Welcome to dbopm :: the database of popular music.
dbopm celebrates the great diversity of popular music,
not limited by era or genre.
From the Great American Songbook to English music hall, French chanson, songs from the shows, film themes, operatic arias, folk, blues, pop charts - it's all likely to be represented here.
Origins.
dbopm was created by Martin Hall,
following his retirement from the music publishing industry.
The data was originally collected in a card index specifically targeting
the songs and songwriters of the Great American Songbook era. Building on that base,
Martin continued collecting music data while acquiring the skills relevant
to building an online database. The data was stored for a while in John Campbell's
superlative MS-DOS Masterfile Professional (M-Pro), before it was ultimately moved online.
No frills, no fuss, just the facts.
The site is designed to be fast-loading and easy to use,
so you can get straight to the information you need.
Intensively cross-referenced.
The database structure enables easy movement between related items. For example, there are
currently 219,009 internal links connecting songs with artists.
See our statistics page for more details.
Precise external links.
We have established direct connections to relevant data at other music sites, making dbopm a useful one-stop
source for your research.
dbopm is a work-in-progress.
The database is constantly being updated.
If you can't find what you're looking for, please let us know!
All verifiable data contributions will be included in future updates.
dbopm :: the database of popular music.
Joined-up knowledge. What the Internet was made for.
We want your feedback.
Please send us your comments, questions and data submissions or corrections.
All verifiable data contributions will be included in future updates.
Please also let us know if you have encountered any technical problems while using this site.
The Database of Popular Music is very helpful. We especially appreciate all the cross references and easy access to those references."
-- Marcia Jansen, Sheet Music Specialist, The Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative.
- Navigation through the database is provided by the "Public database access" menu option at the top of the page.
- This tabbed page may be retrieved via the "dbopm" (Home) link at the top-left of the page.
Please remember....
Those who died during the last six months:
- Cissy Houston
- Martin Lee
- Kris Kristofferson
- Ken Howard
- J.D. Souther
- Frankie Beverly
- Caterina Valente
- Zoot Money
- Will Jennings
- Sérgio Mendes
- Herbie Flowers
- James Darren
- Phil Swern
- Fatman Scoop
- Maurice Williams
- John Mayall
- Evelyn Thomas
- Jerry Fuller
- Tomcraft
- Joe Egan
- Kinky Friedman
- Martin Mull
- Seth Binzer
- Françoise Hardy
- Françoise Hardy
- Mark James
- Rose-Marie
- Richard Sherman
- Doug Ingle
- Frank Ifield
- David Sanborn
- Duane Eddy
- Chan Romero
- Dickey Betts
Number of records per major database table
| Table | Records |
|---|---|
| Songs | 154,465 |
| Artists | 24,936 |
| Song/Artist connections | 219,009 |
| Songwriters | 12,588 |
| Song/Songwriter connections | 139,109 |
| Films | 4,930 |
| StageShows | 3,546 |
| Stage Productions | 4,643 |
| Actors | 13,159 |
| Film/Actor connections | 24,893 |
| StageProduction/Actor connections | 18,005 |
You can help.
dbopm is not a commercial site.
As the database grows, so do the bandwidth costs.
You can show your appreciation and support future development by donating.
No amount is too small.
Martin Hall
- Born In Willenhall, Staffordshire, England in 1945.
- Uneducated at Willenhall Comprehensive School.
To be fair, Jim Dalton and Joyce Hissey made their mark. - Writer of "Do the Dance Now, Davey" recorded by Colin Scot and performed by him in folk clubs up and down the country.
- Author of "The Stan Cullis Blues" (Charisma Books, 1974).
- Lyricist for "Excuse Me" recorded by Peter Gabriel.
- Lyricist for "Starbright Park" recorded by Quantum Jump.
- Lyricist for "Redman" recorded by Capability Brown and Rare Bird.
- Lyricist for "The Man You Were" recorded by Shirley Horn, Ann Hampton Calloway and others.
- Lyricist for John Perry's "Seabird" album, which I still believe should have been titled "The Uncle Seabird Album."
- Writer or co-writer of many other songs recorded by a wide variety of artists.
- Librettist for "Letters to Lindbergh", a cantata composed by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett.
Recorded by NYCoS National Girls Choir on Signum Records SIGCD325. - Founder and sole developer of the database of popular music at www.dbopm.com.