Chubby Checker performs at the IEBA 2009 Honors at Ryman Auditorium on Oct. 12, 2009, in Nashville. Rick Diamond

Billboard’s charts and print issues have long been dated on Saturdays, but for America’s bicentennial, tradition was broken in celebration of the country’s birthday — and its rich musical history.

That week, weekly charts and the print product were dated July 4, 1976; normally they would’ve been dated July 3.

The change was not just a nod to the holiday, but a full-fledged retrospective in the form of a 150-plus-page feature. Stories included a look at the origins of “Yankee Doodle” (which predate 1776); “Declaration of Independents” on the state of indie music written by label legend and former Billboard apprentice Seymour Stein; and the tech-focused “Hi Fi and All the Wonders to Come.”

Plus, Billboard presented “Tomorrow’s 200,” a list of innovators predicted to keep shaping the industry that included Irving Azoff, Dick Clark, Clive Davis and 197 other talents. (“Just put this away and let’s see how good we are at predictions,” the intro skittishly noted. “If our batting average is better than 50 percent, we’re geniuses, of course. If most of our picks are wrong, just remember it’s all in fun.”)

Naturally, charts were prominent in the issue, most notably 200-position recaps of the top pop songs, albums and artists “based on Billboard’s year-end product recaps” over 1956-75 for songs and albums and 1946-75 for artists.

(The rankings accompanied regular weekly charts, including the Billboard Hot 100, where Wings’ “Silly Love Songs” led for a fifth and final week, and the Billboard 200, then named Top LPs & Tape, which the band also ruled, with parent set Wings at the Speed of Sound, then in its fifth of seven weeks at No. 1.)

Who topped Billboard’s revelry of the biggest songs, artists and albums dating to the start of the rock era and before up to the country’s 200th birthday? As the U.S. parties for its 250th, browse the top 10 of each specialty chart below from the July 4, 1976, issue — along with a look at the leaders on Billboard’s current Greatest of All Time rankings, including the highest ranking Americans on each latest comparable list.

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