It was a new departure for Oxford’s biggest book publishers – they had gone pop.

What’s more, Oxford University Press hoped its new releases would top the hit parade.

The publishers were well known, in some circles, for such potential chart-busters as The Marginal Seabed in United Kingdom Legal Practice, the Latin Love Poets from Catullus to Horace and, of course, the Oxford English Dictionary.

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But now they were hitting new ground with the Pop Songbook bearing the tunes of The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Elton John and other modern favourites.

Andrew Potter, marketing manager in OUP’s music department, said: “You cannot set yourself up as an educational music publisher without dealing with pop.

“One of the best ways of introducing children to playing music is through music that is familiar to them in everyday life.”

The Pop Songbook was in two parts, with 24 songs in each. Within weeks of publication, It proved to be very popular in schools throughout the country, with advance orders quickly reaching the 2,000 mark.

Among the music it included were Paul McCartney’s Mull of Kintyre, Dylan’s Mr Tambourine Man and Ralph McTell’s Streets of London.

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Tony Attwood, who compiled the book, said: “When I worked as a teacher, I was constantly frustrated by the lack of contemporary songs available in schools.”

The group of music loving school pupils from Banbury pictured above in 1981 had already voted the book top of the pops.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

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