: Registrations since 1978 plus renewals of earlier works. An updated interface is being trialled (2023).
• Catalog of Copyright Entries (digitised books): For works from before 1978, follow the links at this UPenn page.
You can go directly to the full collection of books at Internet Archive.

Music magazines: archive at World Radio History
Searchable back issues of music magazines in PDF, part of the site’s huge broadcasting and music archive. Mainly American, but Britain, Australia and other countries are included. Essential source for research and amusement.
Highlights:
• Cash Box 1942-1996
• Billboard 1894-1939 and 1940-2019 with some gaps (also at Google Books from 1940)
• Record World 1964-1982, many others.

AllMusic
Established in 1991 as All Music Guide, it’s big and cluttered and a bit clunky to navigate, but it remains an essential reference source. Look out for well-written biographies by such writers as Bruce Eder, Steve Huey and Richie Unterberger.

This Is My Story
Biographies of numerous rock, pop and country artists, many of them hard to find elsewhere. A legacy of the former Black Cat Rockabilly site, compiled by Dick de Heer from the defunct Yahoo! group Shakin’ All Over.

Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Concise A-Z by Donald Clarke with nearly 4000 entries. This started out as an online copy of Donald’s “Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music” (in print 1989-98), but it now includes additions and updates.

• Bruno Ceriotti, rock historian
Meticulously researched artist and performance histories with the “family tree” concept used to show band personnel changes. There are more family trees at Ceriotti’s blogs:
• The San Francisco Sound
• The British Sound

Rockin' Country Style
Terry Gordon’s indispensable “Discography of Country Rock & Roll and Related Records, 1951-1964”. Covers many obscure records you won’t find elsewhere.

45-rpm.org.uk
Excellent database and background information on British singles, as well as discographies for obscure artists. Site by Reg Stevens.

The Rock & Country Encyclopedia & Discography
French site has loads of data on rock’n’roll, rockabilly and country artists (over 9,000 artists covered by March 2018). Site by Gerard ‘Rocky’ Lambert.
In recent weeks (Nov 2023) I have had warnings about the security of this site.
It could just be that my anti-malware program is over-sensitive. Let me know if you know more.

• Internet Broadway Database
The Official Source For Broadway Information: detailed listings of stage productions, scores and people.
• Overtur
Data on stage musicals from New York, London and elsewhere.

American Bandstand episodes guide
At TheTVDB.com. Lists the guests and what they performed, starting at Season 1.

"Oh Boy!" episodes diary
Episode-by-episode history of the British TV pop show “Oh Boy!”, September 1958 – May 1959. [Internet Archive version of old site. Some links might not work.]

Music lists at Rate Your Music
Lists covering all genres and eras and a variety of topics, contributed by users, with label or sleeve shots.

New Musical Express: Contents 1953-1969
Useful listing of contents for major British music journal NME. [Archived site]

• Sheet Music 1. Kay's Music Australia
• Sheet Music 2. MusicNotes.com

Album Liner Notes
Solid collection of liner notes from several decades, including track listings and credits.

In the Can: sessionographies
Country, R&B and rock’n’roll sessions listed month-by-month from Jan 1954 to Dec 1962. Compiled by Dik de Heer. [Defunct but archived]

Discog.info
Artist discographies over several decades. Nicely set out site by Jonas Warsted. [Don’t confuse it with discogs.com!]

PopMusicInfo.com
Useful database searchable by artist, record or song, with a focus on the 60s in Britain, the US and Sweden.

Tom Simon's Rock-and-Roll Page
Actually a number of pages with concise summaries of the careers of about 150 pop and rock aritsts.

'The Tapestry of Delights' by Vernon Joynson (1996 edition)
This  classic reference work, since updated further (2014), lists many artists and details you won’t find anywhere else. As the full title says, it is a “comprehensive guide to British music of the beat, R & B, psychedelic and progressive eras, 1963-1976”. Facsimile at Internet Archive of the 2nd edition, 1996 (borrow for 1 hour).

BBC: historic program index
As the banner says: Discover 10,946,464 listings and 274,703 playable programmes from the BBC. This is a useful resource that goes back to the earliest days of the British Broadcasting Company in 1922.

• The First Wave: Australian rock & pop recordings 1955-1963. [PDF]
• The Sixties: Australian rock and pop recordings 1964–1969 (previously “The Second Wave”) [PDF]
Australian singles and EPs released 1955-1969 in comprehensive discographies from the National Film & Sound Archive. 

Australia: Top 100 Singles
Go down to the third, purple block of years to look up every song that has charted Top 100 in Australia since 1950. David Kent’s Australian Music Report charts are used for early years then official Aria charts. Indispensable database by Grant Dawe.

Milesago: popular Australasian music & culture 1964-1975
The standard online reference source. Many in-depth artist biographies included.

Howlspace archive
Encyclopedic reference site of Australian and NZ music, edited by Ed Nimmervoll, now defunct but accessible at the Internet Archive.

Encyclopedia of Australian Rock & Pop (1999)
Ian McFarlane’s standard, authoritative reference book. Digitised copy at Internet Archive (free online loan, requires user registration).

Bruce Sergent's New Zealand Music site: 60s, 70s, 80s
The standard reference site for NZ music.

NZ music at AudioCulture
Rich source of information about NZ music, the “noisy library of New Zealand music..; the stories of nearly one hundred years of New Zealand popular music culture”.

APRA-AMCOS: works search
Search titles of copyrighted Australian composition.

Australian Record Labels
Nice collection of Australian label discographies. There are also miscellaneous bonuses including tours 1954-1975 with dates, venues and artists.

Trove archive (National Library of Australia)
Essential research site. “Australian and online resources: books, images, historic newspapers, maps, music, archives and more”

Historic Australian Radio and TV magazines, yearbooks, directories and more
Part of American Radio History’s vast collection. Click on the “United Kingdom and International” tab to explore all the facsimiles of historic Australian publications including Go-Set.

Ain't Got No Feelin'
Obscure antipodean ’60s beat music: web presence of Andrew Ainsworth’s ‘zine of the same name. [Archived version] For BRISBANE music history by Andrew Ainsworth, see below under 07. Regional

RareCollections
Jordie Kilby’s podcast from ABC Radio in Canberra looks at “lesser known names and stories in Australian music”.

Sonic Archaeology
Blog by Australian broadcaster and music historian Jordie Kilby. “Explorations in cultural and social history through recorded sound.” Original and informed content from detailed research.

Australian Rock Database
Aussie music reference site run by a bloke in Sweden, Magnus Holmgren. [Archived version]

Go-set: Australian music magazine
Issues of the seminal Australian pop weekly from February 1966 to August 1968 (not the full run: it lasted till 1974). Another archive of the excellent World Radio History site.
See also:
• Gosetcharts.com: all the national Go-Set charts 1966-1974 plus other essential Go-Set resources. Indispensable site by Barry McKay.
• The Go-Set Blog by David M. Kent. See also his Masters Thesis on The place of Go-Set in rock and pop music culture in Australia, 1966-1974.

NZ sounds from Ian's igJukebox
Irresistible selection of New Zealand 45s in mp3 format. [Archived page]

NZ: The Birth of Kiwi Rock 'n' Roll
Johnny Cooper ‘the Maori cowboy’: page at NZ History online

Australian 45rpm Revolution
Jordie Kilby’s detailed history of the 45 rpm single and its introduction into Australia.

Psychlist: Australian singles 1966-1972

Psychlist: NZ singles 1966-1972
[Archived version] Selective but useful discographies of Australian and New Zealand 45s.

"The Music Goes Round My Head" (book): Australian pop music 1964-1969
David Johnston’s meticulously researched history is the standard reference on this era. No longer in print, but follow the link to try your luck at AbeBooks for a second-hand copy.

Australian Chart Books by David Kent
Several volumes of David Kent’s retrospectively compiled Australian chart books, now covering albums as well as singles, with some data going back to 1940. The standard source for snapshots of what the nation was listening to and buying.

Oz Music Books
Highly recommended Adelaide mail order store selling Australian sheet music, artist biographies, chart books, music histories, reference books, and more.

I Want, Need, Love You
Opinionated and informed commentary on some interesting Australian records, with label shots.

King & Queen of Pop 1967-1978
Milesago explains Australia’s King of Pop (1967-1978) & Queen of Pop (1973-78), and lists all the winners.

3 Australian TV pop shows (60s)
Three episodes in Classic Old Australian TV Shows, a small collection at the Internet Archive:
#5 Where The Action Is (Johnny O’Keefe) 1967
#8 The Go!! Show (Johnny Young) 1966
#10 Bandstand (Brian Henderson) 1968

Single File by Charles G. Hill
Informed and witty commentary on about 40 singles, archived from the now defunct Chaz’s Music Room website. Follow the internal links at this Internet Archive page for more of Chaz’s writing on music.

PopArchives: The Blog
My repository for writing that doesn’t fit into this site. It’s still mainly about music, but it ranges more widely, into other countries, genres, media and decades.

Richie Unterberger
Feature-packed website of the prolific music and travel writer, a senior editor at All Music.

Wilson & Allroy's Record Reviews
Nice-looking, user-friendly site by two amusing chaps who “listen to the lousy records so you won’t have to.” Yearly reviews 1963-2010 plus artist reviews from the 50s and early 60s.

Julian's Rock Lists
Lists from magazines such as MOJO and Rolling Stone: 100 Greatest Singles, Best Songs of the Year etc. Other content includes lists of Banned Recordings. Established 1995, now back at a new address and apparently being maintained in 2022.

Mclane & Wong
Californian entertainment lawyers’ site includes pop music articles & interviews as a bonus: Norma Tanega, The Buckinghams, New Colony Six…

The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005
Cat called Crowbarred is determined to count down to #1. Full of info & opinions, a great argument starter. (Last time I checked, the project was at #351.)

Chris Hunt
Features at site of British music journalist.

Sha Na Na and the Invention of the Fifties
Insightful piece by George J. Leonard about our reinvention of the past. Article at “Columbia College Today”.

"Crawdaddy" articles at Paste Magazine
Selection of articles from “Crawdaddy” (1966-1979). Fascinating: includes reviews of now classic music when it was new. Go to the Paste homepage for current music, film and culture content.

Only Solitaire: George Starostin's Music Reviews
Thoughtful, well-informed reviews by Russian linguist Georgiy Starostin, covering an impressive range of artists from the rock’n’roll era to the mid-00s.

West Coast Fog
“Musical Exhumations from California’s Hazy Age” by Erik Bluhm and Paul Gammage. Detailed research, off the beaten track.

Rock's Backpages
Extensive rock journalism archive run by Barney Hoskyns. It charges a subscription fee, but the quality is good. (Also one of the working titles for this site till I found it was taken!)

100 songs that changed history
Wide-ranging list from Time Out magazine, with various contributors.

Soundscapes
“Online journal on the history and social significance of media culture.” Thoughtful and informed articles in Dutch and English. Large archive 1998-present..

Alan Cackett: Americana, Roots, Country and Bluegrass
Features, reviews, biographies and reviews by music writer and former editor of Maverick magazine.

Dave Marsh's 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made
Searchable database by Lex Jansen from Dave Marsh’s book The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made (1989). Choosing search parameters (year, writer, artist, entry) will lead you to an article about each song.

Anorak Thing
Entertaining and educational blog about the side roads and back alleys of recorded music. Established 2008, still active in 2022. I’ve cited it a few times.

Ugly Things magazine
Founded in 1983, the magazine’s focus is on “lost, unknown and overlooked music of the 1960s and beyond”. The print edition comes out three times a year, and the website has an archive of articles and reviews.

Vancouver Pop Music
Covering Vancouver Pop Hits from ’56 to ’93, this beautifully presented site has detailed background and commentary on over 1,100 records that charted in Vancouver. This extraordinary project by Ray McGinnis  is not confined to Canadian music, but is rather a treasure trove for pop music fans anywhere in the world.

Way Back Attack
Michael Jack Kirby’s excellent site is packed with information and commentary about 50s & 60s music, including the overexposed, the familiar, the obscure and the totally weird and whacked out.  In other words, irresistible.

John Gilliland’s “The Pop Chronicles” (audio)
Renowned radio series of 55 episodes on the history of popular music, first broadcast on KRLA Pasadena, CA. in February 1969. Archived at UNT Digital Library, includes transcriptions.

Rockin' Country Style
Terry Gordon’s indispensable “Discography of Country Rock & Roll and Related Records, 1951-1964”. Covers many obscure records unlisted elsewhere.

Brian Lee's Color Radio
R&B and Doowop-oriented site based around Brian’s radio program on KVMR-FM in California. Loads of vital information about lesser known artists, including The Rebels (“Wild Weekend”) and Mickey & Sylvia (“Oh Yeah Uh Huh”).

Phil Spector discography at Spectropop: the 45s

Phil Spector discography at Spectropop: the LPs

Producers by Martin Roberts
Immaculately presented data and commentary on the production work of Jack Nitzsche, Ron Barrett, Irving Martin and The Tokens.

Garage Hangover
Superb blog-style site with audio and commentary on numerous garage bands, mainly obscure. I’ve given you the link, get over there now, it’s great.

Probe is Turning-on the People!
Launched by Phil Milstein in January 2006, Probe..! is a unique treasure trove of thematic playlists of historic tracks, many of them rare, obscure or offbeat. It combines a deep knowledge of pop and its fringes with an aficionado’s sense of the absurdity of it all.

American Song-Poem Music Archives
Site by Phil Milstein dedicated to those curious records self-financed by hopeful amateur lyricists responding to magazine ads. Strange and intriguing.

Song-Poems: Songs from the Common Man
Article at PBS about amateur lyricists and their self-financed records.

The British Beat Boom
Useful biographies and discographies of numerous artists, some obscure and not found in such detail anywhere else. [Archived version]

The Voice of Tony Burrows (page at MusicPopHits.com)
Page about the ubiquitous British session singer Tony Burrows who once managed to be on the British charts several times at once, fronting different groups.

Family Tree: Tony Burrows, Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway...
A unique map of the career of Britain’s most successful session singer. Project of the excellent Hiroshi ‘Hoppy’ Asada, now migrated to a new URL.

Marv Goldberg's R&B Articles at UncaMarvy.com
Learned stuff, lots of artists covered. Much of this you won’t find anywhere else.

45 RPM Record Label Designs at No Relevance
Album cover art has been, um, well-covered elsewhere, but this is an online exhibit of 45 rpm record label design.

Space Age Pop
Your parents’ old instrumental LPs, now with new cult status! No, seriously: a superb site covering the intricacies of Lounge, Exotica, Jet Set Pop and other sub-genres.

The Cyber Hymnal
Over 5000 hymns with composer biographies, midi audio files, scores and lyrics

Al Kooper
Multi-skilled musical great: think ‘Blonde On Blonde’ and Blood Sweat & Tears just for starters.

The Big Bands Database (temporary?) Home Page
Parts of this defunct site are now parked at Folk Library

Artie Kornfeld
Writer-producer, arranger, recording artist (The Changin’ Times), Vice President (Rock) at Columbia Records, initiator of Woodstock, friend of PopArchives…

Cha Cha Charming
“A journalistic tribute to girl-powered pop, past, present and future”: visual and informational delight by Sheila B of WFMU’s Sophisticated Boom Boom. [Cha Cha Charming has been inactive since 2017: link is to archived site.]

American Popular Music Before 1900
Chronologically arranged links to sources. Site of Lone Star College System (formerly hosted by Kingwood College Library).

African American Spiritual and Gospel Music
Flowchart by Michael Tanner showing the influence of spiritual and gospel music on secular genres, from blues and ragtime right through to rap. [Archived page. You can still click on Main Article to read historical outline.]

The Art of the Negro Spiritual
Site by researcher and soprano Randye Jones.

Toytown
“A Trip to Toytown”, Mark Frumento’s survey of a retrospectively named sub-genre of “quintessentially English” pop. (I’m guessing it was Mark who isolated and named it.) This is the first of three posts from 2007 at Marmalade Skies; follow the links to Parts 2 & 3. There is a list of criteria at the top of Part 1, but you would get the feel of it by browsing the 119 songs listed.

Nick Lampe
The life and career of the New York singer-songwriter, as briefly outlined by me in a blog post. (This may be the definitive account.)

Library Music
Comprehensive primer on The World of Library Music (and, no, it’s not music played in libraries). [Archived page]

Outsider Music: 'Songs in the Key of Z'
The site promotes Irwin Chusid’s book, but it includes useful links and features including one about ‘The Human Horn’, scat singer Shooby Taylor.

Fin-O-Billy
Site by Tapio Vaisanen includes sessionographies of key rockabilly artists.

Mudcat Cafe
Huge folk music resource. Includes the erudite Mudcat Forum.

Marmalade Skies
“the home of British psychedelia.” Includes a feature on Australian psych pop.

Ronnie Allen's Radio Page at Jersey Girls Sing!
Numerous archived interviews with oldies artists, downloadable in mp3 format. Unique material.

The Phil Spector Record Label Library
Comprehensive collection of label and sleeve shots of Phil Spector-produced records. [No longer online: link is to Internet Archive version.]

Heavy Metal Umlaut
Amusing and scholarly Wikipedia article about the two dots used above letters in heavy metal band names.

Doo-wop Groups & Discography
Personnel and single discographies of numerous Doo-wop groups, updated often. Plenty of obscure groups included at this French blog.

Instromania
Dedicated to instrumental pop all over the world. French website: click on ‘Pays’ (= ‘Countries’) to see what they have on Aussie bands: you’ll be surprised. [Archived version]

The Vocal Group Harmony Website
“Information about the rhythm & blues vocal groups of the 1930s, 1940s & 1950s and their recordings.” Also hosts Marv Goldberg’s radio show.

JazzStandards.com
Background and analysis of songs from the golden age of songwriting

Light music biographies at The Robert Farnon Society
Website of group named after Canadian composer-arranger-conductor, celebrating “Light Music, Easy Listening, Middle-of-the-Road, Mood Music or Concert Music”. See, for example, Norrie Paramor, Cyril Stapleton, John Barry…

The Interlude Era
Webzine dedicated to “Pop Music’s ‘golden decade’ from the fall of the Big bands to the rise of Rock and Roll (1946-1955)” [Archived site]

Ray Pizzi of The Rondels
Yes, there was “Back Beat #1” (1961), but check out the extraordinary career of the Rondels’ sax man.

Obscure Bands of the 50s & 60s
Solid info on around 40 obscurities (as at Oct 2013).

Canciones Atomicas
Blog by by Sebastian Vientos about “music from the past, not reissued, and not easily found in common blogs”. A treasure trove, in Spanish and English. Un tesoro hallado.

Cue Castanets
“Musings on Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound and similar music…”

Lost Treasures at Pop Geek Heaven.com
Obscure and unrecorded artists at power pop site. You may as well look around the rest of the site while you’re there!

What Was the First Rock 'N' Roll Record?
List of 50 possibilities, 1944-1956, from the 1992 book of that name by Jim Dawson & Steve Propes.

Wang Dang Dula! by 'Butcher Pete' Hoppula
Entertaining and informative site from Finland that reflects Pete’s unique take on rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, country and instrumental artists.

Best Ever Albums
Aggregated positions based on 34,000[!] greatest album lists.

Cliff Richard Song Database
Extraordinary site, clear and user-friendly, that “attempts to list and catalog all the known songs ever touched by Cliff Richard spanning his entire career”. A model for such sites.

Masters of Melody
“British Radio Studio Orchestras, Bands and Ensembles from the 30s to the 60s”

Bomp! magazine
Eleven issues of Greg Shaw’s legendary pop zine, initially entitled ‘Who Put The Bomp’. Facsimiles of Nos. 10-11 to 21 (Fall 1973-March 1979) at the Internet Archive.

Best Classic Bands
Lots of content around rock (broadly defined). Includes interviews, commentary, songwriting features, and lists.

Julian's Rock Lists
Lists from magazines such as MOJO and Rolling Stone: 100 Greatest Singles, Best Songs of the Year etc. Other content includes lists of Banned Recordings. Established 1995, now back at a new address and apparently being maintained in 2022.

Jack Nitzsche at Spectropop
All things Nitzsche, and that’s a lot. In-depth treatment of the prolific and influential musician, producer, composer, arranger. Part of the Spectropop website.

Around and Around: record collecting and more
Visually beautiful site by Peter Viney. It is full of information about labels and formats, but this is much more than a dry collectors’ site. Explore the tabs for loads of history and witty, informed commentary: Special areas, Music & artists, Reviled! and Songs & albums

The Originals by Arnold Rypens: the updates
This started as an update site for the authoritative reference book The Originals, but the site is now a complete resource in its own right. The original book was in Dutch but there’s now an English edition (available through the site).

Cover.info
Comprehensive database. Redesigned with improved interface [formerly Cover-Versionen]. Promises over 500,000 songs by more than 152,000 artists.

Second Hand Songs: A Cover Songs Database
Uncluttered database lists over 40000 original songs, around 200000 recordings altogether. There are also several active forums.

The Originals Project
User-friendly site by Dick Rosemont tracing “the earliest recordings of popular and hit songs”.

1st and 2nd Labels at Color Radio
Fascinating page by Brian Lee with label shots of original issues – often on small, obscure labels – alongside their reissues, often on major labels.

Pop Meets the Classics
Site by Ostin Allegro explores pop songs (1955-now) that are based on classical music works. A valuable resource, fascinating to browse, and you’ll probably find some surprises. Highly recommended. [Archived version. The original site was offline September 2017.]

The Compleat Beatles Covers
Beatles songs by others, and others’ songs by the Beatles. [Archived]

The Beatles from Others (Songs covered by the Beatles)

The Beatles for Others: the Giveaways (Beatles songs covered by others)
Two neat lists by Snellius at Rate Your Music, including sleeve/label shots.

Elvis Presley: The Originals
David Neale traces the original versions of about 500 songs recorded by Elvis.

The Complete Covers of the songs of the Rolling Stones
Vast list at Nico Zentgraf’s Complete Works Website: The Rolling Stones Database

Francoise Hardy: songs she has covered
Sources of Francoise Hardy’s cover versions, including English-language originals given French lyrics. Scroll up the page to see Francoise Hardy recordings covered by others. [Archived page]

ARSA: Airheads Radio Survey Archive
Charts from radio stations in various US cities, along with examples from other countries including Australia. Late 50s to mid-80s, but mainly in the 60s. Highly recommended.

Cash Box Top 100 Singles archive
Essential reference compiled by Randy Price. [Link is to archived version at Internet Archive.]

World Music Charts by Carl Mesecher
Portal to current charts from numerous countries, plus the World Music Charts podcast and a blog, The Beat. See also Carl’s three #1 Singles books covering Australia, Canada, USA and UK in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Joel Whitburn's top pop singles 1955-2012
Not a website but chart specialist Whitburn’s chart book for Billboard Hot 100 singles 1955-2012. Digitalised version at the Internet Archive.

Other digitalised Whitburn chart books:
• Joel Whitburn’s Bubbling Under the Hot 100, 1959-1985 (#101 to #115 or 136, depending on the year: records that almost made the Hot 100)
• Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles, 1940-1955
• Joel Whitburn’s Top Country Singles: 1944-1993
• Joel Whitburn presents Top R & B singles, 1942-1999
• Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Albums, 1955-2001
• Joel Whitburn’s Pop memories, 1890-1954 (Very early songs, charts calculated using various sources. Introductory pages have discussion and a list of sources.)
Later editions of these books are often available, in print or at Internet Archive.

Australian charts from Go-Set Magazine 1966-1974
National charts published at the time by teen music weekly Go-Set. All the weekly singles and album charts, end-of-year charts, plus other statistics and features. A unique resource compiled by Barry McKay.

Australia: Top 100 Singles
Go down to the third, purple block of years to look up every song that has charted Top 100 in Australia since 1950. It uses David Kent’s Australian Music Report charts for early years then official Aria charts. Indispensable database by Grant Dawe.

Australian Chart History
[Offline; link to archived page]. Research project by Daniel Lowe, who once worked for the Australian Music Report. This is the definitive history of Australian charts and their sources, from radio station playlists (and “the opinion of the individual music director of the radio station”) to the hard sales figures used today.

Chartwatch (UK)
British chart site with data from 1952 to present.

Radio London Fab Forties
Complete weekly charts of the pirate radio station from January 1965 till August 1967, with entertaining and informative commentary. Part of the Radio London site [radiolondon.co.uk].

Radio Caroline Charts
British pirate station’s charts 1964-1968, now at the Radio London site. Still some gaps: a work in progress. Includes a chronology of the station.

Chart Links: UK and worldwide
Useful portal to chart sites. Page at the UK Chart Facts & Feats website.

A Half Century of British Number Ones
Site by Mike J. Smith has annotated listings from 1950s to 2000s, and a great collection of links.

NZ: Lever Hit Parades 1960-1965
Top 8 used on commercial radio, based on some kind of listener survey. Weekly charts, searchable, at Flavour of New Zealand

NZ: Listener Magazine charts (1966-1970)
Another NZ poll-based chart which preceded the use of sales figures from 1970. Weekly charts, searchable, at Flavour of New Zealand.

The Irish charts
Eire charts from 1962.

Canadian Charts 1957-1986
30 years of weekly Canadian charts. [Now offline: link is to Internet Archive version.]

Canadian chart archive (RPM)
Searchable archive of weekly charts from Canadian magazine RPM, beginning in 1964

Vancouver radio charts
60s radio station surveys from CKWX, CFUN and CKLG. Excellent presentation, highly recommended.

Hit Parade Italia
Archived Italian chart data over several decades with good background.

Charts-Surfer
German site allows search of charts from several countries (individually or all at once) going back to the 50s.

Charts All Over The World at Latvian Academic Network
LaNet.lv’s big collection of links to current charts. Scroll to bottom of page for links to archived charts.

South African Charts at SA Rock Lists
Some SA chart statistics from 1958 to 1989.

Classic Top 30
Historic charts, mainly 60s-70s, from half a dozen US radio stations.

Official Charts (UK): archive
Archived charts going back to 1960: weekly Top 40s, #1s by year…

The World's Music Charts at tsort.info
Huge database site aims to list “all the songs that were major hits 1900-2007”. Many features, take time to explore.

Top 40 Surveys
Nice uncluttered blog collection of radio station surveys, no particular order but good for a browse. 50s to 80s, but seems to be mainly 60s & 70s.

I Was A Teenage Chart Freak
Now defunct website [archived via Wayback Machine] that aimed to have notes and chart data for every artist on the NME British music charts 1960-1969. It disappeared c.2007 but it’s a worthy enterprise worth preserving.

French Charts + links to other countries
Find other countries via the dropdown menu at top right, autres pays (other countries). Many European countries are included, plus Australia.

Archie Gramble's Top 100 Songs Database
[No longer online: link is to archived version.] This link is to the 60s page, but the whole site lists every Top 100 (USA) song from 1955 to 1999. Follow the links to the period you’re looking for. Probably based on Billboard charts.

South Africa: SA Singles Charts
Beautifully designed site with weekly South African charts 1965-1989 and an informative blog about charting artists.

Vancouver Top 40 Radio
Browse over 2300 weekly charts from five Vancouver Top 40 stations from the 50s to the 80s. Site by Jim Bower.

UK Bubbling Under charts (1966 -69)
Record Retailer’s weekly Bubbling Under lists published from April 1966. These extend the already well-known Record Retailer Top 50s that are often used as the standard UK charts for this era. Useful thread at UK Mix forum includes a link to 1970-78 lists.

Birmingham & West Midlands 60s: Brum Beat
See the Main Index for such Birmingham area bands as The Move, The Uglys (“Wake Up My Mind”), The Applejacks and The Senators (“She’s A Mod”).

ManchesterBeat
This has the Manchester scene well covered, from the early 60s on.

California: West Coast Fog
“Musical Exhumations from California’s Hazy Age” by Erik Bluhm and Paul Gammage. Detailed research, off the beaten track.

Detroit labels
Label shots and discographies of numerous labels, including Motown and its subsidiaries. Excellent site by L.G. Nilsson.

Detroit: Don't Forget The Motor City
Extensive, indispensable discography and sessionography of Motown and related labels of Berry Gordy.

GeorgiaSoul.com
Blog about Georgia R&B and Soul Records: The Mighty Hannibal, James Brown… How about Arthur Willis, “perhaps the most mysterious singer to have recorded in Georgia”?

Louisiana Music Hall of Fame
Let’s see… Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Buddy Guy, Mahalia Jackson, Pete Fountain, Dale & Grace, Fats Domino, Dale Hawkins, Clarence Henry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Johnny Rivers, Percy Sledge, Irma Thomas, John Fred…

Phoenix AZ: Photo Flashbacks
The Doug Hartley Collection: “Rare performance photos of the Rock and Roll music scene in the Phoenix, Arizona area during the late 1960s”

Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame
Discussions on mainly traditional Hawaiian music topics.

Northeastern Record Labels [archived from Paisleyhaze.com]
Defunct site, but archived and functional at the Internet Archive. It documented independent labels from the USA’s Northeast, including New York City and suburbs.

Chicago labels at the Red Saunders Research Foundation
Discographies with selected label shots for over twenty Chicago labels, focusing on post-war jazz, R&B and blues. Labels include Arisocrat, Chess, Checker and Vee-Jay. [Archived version at Internet Archive]

Brisbane Scene
“Brisbane Rock & Folk Scene of the 1960s” by Andrew Ainsworth who really knows this stuff.

Brisbane in the 60s: Brisbands at Primitif Sounds
“Forgotten musicians of ’60s Brisbane, Australia”: project by historian of obscure Aussie music Andrew Ainsworth. You’ll find information here that you won’t find anywhere else. [Internet Archive version]

Brisbane Music: Oral History
Eyewitness accounts of Brisbane concerts from 1942 to the present: Railroad Gin, Purple Hearts, Bowery Boys, The Saints, Jon Blanchfield plus many other local and overseas artists. [Internet archive version. Some navigation required.]

Brisbane Music Graveyard
Lost bands of Brisbane: audio, info and downloads.

Baltimore: Where Are They Now?
Ronnie Dove, Peppermint Rainbow, The Orioles and others. Feature in Baltimore Style.

New England [USA]: MMONE
The Music Museum Of New England, a virtual museum focusing on the musical legacy of New England. User-friendly and useful.

Eastern Europe: Soviet-era Labels at Eastalgia.com
Album discographies, most of which you won’t find anywhere else. Site by Valdas Bytautas in Lithuania.

Newcastle [NSW]: Newcastle Bands Database
Unique record, highly recommended for information not found anywhere else.

Newcastle [UK], North East England: Ready Steady Gone
“Gigging in the North East 1965-1972”, a Blog style site by Roger Smith who was there as a musician. Priceless anecdotes and history of working bands in and around Newcastle.

Newcastle [UK], North East England: Vintage Sixties Live
Fascinating scrap-book style site with photos, clippings, gig posters and other memorabilia connected with the numerous working bands of Newcastle and beyond, most of them obscure beyond that area.

Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame
How about Freddie Scott, The Tavares, The Cowsills, Anders & Poncia for starters?

Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame

Rochester NY: Music Hall of Fame

Georgia Music Hall of Fame
List of 163 musicians inducted into the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame. Many worldwide household names: Otis Redding, Gladys Knight, James Brown, Ray Charles, Brenda Lee…

Brisbane: It's Only Rock 'n' Roll... But I Like It.
Doctoral thesis by Geoffrey Walden (QUT 2013) on “the early days of rock ‘n’ roll in Brisbane . . .
as told by some of the people who were there”. [Link opens PDF.]

Western Australia: History of Rock'n'Roll in WA
Long page of articles at Dr Cecilia Netolicky’s Perth Rocks website. Full of interviews, reminiscence and images.

Bournemouth Beat Boom
As the writer concedes, the Bournemouth area was no Liverpool or Manchester. It was touched by the beat boom, though, and it produced its share of local bands as well as musicians who moved on to the big city. No Beatles or Animals, but how about Zoot Money, Robert Fripp, Andy Somers..? Well researched and written, and a pleasure to read.

Pacific Northwest Bands
Bands from Washington State plus neighbouring states and regions including Oregon and Idaho. Three thousand bands are covered, says the homepage.

Buffalo-Niagara region of Western New York: WNY.FM
In its own words: WNY.FM is a virtual museum of the music culture of the Buffalo/Niagara region of Western New York State. Vibrant, informative site.

Melbourne: Holy go-go boots, Batman!
Melbourne pop culture in the 60s. Music content includes features on Melbourne bands The Spinning Wheels and The Mystrys.

Christchurch and Canterbury NZ: RockHappenz
Comprehensive, user-friendly site about the history of rock in the city of Christchurch and the Canterbury region.

Songwriters at Magic Town
Site by Hiroto Yanagida with discographies for songwriters Barry Mann, Jimmy Webb, Van Dyke Parks, Mark James and Brian Wilson.

Songwriters at the R.N.Shrout Website
Song lists for numerous songwriters, plus other music history. (“R.N.Shrout” is a pseudonym, explained at the site.)

Songwriters Hall of Fame
US site. This link is to the Explore page, a springboard to bios and songlists of numerous songwriters.

Tony Macaulay, Cook & Greenaway, John Carter, and AMMO (Arnold, Martin & Morrow)
Comprehensive song lists for these prolific British songwriters. An essential resource compiled by the legendary Hiroshi ‘Hoppy’ Asado.

John D. Loudermilk
The definitive Loudermilk site by Kees van der Hoeven at ihesm.com. Everything you’ll ever want to know about the legendary singer and songwriter. A list of 160 versions of “Tobacco Road”? No problem!

Carole King
Song list at CaroleKing.com.

Jackie DeShannon
Peter Lerner’s list of Jackie’s compositions showing who recorded them.

Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil
Song list at the official site of the major songwriting partnership, Mann-Weil.com.

Jeff Barry
‘Jeff Barry Song Database’: a sparkly list of songs by Jeff Barry, songwriting great and partner of Ellie Greenwich (1st page of 2: check out the rest of the site for more Jeff Barry resources).

Bob Crewe
‘Songs written by Bob Crewe’, at MusicVF.com, showing chart positions, label and co-writers.

Bert Berns (aka Bert Russell)
Check out the discography and other resources for this giant amongst producers and songwriters to see the extent of his work: “Here Comes The Night”, “Hang On Sloopy”, “Twist And Shout”… the tip of a spectacular iceberg.

Vanda & Young index
Links to comprehensive Harry Vanda & George Young discographies. This covers their songwriting, production and performances, including The Easybeats. Compiled by Jonas Warstad at discog.info.

Vanda & Young
Discography by Magnus Holmgren at his Australian rock database [archived page at Internet Archive]

The Bee Gees [1]
‘Gibb Songs’, Joseph Brennan’s invaluable site, has chronologically arranged and annotated discographies of songs recorded or composed by The Bee Gees, including unreleased sessions and ‘songs the Bee Gees gave away’.

The Bee Gees [2]
‘1030 Songs Written by The Bee Gees’ Aims to list every Bee Gees composition. Page at the Bee Gees Rarities website. A continual work in progress, it has expanded every time I check back, and 1030 was the total by January 2019.

Tony Hatch song list
From the defunct site of the British songwriter, arranger and producer [archived page].

Mick Jagger & Keith Richard: songs they 'gave away'

Artie Wayne
‘Artie Wayne on the Web’, a wide-ranging and informative blog by songwriter, producer and singer (1942-2019), a friend of this website since its earliest years. He is best-known in Australia for ‘4,003,221 Tears From Now’ (Judy Stone), ‘From The Inside’ (Marcia Hines) and ‘Go To Him’ (Ray Brown).

P. F. Sloan
‘The P. F. Sloan Website’, by David Ridges, about the legendary singer-songwriter-poet-etc. All the discographies, related information, and lots of P. F. Sloan’s own words.

Sloan and Barri list
List by dogear at 45Cat.com of over 150 records with writing, production or performances by P.F. Sloan & Steve Barri. Each entry is linked to its 45cat page with label shots and discographical details..

Dick Holler
He wrote ‘Snoopy vs The Red Baron’ and ‘Abraham, Martin & John’. True! Official site.

Burt Bacharach
Discography at a Bacharach fansite, A House Is Not a Homepage, at BacharachOnline.com

Hal David
Song lists at HalDavid.com. Follow links to comprehensive repertoire and discography of lyricist best known for his collaboration with Burt Bacharach.

Carl Sigman
‘MajorSongs: The Songs of Carl Sigman’: Site devoted to the works of celebrated lyricist (and sometimes composer) Carl Sigman. He wrote the words to ‘What Now My Love’, You’re My World’, ‘Answer Me’ and ‘Ebb Tide’, for example.

John Barry
Unofficial site dedicated to the British film composer.

Leiber & Stoller
Song list, now offline: this is the Internet Archive version.

Graham Gouldman
‘Graham Gouldman Things’, a site by John Bruinsma devoted to the 10 CC member and ubiquitous 60s songwriter (‘You Stole My Love’, ‘No Milk Today’, ‘Heartful Of Soul’, ‘For Your Love’, ‘Bus Stop’…) [Archived]

Songcraft: Spotlight on Songwriters
Dozens of archived podcasts featuring interviews with songwriters from various eras & genres, including many major names.

Bonner & Gordon
For a start, how about… ‘Happy Together’, ‘She’d Rather Be With Me’, ‘She’s My Girl’ for The Turtles and ‘Cat In The Window’ for Petula Clark? [Archived version.]

Johnny Mercer Song Database
Extraordinary database of “almost 1,400 published and unpublished songs with lyrics and/or music written by Johnny Mercer (1909-1976)”. At the Georgia State University Library’s webpages.

Songwriting Magazine
Website of the print magazine covers a range of genres, decades and countries. Aimed at songwriters, but much of interest for the general reader, especially the “How I Wrote…” series.

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
Browse the A-Z of inductees at this page.

Anders & Poncia as songwriters
List of songs written by producer-musicians Peter Anders & Vini Poncia. List compiled by Mike Edwards at peteranders.net. Explore the whole site for biographies, timeline, discography and sessionographies.

Pirate Radio Hall of Fame
You’ll be surprised at how many of the pirate deejays were Aussies. Includes numerous audio clips that evoke the atmosphere of commercial pop radio of the sixties.

Australian A.M. Radio History
Treasure trove of Australian radio history, data and anecdotes. Site by Bruce Carty includes a free downloadable ebook.

The Listener-In: vintage Australian airchecks
My blog that collects links to sites with airchecks (recordings) from Australian AM radio stations of the 50s, 60s and 70s, before commercial FM radio took off in Australia.

5KA Adelaide Airchecks (archived site at Pandora)
Don’t miss this: audio clips from the 50s, 60s and 70s, featuring many well-known announcers recorded on air. Also includes jingles and commercials. Pure nostalgia!

The Radio Antenna: Australian airchecks
Blog with airchecks of Australian radio stations from several decades, along with commentary and other Australian radio features.

Frank Avis's Memoirs of 42 Years in Radio
Frank Avis started at 2MG Mudgee in the 1950s, and his memoirs, in blog form, were up to 2DAY-FM in the 80s and 90s last time I checked.

John Pearce: 'For The Love Of Mike'
Memoir of Australian radio by John Pearce. Lots of great stories about his early days in radio at stations that included 2QN Deniliquin and 3SH Swan Hill. [Original site offline: link is to Internet Archive]

Aussie pirate DJ Ian Damon
On pirate station Radio London he was Ian Damon (aka “The Wombat”), but back in Australia on 2RG Griffith and 2LF Young he used his real name, Ian Davidson. His site is a work in progress but it already has some great content about his radio career in the 50s and 60s. Don’t miss the aircheck mix from 2LF in 1961.

Radio Rewind: BBC Radio 1
Retrospective of BBC pop radio station launched 1967. Includes mp3 airchecks (free registration required).

Glenn Gould speaks about Petula Clark
Radio program from 1967: classical pianist Glenn Gould talks about his love for Petula Clark’s records.

Microphones
Not just radio, but historic microphones in loving close-up and in context.

KCRJ Jerome AZ (1928-1944)

RadioGOLDINdex
Database of historic radio programs.

United States Early Radio History
Comprehensive site by Thomas H. White covers 1897 to 1927.

Rock Radio Scrapbook
Radio history and audio “from Canadian and US stations The Golden Age of Top 40 Radio”.

WLAC Nashville
Key station in the history of rock’n’roll.

American Radio History
Invaluable resource by David Gleason includes scans from original publications such as Broadcasting Yearbook and Broadcasting Magazine.

Old Time Radio Downloads
“Free Old Radio Shows in MP3”: original audio, 1920-1962

KTKT Tucson AZ
Station history

Australian Radio Callsigns: Hidden Meanings
They’re not all hidden: 3SH Swan Hill is fairly obvious, but what about 2SM or 3DB? [Internet Archive link]

Radio Use Only
“Vinyl radio station compilations and singles – records distributed by stations to promote the station, disc jockeys, and/or local bands.” [Navigate on the graphic of the car radio. It’s hard to see on a smart phone.]

Soul on the Air
60s-70s soul/r&b radio airchecks at Stepfather of Soul

Chickenman
The story behind the late 60s radio serial (‘He’s everywhere! He’s everywhere!’) created by Chicago radio man Dick Orkin. Follow the link to Dan O’Day’s Chickenman page to hear Episode 1 and order the complete Chickenman.

Radio London
Web home of 60s pirate radio station, including links to other pirates and the Radio London Fab 40 charts from the 60s.

WMCA airchecks from the 60s
Listen to the deejays on Good Guy radio at its peak, from major New York Top 40 station.

Hans Knot's Kaleidoscope of Offshore Radio
Feature-packed site on offshore (aka pirate) radio. In English and Dutch.

Alan Freed
The original rock’n’roll disc jockey. A highlight is the archives section, with .pdf files of complete programs from Freed’s live shows.

The Reel Top 40 Radio Repository [archive only]
This huge repository of historic radio audio clips went offline in May 2018, and its founder “Uncle Ricky” Irwin passed away the following month. It leaves a huge gap in this area on the Internet, and let’s hope that someone will find a way to put it back online. It is archived at Internet Archive [linked here], but the audio files are not accessible.

Spinning Indie
“Musings about college radio and independent music.”

Voices of Australian Radio (1967/8)
My series of blogposts with scanned images from Voices of Australian Radio, the Australian Radio Almanac’s state-by-state listings of radio stations and their announcers. [Work in progress 2021.]

Australian Radio History
Featuring the Australian Radio Remembrance and Memorial Page.

Good Guys and Godbotherers: The 3AK Story
Complete text of media journalist Ash Long’s history of Melbourne radio station 3AK from foundation to 70th anniversary in 2001. Listeners from the 1960s and 70s might remember The Good Guys brand or the Where No Wrinklys Fly slogan.

Radio Heritage: NZ, Australian and world radio history
Radio history site focuses on New Zealand and Australia but takes in many other countries. Link is to the Master Index: worth browsing the many features.

Australian Old Time Radio
Treasure trove of historic audio and written content curated by Ian Grieve.

Label discographies (45s) at Global Dog Productions
Indispensable. As well as US labels, includes sections on Australian, Canadian and British labels.
Now restored at globaldogproductions.net ✔. This replaces the defunct site at globaldogproductions.info. Good news!

Soul labels at Soulful Kinda Music
Over 150 soul-oriented labels listed.

Label discographies at Fotorama
Huge collection at Czech site that grew out of a record collectors’ magazine. Extraordinary database.

Online Discographies Project
Label discographies of 78s created by discographer Steven Abrams with Tyrone Settlemier.

Rockin' Country Style: Label Listings
Label discographies for “Country Rock & Roll and Related Records, 1951-1964” (see the ‘Criteria for Inclusion’ page). Many of these companies were small, obscure regional operations.

Both Sides Now: Album Discographies
Extensive discographies of LPs from numerous US labels, including track listings and label histories. Singles discographies are an exception but there are a few here as well (see below).

Brian Lee's Color Radio: Cat, Debra and Domino label shots
The numerous label shots for artists are a highlight of Brian’s site, but here he focuses on some specific labels. (While you’re there, don’t miss the ‘1st & 2nd Labels’ page.)

Australian record labels
Nice collection of Australian label discographies. There are also miscellaneous bonuses including tours 1954-1975 with dates, venues and artists.

South African labels at SA Rock Lists
Includes South African RCA, Immediate, Fontana, Pye, Rave.

Eastalgia.com: Soviet-era Eastern European Labels
Album discographies, most of which you won’t find anywhere else. Site by Valdas Bytautas in Lithuania.

Bell Records
Site about New York budget label, incudes discography.

Casablanca label
Label founded by Neil Bogart: album and singles discography 1973-1985.

Northeastern Record Labels at Paisleyhaze.com.
Valuable work in progress that aims to document independent labels from the USA’s Northeast, including New York City and suburbs. [Archived version]

Singles discographies at Both Sides Now
Most BSN lists are albums only, but this Google results page shows some exceptions. Includes Swan, Dunwich, Cadence…

Detroit labels at Seabear Studios.
Label shots and discographies of numerous labels, including Motown and its subsidiaries. Excellent site by L.G. Nilsson.

Charisma Label
British label, 1969-1986.

Mercury
Site by Matsubayashi ‘Shaolin’ Kohji, packed with information about Mercury Records, much of it based on the web owner’s collection.

Australian label histories at MilesAgo
Well-researched accounts of numerous local labels, from the famous to the obscure (Pakktel?).

Tim's Phonographs and Old Records
This entertaining and informative site by collector Tim Gracyk at gracyk.com seems to be defunct. The link is to an archived version at the Internet Archive.

British labels at Mods website.
This site features several labels that released international records of interest to the Mods. Included are British-issue discographies for the Stateside, London, Bluebeat, Sue and Tamla-Motown labels.

Label scans at Oldies Teen Sound

Loma Records discography
Complete discography of Los Angeles label, 1964-1969: ” ‘uptown’ soul, blues, R&B, and popular music subsidiary of Warner Brothers.”

Twirl Records

Decca (UK) discography
At Sixties Beat

Don't Forget The Motor City
Extensive, indispensable discography and sessionography of Motown and related labels of Berry Gordy.

Small Independent Rockin' 45rpm Labels
Blog by Apes Ville has label shots, discographies and other details about dozens of obscure US labels. Some of them recorded tracks that became hits on bigger labels: read about Ned Miller on Fabor Robison’s label Fabor, for example.

Chicago labels at the Red Saunders Research Foundation
[Archived version at Internet Archive] Discographies with selected label shots for over twenty Chicago labels, focusing on post-war jazz, R&B and blues. Labels include Arisocrat, Chess, Checker and Vee-Jay.

Vinyl label histories and LP discographies at cvinyl.com
Rich resource for collectors and researchers. Beautiful, clear site.

78rpm label index
Illustrated A-Z of labels with commentary and sample label shots by Michael Thomas

Ted Staunton's 78 rpm labels gallery
Beautiful and comprehensive collection of label shots from all over the world.

British labels at Dragon
[Archived version at Internet Archive] Almost complete discographies for several labels including HMV, Apple, Deram and Top Rank, plus EP lists for four labels.

Record Company Addresses In London
List at 45cat.com by zabadak. The addresses of 450 British labels over several decades, as shown on record sleeves. As the compiler says, “Most probably long gone…” but a fascinating concept anyway.

The American Record Label Book From the 19th Century Through 1942
Brian Rust’s detailed book of label histories is enhanced by beautifully rendered images. Digitised copy at Internet Archive.

Red Eye Records
Sydney record dealer recommended by a happy customer and friend of PopArchives, definitely worth a try.

Atlantis Records
New, used and collectable record store in Scarborough St, Southport, Qld. Search and order online. Vinyl, CDs and DVDs. Recommended by a friend of PopArchives.

Craig Moerer - Records by Mail
Vinyl dealer based in Portland, Oregon runs a reliable and fast mail order service that offers a couple of million titles, including some from Australia.

Alibris
US portal for sellers of used music, movies and books.

Oz Music Online
“New and used CD’s, Vinyl Records and Music Memorabilia”

Playback Records
Switched-on Australian specialist reissue label.

Teensville Records
Small but intriguing catalogue by independent reissue label that “specialises in compiling seldom heard rarities of the 1960s on CD”. Australian company but prices are in US dollars.

Rocking Horse Records
Independent Brisbane record store has a load of new and used vinyl as well as CDs and other music-related items. A visit is best, but they do mail order for new items.

Vinyl Tap
UK record & CD store.

Pinewood Records
Record label and mail order outlet has a unique range of Australian country, pop and rockabilly plus some imports, mainly on CD.

Classical 33
Online vinyl and CD store in UK.

Hiss & Crackle
New or used vinyl, CDs and cassettes from store in Wallsend NSW. Also stocks books and other items. (Mentioned along with Red Eye Records by a serious collector profiled in Record Collector.)

Steven C. Barr, The Almost Complete 78 rpm Record Dating Guide (1992)
Indispensable reference work establishes date ranges of 78s on hundreds of labels in US, Britain & Canada. Extraordinary research work, now out of print, digitised at Internet Archive.

Online Discographies Project
Label discographies of 78s created by discographer Steven Abrams with Tyrone Settlemier.

The Truesound Online Discography Project
Documents the Acoustical Era (1888-1930): early discs and cylinders recorded without electronic amplification.

Juneberry78s.com: Early American Roots Music
Resources for collectors of 78s. Includes the Roots Music Listening Room

Cylinder Preservation and Digitalization Project
Website of the University of California at Santa Barbara has details and audio files on cylinder releases.

Peter Stone's 78s label gallery
Archived page from the defunct website of collector and seller of 78s. The links to other pages seem to working. Useful material for reference or research.

Sound of the Hound
Blog “dedicated to the history of recorded music. We are specifically interested in the fine work of the EMI Group Archive Trust.”

Ted Staunton's 78 rpm labels gallery
Beautiful and comprehensive collection of label shots from all over the world.

Talking Machine Review 1969-1995
Magazine for enthusiasts of old records and the machines that played them. Facsimile editions at Internet Archive.

Hillandale News 1964-2001
Magazine of the City of London Phonograph and Gramophone Society. Facsimile editions at Internet Archive.

Record Research 1955-1989
Magazine of discographical research and related topics. Facsimile editions at Internet Archive.

International Discophile 1955-1960
Four editions of “record collectors quarterly”. Facsimiles at Internet Archive.

The 78 rpm Record Home Page
Resources for collectors and curiosity-seekers.

78 rpm label index
Illustrated A-Z of labels with commentary and sample label shots by Michael Thomas

Tim's Phonographs and Old Records
This entertaining and informative site by collector Tim Gracyk at gracyk.com seems to be defunct. The link is to an archived version at the Internet Archive.

France: Songwriters
Biographies and discographies for over sixty French composers and lyricists at Les Auteurs et Compositeurs de la Chanson Francaise

France: 45 tours de rock francais
45 rpm French rock: defunct discography site still accessible at Internet Archive. Seems to be quite functional.

France: EncyclopeDisque
Encyclopedia of French 45s. Standard reference site. The 45Cat of France?

France and elsewhere: The Ye-ye Girls Website
Defunct site, archived at Internet Archive. Includes Tor Midtskog’s “French Pop: Goldmine of Style”.

France: Bide et Musique
Web radio site works as a kind of French Discogs.com, with release details of French discs.

France: SACEM repertoire search
La Sacem is the French copyright and royalties organisation, equivalent to BMI or ASCAP in the US, APRA in Australia. SACEM = Societe des auteurs, compositeurs et editeurs de musique

France: l'Univers Musique
Extensive music-related archives of France’s national library, the Bibliotheque nationale de France

South Africa: SA's Rock Lists
Part of rock.co.za but deserves a link of its own. Includes charts, discographies, trivia. Essential resource for South African recording history.

South Africa: SA Rock Encyclopedia
At rock.co.za, first port of call for comprehensive treatment of South African pop history. Formerly called SA Rock Files.

Italy: Hit Parade Italia
Organised around chart data, but good background on artists and songs is included.

Canada: CMRRA
Repertoire search at Canadian music licensing agency.

Canada: "Encyclopedia of Canadian rock, pop & folk music" (1994)
Online facsimile for borrowing at Internet Archive (registration & log-in required).

Ireland (Eire): The Irish Charts
Irish Recorded Music Association site covers the charts in Eire from 1962. Searchable, nice site.

Ireland: IrishRock.org
Irish groups of the 60s & 70s, Irish punk & new wave…

Ireland: Irish Showbands
Focuses on the Irish showband era of the 50s and 60s: “largest digital showband archive in the world”.

Yugoslavia: Jugobeat
Yugoslavian punk and beat site. [No longer online: link to archived version]

Eastern Europe: Soviet-era Labels
Eastalgia.com, a site by Valdas Bytautas from Lithuania featuring pop albums on several Eastern European labels, many from the 70s and 80s. [Archived version]

Netherlands: Alex Gitlin's Nederpop Encyclopedia
You may know more of these artists than you realise: try Shocking Pink, Golden Earring, George Baker Selection, Tee Set and, er… Stars on 45.

Netherlands: Muziek Encyclopedie
Nicely curated reference site, in Dutch.

Europe: ReadySteadyGirls.eu
“Girl” singers and groups from Britain, France, Germany & Italy. (Yes, I realise that Europe isn’t a country.)

Sweden: Svensk pophistoria
Nice-looking site by Stefan Joveslou with histories of 25 Swedish bands from the 60s.

Belgium: Memoire 60-70.be
The epic of rock as seen from Belgium: L’épopée Du Rock Vu De Belgique. Content-rich and generously illustrated.

France: Releases in France by non-French artists at 45VinylVidiVici
Unique site has an enormous number of discographies of singles and EPs released in France by non-French artists. Or, as the homepage puts it,  L’encyclopedie des pressages francais (ep & sp) réalisés par des artistes étrangers de 1954 à 2018 (The encyclopedia of French pressings made by foreign artists from 1954 to 2018).

Try 1956-1975, for example. Other features to explore too.

New Zealand Music - The 60s and 70s Forum
Discuss or ask about NZ music at this wide-ranging forum site. Participants include NZ music expert Bruce Sergent and NZ chart compiler Dean Scapolo. An essential NZ music site.

Mudcat Discussion Forum
Learned discussion on folk/traditional music at Mudcat Cafe

Second Hand Songs Forum
Discussion boards at the cover version site.

UKMIX Forums
“UK’s online music community”. Check out the Chart Analysis forum in particular.

Whirligig forums: 50s Music
Surprises to be found here. Look out for threads on obscure British labels, for example.

Rock'n'Roll Schallplatten (vinyl forum)
At this German forum about vinyl records you will often find informed discussion that throws up details everyone else missed. It’s in German, but online translation tools are pretty good these days.

Probe is Turning-on the People!

Left and to the Back

Garage Hangover

Office Naps

relaxmusic

Lost Bands of the New Wave Era

Soul Sides: Music For Rhythm Addicts

Diddy Wah

Funky 16 Corners

Soul Detective

Home of the Groove

Rock On Vinyl

Space Age Selection

TAM TAM & Melodie

The 'A' Side

The 'B' Side

Sir shambling's Deep Soul Heaven

Stepfather of Soul

Tape Findings

honey where you been so long? (pre-war blues)

Fingertips: The Intelligent Guide to Free and Legal Music

Said the Gramophone

Music You (Probably) Won't Hear Anywhere Else

NineBullets.net

Boogie Woogie Flu

TomMixMusic2

The Lonely Beat

The Exotica Project
“One hundred dreamland 45s” to listen to. Companion site to The Lonely Beat.

Louie Louie

The Popcorn Song

American Pie

Classical Gas

Radar Love

A Whiter Shade Of Pale
The site is defunct, but here’s the archived page listing 255 versions.

Hey Joe
Originally at heyjoe.org, now a blog. 1800 versions listed to date (early 2017)

Similar-Sounding Songs
Lists and commentary by Thomas Irvin. [Archived version at Internet Archive]

Disturbingly Similar Songs
List of soundalikes with mp3s. [Archived version at Internet Archive]

UCLA Music Copyright Infringement Resource.
Extensive scholarly resource, including accounts of cases over many years. (You’ll find Bright Tunes Music v. Harrisongs Music here, for example.)

Oasis Magpie
Page about Oasis songs and the songs they sound like. No longer online, but archived here at Internet Archive.

The Hit Records Project
Discography and notes for famous Nashville cheapo label Hit, including discography. [Archived version]

Levy's Sound Studios
Bill Johnson’s memoir of his days at the studios that produced the Embassy soundalike budget singles [archived page].

Tony Rivers on Top of the Pops
British musician recalls his days recording soundalikes of current hits for the Top of the Pops series. [Internet Archive version]

My blog posts on budget labels
Not the definitive source, but you’ll find some links for further reading. Includes infoemation about Golden Fleece, the Australian budget label sold through service stations.

Herbert Hunter/Leroy Jones
Discography at Soulful Kinda Music of singer who covered soul tracks for Nashville budget label Hit.

Johnny Worth (Les Vandyke) single on Embassy
[Scroll right down the page.] Renowned British songwriter who recorded a single for Embassy. Page at www.45rpm.co.uk includes bio and label shot.

Soul sides on Hit and Spar
Post by Jeff Lemlich at Bomp Digest. [Internet Archive version]

Elton John's Cheapo Covers
Review by Richie Unterberger about “Chartbusters Go Pop!”, the CD reissue of soundalike tracks recorded pseudonymously by Elton John 1969-70.

SongMeanings
I don’t usually recommend lyrics sites (it’s better just to use Google) but this one’s different: no junk, easy to read, and it’s also a forum for commenting on and discussing lyrics.

Downloadable lyrics database from Black Cat Rockabilly
Download a database of 3,358 song lyrics from the defunct Black Cat Rockabilly website (3.52 MB, zipped). When the files are extracted they will open in your browser for easy navigation. Emphasis is on rock’n’roll, 50s to early 60s, with many rarities.

Gulch Radio
My favourite radio station, from Jerome, Arizona. The Gulch has gone from AM over to FM on 100.5 FM, using the callsign KZRJ-LP. That’s fine if you’re in the area, but you might prefer to listen online as I do. Great, eclectic playlists. (Try TuneIn Radio’s app or webpage, or visit the Gulch’s website.) Ric’s M-F breakfast show comes on at 10:00 pm, Eastern Australian time, and it makes perfect late-night listening.

UnderCurrents with Gregg McVicar
“American music with a passport” Listen from the website, also syndicated to 30 stations including Gulch Radio.

MVYradio podcasts
Try the excellent “Blues at 8”, for example.

Radio Paradise
Online radio station with terrific eclectic playlist. Highly recommended.

Secret Museum of the Air with Pat Conte and Citizen Kafka
Arcane music history. Archived from a defunct WFMU program 2000-2002

JJ mp3 renamer
Change file names and tags on mp3s. Easier than messing with individual files: open several at once. FREE

Mp3 Trimmer
Clip seconds from start or finish of an mp3 and fade in or out as you wish. FREE, but upgrade to handle larger files.

VLC Media Player
Seems to play pretty much any format. [FREE]

OldVersion.com
‘Because new is not always better’: download previous versions of software.

Free RAR extractor: The Frog
User friendly tool, used to access compressed RAR files.

Songs The Beatles Didn't Do: site by Joseph Brennan

Beatles Songs: Index to Wikipedia articles

The Beatles from Others (Songs covered by the Beatles)

Beatles Giveaways (Beatles compositions recorded by others)

DM's Beatles Site
Highly recommended.

Beatles Discography (UK & USA) at NNNB

Dave Rybaczewski's Beatles Music History
“The in-depth story behind the songs of the Beatles”

BeatlesNumber9.com
Excellent Beatles resource by Dave Holmes: “I’ve tried to make one of the most informative and reliable Beatles sites on the net…”

Let's Be The Beatles at SilentBugler.com
Click on a Beatles album cover to go to a page of songs borrowing from/based on/inspired by songs from that album. The criteria are loose, as the compiler agrees, but it’s an interesting compendium of Beatles influence.

The Internet Beatles Album
Nicely organised treasure trove of Beatles information and commentary at beatlesagain.com

Beatles at 78 rpm
In some countries, Beatles singles were issued on 78. Fascinating collectors’ corner at cool78s.com

Beatles Music History at beatlesbooks.com
Informed discussion and background of some Beatles albums (US releases) and songs by Dave Rybaczewski. Lots of treasure here.

Beatles covered and Beatles covering

Max Hunter Folk Song Collection (Real Audio, MIDI and AIFF)

Roots Music Listening Room (mp3)

Dismuke's Hit of the Week (Real Audio)

Cylinders at University of California, Santa Barbara (mp3 or wav)

Virtual Gramophone: historical Canadian recordings (mp3)

Jazz On Line: listen free or download (mp3)

Turtle's 78 rpm Jukebox
Old – very old – records as mp3s.

Julien's Originals - Samples
“Jazz, Funk, Soul, Disco joints sampled in House, Hip-hop, and others.” Includes mp3s of the originals. SEE ALSO:

Julien's Originals - Covers
“Some covered or plundered originals.”

The-Breaks.com
Big samples reference database, browsable by genre and searchable by several criteria.

Xampled: Sample Spotters
Or, Who’s Sampling Who in What Songs? The list of James Brown songs that have been sampled goes on forever. [Archived version at Internet Archive.]

What's The Most Sampled Song Ever?
James Brown – ‘Funky Drummer’? How about The Winstons – ‘Amen Brother’?

Who Sampled
I came to this via their handy iPhone app, but they have a website as well. Search from the sampler or the sampled to reveal all. Well, not quite all, but heaps anyway.

Soulful Kinda Music
Web presence of the British print magazine includes over 400 artist discographies and over 150 label discographies.

Soulwalking
British soul site packed with features, including over 1,000 artist biographies. Well worth browsing.

Northern Soul at Anorak's Corner by David Flynn
Full of label scans, discographies and other soul delights.

Soul Records: Australian Releases
Anorak’s Corner page featuring releases of soul records on such Aussie labels as W&G, Astor and Festival.

Rare and Northern Soul singles at NorthernSoul45s.co.uk
A feature of this site is the clear, readable label shots and the audio samples.

Soul Source
Forums and many other resources. Give it a browse.

Soulful Detroit
Excellent Northern Soul site with focus on Detroit, including an active forum and general Northern Soul background stories.

GeorgiaSoul.com
Blog about Georgia R&B and Soul Records: The Mighty Hannibal, James Brown… How about Arthur Willis, “perhaps the most mysterious singer to have recorded in Georgia”?

Shades of Blue at RhythmAndTheBlues.org.uk
“…a personal commentary on the great blues and authentic soul music produced from the 1940s to the present day” [Now offline: link is to Internet Archive version.]

Loma Records discography
Complete discography of Los Angeles label, 1964-1969: ” ‘uptown’ soul, blues, R&B, and popular music subsidiary of Warner Brothers.”

Don't Forget The Motor City
Extensive, indispensable discography and sessionography of Motown and related labels of Berry Gordy.

Sir Shambling's Deep Soul Heaven
Wide-ranging artist bios + mp3s, lots of lesser-known stuff. Soul heaven indeed.

Soul Detective

The B side

The A Side
Soul Detective, The B Side, and The A Side: Three superb mp3 blogs by Red Kelly, featuring the more obscure corners of soul. Treasure troves of great music and informed commentary.

Soul on the Air
60s-70s soul/r&b radio airchecks at Stepfather of Soul

Midwest45s
Soul, funk and gospel 45s from Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. Huge treasure trove of playable audio files, neatly organised, with label shots. It seems to lack an index or search function, but I’m not complaining: just lose yourself in it and wallow. Site by Scott Harlow.

Country Music discographies
Site by Petr Vitous has discographies (albums and singles) as well as biographies, lyrics and sleeve shots, covering numerous Country artists.

The Country Startpage
User-friendly portal to Country music sites all over the world. Huge list of links to artist and general sites. Pretty terrific, I reckon.

Discographie Rock 'N' Country
French site has loads of data on rock’n’roll, rockabilly and country artists (over 9,000 artists covered by March 2018). Site by Gerard ‘Rocky’ Lambert.
In recent weeks (Nov 2023) I have had warnings about the security of this site.
It could just be that my anti-malware program is over-sensitive. Let me know if you know more.

Rockin' Country Style
Terry Gordon’s indispensable “Discography of Country Rock & Roll and Related Records, 1951-1964”. Covers many obscure records unlisted elsewhere, many with audio clips and label shots.

Country Music Hall of Fame
Run by the “non-profit, educational Country Music Foundation”. Check out the Inductees List from the sidebar.

History of Country Music
Primer at Roughstock.com [archived pages].

Urbane Cowboys: alt.country in the 90s
Masters thesis by John Molinaro goes into the history of alt.country

History of Alt Country
Jeff Wall: “Alt Country ain’t new… It was happening back in the late 30s.”

Joe Sixpack's Incomplete Guide to Alternative Country
Album reviews, part of Slipcue.com by San Francisco Bay Area DJ & writer

Alternative Country at InsurgentCountry.net
Links, reviews, resources.

Twangville
“Music with a touch of twang. Alt-Country, Americana, Indie, Rock, Folk & Blues as therapy for mind and soul.”

HillbillyMusic.com
You want obscure..?

Alan Cackett: Americana, Roots, Country and Bluegrass
Features, reviews, biographies and reviews by music writer and former editor of Maverick magazine.

• Prague Frank's country sessionographies & discographies Part 1
• Part 2 is here: make sure to search at both locations
Prague Frank has done an extraordinary job in putting this huge database together. The sessionographies alone make it an essential source for the researcher. Many country artists are included, both famous and obscure.  It uses the Blogspot-Blogger.com interface, so scroll down in the side bar to see the list of artists.

Trove: Australian Newspapers 1803-1954
Facsimiles of selected Australian newspapers from the National Library of Australia. Free.

Papers Past (NZ)
A selection of newspapers from all parts of New Zealand, 1839 to 1989. Digitised collection from National Library of New Zealand. Free.

Winona Newspaper Project
Three late-19th and early-20th century newspapers from Winona, Minnesota, a project of Winona State University. Free.

Chronicling America
Searchable facsimiles of selected historical newspapers from several US states. From Library of Congress and National Endowment for the Humanities. Free.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Digitised pages from 1841 to 1902. From Brooklyn Public Library. Free.

Northern New York Historical Newspapers
Numerous digitised newspapers from Northern New York Library Network. Free.

• Newspapers.com
• Newspaper Archive

newspapers.com and newspaperarchive.com are huge subscriber-only collections of mainly US newspapers although both have some Australian and British papers. Not cheap but having at least one is essential, for my research anyway.

Google Newspaper archive

LIFE magazine 1936-1972
Complete digitised archive of the influential US weekly at Google Books. Check Search all issues before searching.

5KA Adelaide
5KA jingles from the 60s and 70s. [Page at Pandora Archive.]

WABC New York
Jingles from the 50s to the 70s at Musicradio 77 (now NewsTalkRadio 77). Page at tribute site Musicradio77.com.

Jingles audio at Norman Barrington's Radio Pages
Includes British pirate stations, BBC and numerous montages.

Jazz Standards
Background and analysis of songs from the golden age of songwriting.

100 Essential Jazz Albums
List at ‘The New Yorker’ by David Remnick

The Dozens at Jazz.com
Lists of 12 key tracks by an artist or around a theme, with commentary and ratings.

Jazz Archive at RainerJazz.com
Databases, discographies, collectors’ resources, articles, and much more. “Dedicated to the history of jazz and its research.”

JazzDiscography.com
Excellent discography site showing “detailed session listings, …index of compositions performed, an index of issues, and an index of musicians.”

Jazz Age 20s
Jazz of the 1920s in original biographies, rare photos, and audio files.

Classic Jazz Online
Tens of thousands of tracks from early twentieth century jazz, many digitised from rare discs. Listen or download (mp3).

The Encyclopedia of Rock (1997)
Phil Hardy & Dave Laing: Enlarged edition of the handy 3-volume work: The Age of Rock’n’Roll, From Liverpool to San Francisco, and The Sounds of the Seventies (1976).

The Tapestry of Delights (1996)
Vernon Joynson: This  classic reference work, since updated further (2014), lists many artists and details you won’t find anywhere else. As the full title says, it is a comprehensive guide to British music of the beat, R & B, psychedelic and progressive eras, 1963-1976.

The Almost Complete 78 rpm Record Dating Guide (1992)
Steven C. Barr: Indispensable reference work establishes date ranges of 78s on hundreds of labels in US, Britain & Canada. Extraordinary research work, now out of print.

The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Vols I-VIII (1998)
Colin Larkin: Third edition of the mammoth reference work, from A Band of Angels to Zee Zee Top in 8 volumes. Link is to Volume I, scroll down for the others.

The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock & Pop (1999)
Ian McFarlane: The standard, authoritative reference book.

The Essential Rock Discography (2006)
Martin C. Strong: Artist biographies and detailed discographies in a condensed and updated edition of the famous Great Rock Discography, following on from its 7th edition (2004).

The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (2001)
Holly George-Warren and Patricia Romanowski (Eds): Third edition of this solid reference book with almost 2,000 entries focusing on significant artists up until the year of publication.

The Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles (1981)
Jo & Tim Rice, Paul Gambaccini, Mike Read: Excellent British chart book for 1952 to 1980. The upper limit seems to be #75. For the period, this is like your British Joel Whitburn or Gavin Ryan.

Brian Rust
Jazz discographies and other works by Brian Rust (1922-2011). He was the expert and his books are indispensable.
Link is to Internet Archive search for “brian rust’. Some direct links:
• The Columbia Master Book Directory Volume I  (Vols II-IV also there)
• The complete entertainment discography, from the mid-1890s to 1942
• Jazz records, 1897-1942 Volume 1, Volume 2

Joel Whitburn's top pop singles 1955-2002 (Top 100s)
Chart specialist Whitburn’s chart book for Billboard Hot 100 singles 1955-2002.
Other digitalised Whitburn chart books:
• Joel Whitburn’s Bubbling Under the Hot 100, 1959-1985 (#101 to #115 or 136, depending on the year: records that almost made the Hot 100)
• Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles, 1940-1955
• Joel Whitburn’s Top Country Singles: 1944-1993
• Joel Whitburn presents Top R & B singles, 1942-1999
• Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Albums, 1955-2001
• Joel Whitburn’s Pop memories, 1890-1954 (Very early songs, charts calculated using various sources. Introductory pages have discussion and a list of sources.)
Later editions of these books are often available, in print or at Internet Archive.

Ace Records Podcast with Pete Paphides
Guests of UK music journalist Pete Paphides tend to be producers, songwriters, and musicians, but well-informed fans from other fields also appear.
• Also at Apple Podcasts or search your own podcast app for “ace records podcast“.

Michael Shelley's podcast from WFMU
From the singer-songwriter-broadcaster’s radio show on WFMU. Shelley is a well-informed and skillful interviewer. He hosts an eclectic range of music people with the focus on rock and pop from the 1950s on.
• Also at Apple Podcasts or search your own podcast app for “michael shelley“.

Larry Grogan's Funky16Corners Radio Network 
Collector, broadcaster and blogger Grogan is a playlist maestro. He consistently reveals long-buried treasure on his three radio shows on WFMU.

Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast: the sounds and stories of vintage funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl.
• Also at Apple Podcasts or search your own podcast app for “funky16corners”.

Iron Leg Radio podcast: the sounds of the 1960s Pop revolution, featuring many lost gems.
• Also at Apple Podcasts or search your own podcast app for “ironlegradio”.

Testify! archive: Eclectic mixes from the twilight of the 1950s to the dawn of the 1970s.
• See archive at WFMU for audio and playlists. (This doesn’t seem to be appearing as a podcast now. – Dec 2022.)