Beatles Billboard Charts

“The Beatles on the Charts” is published by McFarland press.

People are into various aspects of music, aside from enjoying the sounds. Those who are very into charts positions often compile their own charts when they are in their teens, keeping notes on how many times they play each record, on a daily basis. They are also keen observers of the record charts published by the various music papers.

Attorney Michael A. Ventrella has been busy researching chart performance by The Beatles in the weekly Billboard magazine charts ever since they charted for the first time. The result is this book, which also encompasses the individual Beatles after the breakup. The book was published on March 13, by McFarland Press.

For the book, Ventrella assigned points to the positions of songs and albums on the charts in order to create a list ranging from the least successful to the most successful. Each entry includes a picture of the album cover or single sleeve, along with an analysis of the song or album. Also provided are introductory chapters about the Beatles and an explanation of how the Billboard charts have been tabulated and changed over the years.

Sample page from the book. © McFarland Press.

We have to admit that a book which compiles the Beatles’ records’ performance in all charts worldwide would have a bigger appeal to us, but U.S. fans, particularly those who are interested in how well the records did in the charts, may find themselves buying this book.

One thing we have never liked about the U.S. charts is that they are taking radio performance into account when compiling their charts. How many times a record has been played on the radio is added to how many copies the record sells. We don’t know if this method is practised anywhere else in the world. At least from where we are, we are used to that sales only is a factor in compiling music charts, back when music was only available on physical media.

These days, of course, streaming is what counts and generates the most numbers.