USA: #1 Pop Songs, 1920-1929

USA’s #1 Pop Songs: 1920-1929

These are the #1 pop songs on the United States pop charts from 1920 to 1929. Songs could have hit #1 on either of these charts: Edward Foote Gardner Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century (1900-1949) (GA) Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) (SM) Joel Whitburn Pop Memories (1890-1954) (PM) The date indicates the song’s first appearance at #1, regardless of which chart it was. The act associated with the song is then listed. The Gardner book does not indicate specific artists, so the artists identified here are those which also hit #1 on another chart, are the highest-ranked version according to Dave’s Music Database, or are spotlighted as the top version by Gardner. Then come the letter codes indicating which charts the song topped. The number following that is the number of weeks at #1. The Gardner charts are monthly and not weekly so the #of weeks has been adjusted by multiplying the song’s number of months at #1 by 4. Meanwhile the Sharon Mawer charts are bi-weekly (dated the first and fifteenth of the month) so to reflect a more accurate depiction of how many weeks the song spent at #1, the original # was doubled. Click here to access a full list of #1 songs from 1890 to present. See other chart-based lists here. 1920: 1/15: Elizabeth Spencer & Charles Hart “Let the Rest of the World Go By” (GA: 12, SM: 8) 1/17: Al Jolson “I’ve Got My Captain Working for Me Now” (PM: 2) 1/31: Ben Selvin “Dardanella” (PM: 13, SM: 6, GA: 4) 5/1: Ted Lewis “When My Baby Smiles at Me” (PM: 7, SM: 2) 5/1: Edith Day “Alice Blue Gown” (PM: 1) 5/8: Al Jolson “Swanee” (PM: 9, SM: 4, GA: 4) 6/15: Henry Burr “Rose of Washington Square” (GA: 4, SM: 4) 7/15: Art Hickman “Hold Me” (GA: 8, PM: 3) 9/15: John Steel “The Love Nest” (GA: 8, PM: 4, SM: 4) 9/25: Marion Harris “St. Louis Blues” (PM: 3) 10/15: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Whispering” (PM: 11, SM: 10, GA: 8) 10/16: Art Hickman “The Love Nest” (PM: 2) 12/11: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “The Japanese Sandman” (PM: 2) 1921: 1/1: Al Jolson “Avalon” (GA: 4, SM: 2) 1/29: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Wang Wang Blues” (PM: 6) 2/1: Gene Rodemich “Margie” (GA: 8, SM: 8) 2/28: Eddie Cantor “Margie” (GA: 8, PM: 5) 2/28: Al Jolson “Yoo-Hoo” (GA: 4) 4/1: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Bright Eyes” (SM: 6, GA: 4) 4/16: Al Jolson “O-H-I-O (O-My! O!)” (PM: 4) 5/14: Marion Harris “Look for the Silver Lining” (PM: 3) 5/15: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “My Mammy” (GA: 8, SM: 6, PM: 5) 7/1: Van & Schenck “Ain’t We Got Fun?” (SM: 6, GA: 4, PM: 2) 7/8: Nora Bayes “Make Believe” (PM: 3) 7/30: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Cherie” (PM: 6) 8/15: Ted Lewis “All by Myself” (SM: 10, GA: 8, PM: 4) 8/31: Billy Jones as Victor Roberts “Peggy O’Neil” (GA: 1) 9/24: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Song of India” (PM: 5) 11/1: Ted Lewis “Ma, He’s Making Eyes at Me” (GA: 4, SM: 4) 11/26: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Say It with Music” (GA: 8, SM: 6, PM: 5) 12/31: Isham Jones “Wabash Blues” (PM: 6, SM: 2) 1922: 2/1: Al Jolson “April Showers” (PM: 11, SM: 2) 2/15: Ray Miller “The Sheik of Araby” (SM: 8, GA: 4) 3/25: Fanny Brice “My Man” (PM: 1) 4/15: Ray Miller “On the Gin-Gin-Ginny Shore” (GA: 4, SM: 2) 5/1: Al Jolson “Angel Child” (PM: 5, GA: 4, SM: 4) 6/1: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Three O’Clock in the Morning” (SM: 14, GA: 12, PM: 8) 6/10: Isham Jones “On the Alamo” (PM: 4) 7/1: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Stumbling” (SM: 8, GA: 8, PM: 6) 7/8: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Do It Again” (PM: 2) 9/2: Ernest Hare & Billy Jones “Mr. Gallagher & Mr. Shean” (GA: 8, PM: 2) 9/16: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Hot Lips” (PM: 6) 10/28: Gallagher & Shean “Mr. Gallagher & Mr. Shean” (GA: 8, PM: 6, SM: 4) 12/9: Henry Burr “My Buddy” (SM: 2, PM: 1) 1923: 1/1: Van & Schenck “Carolina in the Morning” (GA: 8, SM: 8, PM: 3) 1/6: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise” (PM: 1) 1/13: Al Jolson “Toot Toot Tootsie (Goo’bye)” (PM: 4) 3/1: Nora Bayes “Lovin’ Sam, the Sheik of Alabam’” (SM: 2) 3/15: Paul Specht “When Hearts Are Young” (GA: 4, SM: 2) 4/1: Marion Harris “Aggravatin’ Papa” (GA: 4, SM: 4) 4/7: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” (PM: 7) 5/1: Sophie Tucker “You’ve Got to See Mama Ev’ry Night or You Can’t See Mama at All” (GA: 4, SM: 2) 5/15: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Bambalina” (SM: 2, PM: 1) 5/26: Carl Fenton “Love Sends a Little Gift of Roses” (PM: 3) 6/1: Isham Jones “Who’s Sorry Now” (GA: 4, SM: 4) 6/23: Art Landry “Dreamy Melody” (PM: 3) 7/1: Billy Jones “Yes! We Have No Bananas” (SM: 10, GA: 8, PM: 5) 7/14: Bessie Smith “Down Hearted Blues” (PM: 4) 7/31: Ben Selvin “Yes! We Have No Bananas” (GA: 8, PM: 2) 8/11: Isham Jones “Swingin’ Down the Lane” (PM: 6) 9/15: Henry Burr “Just a Girl That Men Forget” (GA: 4, SM: 2) 10/1: Billy Murray & Ed Smalle “That Old Gang of Mine” (GA: 8, SM: 8, PM: 6) 12/1: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “I Love You” (SM: 10, GA: 8) 12/22: Eddie Cantor “No, No, Nora” (PM: 2) 1924: 1/5: Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians “Sleep” (PM: 5) 1/26: Arthur Gibbs “Charleston” (PM: 1) 2/15: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Linger Awhile” (GA: 8, SM: 6, PM: 4) 2/16: Wendell Hall “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No Mo’” (GA: 8, PM: 6, SM: 4) 3/29: Ted Weems “Somebody Stole My Gal” (PM: 5) 4/1: Al Jolson “California, Here I Come!” (PM: 6, SM: 6, GA: 4) 6/15: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “What’ll I Do?” (SM: 16, GA: 12, PM: 5) 7/19: Isham Jones “Spain” (PM: 2) 9/6: Isham Jones “It Had to Be You” (PM: 5) 10/11: Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians “Memory Lane” (PM: 5) 10/15: International Novelty Orchestra with Billy Murray “Charley, My Boy” (GA: 4, SM: 4) 11/15: Al Jolson “I Wonder What’s Become of Sally?” (GA: 12, SM: 8, PM: 3) 12/6: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Somebody Loves Me” (PM: 5) 1925: 1/10: Al Jolson “All Alone” (SM: 12, GA: 8, PM: 5) 2/7: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “All Alone” (PM: 3) 2/28: Marion Harris “Tea for Two” (PM: 3) 3/21: Johm McCormack “All Alone” (PM: 2) 4/4: Isham Jones with Ray Miller’s Orchestra “I’ll See You in My Dreams” (PM: 7, GA: 4, SM: 4) 5/15: Blossom Seeley “Alabamy Bound” (GA: 4, SM: 2) 5/23: Ted Lewis “O! Katharina” (PM: 1) 5/30: Vernon Dalhart “The Prisoner’s Song” (PM: 12, GA: 8, SM: 8) 6/15: Gene Austin “Yearning Just for You” (GA: 4, SM: 4) 7/4: Ben Bernie “Sweet Georgia Brown” (PM: 5) 7/15: Eddie Cantor “If You Knew Susie” (GA: 8, PM: 5, SM: 4) 8/15: Fred Waring “Collegiate” (GA: 4, SM: 4) 9/12: Gene Austin with Billy Carpenter “Yes Sir! That’s My Baby” (SM: 8, PM: 7, GA: 4) 10/31: Ben Selvin “Oh, How I Miss You Tonight” (PM: 3) 11/15: Isham Jones “Remember” (SM: 6, GA: 4, PM: 1) 11/21: Ben Selvin “Manhattan” (PM: 4) 11/30: John McCormack “Moonlight and Roses Bring Mem’ries of You” (GA: 1) 1926: 2/13: George Olsen “Who?” (PM: 6) 3/15: Cliff Edwards “Dinah” (SM: 2) 3/27: Ben Bernie “Sleepy Time Gal” (PM: 4) 4/17: Al Jolson “I’m Sitting on Top of the World” (PM: 2) 4/30: George Olsen with Fran Frey, Bob Rice, & Edward Joyce “Always” (GA: 12, SM: 10, PM: 3) 4/30: Vincent Lopez “Always” (GA: 12, PM: 2) 5/22: Gene Austin “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue” (PM: 1) 6/15: Gene Austin with Fran Frey “Horses” (SM: 4) 6/19: “Whispering” Jack Smith “Gimme a Lil’ Kiss, Will Ya, Huh?” (PM: 2) 7/3: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra with Franklyn Baur “Valencia (A Song of Spain)” (PM: 11, GA: 8, SM: 4) 7/31: Al Jolson “I’d Climb the Highest Mountain if I Knew I’d Find You” (GA: 4) 9/4: Gene Austin “Bye Bye, Blackbird” (GA: 4, SM: 4, PM: 3) 10/2: Al Jolson “When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob-Bob-Bobbin’ Along” (PM: 2) 10/15: Jan Garber with Benny Davis “Baby Face” (PM: 6, SM: 6, GA: 4) 11/27: Johnny Marvin “Breezin’ Along with the Breeze” (PM: 2) 12/1: Johnny Hamp “Black Bottom” (SM: 2) 12/11: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “The Birth of the Blues” (PM: 4) 12/15: Henry Burr “Because I Love You” (GA: 4, SM: 2) 1927: 1/1: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra with Jack Fulton “In a Little Spanish Town” (SM: 10, GA: 8, PM: 8) 3/5: Sophie Tucker with Ted Lewis “Some of These Days” (PM: 5) 3/15: Ben Selvin “Blue Skies” (GA: 8, SM: 6, PM: 2) 4/9: Gene Austin “Tonight You Belong to Me” (PM: 3) 5/1: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “It All Depends on You” (GA: 4, SM: 4) 5/14: Ben Bernie “Ain’t She Sweet?” (PM: 4) 6/1: Nick Lucas “I’m Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover” (GA: 4, SM: 4) 6/11: George Olsen “At Sundown (When Love Is Calling Me Home)” (PM: 3) 7/1: Roger Wolfe Kahn “Russian Lullaby” (GA: 4, SM: 4, PM: 3) 7/2: Moran & Mack “Two Black Crows – Parts 1 & 2 (The Early Bird Catches the Worm)” (PM: 5) 8/1: “Whispering” Jack Smith “Me and My Shadow” (GA: 4, PM: 4, SM: 4) 8/6: Gene Austin “Forgive Me” (PM: 1) 9/1: Guy Lombardo “Charmaine!” (SM: 10, GA: 8, PM: 7) 11/15: Ben Selvin “Miss Annabelle Lee (Who’s Wonderful, Who’s Marvelous)” (GA: 4, SM: 2) 11/19: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “My Blue Heaven” (PM: 1) 11/26: Red Nichols “Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider” (PM: 3) 12/1: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Just a Memory” (GA: 4, SM: 4) 12/17: Gene Austin “My Blue Heaven” (PM: 13, GA: 8, SM: 8) 1928: 3/1: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Among My Souvenirs” (SM: 6, GA: 4, PM: 4) 4/14: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Together” (GA: 4, PM: 2, SM: 2) 4/28: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Ol’ Man River” (PM: 1) 5/1: Gene Austin “Ramona” (GA: 12, SM: 12, PM: 8) 5/5: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Ramona” (GA: 12, PM: 3) 7/21: Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians “Laugh, Clown, Laugh!” (PM: 1) 7/28: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “My Angel (Angela Mia)” (GA: 8, PM: 6) 8/1: Vincent Lopez “My Angel (Angela Mia)” (GA: 8, SM: 8) 9/8: Gene Austin “Jeannine (I Dream of Lilac Time)” (GA: 8, SM: 6, PM: 5) 10/13: Cliff Edwards as Ukelele Ike “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” (PM: 1) 10/20: Al Jolson “Sonny Boy” (PM: 12, GA: 8, SM: 8) 12/1: Al Jolson “There’s a Rainbow Round My Shoulder” (PM: 2) 1929: 1/15: Ben Selvin with Jack Palmer “You’re the Cream in My Coffee” (SM: 2) 1/26: Guy Lombardo with Carmen Lombardo “Sweethearts on Parade” (GA: 4, SM: 4, PM: 3) 2/16: Gene Austin “Carolina Moon” (PM: 7, GA: 4, SM: 4) 3/1: Ruth Etting “I’ll Get by As Long As I Have You” (SM: 2) 3/23: George Olsen with Ethel Sutta “A Precious Little Thing Called Love” (PM: 2, SM: 4) 4/15: Rudy Vallee “Weary River” (GA: 4, SM: 2) 4/20: Rudy Vallee “Honey” (PM: 8, SM: 2) 5/31: Leo Reisman “The Wedding of the Painted Doll” (GA: 8, PM: 4, SM: 4) 7/1: Bob Haring with the Copley Plaza Orchestra “Pagan Love Song” (GA: 8, SM: 8, PM: 4) 8/10: Cliff Edwards as Ukelele Ike “Singin’ in the Rain” (PM: 3) 8/31: Al Jolson “Little Pal” (PM: 5) 9/1: Ethel Waters “Am I Blue?” (GA: 8, SM: 6, PM: 2) 10/15: Nick Lucas “Tip Toe Through the Tulips” (SM: 12, PM: 10, GA: 8) 12/28: Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra “Great Day” (PM: 2) Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “USA: #1 Pop Songs, 1890-Present” Dave’s Music Database: “United States: Biggest #1 Songs” Dave’s Music Database: “Top 100 Songs for Each Decade” Edward Foote Gardner (2000). Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century, 1900-1949. Paragon House: St. Paul, MN. Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, WI; Record Research, Inc. Pages 642-657. First posted 1/28/2023.

Top 100 Songs from 1920-1929

Top 100 Songs of the Decade: 1920-1929

These are the top 100 songs from the 1920s according to Dave’s Music Database. Rankings are figured by combining sales figures, chart data, radio airplay, video airplay, streaming figures, awards, and appearances on best-of lists. Check out other “songs of the decade” lists here. 1. Bessie Smith with Louis Armstrong “St. Louis Blues” (1925) 2. Al Jolson “Swanee” (1920) 3. Gene Austin “My Blue Heaven” (1927) 4. Thomas “Fats” Waller “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (1929) 5. Paul Whiteman “Whispering” (1920) 6. Al Jolson "April Showers” (1922) 7. Marion Harris “Tea for Two” (1925) 8. Vernon Dalhart “The Prisoner’s Song” (1925) 9. Ben Selvin “Dardanella” (1920) 10. Isham Jones “It Had to Be You” (1924) 11. Paul Whiteman with Bing Crosby “Ol’ Man River” (1928) 12. Cliff Edwards “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” (1928) 13. George Olsen with Fran Frey, Bob Rice & Edward Joyce “Always” (1926) 14. Al Jolson “Sonny Boy” (1928) 15. Ben Selvin “Blue Skies” (1927) 16. Van & Schenck “Ain’t We Got Fun?” (1921) 17. Gertrude Lawrence “Someone to Watch Over Me” (1927) 18. Paul Whiteman” Three O’Clock in the Morning” (1922) 19. Ben Bernie “Sweet Georgia Brown” (1925) 20. Nick Lucas “Tip-Toe Thru the Tulips with Me” (1929) 21. Paul Whiteman with George Gershwin “Rhapsody in Blue” (1924) 22. Van & Schenck “Carolina in the Morning” (1923) 23. Gene Austin “My Melancholy Baby” (1928) 24. Al Jolson with Isham Jones “California, Here I Come” (1924) 25. Bessie Smith “Down Hearted Blues” (1923) 26. Gene Austin “Bye Bye, Blackbird” (1926) 27. Gene Austin with Billy Carpenter “Yes Sir! That’s My Baby” (1925) 28. Marion Harris “The Man I Love” (1928) 29. Paul Whiteman “My Mammy” (1921) 30. Cliff Edwards “Singin’ in the Rain” (1929) 31. Billy Jones “Yes! We Have No Bananas” (1923) 32. Eddie Cantor “If You Knew Susie Like I Know Susie” (1925) 33. Wendall Hall “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No Mo’” (1924) 34. Paul Whiteman with Franklyn Baur “Valencia (A Song of Spain)” (1926) 35. Ben Selvin “Manhattan” (1925) 36. Paul Whiteman “What’ll I Do?” (1924) 37. Eddie Cantor “Makin’ Whoopee” (1929) 38. Eddie Cantor “Margie” (1921) 39. Paul Whiteman “The Japanese Sandman” (1920) 40. Isham Jones with Ray Miller & Frank Bessinger “I’ll See You in My Dreams” (1925) 41. Ben Bernie with Scrappy Lambert & Billy Hillpot “Ain’t She Sweet?” (1927) 42. Paul Whiteman “Somebody Loves Me” (1924) 43. Arthur Gibbs & His Gang “Charleston” (1924) 44. Fanny Brice “My Man (Mon Homme)” (1922) 45. Gene Austin with Nat Shilkret & Viola Klaiss “Ramona” (1928) 46. Al Jolson “All Alone” (1925) 47. Paul Whiteman with Jack Fulton, Charles Gaylord, & Austin Young “The Birth of the Blues” (1926) 48. Al Jolson “Toot, Toot, Tootsie! (Goo’bye)” (1922) 49. Marion Harris “Look for the Silver Lining” (1921) 50. Whisperin’ Jack Smith “Me and My Shadow” (1927) 51. George Olsen “Who?” (1926) 52. Jan Garber with Benny Davis “Baby Face” (1926) 53. Ruth Etting “Love Me or Leave Me” (1929) 54. Henry Burr “My Buddy” (1922) 55. Isham Jones “Wabash Blues” (1921) 56. Ted Lewis & His Band “When My Baby Smiles at Me” (1920) 57. Ethel Waters “Am I Blue?” (1929) 58. Jimmie Rodgers “Blue Yodel #1 (T for Texas)” (1928) 59. Ray Miller & His Orchestra “The Sheik of Araby” (1922) 60. Ted Lewis “All by Myself” (1921) 61. Al Jolson “I’m Sitting on Top of the World” (1926) 62. Paul Whiteman “Wang Wang Blues” (1920) 63. Ted Weems “Somebody Stole My Gal” (1924) 64. Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Hounds “Crazy Blues” (1920) 65. Ben Selvin “Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town)” (1922) 66. Ed Gallagher & Al Shean “Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean – ‘Positively, Mr. Gallagher?’” (1922) 67. Guy Lombardo with Weston Vaughan “Charmaine!” (1927) 68. Louis Armstrong “West End Blues” (1928) 69. Billy Murray with Ed Smalle “That Old Gang of Mine” (1923) 70. Fanny Brice “Second Hand Rose” (1922) 71. Charles Harrison “I’ll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time” (1920) 72. Paul Whiteman “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” (1923) 73. Paul Whiteman “Stumbling” (1922) 74. Rudy Vallee “Honey” (1929) 75. Paul Whiteman “Say It with Music” (1921) 76. Gene Austin “Carolina Moon” (1929) 77. Fred Waring with Tom Waring “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life” (1928) 78. Gene Austin with Nat Shilkret’s Orchestra “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue” (1926) 79. Isham Jones “Swingin’ Down the Lane” (1923) 80. Marion Harris “I’m Just Wild about Harry” (1922) 81. Paul Whiteman with Jack Fulton, Charles Gaylord, & Austin Young “Among My Souvenirs” (1928) 82. Al Jolson “When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along” (1926) 83. Ben Bernie with Arthur Fields “Sleepy Time Gal” (1926) 84. John Steel “The Love Nest” (1920) 85. The Carter Family “Wildwood Flower” (1928) 86. Louise Homer “America the Beautiful” (1925) 87. Maurice Chevalier “Louise” (1929) 88. Benny Krueger “I Cried for You” (1923) 89. Paul Whiteman with the Rhythm Boys “Side by Side” (1927) 90. Paul Whiteman “Linger Awhile” (1924) 91. Paul Whiteman “Hot Lips (He's Got Hot Lips When He Plays Jazz)” (1922) 92. Helen Kane with Leonard Joy’s Orchestra “I Wanna Be Loved by You” (1928) 93. Vincent Lopez “I Want to Be Happy” (1924) 94. Al Jolson “Avalon” (1920) 95. Peerless Quartet “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans” (1922) 96. Ben Pollack with Franklyn Baur “Sweet Sue, Just You” (1928) 97. Paul Whiteman with Jack Fulton “Lover, Come Back to Me” (1929) 98. Paul Whiteman “Oh, Lady Be Good” (1925) 99. Aileen Stanley “Everybody Loves My Baby” (1925) 100. Leo Reisman with Ran Weeks “With a Song in My Heart” (1929) Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “‘Songs of the Decade’ lists” Dave’s Music Database: “‘Songs of the Year’ lists” First posted 4/4/2012; last updated 10/22/2022.

100 years ago: Paul Whiteman “Say It with Music” hit #1

Say It with Music Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra

Writer(s): Irving Berlin (see lyrics here) First Charted: November 21, 1921 Peak: 15 US, 12 GA, 13 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Irving Berlin’s “Say It with Music” originated in the 1921 Music Box Revue. The “exquisitely beautiful theater” TY2 opened that year on Broadway and both it and the revues that ran from 1921 to 1925 were products of Irving Berlin. TY2 It was performed originally as a duet by Wilda Bennett and Joe Santley and got a lukewarm reception. Part of the reason may have been the simple staging because Berlin wanted the focus to be on the song itself, “but the audience, apparently, wanted spectacle.” TY2 However, New York Times critic Alexander Woollcott said of the production that Berlin “has written only one real song. It is called ‘Say It with Music,’ and by February you will have heard it so often that you will gladly shoot…any one who so much as hums it in your hearing.’” TY2 Indeed, the song about what music meant to Berlin did eventually connect with his audience, showing how much “music is a language lovers understand.” SM It even became the theme song for thre rest of the Music Box revues. SM It also became the theme song for a BBC radio program called The Music Goes Round, which ran for 36 years until Desmond Carrington retired at the age of 90. SF The biggest chart success for the song was the instrumental version by Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra. Other chart versions were by Ben Selvin (#6, 1921), John Steel (#11, 1922), and the Columbians (#12, 1922). PM Ethel Merman performed the song for the 1938 movie Alexander’s Ragtime Band. It has also been performed by Pat Boone, Dick Haymes & Carmen Cavallaro, and Jack Payne. It was the signature song for Payne and it was his version played on the final broadcast of The Music Goes Round. SF Resources: SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) SF Songfacts TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 120. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 575. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/28/2023.

100 years ago: Ted Lewis “All by Myself” hit #1

All by Myself Ted Lewis

Writer(s): Irving Berlin (see lyrics here) First Charted: August 15, 1921 Peak: 14 US, 12 GA, 15 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: This Irving Berlin tune “is a meditation on solitude and the misery of growing old alone.” TY2 It may have been autobiographical as Berlin lost his bride shortly after their honeymoon and never remarried. TY2 It was introduced in vaudeville by Charles King DJ and in The Music Box Revue of 1922, which was part of a series of musical theater revuews by Irving Berlin from 1921 to 1925. It was first recorded by Frank Crumit (#5, 1921), SM a “popular entertainer who appeared in several Broadway musicals of the decade and later hosted a popular radio show.” TY2 Ted Lewis’ jazz band recorded the chart-topping version. SM “The famous bandleader…was famous for his half-spoken, half-singing vocals” TY2 but this recording of “All by Myself” was all instrumental. SM In all, six versions of the song charted in 1921 – Aileen Stanley (#5), Benny Krueger (#6), Vaughn Deleath (#13), and Ben Selvin (#14). PM Krueger was the former saxophone player with the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. TY2 Deleath was “one of the most famous of the early radio performers” TY2 and “supposedly the first woman to sing on radio.” TY2 Others who recorded the song include Pat Boone, Connee Boswell, Nat “King” Cole, Bing Crosby (for the movie Blue Skies), DJ Bob Crosby, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald, Connie Francis, Marion Harris, Brenda Lee, Nancy Sinatra, and Kay Starr. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Ted Lewis DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 7. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Pages 115-6. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 469. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/28/2023.

Today in Music (1920): Paul Whiteman hit #1 with “The Japanese Sandman”

The Japanese Sandman Paul Whiteman

Writer(s): Richard A. Whiting (music), Ray Egan (words) (see lyrics here) First Charted: November 13, 1920 Peak: 12 PM, 2 GA (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 1.0 sheet music, 3.0 total Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.29 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “During the ’20s, transportation was still primitive enough that to most people the Orient was excitingly exotic and distant. Tin Pan Alley adapted authentic Far Eastern music to appeal to Americans, who accepted it as genuine.” TY2 “The song is about a sandman from Japan who exchanges yesterdays for tomorrows. By doing so…“he’ll bring you tomorrow, just to start a life anew.” WK “The first verse of the song asks us to stretch our imaginations ‘for the moment and come with me…over the western sea.’ There we will find a Japanese lady singing a lullyaby to her baby. The chorus continues by telling us the ‘Japanese Sandman’ is ‘sneaking on with the dew’ and ‘taking ‘every sorrow of the day that is through.’ This sandman is ‘just an old second hand man trading new days for old.’” TY2 Paul Whiteman’s instrumental recording of the song was the first to chart and the most successful, reaching #1 in 1920. “The Japanese Sandman” was the flip side of “Whispering,” Whiteman’s first chart entry. The songs “established Paul Whiteman and his orchestra as major show business personalities.” TY2 Whiteman was “the most popular bandleader of the pre-swing era” PM charting more than 200 songs from 1920 to 1954. Both songs went to #1 – a feat Whiteman would accomplish thirty more times. PM There were other charted versions by Nora Bayes (#7, 1921), Ben Selvin (#15, 1921), and Benny Goodman (#10, 1935). PM Although Whiteman’s version charted before Bayes, she first popularized the song on vaudeville. TY2 The song gained attention again in 1967 when it was featured in the movie musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, starring Julie Andrews. It has also been featured in Destination Tokyo (1940), Belles on Their Toes (1952), They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969), Bringing Out the Dead (1999), and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. WK Resources: DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 108. TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Pages 114-5. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 447, 533. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 5/13/2025.

100 years ago: Ben Selvin hit #1 with “Dardanella” for first of 13 weeks

Dardanella Ben Selvin

Writer(s): Johnny S. Black and Felix Bernard (music), Fred Fisher (lyrics) (see lyrics here) First Charted: January 24, 1920 Peak: 113 US, 11 GA, 13 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 8.5 (includes 2.0 in sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Ben Selvin (1898-1980) launched himself as a professional musician at age 15 playing fiddle in New York City nightclubs. SB Over his career, his 2000+ recordings rank him above any other bandleader. PM The Guinness Book of World Records estimates his output as high as 20,000 song titles, giving him the distinction of having recorded more musical sides on 78-rpm discs than any other person. WK Part of his prolific output was due to him recording for dozens of different labels at a time when the industry was at high growth. WK His bands featured such famous sidemen as Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman AMG and vocalists like Ruth Etting, Ethel Waters, and Kate Smith. AMG In addition to working as a musician and bandleader, Selvin was an innovator and record producer. WK He had his first chart hit, the #1 “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles,” in 1919 when he was still just a teenager. His biggest hit, an instrumental version of “Dardanella,” came the following year. Its continuous bass line helps it stand out. DJ-44 As the first song to sell over 5 million copies PM it became the biggest hit of 1920, CPM one of the ten best sellers of the first half of the 20th century, PM and the biggest-selling song in the first quarter-century of recorded music. SB Prince’s Orchestra, Harry Raderman’s Jazz Orchestra, and the duet of Henry Burr and Albert Campbell all charted with the song in 1920 as well. PM It was revived in 1949’s Oh, You Beautiful Doll, a biopic about the song’s lyricist, Fred Fisher. DJ-44 Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Ben Selvin AMG All Music Guide DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 44. SB Songbook1.wordpress.com PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 379, 490, and 631. CPM Joel Whitburn (1999). A Century of Pop Music. Record Research, Inc.: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 35. WK Wikipedia.org First posted 1/24/2013; last updated 1/28/2023.