BOOKS

By Fred Bronson

Fred Bronson has written seven books, not counting multiple editions, covering Billboard chart history, popular music, and the artists behind the songs. Explore the books that have made him one of America's best-known music historians. Here is a closer look at Fred's work.

Featured Books

Rockin' The Kremlin

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Russia opened its borders, and Russian audiences were hungry for Western popular music and the values it espoused. David Junk was one of the first idealistic, young Americans to seize this opportunity. Rockin’ the Kremlin is the thrilling true story of how David became the first CEO of Universal Music Russia and built impactful cultural bridges with music—but also how that would all shatter with the rise of Vladimir Putin and invasions of Ukraine. There was no proper music industry in the USSR, and creating a modern music industry in Russia would be far more challenging than anyone had anticipated.

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The Jacksons Legacy

In 2016, my friend and colleague Adam White wrote the most definitive book about Motown. It is a beautiful tome and is one of my favorite books of all time. When Jackie, Tito and Marlon Jackson saw Adam's Motown book, they called the publisher and said they would like to write a book celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Jackson 5. Adam then suggested to the publisher that I write the book. I spent a few days each with Jackie, Tito and Marlon to interview them and talk about all the events of their lives. In addition to the text, there are over 1,000 photos, from the personal collections of the Jackson brothers.

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The Sound of Music Family Scrapbook

For anyone thrilled by the sight of Julie Andrews spinning joyfully on a mountaintop, or who spontaneously bursts out singing “Do-Re-Mi,” this captivating behind-the-scenes story is a must-read. The summer of 1965 saw the release of one of the best-loved musicals of all time: The Sound of Music. This scrapbook celebrates that classic film, and the seven young actors who played the Von Trapp children and became long-lasting friends. Fans will love glimpsing photographs of rare memorabilia the performers have cherished, including letters to their families, an edited page from the script, and a ticket to the world premiere.

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Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits (Fourth Edition)

Little did I dream when I first conceived the idea for Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits that there would ultimately be four editions. Like its predecessors, this edition saw a lot of new categories added, so this is the biggest and best edition to date.

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The Billboard Book Of Number One Hits (Fifth Edition)

Each new edition of The Billboard Book Of Number One hits required hours of new interviews and many late nights of writing, but I was always happy to have an updated edition of the book available for readers. As seen on "The Last Of Us"!

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Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits (Third Edition)

For the third edition of Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits, I improved the methodology of ranking the most successful songs according to chart performance on the Hot 100 and its predecessor chart. I also added a lot of categories, so this is truly an expanded and revised edition.

The Billboard Book Of Number One Hits (Fourth Edition)

And the hits just kept on coming! Which is why I continued to write revised and updated editions, like this fourth edition.

Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits (Second Edition)

Perhaps the ultimate music trivia book, this compendium breaks down 40 years of Billboard chart data to provide 175 lists of facts and figures, in areas such as the top 50 songs by Elvis, the top 100 to appear on the Motown label, the top 30 from musical theater, and more.

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The Billboard Book Of Number One Rhythm & Blues Hits

When Adam White asked me if I would like to co-write The Billboard Book Of Number One Rhythm & Blues Hits with him, I didn't have to think about it -- I immediately said yes. Our book tells the stories behind No. 1 hits on Billboard's R&B Singles chart, from "My Girl" by the Temptations to "It Never Rains (In Southern California)" by Tony! Toni! Tone! The book is filled with interviews conducted by Adam and me with the artists, songwriters and producers who crafted these chart-topping songs.

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The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (Third Edition)

The Number One Hits books kept selling, so the publisher asked me to write a third revised & updated version, with the stories of every Billboard No. 1 song from "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets to "Save The Best For Last" (what a great way to end this edition!) by Vanessa Williams.

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Dick Clark's American Bandstand

In the summer of 1996, Dick Clark made a deal with HarperCollins to write a book on the history of American Bandstand. He asked me to write it with him and I spent that summer doing a series of interviews with him about the various topics we wanted to cover in the book. The book includes many photographs and the text is divided into four chapters, each one covering a decade of the show's run on television. Written in Dick's first person, the book goes into many areas he had not talked about before.

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Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits

This is the book I dreamed up on my flight home to America after living in London for 15 months. After The Billboard Book Of Number One Hits was a success, Billboard asked me to write this as the follow-up. I devised a point system to rank every song that charted on the Hot 100 (and its predecessor chart) and then ranked songs in different categories, coming up with the greatest hits by artists, songwriters, producers, labels, years and categories like girl groups, Motown, U,K. artists, etc. The book ends with a ranking of the top 5000 songs.

The Billboard Book Of Number One Hits (Second Edition)

The first edition of The Billboard Book Of Number One Hits sold so well, I was asked to write a revised and updated edition.

The Billboard Book Of Number One Hits (First Edition)

I lived in London for 15 months and on the flight home to America, I came up with an idea for a book that I thought Billboard might want to publish. Before I could pitch it to them, I received a phone call from an editor at Billboard's book publisher asking if I would like to write a book about all of Billboard's No. 1 hits. I told her that coincidentally, I had come up with an idea for a Billboard book, but it wasn't Number One Hits. She said, "Well, write this one first and we'll consider your idea for the follow-up."