In the 1990s, Don Wicks published The Ballad Years, a partwork encyclopaedia series, via In Tune International, a magazine for those interested in pop music of the pre- and post-war era. Don's series covers a similar era and has biographies of British musical performers who were active from around 1945 to the early 1960s, with listings of their singles. Ten years to the day since his passing, the encyclopaedia is being made available as a free download at the Internet Archive. Just click the link and you will be able to download it. An invaluable resource for those researching British pop artists of the period, or with an interest in them.
The uploaded files have now been replaced with the last versions Don edited from 2012. If anyone is aware of releases which have been missed (or errors in the discography sections), please let me know.