Richard Rodgers: Top 50 Songs

First posted 12/7/2019.

Musical theater songwriter Richard Rodgers was born 100 years ago today – on 6/28/1902 – in New York City, New York. He composed over 900 songs and 43 Broadway musicals. He worked with lyricist Lorenz Hart in the 1920s and ‘30s and Oscar Hammerstein II in the ‘40s and ‘50s. He was the first person to win the four top American entertainment awards – an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award. He also won a Pulitzer Prize, making him and Marvin Hamlisch the only two people to do so. He died 12/30/1979.

His works South Pacific (cast album: 1949; soundtrack: 1958) and The Sound of Music (cast album: 1959; soundtrack: 1965) are featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. “Blue Moon” and “Some Enchanted Evening” are featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era, 1890-1953.

For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry.

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Top 50 Songs

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Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Many of these songs have been recorded multiple times. Only the highest-ranked version in Dave’s Music Database is included in this list. There are also some songs not identified as being by any particular artist. Additionally, songs which hit #1 on any of the following charts are noted: United States’ pop charts (US), Hit Parade (HP), U.S. R&B charts (RB), Australian pop charts (AU).

DMDB Top 1%:

1. Blue Moon (Glen Gray with Kenny Sargent, 1935) #1 US
2. Some Enchanted Evening (Perry Como with Mitchell Ayres’ Orchestra, 1949) #1 US, HP
3. Manhattan (Ben Selvin, 1925) #1 US
4. Lover (Paul Whiteman with Jack Fulton, 1933)
5. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (Bill Snyder, 1950) #1 HP, CB
6. People Will Say We’re in Love (Bing Crosby with Trudy Erwin & the Sportsmen Glee Club, 1943) #1 HP
7. Where or When (Hal Kemp with Bob Allen, 1937) #1 US
8. It Might As Well Be Spring (Dick Haymes & the Victor Young Orchestra, 1945) #1 HP
9. If I Loved You (Perry Como with Russell Case’s Orchestra, 1945)

DMDB Top 5%:

10. Oh, What a Beautiful Morning (Bing Crosby with Trudy Erwin & the Sportsmen Glee Club, 1943)
11. With a Song in My Heart (Leo Reisman with Ran Weeks, 1929)
12. My Funny Valentine (Hal McIntyre with Ruth Gaylor, 1945)
13. Ten Cents a Dance (Ruth Etting, 1930)
14. My Heart Stood Still (Paul Whiteman with Al Rinker, Jack Fulton, Charles Gaylord, & Austin Young; 1930)
15. The Blue Room (The Revelers, 1926)
16. Thou Swell (Ben Selvin’s Orchestra as the Broadway Nitelites, 1928)
17. Soon (Bing Crosby with George Stoll’s Orchestra, 1935) #1 US, HP
18. This Can’t Be Love (Benny Goodman with Martha Tilton, 1938)
19. There’s a Small Hotel (Hal Kemp with Maxine Grey, 1936) #1 US
20. You Took Advantage of Me (Paul Whiteman with Bing Crosby, Jack Fulton, Charles Gaylord & Austin Young; 1928)

21. It’s Easy to Remember (Bing Crosby with George Stoll’s Orchestra, 1935) #1 US
22. Mimi (Maurice Chevalier with Nat Finston’s Orchestra, 1932)
23. You’ll Never Walk Alone (Frank Sinatra, 1945)
24. Mountain Greenery (Roger Wolfe Kahn, 1926)
25. My Romance (Paul Whiteman, 1926)
26. Dancing on the Ceiling (Jack Hylton, 1932)
27. I Didn’t Know What Time It Was (Benny Goodman with Louise Tobin, 1939)
28. I’ve Got Five Dollars (Emil Coleman, 1931)
29. No Other Love (Perry Como with Henri Rene’s Orchestra, 1953) #1 US, HP, CB
30. My Favorite Things (John Coltrane, 1961)

31. The Lady Is a Tramp (Tommy Dorsey with Jack Leonard, 1937)
32. That’s for Me (Jo Stafford, 1945)
33. Bali Ha’i (Perry Como with Mitchell Ayres’ Orchestra, 1949)

DMDB Top 10%:

34. Hello Young Lovers (Perry Como with Mitchell Ayres’ Orchestra, 1951)
35. Falling in Love with Love (Frances Langford with Harry Sosnik’s Orchestra, 1939)
36. Little Girl Blue (Janis Joplin, 1969)
37. The Sound of Music (Julie Andrews, 1965)
38. Climb Ev’ry Mountain (Tony Bennett, 1959)
39. Glad to Be Unhappy (The Mamas & the Papas, 1967)
40. Oklahoma! (Alfred Drake & the Oklahoma Cast, 1943)
41. It Never Entered My Mind (Shirley Ross, 1940)
42. Isn’t It Romantic? (Maurice Chevalier with Jeannette MacDonald, 1932)
43. Spring Is Here (Buddy Clark, 1938)
44. Johnny One-Note (Hal Kemp with Skinnay Ennis, 1937)
45. Where’s That Rainbow? (George Olsen, 1927)
46. I Married an Angel (Larry Clinton with Bea Wain, 1938)

DMDB Top 20%:

47. The Gentleman Is a Dope (Jo Stafford, 1947)
48. I Could Write a Book (Dinah Washington, 1940)
49. Surrey with the Fringe on Top (Alfred Drake with Jay Blackton’s Orchestra, 1943)
50. Younger Than Springtime (Billy Tabbert, 1949)

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Awards:

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David Bowie Heathen released

Heathen David Bowie

Released: June 11, 2002 Peak: 14 US, 5 UK, 9 CN, 9 AU Sales (in millions): 0.18 US, 0.1 UK, 1.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: glam rock/classic rock veteran

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Sunday [4:46] Cactus (Francis) [2:55] Slip Away [6:05] Slow Burn [4:41] (6/11/02, 19 AA, 94 UK, 69 AU) Afraid [3:28] I’ve Been Waiting for You (Young) [3:00] (10/02, --) I Would Be Your Slave [5:14] I Took a Trip on a Gemini Spaceship [4:06] 5.15 the Angels Have Gone [3:58] Everyone Says “Hi” [3:58] (9/1/02, 20 UK) A Better Future [4:11] Heathen (The Rays) [4:18] Songs written by David Bowie unless indicated otherwise. Total Running Time: 52:08 The Players: David Bowie (vocals, keyboards, guitar, saxophone, stylophone, backing vocals, drums) Tony Visconti (bass, guitar, recorders, string arrangements, backing vocals) Matt Chamberlain (drums, drum loop programming, percussion) David Torn (guitar, guitar loops, Omnichord) The Scorchio Quartet Carlos Alomar, Gerry Leonard (guitar) Sterling Campbell (drums, percussion) Lisa Germano (violin) Mike Garson (piano on “Conversation Piece”) Earl Slick (guitar on “Conversation Piece”) Tony Levin (fretless bass on “Slip Away”) Mark Plati (guitar, bass) Jordan Rudess (keyboards) Lenny Pickett, Stan Harrison, Steve Elson (saxophone) Kristeen Young (vocals, piano) Pete Towshend (guitar on “Slow Burn”) Dave Grohl (guitar on “I’ve Been Waiting for You”)

Rating: 3.611 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Heathen marks a new beginning for David Bowie in some ways — it's his first record since leaving Virgin, his first for Columbia Records, his first for his new label, ISO — yet it's hardly a new musical direction. Like Hours, this finds Bowie sifting through the sounds of his past, completely at ease with his legacy, crafting a colorful, satisfying album that feels like a classic Bowie album.” AMG “That's not to say that Heathen recalls any particular album or any era in specific, yet there's a deliberate attempt to recapture the atmosphere, the tone of his '70s work — there's a reason that Bowie decided to reteam with Tony Visconti, the co-producer of some of his best records, for this album — even if direct comparisons are hard to come by. Which is exactly what's so impressive about this album. Bowie and Visconti never shy away from electronic instrumentations or modern production — if anything, they embrace it — but it's woven into Bowie's sound subtly, never drawing attention to the drum loops, guitar synths, and washes of electronica.” AMG “For that matter, guest spots by Dave Grohl and Pete Townshend (both on guitar) don't stand out either; they're merely added texture to this an album that's intricately layered, but always plays smoothly and alluringly. And, make no mistake, this is an alluring, welcoming, friendly album — there are some moody moments, but Bowie takes Neil Young's eerie I've Been Waiting for You and Pixies' elusively brutal, creepy Cactus and turns them sweet, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, either.” AMG “In the end, that's the key to Heathen — the undercurrent of happiness, not in the lyrics, but in the making of music, a realization by Bowie and Visconti alike that they are perfect collaborators. Unlike their previous albums together, this doesn't boldly break new ground, but that's because, 22 years after their last collaboration, Scary Monsters, both Bowie and Visconti don't need to try as hard, so they just focus on the craft. The result is an understated, utterly satisfying record, his best since Scary Monsters, simply because he'd never sounded as assured and consistent since.” AMG Notes: A 2-CD version of the album includes a bonus disc with remixed versions of “Sunday” and “A Better Future” as well as the 1970 song “Conversation Piece” and an outtake of “Panic in Detroit.”

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for David Bowie AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 2/20/2008; last updated 8/9/2021.

Avril Lavigne's Let Go released

Let Go Avril Lavigne

Released: June 4, 2002 Charted: June 22, 2002 Peak: 2 US, 13 UK, 12 CN, 17 AU Sales (in millions): 6.8 US, 1.71 UK, 17.1 world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Losing Grip (4/1/03, 64 US, 17 RR, 33 A40, 22 UK, 20 AU) Complicated (4/13/02, 2 US, 1 RR, 13 AC, 1 A40, 3 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU) Sk8er Boi (8/27/02, 10 US, 1 RR, 23 A40, 8 UK, 29 CN, 3 AU) I’m with You (11/19/02, 4 US, 1 RR, 18 AC, 1 A40, 7 UK, 18 CN) Mobile Unwanted Tomorrow Anything But Ordinary Things I’ll Never Say My World Nobody’s Fool Too Much to Ask Naked Total Running Time: 48:37

Rating: 3.675 out of 5.00 (average of 24 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Talk about pressure – being under 21 and having a record deal no longer qualifies as extraordinary. And as mass-produced teen pop makes its exit and a glut of young singer/songwriters enter, child prodigies no longer have built-in marketing appeal. So if newcomer, 17-year-old Avril Lavigne truly wants to be Anything But Ordinary, as she sings on her debut album, Let Go, she’ll have to dig deeper.” AMG “Luckily for Lavigne, aside from youth, she does have talent. Her debut runs the gamut from driving rock numbers like Losing Grip – where Lavigne shows off her vocal range, powering into the anger-fueled, explosive rock chorus – to singer/songwriter pop tunes like My World, where Lavigne fills listeners in on the past 17 years of her life.” AMG “Lavigne handles a variety of styles deftly, but she still has some growing up to do lyrically. Sk8er Boi has a terrific power pop bounce, but shows her lyrical shortcomings: ‘He was a punk/She did ballet/What more can I say’ – a lot. The phrasing is awkward and sometimes silly: ‘It’s funny when you think it’s gonna work out/ Till you chose weed over me you’re so lame,’ she sings on Too Much to Ask.” AMG “Not surprisingly, the standout track is the first single, Complicated, a gem of a pop/rock tune with a killer chorus. But listen carefully and you'll realize that [its] sing-song melody borrows just enough from Pink’s ‘Don’t Let Me Get Me’ to make it familiar and likeable. Nonetheless, the song is a knockout radio hit.” AMG “Lavigne, a self-professed skater punk and labelmate of Pink, shares her Take Me As I Am credo as well. And that said, it’s hard not to look at this record, executive produced by Arista label head Antonio ‘L.A.’ Reid, who is thanked by Lavigne for allowing ‘me to be myself,’ and feel cynical about the music industry’s willingness to reproduce a hit over and over. Lavigne, however, is a capable songwriter with vocal chops, and at her age, one imagines, she is still finding her feet, borrowing from the music she’s grown up listening to. The problem is Lavigne is still so young she's listening to the radio hits of the ‘90s and early 2000s: she’s Pink when she’s bucking authority, Alanis Morissette when she’s angry, and Jewel when she’s sensitive. Let Go shows promise, but the question is whether Lavigne and only Lavigne will shine through on her next effort.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Avril Lavigne AMG All Music Guide by Christina Saraceno WK Wikipedia First posted 3/29/2008; last updated 5/4/2022.