Fifties and sixties music information station.

"The nation's leading expert on 60s pop music" (The Sun) "Julian is a mine of trivia on the pop hits & misses of the past" (Sunday People).

A unique & extensive service relating to all aspects of 50's and 60's music - from original sources only - rock and pop music papers, magazines, records etc.

WHATEVER YOU WANT TO KNOW, THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THAT I CAN HELP !

• COPIES OF ORIGINAL ARTICLES ON ARTISTS OF THE 50s and 60s. (Several thousand recording acts referenced).

• PICTURES OF 50s and 60s POP ARTISTS. (30,000+)

50s&60s RECORDS. Who sung which song. Over 30,000 recordings identified from original music magazine reviews and record company adverts. These recordings (with the correct A-side !), referenced by songs (titles) and by artists. In total I have around 90,000 50s & 60s recordings on file, all of which can be identified by either artist/act or by the name of the song.

PRECISE LABEL INFORMATION FROM EVERY RECORD THAT APPEARED IN THE U.K. TOP 50 CHARTS FROM 1952-1969. (The same information can be provided from 1000s of non-charting singles from the same era).

COMPLETE TRACK LISTINGS OF 1000s OF U.K. ALBUM & EP RELEASES. Also reviews of the above.

BIRTHPLACE, BIRTHDATE, GROUP LINE-UP DETAILS ON 50s and 60s POP ACTS.

U.K. CHARTS (the hit parade) complete listings from 1952 to end of 1969 on database.

LISTINGS OF U.K. TOP 20 SHEET MUSIC HITS 1946-52 (Pre record-charts). Also similar information up to 1960.

I can also supply around 10,000 50s & 60s tracks (including many rarities) on CD for organisations prepared to pay copyright. This facility includes all the hits from 1952-69 (98% of which are from CDs acquired from all over the world).

New Service : Your favourite fifties hits on CD.

Due to copyright expiring on all 50s recordings at the end of the year, I can now supply ALL the fifties UK hits (bar 13 that have never been issued on CD). You can choose whichever hits that you would like from the 1,000 plus that made the UK charts between 1952-59 & I will record them to CDR or memory stick at a charge of 50p each (no extra charge for CDRs, but a charge will be made for memory sticks). Up to 4 tracks I could send by email. I can also compile tracks from any weekly chart of the 50s for anniversaries etc.

This service negates the problem of buying CDs of fifties music, & finding that they include many tracks that are of no interest. If you have some favourite artists/acts of the era, whether it might be the middle of the road artists such as Johnnie Ray, Guy Mitchell, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Perry Como, Vera Lynn & the rest, or the rock & rollers like Elvis, Tommy Steele, Little Richard etc - just select the tracks you prefer. I can even make up compilations of tracks specifically suitable for dancing if required – for the enthusiastic jivers out there. Most of the tracks I have compiled are from CDs issued by the major record companies, & some have never been issued in this country. All but a handful are from the original master tapes (no dodgy recordings from scratchy 78s).

I can send a complete list of the 50s hits, but as it amounts to six pages, I would have to charge £1 for this. However you can find the listings at
http://www.everyhit.com/retros/

MY ARCHIVE INCLUDES :

Around 1,000 original music papers from the 50s and 60s.I have at least one paper for virtually every week of the 60s (New Musical Express / Disc / Record Mirror etc). Also around 100 pop annuals from the era, country and western & folk almanacs, and various ‘who's who’ style publications relating to pop music (& other entertainment personalities). As a result I am able to identify virtually any event relating to the popular music scene during the era.

Record company magazines and label listings dating back to pre-chart days. These include original Gramophone year books which identify every issue of the year, and in some cases detail all LP and EP tracks.

Complete label listings of all releases from 1950 - 1969 for many UK record labels.

Many other publications dating from 1950 to the early seventies.

Shelves full of autobiographies of pop (and related) artists - ranging from Billy Cotton to Ronnie Spector - the Beatles to Max Bygraves - Vera Lynn to Ray Charles - Eddie Fisher to the Beach Boys and David Jacobs to Alan Jay Lerner etc etc.

Every 45/78 to have made the charts between 1952-1969 as featured by The Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles. All are original issues, and the collection (nearly 4000) is one of the only ones of its type to be held in private hands. The precise label information from these records is on file (song title, name of artist/act, musical director, producer etc) see ACCURACY - DOES IT REALLY MATTER pages.

All references are on computer databases and are immediately accessible. In many cases they feature extensive detail (including birthdates & birthplaces of artists etc). Information can be provided on all acts to have appeared in the U.K. top 50 during the 1950's & 1960's, along with 1,000s more that were less-successful, and many that are long-forgotten. Whether you need information on groups such as the Beatles or the Beatstalkers, or even any of the Joe Meek stable from the early 60s - the details on these and many many more should be available ! Note that I am particularly hot on early sixties obscurities (mainly U.K.). Information can be provided on songwriters, band leaders, group line-ups, producers, film songs, and just about anything else you can think of that relates to the music of the era.

I have completed work for a variety of newspapers, and full page articles relating to my archive (and record collection) have appeared in two of our leading tabloids. I have also provided information to the likes of M.C.P.S.and the BBC, as well as publishing companies, pop encyclopedia compilers,  record companies, oldies magazines, film companies, biographers and even novelists.

There is no charge for simple enquiries requiring minimul research (who sang which song for example). For more complicated enquiries and for copies of cuttings etc, please ask for a quote.

Accuracy - does it really matter

Click here to Contact Me
Please ensure that you include your Exact email address, even the smallest error will result in me being unable to reply.

My favourite London area oldies record shop. Again highly recommended for selection and value.

Sounds Original

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last mod 10/1/2004