Showing posts with label 1957. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1957. Show all posts

Thursday, December 1, 2022

Billboard: Top 200 Songs (1890-1958)

Billboard:

Top 200 Songs, 1890-1958

In 2018, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Hot 100, Billboard magazine published a list of the top 600 songs in the history of the chart (see here). However, that ignored the 60+ years of charts the magazine had done prior to that. This rectifies that situation by offering a list of the top songs from the pre-Hot 100 era.

See other chart-based lists here and specific Billboard lists here.

1. Elvis Presley “Don’t Be Cruel” / “Hound Dog” (1956)
2. Gene Austin “My Blue Heaven” (1927)
3. The Ink Spots “The Gypsy” (1946)
4. Guy Mitchell “Singing the Blues” (1956)
5. Anton Karas “The Third Man Theme” (1950)
6. Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers “White Christmas” (1942)
7. Patti Page “Tennessee Waltz” (1950)
8. The Mills Brothers “Paper Doll” (1942)
9. Arthur Collins with Byron Harlan “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1911)
10. Haydn Quartet “Sweet Adeline (You’re the Flower of My Heart)” (1904)

11. Ben Selvin “Dardanella” (1920)
12. Vernon Dalhart “The Prisoner’s Song” (1925)
13. Francis Craig with Bob Lamm “Near You” (1947)
14. The Weavers with Gordon Jenkins’ Orchestra “Goodnight Irene” (1950)
15. Jo Stafford “You Belong to Me” (1952)
16. Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra “I’ll Never Smile Again” (1940)
17. Artie Shaw “Frenesi” (1940)
18. Glenn Miller “In the Mood” (1939)
19. Henry Burr with Albert Campbell “Till We Meet Again” (1919)
20. George J. Gaskin “On the Banks of the Wabash” (1897)

21. Byron Harlan “School Days (When We Were a Couple of Kids)” (1907)
22. Johnnie Ray & the Four Lads “Cry” (1951)
23. Harry James with Helen Forrest “I’ve Heard That Song Before” (1943)
24. Vaughn Monroe “Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)” (1949)
25. Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Whispering” (1920)
26. Frankie Carle & Marjorie Hughes “Oh What It Seemed to Be” (1946)
27. Dinah Shore & Her Harper Valley Boys “Buttons and Bows” (1948)
28. Ted Weems with Elmo Tanner “Heartaches” (1947)
29. George J. Gaskin “After the Ball” (1893)
30. Les Paul with Mary Ford “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You)” (1953)

31. The Harmonicats “Peg O’ My Heart” (1947)
32. Al Jolson “Sonny Boy” (1928)
33. Byron Harlan “My Gal Sal” (1907)
34. Henry Burr “Beautiful Ohio” (1919)
35. American Quartet “Over There” (1917)
36. Perry Como “Till the End of Time” (1945)
37. Percy Faith with Felicia Sanders “Where Is Your Heart (Song from “Moulin Rouge”)” (1953)
38. American Quartet with Billy Murray “Casey Jones” (1910)
39. Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb & His Orchestra “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (1938)
40. Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra with Bob Eberly & Helen O’Connell “Amapola (Pretty Little Poppy)” (1941)

41. Tony Bennett “Because of You” (1951)
42. Arthur Collins “The Preacher and the Bear” (1905)
43. Henry Burr “Just a Baby’s Prayer at Twilight (For Her Daddy Over There)” (1918)
44. The Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen’s Orchestra “Rum and Coca-Cola” (1945)
45. Guy Lombardo “The Third Man Theme” (1950)
46. Leo Reisman & His Orchestra with Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers “Cheek to Cheek” (1935)
47. Al Jolson “April Showers” (1922)
48. Leo Reisman’s Orchestra with Fred Astaire “Night and Day” (1932)
49. Bill Haley & the Comets “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” (1954)
50. Haydn Quartet “Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet” (1909)

51. Billy Murray “You’re a Grand Old Flag (aka “The Grand Old Rag”)” (1906)
52. Bing Crosby with George Stoll’s Orchestra “Pennies from Heaven” (1936)
53. Harry MacDonough with Elise Stevenson (as Miss Walton) “Shine on, Harvest Moon” (1909)
54. Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra with Franklyn Baur “Valencia (A Song of Spain)” (1926)
55. Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel” (1956)
56. Bing Crosby with Lani McIntire & His Hawaiians “Sweet Leilani” (1937)
57. Nick Lucas “Tip-Toe Thru the Tulips with Me” (1929)
58. Vaughn Monroe’s Orchestra “Ballerina” (1947)
59. Elvis Presley “All Shook Up” (1957)
60. George Olsen with Joe Morrison “The Last Round-Up” (1933)

61. Larry Clinton with Bea Wain “Deep Purple” (1939)
62. Byron Harlan “Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie” (1906)
63. Ted Lewis & His Band “In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town” (1932)
64. Rudy Vallee & His Connecticut Yankees “Stein Song (University of Maine)” (1930)
65. Len Spencer “Arkansaw Traveler” (1902)
66. Elvis Presley “Jailhouse Rock” (1957)
67. Glenn Miller Orchestra with Ray Eberle & The Modernaires “Moonlight Cocktail” (1942)
68. Tennessee Ernie Ford “Sixteen Tons” (1955)
69. Kay Starr “Wheel of Fortune” (1952)
70. Dan Quinn “The Band Played On” (1895)

71. Eddy Howard “To Each His Own” (1946)
72. Dan Quinn “The Sidewalks of New York” (1895)
73. The McGuire Sisters “Sincerely” (1955)
74. Elvis Presley “Love Me Tender” (1956)
75. George W. Johnson “The Laughing Song” (1891)
76. Perez “Prez” Prado “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” (1955)
77. Pat Boone “Love Letters in the Sand” (1957)
78. Danny & The Juniors “At the Hop” (1957)
79. Elvis Presley “Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear” (1957)
80. Mitch Miller “The Yellow Rose of Texas” (1955)

81. Haydn Quartet “In the Good Old Summertime” (1903)
82. Haydn Quartet “Bedelia” (1904)
83. Tab Hunter “Young Love” (1956)
84. Victor Orchestra “The Glow-Worm” (1908)
85. Eileen Barton “If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake” (1950)
86. George J. Gaskin “My Old New Hampshire Home” (1898)
87. John McCormack “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary” (1915)
88. Dinah Shore “The Gypsy” (1946)
89. J.W. Myer “In the Good Old Summertime” (1902)
90. The Four Aces “Love is a Many Splendored Thing” (1955)

91. George J. Gaskin “When You Were Sweet Sixteen” (1900)
92. Gogi Grant “The Wayward Wind” (1956)
93. Blue Baron & His Orchestra “Cruising Down the River on a Sunday Afternoon” (1949)
94. Gene Austin “Ramona” (1928)
95. Dean Martin “Memories Are Made of This” (1955)
96. John Philip Sousa “The Stars and Stripes Forever” (1897)
97. The Everly Brothers “Wake Up Little Susie” (1957)
98. Nat “King” Cole “Mona Lisa” (1950)
99. Al Jolson “Swanee” (1920)
100. Harry MacDonough “Down by the Old Mill Stream” (1911)

101. Harry MacDonough & Grace Spencer “Tell Me Pretty Maiden” (1901)
102. Steve Porter “A Bird in a Gilded Cage” (1900)
103. Henry Burr “Love Me and the World Is Mine” (1906)
104. Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters “Don’t Fence Me In” (1944)
105. Vaughn Monroe “There! I’ve Said It Again” (1945)
106. Charles Harrison “Peg O’ My Heart” (1913)
107. Roger Williams “Autumn Leaves” (1955)
108. Leo Reisman & Harold Arlen “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)” (1933)
109. Lucy Isabelle Marsh “The Glow-Worm” (1908)
110. Bing Crosby with John Scottt Trotter’s Orchestra “Swinging on a Star” (1944)

111. Kitty Kallen “Little Things Mean a Lot” (1954)
112. Sam Cooke “You Send Me” (1957)
113. Vera Lynn with Ronald Shaw’s Orchestra “Auf Wiederseh’n Sweetheart” (1952)
114. American Quartet “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary” (1914)
115. The Platters “My Prayer (Avant de Mourir)” (1956)
116. John Philip Sousa with Harry MacDonough & S.H. Dudley “In the Good Old Summertime” (1903)
117. Buddy Clark “Peg O’ My Heart” (1947)
118. Al Dexter & His Troopers “Pistol Packin’ Mama” (1943)
119. Perry Como “Wanted” (1954)
120. Les Brown with Doris Day “Sentimental Journey” (1945)

121. Glenn Miller with Tex Beneke & the Four Modernaires “Chattanooga Choo Choo” (1941)
122. Billy Murray with the Haydn Quartet “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (1910)
123. Billy Murray “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis” (1904)
124. Ada Jones & Billy Murray “Shine on, Harvest Moon” (1909)
125. Frank Sinatra “Oh, What It Seemed to Be” (1946)
126. Patti Page “The Doggie in the Window” (1953)
127. Billy Murray “Harrigan” (1907)
128. Russ Morgan & Skylarks “Cruising Down the River on a Sunday Afternoon” (1949)
129. Kay Starr & the Hugo Winterhalter Orchestra “Rock and Roll Waltz” (1955)
130. Pee Wee Hunt “Twelfth Street Rag” (1948)

131. Bert Williams “Nobody” (1906)
132. Arthur Collins “Hello Ma Baby” (1899)
133. Glenn Miller “Tuxedo Junction” (1940)
134. Peggy Lee “Manana Is Soon Enough for Me” (1948)
135. Dan Quinn “A Hot Time in the Old Town” (1896)
136. The Andrews Sisters “Shoo-Shoo Baby” (1943)
137. Frankie Laine with Jud Conlon’s Rhythmaires “That Lucky Old Sun” (1949)
138. Paul Anka “Diana” (1957)
139. Dan Quinn “Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two)” (1893)
140. Wayne King “Goodnight Sweetheart” (1931)

141. Eddy Howard “Sin (It’s No Sin)” (1951)
142. Peerless Quartet “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” (1911)
143. The Crew-Cuts “Sh-Boom” (1954)
144. Ethel Waters “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)” (1933)
145. The Three Suns “Peg O’ My Heart” (1947)
146. Len Spencer “Hello Ma Baby” (1899)
147. Les Baxter “The Poor People of Paris” (1956)
148. Heidelberg Quintet “By the Beautiful Sea” (1914)
149. Paul Whiteman “Three O’Clock in the Morning” (1922)
150. Frankie Masters “Scatter-Brain” (1939)

151. Bing Crosby “Only Forever” (1940)
152. Jere Mahoney “When You Were Sweet Sixteen” (1900)
153. Jere Mahoney “A Bird in a Gilded Cage” (1900)
154. Frankie Carle & Marjorie Hughes “Rumors Are Flying” (1946)
155. The Platters “The Great Pretender” (1955)
156. Billy Jones “Yes! We Have No Bananas” (1923)
157. Debbie Reynolds “Tammy” (1957)
158. The Ames Brothers “You, You, You” (1953)
159. Henry Burr “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now” (1909)
160. Ed Gallagher & Al Shean “Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean” (1922)

161. Perry Como “If (They Made Me King)” (1951)
162. Pat Boone “April Love” (1957)
163. Tony Bennett “Rags to Riches” (1953)
164. Nat “King” Cole “Nature Boy” (1948)
165. Freddy Martin & Jack Fina “Piano Concerto in B Flat” (1941)
166. The Chordettes “Mr. Sandman” (1954)
167. Dick Haymes & the Song Spinners “You’ll Never Know” (1943)
168. Nicholas Orlando’s Orchestra “Till We Meet Again” (1919)
169. Jimmy Dorsey with Bob Eberly & Kitty Kallen “Besame Mucho (Kiss Me Much)” (1944)
170. Sonny James “Young Love” (1956)

171. Len Spencer “The Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)” (1892)
172. John York Atlee “Listen to the Mocking Bird (aka “The Mocking Bird”)” (1891)
173. Charles Hart & Lewis James “Till We Meet Again” (1919)
174. Enrico Caruso “Over There” (1918)
175. The Victor Military Band “Poor Butterfly” (1917)
176. Red Foley “Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy” (1950)
177. Patti Page “I Went to Your Wedding” (1952)
178. The Mills Brothers “The Glow-Worm” (1952)
179. Ben Selvin “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” (1919)
180. Peerless Quartet “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier” (1915)

181. Steve Porter “On the Banks of the Wabash” (1898)
182. J.W. Myers “The Sidewalks of New York” (1895)
184. Tex Williams “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! That Cigarette” (1947)
185. Mina Hickman “Come Down Ma Evening Star” (1903)
186. Tommy Dorsey with Edythe Wrightt “The Music Goes ‘Round and ‘Round” (1935)
187. Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers “Sunday, Monday or Always” (1943)
188. Les Paul & Mary Ford “How High the Moon” (1951)
189. Rosemary Clooney “Hey There” (1954)
190. Len Spencer “A Hot Time in the Old Town” (1897)

191. American Quartet “Moonlight Bay” (1912)
192. Arthur Collins “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home” (1902)
193. Al Jolson “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody” (1918)
194. Billy Murray “Yankee Doodle Boy” (1905)
195. Guy Lombardo & Carmen Lombardo “Red Sails in the Sunset” (1935)
196. Glenn Miller & Marion Hutton “The Woodpecker Song” (1940)
197. Jimmie Rodgers “Honeycomb” (1957)
198. Billy Murray with the Haydn Quartet “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (1908)
199. Al Jolson “You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)” (1913)
200. Byron Harlan & Frank Stanley “Blue Bell” (1904)

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First posted 8/4/2018; last updated 12/1/2022.

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Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Billboard: Jukebox Hits, 1940-1957

Billboard’s Jukebox Hits:

1940-1957

Billboard magazine launched its jukebox hits chart on January 6, 1940. It only ran until July 20, 1940, but then resumed on November 6, 1943 and ran until June 17, 1957. It tracked which songs were played most in jukeboxes across the country. The chart ran until 1957. These were the biggest #1 songs on that chart. All songs which spent three weeks or more at #1 are listed here. Ties are broken by songs’ overall Dave’s Music Database points.

See other chart-based lists here and specific Billboard lists here.

    13 weeks:

  1. Glenn Miller “In the Mood” (1939)
  2. Patti Page “Tennessee Waltz” (1950)
  3. Francis Craig with Bob Lamm “Near You” (1947)
  4. The Ink Spots “The Gypsy” (1946)
  5. Ted Weems with Elmo Tanner “Heartaches” (1947)
    12 weeks:

  6. The Weavers with Gordon Jenkins’ Orchestra “Goodnight Irene” (1950)
    11 weeks:

  7. Frankie Carle & Marjorie Hughes “Oh What It Seemed to Be” (1946)
  8. Guy Lombardo “The Third Man Theme” (1950)
    10 weeks:

  9. Vaughn Monroe “Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)” (1949)
  10. The Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen’s Orchestra “Rum and Coca-Cola” (1945)
  11. Guy Mitchell “Singing the Blues” (1956)
  12. Tony Bennett with Percy Faith’s Orchestra “Because of You” (1951)
  13. Kay Starr “Wheel of Fortune” (1952)
  14. Patti Page “I Went to Your Wedding” (1952)
    9 weeks:

  15. Elvis Presley “Don’t Be Cruel” (1956) /
  16. Elvis Presley “Hound Dog” (1956)
  17. Elvis Presley “All Shook Up” (1957)
  18. Dinah Shore & Her Harper Valley Boys “Buttons and Bows” (1948)
  19. Les Paul & Mary Ford “How High the Moon” (1951)
  20. Glenn Miller “Tuxedo Junction” (1940)
  21. Perry Como “Till the End of Time” (1945)
  22. Johnnie Ray & the Four Lads “Cry” (1951)
  23. Les Paul with Mary Ford “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You)” (1953)
  24. Andrews Sisters with Vic Shoen’s Orchestra “Shoo-Shoo Baby” (1943)
    8 weeks:

  25. Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel” (1956)
  26. Bing Crosby with John Scottt Trotter’s Orchestra “Swinging on a Star” (1944)
  27. The Harmonicats “Peg O’ My Heart” (1947)
  28. Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters “Don’t Fence Me In” (1944)
  29. Johnny Mercer with the Pied Pipers “On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe” (1945)
  30. Perez “Prez” Prado “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” (1955)
  31. Perry Como with Hugo Winterhalter’s Orchestra “Wanted” (1954)
  32. Red Foley “Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy” (1950)
  33. The Crew-Cuts “Sh-Boom” (1954)
  34. Frankie Carle with Marjorie Hughes “Rumors Are Flying” (1946)
  35. Tony Bennett with Percy Faith’s Orchestra “Rags to Riches” (1953)
  36. Rosemary Clooney “Come on-a My House” (1951)
    7 weeks:

  37. Bill Haley & the Comets “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” (1954)
  38. Les Brown with Doris Day “Sentimental Journey” (1945)
  39. Tennessee Ernie Ford “Sixteen Tons” (1955)
  40. Vaughn Monroe’s Orchestra “Ballerina” (1947)
  41. The McGuire Sisters “Sincerely” (1954)
  42. Patti Page “The Doggie in the Window” (1953)
  43. Kitty Kallen with Jack Pleis’ Orchestra “Little Things Mean a Lot” (1954)
  44. Evelyn Knight & the Stardusters “A Little Bird Told Me” (1948)
  45. Teresa Brewer with Jack Pleis’ Orchestra “Till I Waltz Again with You” (1952)
  46. Les Brown with Doris Day “My Dreams Are Getting Bigger All the Time” (1945)
  47. Sammy Kaye with Billy Williams “The Old Lamplighter” (1946)
  48. Eddie Fisher with Sally Sweetland & Hugo Winterhalter’s Orchestra “I'm Walking Behind You” (1953)
  49. Jo Stafford “Make Love to Me!” (1954)
  50. Ken Griffin “You Can’t Be True, Dear” (1948)
    6 weeks:

  51. Pee Wee Hunt “Twelfth Street Rag” (1948)
  52. Mitch Miller “The Yellow Rose of Texas” (1955)
  53. Percy Faith with Felicia Sanders “Where Is Your Heart (Song from “Moulin Rouge”)” (1953)
  54. Harry James with Dick Haymes “I’ll Get by As Long As I Have You” (1941)
  55. Eddy Howard “To Each His Own” (1946)
  56. Frankie Laine & the Muleskinners “Mule Train” (1949)
  57. Frankie Masters “Scatter-Brain” (1939)
  58. Eddie Fisher with Hugo Winterhalter’s Orchestra “O Mein Papa (Oh My Papa)” (1953)
  59. Kay Kyser with Gloria Wood “Woody Woodpecker” (1948)
  60. Al Trace with Bob Vincent “You Call Everybody Darlin’” (1948)

  61. Kay Starr with Hugo Winterhalter’s Orchestra “Rock and Roll Waltz” (1955)
  62. Georgia Gibbs “Kiss of Fire” (1952)
  63. The Ames Brothers with Hugo Winterhalter’s Orchestra “You You You” (1953)
  64. Russ Morgan & the Skylarks “Cruising Down the River on a Sunday Afternoon” (1949)
  65. Bing Crosby with the Andrews Sisters & Vic Shoen’s Orchestra “There'll Be a Hot Time in the Town of Berlin When the Yanks Go Marching In” (1944)
    5 weeks:

  66. Nat “King” Cole “Mona Lisa” (1950)
  67. Vaughn Monroe “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (1945)
  68. Perry Como “Some Enchanted Evening” (1949)
  69. Art Mooney “I’m Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover” (1948)
  70. Frankie Laine with Jud Conlon’s Rhythmaires “That Lucky Old Sun” (1949)

  71. Peggy Lee with Dave Barbour’s Orchestra “Manana Is Soon Enough for Me” (1948)
  72. Glenn Miller with Marion Hutton “The Woodpecker Song” (1940)
  73. Rosemary Clooney with Buddy Cole “Hey There” (1954)
  74. THe Merry Macs “Mairzy Doats” (1944)
  75. Perry Como with Mitchell Ayres Orchestra “If (They Made Me a King)” (1951)
  76. Tab Hunter “Young Love” (1956)
  77. Bing Crosby with Jon Scott Trotter’s Orchestra “San Fernando Valley” (1944)
    4 weeks:

  78. The Chordettes “Mr. Sandman” (1954)
  79. Nat “King” Cole “Too Young” (1951)
  80. Tex Williams “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)” (1947)

  81. Vera Lynn with Ronald Shaw’s Orchestra “Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart” (1952)
  82. Gogi Grant “The Wayward Wind” (1956)
  83. Dean Martin “Memories Are Made of This” (1955)
  84. Perry Como & the Ramblers with Mitchell Ayres’ Orchestra “Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes” (1952)
  85. Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra “Sierra Sue” (1940)
  86. Joan Weber “Let Me Go, Lover!” (1954)
  87. Pat Boone “I Almost Lost My Mind” (1956)
  88. Sammy Kaye with Troy Alamo “Harbor Lights” (1950)
    3 weeks:

  89. Blue Barron & His Orchestra “Crusing Down the River on a Sunday Afternoon” (1949)
  90. The Four Aces “Love is a Many Splendored Thing” (1955)
  91. Vic Damone “You’re Breaking My Heart” (1949)
  92. Bill Hayes “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” (1955)
  93. Bing Crosby “Now Is the Hour (Māori Farewell Song)” (1948)
  94. The Andrews Sisters with Gordon Jenkins’ Orchestra “I Can Dream, Can’t I?” (1949)
  95. Frank Sinatra “Five Minutes More” (1946)
  96. Margaret Whiting with Jimmy Wakely “Slipping Around” (1949)
  97. Russ Morgan & the Skylarks “Forever and Ever” (1949)
  98. Eileen Barton “If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake” (1950)
  99. Pee Wee King & His Golden West Cowboys “Slow Poke” (1951)
  100. Joni James with Lew Douglas’ Orchestra “Why Don’t You Believe Me” (1952)

  101. Rosemary Clooney with Percy Faith’s Orchestra “Half As Much” (1952)
  102. The Mills Brothers with Hal McIntyre “The Glow-Worm” (1952)
  103. The Three Suns “Peg O’ My Heart” (1947)
  104. Freddy Martin with Stuart Wade “Managua, Nicaragua” (1947)
  105. Jim Lowe “The Green Door” (1956)
  106. Rosemary Clooney “This Ole House” (1954)
  107. Tony Bennett with Percy Faith’s Orchestra “Cold Cold Heart” (1951)
  108. The Fontane Sisters with Billy Vaughn’s Orchestra “Hearts of Stone” (1954)
  109. Georgia Gibbs “Dance with Me Henry (Wallflower)” (1955)
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First posted 9/7/2021.

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Wednesday, December 19, 2007

50 years ago: The Music Man opened on Broadway

The Music Man

Meredith Willson (music & lyrics)

The Musical

Opened on Broadway: December 19, 1957

Number of Performances: 1375

Opened at London’s West End: March 16, 1961

Number of Performances: 395

Cast Album

Charted: February 24, 1958

Peak: 112 US

Sales (in millions): 1.0 US

Genre: show tunes

Soundtrack

Charted: August 11, 1962

Peak: 2 US, 14 UK

Sales (in millions): 0.5 US

Genre: show tunes

Songs on Cast Album:

  1. Main Title/ Rock Island
  2. Iowa Stubborn
  3. Ya Got Trouble
  4. Piano Lesson
  5. If You Don’t Mind My Saying So s
  6. Goodnight, My Someone
  7. Ya Got Trouble s
  8. Seventy Six Trombones
  9. Sincere
  10. The Sadder But Wiser Girl for Me
  11. Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little
  12. Goodnight Ladies c
  13. Marian the Librarian
  14. My White Knight c
  15. Being in Love s
  16. Gary, Indiana s
  17. The Wells Fargo Wagon
  18. It’s You c
  19. Shipoopi *
  20. Lida Rose/ Will I Ever Tell You?
  21. Gary, Indiana
  22. Till There Was You
  23. Goodnight, My Someone s
  24. Seventy Six Trombones s
  25. Finale c
* Track comes right before “Till There Was You” on soundtrack.
c indicates song that appears only on cast album.
s indicates song that appears only on soundtrack.

Singles/Hit Songs:

As was common in the pre-rock era and early days of rock and roll, songs from musicals were often recorded by artists not associated with the musical and released as singles. Here are some of the most notable hit singles resulting from the show:

  • “Till There Was You” – Anita Bryant (#30, 1959), Valjean (#100, 1962)

Rating:

4.478 out of 5.00 (average of 9 ratings for cast album and soundtrack combined)

Awards (Cast Album and Soundtrack): (Click on award to learn more).

About the Show:

“The original Broadway cast of Meredith Willson’s most successful musical was headed by Robert Preston, who played the part of Harold Hill, a conman” R-C “intent on swindling the good people of River City, IA, by selling them on a fictitious boys' band.” R-S

“Willson concentrates on percussive effects and rapid-fire spiels for Preston, though the musical standout is Barbara Cook as Marian the Librarian. Highlights of this perennial hit show include Seventy-Six Trombones and Till There Was You.” R-S

“Coming along in the summer of 1962, four and a half years after the Broadway opening, the film version of The Music Man appeared in an era when Hollywood was more likely to be faithful to stage musicals, rather than dramatically altering them, as had been the practice in the past. R-S

The movie version “found Robert Preston re-creating his starring role as conman Professor Harold Hill…and some minor roles were also filled by the Broadway originals. More important, Meredith Willson’s score was rendered intact, the only change being a revision of the song My White Knight into Being in Love.” R-S

“The major casting change was the substitution of Shirley Jones, who had a box-office track record, for Barbara Cook, who did not, in the role of Marian the librarian. Cook may have been preferable, but Jones handled the part well, too.” R-S

“Musically, the big change had to do with scale; the Broadway pit orchestra and original cast were replaced by a vast Hollywood orchestra and chorus, and musical director Ray Heindorf made the most of the larger effects on songs like ‘Seventy Six Trombones’.” R-S

“Still, the music fan who already owned a copy of the original Broadway cast recording didn’t really need to plump for the original motion picture soundtrack, which didn’t keep the album from racing up the charts…as the film became one of the year’s top grossers. But it remains true; unless you are a Shirley Jones fan or want to hear future Andy Griffith Show co-star and film director Ronnie Howard sing Gary, Indiana with a lisp, stick to the Broadway version.” R-S

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First posted 5/19/2011; last updated 12/23/2021.

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Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Today in Music (1957): West Side Story debuted on Broadway

West Side Story

Leonard Bernstein (music), Stephen Sondheim (lyrics)

The Musical

Opened on Broadway: September 26, 1957

Number of Performances: 732

Opened at London’s West End: December 12, 1958

Number of Performances: 1040

Movie Release: December 23, 1961

Cast Album

Recorded: September 29, 1957

Charted: March 17, 1958

Peak: 5 US

Sales (in millions): 2.5 US, 0.6 UK, 3.1 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: show tunes

Soundtrack

Charted: October 23, 1961

Peak: 154 US, 113 UK, -- CN, -- AU

Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, 0.1 UK, 8.1 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: show tunes

Songs on Cast Album:

  1. Prologue
  2. Jet Song
  3. Something’s Coming
  4. The Dance at the Gym
  5. Maria
  6. Tonight
  7. America
  8. Cool
  9. One Hand, One Heart
  10. Tonight
  11. The Rumble
  12. I Feel Pretty
  13. Somewhere (Ballet)
  14. Gee, Officer Krupke!
  15. A Boy Like That/I Have a Love
  16. Finale

Songs on Soundtrack:

  1. Overture
  2. Prologue
  3. Jet Song
  4. Something’s Coming
  5. The Dance at the Gym
  6. Maria
  7. America
  8. Tonight
  9. Gee, Officer Krupke!
  10. I Feel Pretty
  11. One Hand, One Heart
  12. Quintet
  13. The Rumble
  14. Somewhere
  15. Cool
  16. A Boy Like That/I Have a Love
  17. Finale

Singles/Hit Songs:

These were covers of songs from this musical which became hits:
  • “Maria” – Johnny Mathis (#78, 1960), Roger Williams (#48, 1962)
  • ”Tonight” – Ferrante & Teicher (#8, 1961), Eddie Fisher (#44, 1961)
  • ”Somewhere” – P.J. Proby (#91, 1965), Len Barry (#26, 1966), Barbra Streisand (#43, 1986)

Rating:

4.675 out of 5.00 (average of 18 ratings for cast album and soundtrack combined)

Quotable:

“Takes up the American musical idiom where it was left when George Gershwin died.” – John Chapman, New York Daily News WK

Awards (Cast Album): (Click on award to learn more).

Awards (Soundtrack): (Click on award to learn more).

The Beginning

West Side Story is hailed as “one of the greatest musicals of all time.” AM-S “The appeal…lies in the way it integrates song, dance, and narrative, showing how the movie musical could still be relevant in a new decade.” TB

Choreographer and director Jerome Robbins first approached playwright Arthur Laurents with the idea of adapting Romeo and Juliet as a contemporary musical. A first draft called East Side Story focused on conflict between a Catholic family and a Jewish family living in Manhattan on the Lower East Side. It was shelved for its similarity to plays like Abie’s Irish Rose, WK but revived in 1955 when Laurents was approached to adapt the novel Serenade by James M. Cain. That project didn’t make it either, but it connected Laurents with Stephen Sondheim. Along with Bernstein and Robbins, they decided to return to the East Side Story. WK It became a “boisterous tale of a turf battle among young gangs in 1950s New York City.” TM

Bernstein and Sondheim

Laurents recruited Leonard Bernstein for the music and Stephen Sondheim for the lyrics in what would become his Broadway debut. “Work began in autumn 1955 and was completed in the summer of 1957, Bernstein having taken a six-month sabbatical in the middle to work on Candide.” TB

“The combination of young, thrusting…Sondheim and seasoned composer Leonard Bernstein was perfect. The music was almost entirely a joint venture.” TB Sondheim “doesn’t get bogged down in the details of the conflict,” TM instead “concentrating on the emotional undercurrents, and his tunes coalesce into a deeply moving portrait of kids who find romance and rivalry entertwined.” TM

Broadway

The musical faced understandably difficult challenges. Critics “said the score was too rangy for pop music” WK and with more dancing than any previous Broadway show WK it would be problematic to find a cast who could sing, dance, and act. Laurents wanted James Dean as Tony, but he died before even hearing about the role. WK

The eventual production was well received by audiences and critics. It “galvanized Broadway with its vivid reinvention as a parable of racial intolerance and generational conflict.” AZ-S “The story appealed to society’s undercurrent of rebellion from authority that surfaced in 1950s films like Rebel without a Cause” WK and “the musical also made points in its description of troubled youth and the devastating effects of poverty and racism.” WK

“The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in American musical theatre.” WK Musically, Bernstein “integrated Latin percussion and jazz into his electrifying score” AZ-C alongside “symphonic grandeur” AM-S “and a rarely heard (in Broadway) toughness.” AM-S Bernstein’s efforts “dazzlingly translating New York’s unique vitality into a musical idiom.” AZ-C

It opened on Broadway on September 26, 1957 at the Winter Garden Theatre. It “wasn’t a massive hit right away – it closed after a respectable 732 performances, and then immediately hit the road. After that, the album took off, creating demand for a return Broadway engagement and, eventually, the 1961 film.” TM It won Tonys for choreography and scenic design and became a favorite of “schools, regional theatres, and occasionally by opera companies.” WK

The Story

Set in the mid-1950s in New York City, the story explores the rivalry between two street gangs of different ethnicities. The Sharks are Puerto Rican and the Jets are working-class white. The protagonist, Tony, is a Jet and falls in love with Maria, who is the sister of Bernardo, the Sharks’ leader.

During a challenge dance (Dance at the Gym) between the Jets and the Sharks, Tony meets Maria. Bernardo breaks up their attempted kiss and sends her home, but Tony serenades her outside her bedroom (Maria) and they profess their love to each other (Tonight). WK

The next day at the bridal shop where Maria works, she asks Tony to stop a planned fight between the Jets and Sharks. Tony tries to stop the fight (The Rumble), but when Riff, the leader of the Jets, is stabbed by Bernardo, Tony kills Bernardo in a rage. Maria is devastated when she hears, but still decides to run away with Tony. “As the walls of Maria’s bedroom disappear, they find themselves in a dreamlike world of peace (Somewhere).” WK

After Maria’s friend Anita is nearly raped by the Jets, she claims Chino killed Maria in jealousy. When Tony hears, he decides he has nothing to live for. He confronts Chino, begging to die, and is shot by him just as he sees that Maria is actually alive. The Jets now move towards the Sharks, wanting to avenge the death of another friend. With Chino’s gun in her hand, Maria tells everyone that hatred is what killed Tony and the others and that now she too can kill because she hates. However, she drops the gun in grief and gradually the gang members on both side “assemble on either side of Tony’s body, showing that the feud is over.” WK

About the Cast Album

The cast album was recorded three days after West Side Story opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 26, 1957. It was recorded in New York City at CBS 30th Street Studio. Leonard Bernstein oversaw the orchestration and the cast included Carol Lawrence as Maria and Larry Kert as Tony. The album spent nearly four years on the Billboard album chart.

About the Soundtrack

A film adaptation, directed by Robbins and Robert Wise, was released on October 18, 1961. As ground-breaking as the show was on Broadway, it became another animal entirely when transferred to film. It was the second highest-grossing film of the year in the United States and won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Natalie Wood was cast as Maria and Richard Beymer as Tony. The singing was handled by Marni Nixon and Jimmy Bryant. The “lavish widescreen presentation broke fresh ground by taking the story to its most impressionable audience, the teenagers who could identify directly with Tony and Maria, and opened up Jerome Robbins’ kinetic choreography through bravura camera work.” AZ-S

While “the 1957 original Broadway cast recording still holds up today, …[it] isn’t as good as the movie soundtrack” AM-S which “was not merely a huge seller but a unique touchstone for an otherwise rock-oriented audience.” AZ-S It “spent more weeks at #1 in the charts (54) than any other album in history” AM-C and “made more money than any other album before it.” WK It also won the Grammy for Best Soundtrack or Cast Album. Like the cast album, the soundtrack spent almost four years on the Billboard album chart.

Notes:

The 1998 reissue of the cast album added nine instrumental tracks.

Resources and Related Links:

Other Related DMDB Pages:

First posted 3/7/2011; last updated 8/26/2024.

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