ACROBAT America's Greatest Hits 1943

We continue our popular and successful series devoted to the biggest chart records of each calendar year in the early chart era as we focus on 1943, the third full calendar year of the Billboard Best Sellers chart - the chart was launched in July 1940. This great value 98-track 4-CD set comprises almost every record which appeared in the Top 20 during the year - specifically it features the records which appeared in the Top 10 published in Billboard, plus those which are listed as having reached No. 11-20 in Joel Whitburn's well-known chart publications, which were based on analysis of regional charts.

For reasons of space, it excludes those records which entered the Top 10 in 1942, and so are included in our existing 1942 collection, and also excludes a few titles for which mastering sources could not be found. One feature of this year was that the American Federation of Musicians' recording ban had come into force, and so there were a number of big hits which were performed a cappella, including some by Frank Sinatra and Dick Haymes.

In addition, the big names of the swing era were still very much in evidence, and among the big long-lasting No. 1s of the year were ''I've Heard That Song Before'' by Harry James & Helen Forrest, ''Sunday Monday Or Always'' by Bing Crosby and ''Paper Doll'' by the Mills Brothers. In between, a host of other big names made their presence felt - Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Judy Garland, Duke Ellington, Dinah Shore and others - alongside many highly collectable lesser-known records by some artists we don't hear too much about these days.

It makes for an intriguing and very entertaining musical snapshot of a year when the USA was fully embroiled in WWII and there were plenty of patriotic and sentimental wartime hits to give a period flavour, with prolific hitmaker Glenn Miller epitomising that particular strand. It includes a 12,000+ word booklet with a commentary on every record as well as full discographical and chart information.