Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock and Soul is the definitive bible for 45 worshippers. As Marsh notes in the intro to the first edition,
"Singles are the essence of rock and roll. They occupy the center of all the pop music that came after it."
At Classic 45's, we cross-index all of our inventory with Marsh's list and highlight selections from the list in our search results. The Marsh list numbers are highlighted with an orange semi-circle, as shown below. The display can get confusing in cases where a single is on two or more of the lists that we maintain (Marsh, Rolling Stone, Kev Roberts). When more than one list number appears, the order of the list is determined by the one you are currently viewing. For example, below you will see Rolling Stone list numbers highlighted along with the Dave Marsh list numbers, but the items on the page are ordered according to the Dave Marsh list (the orange circled numbers), since that's the one you're currently viewing.
Collectors soon discover that 1001 isn't very many in the whole universe of 45's... but this book is one of the best places to start elsewhere in building your collection of essential music from the Rock'n Soul era. Even if you disagree with Marsh on some records, the book is always stimulating, and I guarantee you'll discover a lot of wonderful music along the way. For a great web site devoted to Marsh's book, check out The Heart of Rock and Soul by Lex Jansen. He's got exerpts, charts, and more!
