Billboard magazine has long been the music chart industry leader with its flagship Hot 100 chart, which launched in 1958. Prior to that, Billboard did other charts, but the farther back one dips into recorded history, the more difficult it is to find music charts from Billboard or any other source. Pop Memories 1890-1954 taps multiple sources from the pre-rock era to create music charts.
This particular webpage takes the list from that book of the top 100 songs from 1890 to 1954, as determined first by the most weeks spent at #1, tne by total weeks on the chart.
Check other lists based on charts, sales, and airplay here.
17 weeks:
1. Francis Craig with Bob Lamm “Near You” (1947)
14 weeks:
2. Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers “White Christmas” (1942)
13 weeks:
3. Artie Shaw “Frenesi” (1940)
4. Gene Austin “My Blue Heaven” (1927)
5. Patti Page “Tennessee Waltz” (1950)
6. Harry James with Helen Forrest “I’ve Heard That Song Before” (1943)
7. The Weavers with Gordon Jenkins’ Orchestra “Goodnight Irene” (1950)
8. Ben Selvin “Dardanella” (1920)
9. The Ink Spots “The Gypsy” (1946)
10. Ted Weems with Elmo Tanner “Heartaches” (1947)
12 weeks:
11. The Mills Brothers “Paper Doll” (1942)
12. Vernon Dalhart “The Prisoner’s Song” (1925)
13. Glenn Miller “In the Mood” (1939)
14. Jo Stafford “You Belong to Me” (1952)
15. Vaughn Monroe “Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)” (1949)
16. Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra “I’ll Never Smile Again” (1940)
17. Al Jolson “Sonny Boy” (1928)
11 weeks:
18. Les Paul with Mary Ford “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You)” (1953)
19. Anton Karas “The Third Man Theme” (1950)
20. Guy Lombardo “The Third Man Theme” (1950)
21. Johnnie Ray & the Four Lads “Cry” (1951)
22. Frankie Carle & Marjorie Hughes “Oh What It Seemed to Be” (1946)
23. Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Whispering” (1920)
24. Leo Reisman & His Orchestra with Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers “Cheek to Cheek” (1935)
25. American Quartet with Billy Murray “Casey Jones” (1910)
26. Haydn Quartet “Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet” (1909)
27. Al Jolson “April Showers” (1922)
28. Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra with Franklyn Baur “Valencia (A Song of Spain)” (1926)
29. Bryon G. Harlan “School Days (When We Were a Couple of Kids)” (1907)
30. Henry Burr “Just a Baby’s Prayer at Twilight (For Her Daddy Over There)” (1918)
31. Arthur Collins “The Preacher and the Bear” (1905)
32. Len Spencer “The Arkansaw Traveler” (1902)
10 weeks:
33. Tony Bennett “Because of You” (1951)
34. Bing Crosby with Lani McIntire & His Hawaiians “Sweet Leilani” (1937)
35. Dinah Shore & Her Harper Valley Boys “Buttons and Bows” (1948)
36. Kay Starr “Wheel of Fortune” (1952)
37. Percy Faith with Felicia Sanders “Where Is Your Heart (Song from “Moulin Rouge”)” (1953)
38. Ted Lewis & His Band “In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town” (1932)
39. Vaughn Monroe’s Orchestra “Ballerina” (1947)
40. Patti Page “I Went to Your Wedding” (1952)
41. Rudy Vallee & His Connecticut Yankees “Stein Song (University of Maine)” (1930)
42. The Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen’s Orchestra “Rum and Coca-Cola” (1945)
43. Perry Como “Till the End of Time” (1945)
44. Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb & His Orchestra “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (1938)
45. Nick Lucas “Tip-Toe Thru the Tulips with Me” (1929)
46. Glenn Miller Orchestra with Ray Eberle & The Modernaires “Moonlight Cocktail” (1942)
47. Leo Reisman’s Orchestra with Fred Astaire “Night and Day” (1932)
48. Arthur Collins with Bryon G. Harlan “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1911)
49. Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra with Bob Eberly & Helen O’Connell “Amapola (Pretty Little Poppy)” (1941)
50. Haydn Quartet “Sweet Adeline (You’re the Flower of My Heart)” (1904)
51. Eileen Barton “If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake” (1950)
52. Bing Crosby with George Stoll’s Orchestra “Pennies from Heaven” (1936)
53. Billy Murray “You’re a Grand Old Flag (aka “The Grand Old Rag”)” (1906)
54. George J. Gaskin “My Old New Hampshire Home” (1898)
55. Bryon G. Harlan “My Gal Sal” (1907)
56. George J. Gaskin “On the Banks of the Wabash” (1897)
57. George J. Gaskin “After the Ball” (1893)
58. George W. Johnson “The Laughing Song” (1891)
59. Dan Quinn “The Band Played On” (1895)
9 weeks:
60. Les Brown with Doris Day “Sentimental Journey” (1945)
61. Bing Crosby with John Scottt Trotter’s Orchestra “Swinging on a Star” (1944)
62. Kitty Kallen “Little Things Mean a Lot” (1954)
63. Glenn Miller with Tex Beneke & the Four Modernaires “Chattanooga Choo Choo” (1941)
64. Les Paul & Mary Ford “How High the Moon” (1951)
65. George Olsen with Joe Morrison “The Last Round-Up” (1933)
66. The Andrews Sisters “Shoo-Shoo Baby” (1943)
67. Peggy Lee “Manana Is Soon Enough for Me” (1948)
68. Vera Lynn with Ronald Shaw’s Orchestra “Auf Wiederseh’n Sweetheart” (1952)
69. The Crew-Cuts “Sh-Boom” (1954)
70. Bing Crosby “Only Forever” (1940)
71. Glenn Miller “Tuxedo Junction” (1940)
72. American Quartet “Over There” (1917)
73. Frankie Carle & Marjorie Hughes “Rumors Are Flying” (1946)
74. Al Jolson “Swanee” (1920)
75. Bryon G. Harlan “Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie” (1906)
76. Billy Murray with the Haydn Quartet “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (1910)
77. Henry Burr with Albert Campbell “Till We Meet Again” (1919)
78. Henry Burr “Beautiful Ohio” (1919)
79. Harry MacDonough with Elise Stevenson (as Miss Walton) “Shine on, Harvest Moon” (1909)
80. Billy Murray “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis” (1904)
81. Billy Murray “Harrigan” (1907)
82. Bert Williams “Nobody” (1906)
83. Larry Clinton with Bea Wain “Deep Purple” (1939)
84. Dan Quinn “Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two)” (1893)
85. Dan Quinn “The Sidewalks of New York” (1895)
8 weeks:
86. Al Dexter & His Troopers “Pistol Packin’ Mama” (1943)
87. Pee Wee Hunt “Twelfth Street Rag” (1948)
88. The Ames Brothers “You, You, You” (1953)
89. Nat “King” Cole “Mona Lisa” (1950)
90. The Harmonicats “Peg O’ My Heart” (1947)
91. Tony Bennett “Rags to Riches” (1953)
92. Freddy Martin & Jack Fina “Piano Concerto in B Flat” (1941)
93. Perry Como “If (They Made Me King)” (1951)
94. Eddy Howard “To Each His Own” (1946)
95. Eddy Howard “Sin (It’s No Sin)” (1951)
96. Perry Como “Wanted” (1954)
97. Frankie Laine with Jud Conlon’s Rhythmaires “That Lucky Old Sun” (1949)
98. Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters “Don’t Fence Me In” (1944)
99. Dinah Shore “The Gypsy” (1946)
100. Patti Page “The Doggie in the Window” (1953)
Resources/Related Links:
First posted 12/21/2022.
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