Another volume in the popular "1001" series, I found this one to be one of the most disappointing and/or baffling. A team of music critics/writers/afficionados combined their recommendations to come up with this bizarre list of 1001 singles that epitomize the history of recorded and commercially-released music. Beginning with the pre-1950s era, and continuing until "mere months before the book was published in 2010", this massive book lists the 1001 songs in chronological order, with detailed background about the artists and songs represented. Starting with "O sole mio" performed by Enrico Caruso in 1916, and ending with "Stylo" by Gorrilaz in 2010, this is quite the eclectic collection of tunes. I definitely agreed with about 80% of the selections prior to the 1980s, but from that time period on the editors/contributors make some of the most bizarre musical choices! And the selections from the 2000s are so far out of my musical comfort zone that I'm forced to acknowledge that I'm out-of-touch with contemporary music. Still...for a nice overview of the history of significant "singles" in recording history, this is a fun volume to browse. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try other volumes in the "1001" series from this same publisher.]

Originally reviewed for my local library's website: http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide/srec/staffrec11-07.htm ( )