by Ben Fong-Torres. A collection of anecdotes and interviews pertinent to an understanding of the development of Top 40 Radio. There are interviews, stories and photos of and about Martin Block, Al Jarvis, Hunter Hancock, Dewey Philips, Alan Freed, Russ Knight, Todd Storz, Bill Stewart, Gordon McLendon, Chuck Blore, Bill Gavin, Bill Ballance, Buzz Bennett, Buddy Deane, Casey Kasem, Gary Owens, Pat O'Day, Arnie Ginsburg, Bill Meeks, Ron Jacobs, Lucky Logan, Jerry Blavat, Bobby Ocean, Paul Drew, and Dick Clark. And that covers the first 100 pages of this fast paced 250 page book. Obviously, there's not much detail about any one aspect or person. But, just like Top 40 radio itself, you never have the chance to get bored and there's always something different coming up next.
by David R. MacFarland. This is THE definitive textbook on the Top 40 Radio Format. Life in America, baby boomers and Top 40 Radio. Includes indepth studies of the Storz, MacLendon, Bartell, and Plough chains.
Wolfman Jack with Byron Laursen. Wolfman's autobiography from the streets of New York, to South of the Border, through American Graffiti, National Syndication, and all sorts of interesting stops along the way.
by Ronald Garay. The life and times of one of the men responsible for Top 40 Radio from a scholarly perspective. From his birth through the rise and fall of the Liberty Broadcast Network and finally into the founding of Top 40 Radio.
by B. Eric Rhoads. This is a 472 page hardcover coffeetable book that is just what it's title says. I couldn't possibly do it justice in words. Let me just state that it's primarily a picture book (with captions and intros). The bulk of the pages are dedicated to radio's "golden age", but there are about 20 pages of pioneering stations and about 70 pages on the 50s and 60s. Streamline Press / B. Eric Rhodes is the publisher of Radio Ink, a leading industry publication.
by Ronald Garay. The life and times of one of the men responsible for Top 40 Radio from a scholarly perspective. From his birth through the rise and fall of the Liberty Broadcast Network and finally into the founding of Top 40 Radio.
by John A. Jackson. Unlike the autobiographies in this section, this biography goes into great depth and detail of names, dates, artists, labels and records. If you want to know who appeared at which Paramount show, and how much each show grossed, you won't be disappointed. Not quite as much fun as "Have Mercy" and "Cousin Brucie", but probably more of what you expect from a biography.
Cousin Bruce Morrow and Laura Baudo. Probably New York's best known Disc Jockey (WINS, WABC, WNBC, WCBS) full of personal accounts, photographs and other great fun from the Big Apple. Great companion to Rick Sklar's "Rocking America".
By Rick Sklar. Ties together all the various on-air personality biographies together from the business perspective. Rick Sklar was there, behind the scenes at both WINS and WABC when each of them was THE New York station.
by Wes Smith. This book focuses on the "personality" Deejays who played records by the original "black" artists, in particular Alan Freed, Dick Biondi, Hunter Hancock, Zenas Sears, Jocko Henderson, John R. Richbourg, Gene Nobles, Hoss Allen, and Wolfman Jack. There is an underlying assumption that there is something non-artistic about Top 40 radio. The book does give the Top 40 Deejay (if not the format) their due - "A new breed of radio Deejays emerged after the payola scandal faded. Restricted by the top-forty format, they relied more on their wits and quickness than on the music for entertainment. If possible, they became even more of the show."
