Alec Wilder American Popular Song

Alec Wilder: American Popular Song

Alec Wilder’s book American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950 offers a nice snapshot into the pre-rock and roll era when songwriters and performers were largely viewed as separate entities. This book highlights the songwriters and offers a look at more than 850 songs. The book doesn’t rank the songs but I have created a top 100 ranking by looking at how many other lists the songs are featured on. Publication years for songs and the songwriters are indicated, but no specific artist is attached to each song. Click here to see other lists from critics and individuals and here to see other lists from publications and/or organizations “White Christmas” (1942) by Irving Berlin “Stardust” (1927) by Hoagy Carmichael & Mitchell Parish “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1911) by Irving Berlin “St. Louis Blues” (1914) by W.C. Handy “Over the Rainbow” (1939) by Harold Arlen & E.Y. “Yip” Harburg “Body and Soul” (1930) by Johnny Green, Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, and Frank Eyton “Night and Day” (1932) by Cole Porter “Begin the Beguine” (1938) by Cole Porter “On the Sunny Side of the Street” (1930) by Jimmy McHugh & Dorothy Fields “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (1929) by Fats Waller “Take the ‘A’ Train” (1941) by Billy Strayhorn “All the Things You Are” (1939) by Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein II “God Bless America” (1939) by Irving Berlin “Georgia on My Mind” (1930) by Hoagy Carmichael & Stuart Gorrell “Over There” (1917) by Geoge M. Cohan “Tea for Two” (1924) by Vincent Youmans & Irving Caesar “Cheek to Cheek” (1935) by Irving Berlin “The Man I Love” (1928) by George & Ira Gershwin “April in Paris” (1932) by Vernon Duke & E.Y. “Yip” Harburg “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home?” (1902) by Hughie Cannon & Johnnie Queen “I Got Rhythm” (1930) by George & Ira Gershwin “My Funny Valentine” (1937) by Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)” (1933) by Harold Arlen & Ted Koehler “Mack the Knife” (1928) by Kurt Weill, Mark Blitzstein, & Berthold Brecht “Sophisticated Lady” (1933) by Duke Ellington, Mitchell Parish, & Irving Mills “Oh! Susanna” (1847) by Stephen Foster “Darktown Strutters’ Ball” (1917) by Shelton Brooks “Some of These Days” (1910) by Shelton Brooks “Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me)” (1941) by Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer “Swanee” (1920) by George Gershwin & Iving Caesar “Hello Ma Baby” (1899) by Joseph E. Howard & Ida Emerson “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (1944) by Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane “I’m in the Mood for Love” (1935) by Jimmy McHugh & Dorothy Fields “Sweet Georgia Brown” (1925) by Ben Bernie, Kenneth Casey, & Maceo Pinkard “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” (1936) by Cole Porter “My Blue Heaven” (1927) by Walter Donaldson & George A. Whiting “I Can’t Get Started” (1938) by Vernon Duke & Ira Gershwin “The Way You Look Tonight” (1936) by Jerome Kern & Dorothy Fields “My Melancholy Baby” (1928) by Ernie Burnett & George A. Norton “Blue Skies” (1927) by Irving Berlin “Rhapsody in Blue” (1924) by George Gershwin “It Had to Be You” (1924) by Isham Jones & Gus Kahn “Someone to Watch Over Me” (1926) by George & Ira Gershwin “September Song” (1939) by Kurt Weill & Maxwell Anderson “Camptown Races (Gwine to Run All Night)” (1850) by Stephen Foster “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (1933) by Jerome Kern & Otto Harbach “For Me and My Gal” (1917) by George Meyer, Edgar Leslie & E. Ray Goetz “Carolina in the Morning” (1923) by Walter Donaldson & Gus Kahn “Blue Moon” (1935) by Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart “Tenderly” (1947) by Walter Gross & Jack Lawrence “Dancing in the Dark” (1931) by Athur Schwartz & Howard Dietz “Satin Doll” (1953) by Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, & Johnny Mercer “April Showers” (1921) by Buddy DeSylva & Louis Silvers “I’ll Be Seeing You” (1940) by Sammy Fain & Irving Kahal “Everybody Loves My Baby” (1924) by Spencer Williams & Jack Palmer “Peg O’ My Heart” (1913) by Alfred Bryan & Fred Fisher “After You’ve Gone” (1918) by Turner Layton & Henry Creamer “Ol’ Man River” (1927) by Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein II “Oh Lady Be Good” (1924) by George & Ira Gershwin “Whispering” (1920) by John Schonberger, Richard Coburn, & Vincent Rose “Auld Lang Syne” (1799) adapted by Robert Burns “Always” (1926) by Irving Berlin “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” (1937) by George & Ira Gerswhin “Baby It’s Cold Outside” (1949) by Frank Loesser “The Memphis Blues” (1912) by W.C. Handy, George A. Norton, Charles Tobias, & Peter DeRose “Fly Me to the Moon” (1964) by Bart Howard “It Might As Well Be Spring” (1945) by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II “Puttin’ on the Ritz” (1930) by Irving Berlin “How High the Moon” (1951) by Morgan Lewis & Nancy Hamilton “My Favorite Things” (1959) by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II “The Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)” (1851) by Stephen Foster “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning” (1918) by Irving Berlin “Come Rain or Come Shine” (1946) by Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer “Turkey in the Straw” (1820) by George Washington Dixon, Bob Farrell, & Otto Bunell/traditional “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans” (1922) by Turner Layton & Henry Creamer “What Is This Thing Called Love?” (1930) by Cole Porter “Sometimes I’m Happy” (1935) by Vincent Youmans & Irving Caesar “It’s Only a Paper Moon” (1933) by Harold Arlen, E.Y. “Yip” Harburg, & Billy Rose “Moonglow” (1934) by Will Hudson, Eddie DeLange, & Irving Mills “The Japanese Sandman” (1920) by Richard A. Whiting & Ray Egan “Ballin’ the Jack” (1914) by James Henry Burris & Chris Smith “I Only Have Eyes for You” (1959) by Harry Warren & Al Dubin “Dinah” (1932) by Harry Akst, Sam M. Lewis, & Joe Young “The Nearness of You” (1937) by Hoagy Carmichael & Ned Washington “Where or When” (1937) by Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart “My Buddy” (1922) by Walter Donaldson & Gus Kahn “Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town)” (1922) by Fred Fisher “Lover” (1933) by Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart “I Get a Kick Out of You” (1934) by Cole Porter “Laura” (1945) by David Raskin & Johnny Mercer “How Deep Is the Ocean?” (1932) by Irving Berlin “Our Love Is Here to Stay” (1938) by George & Ira Gershwin “Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be!)” (1945) by Jimmy Davis, Ram Ramirez, & Jimmy Sherman “Sweet Sue, Just You” (1928) by Victor Young & Will Harris “In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree” (1905) by Harry H. Williams & Egbert Van Alstyne “My Gal Sal” (1905) by Paul Dresser “A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody” (1919) by Irving Berlin “Manhattan” (1925) by Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart “Fools Rush in Where Angels Fear to Tread” (1940) by Rube Bloom & Johnny Mercer “Sentimental Journey” by Ben Homer, Les Brown, & Bud Green Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “lists from critics and individuals’ Dave’s Music Database: “Lists from other publications and/or organizations” Alec Wilder (4/27/1990). American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950. Oxford University Press. First posted 12/22/2025.