Showing posts with label I'll Never Smile Again. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I'll Never Smile Again. Show all posts

Friday, November 17, 2023

Tommy Dorsey: Top 100 Songs

Tommy Dorsey

Top 100 Songs

Bandleader Thomas Francis Dorsey, Jr. was born on 11/19/1905 in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. He died on 11/26/1956. Known as the “Sentimental Gentleman of Swing,” he is considered among the greatest trombonists in jazz history.

He and his older brother Jimmy worked in bands led by Jean Goldkette, Vincent Lopez, Red Nichols, Nat Shilkret, Rudy Vallee, and Paul Whiteman. They also worked with the California Ramblers (25-27), Charleston Chasers, and formed their own Dorsey Brothers Orchestra (34-35). Tommy formed his own band in 1935 out of the remains of Joe Haymes’ band. Sy Oliver worked as an arranger for the band and Frank Sinatra (40-42) recorded with Dorsey as a vocalist.

“All the Things You Are” and “I’ll Never Smile Again” are featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era, 1890-1953.

Links:

Awards:

Top 100 Songs

Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards.

BS = Boswell Sisters, DB = Dorsey Brothers, JL = Jack Leonard, TS = The Sentimentalists, FS = Frank Sinatra, EW = Edythe Wright. According to Joel Whitburn’s Pop Memories 1890-1954, Tommy Dorsey hit the top of the U.S. charts 19 times (#1 songs noted in list).

DMDB Top 1%:

1. All the Things You Are (w/ JL, 1939) #1
2. I’ll Never Smile Again (w/ Frank Sinatra & the Pied Pipers, 1942) #1
3. There Are Such Things (w/ Frank Sinatra & the Pied Pipers, 1942) #1
4. Once in a While (1937) #1
5. Lullaby of Broadway (DB w/ Bob Crosby, 1935) #1
6. Alone (w/ Cliff Weston, 1936) #1
7. Music, Maestro, Please! (w/ EW, 1938) #1

DMDB Top 5%:

8. Marie (w/ JL, 1937) #1
9. The Music Goes ‘Round and ‘Round (w/ EW, 1935) #1
10. I’m Gettin’ Sentimental Over You (1936)

11. Indian Summer (w/ JL, 1939) #1
12. In the Blue of the Evening (w/ FS, 1943) #1
13. The Dipsy Doodle (w/ EW, 1937) #1
14. Alexander’s Ragtime Band (BS w/ DB, 1935)
15. Stardust (w/ FS, 1941)
16. Stardust (w/ EW, 1936)
17. Oh, Look at Me Now (w/ FS, 1941)
18. In the Still of the Night (w/ JL, 1937)
19. Chasing Shadows (DB w/ Bob Eberly, 1935) #1
20. Opus No. 1 (1945)

21. I’ll Be Seeing You (w/ FS, 1940)
22. Our Love (w/ JL, 1939) #1
23. How About You? (w/ FS, 1942)
24. The Lady Is a Tramp (w/ JL, 1937)
25. I Should Care (w/ Bonnie Lou Williams & TS, 1945)
26. This Love of Mine (w/ FS, 1941)
27. Now It Can Be Told (w/ JL, 1938)
28. Satan Takes a Holiday (1937) #1
29. On the Sunny Side of the Street (w/ TS, 1945)
30. You (w/ EW, 1936) #1

DMDB Top 10%:

31. Everything Happens to Me (w/ FS, 1941)
32. Oh, You Crazy Moon (w/ JL, 1939)
33. Imagination (w/ FS, 1940)
34. Yes Indeed! (w/ Jo Stafford & Sy Oliver, 1941)
35. Polka Dots and Moonbeams (w/ FS, 1940)
36. Boogie Woogie (1938)
37. They Can’t Take That Away from Me (w/ JL, 1937)
38. On Treasure Island (w/ EW, 1935) #1
39. It’s Always You (w/ FS, 1943)
40. I Concentrate on You (w/ Anita Boyer, 1940)

41. The Lamp Is Low (w/ JL, 1939)
42. Fools Rush in Where Angels Fear to Tread (w/ FS, 1940)
43. Have You Got Any Castles, Baby? (w/ JL, 1937)
44. You’re the Top (DB w/ Ray McKinley, 1934)
45. Stop Beatin’ Around the Mulberry Bush (w/ EW, 1938)
46. It Started All Over Again (w/ FS, 1943)
47. I Hadn’t Anyone Till You (w/ JL, 1938)
48. Will You Still Be Mine? (w/ Connie Haines, 1944)
49. You Are My Lucky Star (DB w/ Bob Eberly, 1935)
50. It’s the Girl (BS w/ DB, 1931)

51. A-Tisket, A-Tasket (w/ EW, 1938)
52. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me) (w/ FS, 1940)
53. Darn That Dream (w/ Anita Boyer, 1940)
54. Just As Though You Were Here (w/ FS, 1942)
55. Take Me (w/ FS, 1942)
56. Until (w/ Harry Prime, 1948)
57. What Is This Thing Called Love? (w/ Connie Haines, 1942)
58. Honeysuckle Rose (Bunny Berigan & His Orchestra w/ Fats Waller, Tommy Dorsey, and Dick McDonough, 1937)
59. You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby (w/ EW, 1938)
60. On the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe (w/ TS, 1945)

61. Did I Remember? (w/ EW, 1936)
62. You Couldn’t Be Cuter (1938)
63. Honeysuckle Rose (DB w/ Don Mattison, Skeets Herfurt, & Rock Hillman, 1935)
64. My Cabin of Dreams (w/ EW, 1937)
65. San Francisco (w/ EW, 1936)
66. Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love (DB w/ Bing Crosby, 1929)
67. You Are My Lucky Star (w/ Eleanor Powell, 1935)
68. How Are Things in Glocca Mora? (w/ Stuart Foster, 1947)
69. Manhattan Serenade (w/ Jo Stafford, 1942)
70. Let’s Get Away from It All (w/ the Pied Pipers, 1941)

71. Do I Worry? (w/ FS, 1941)
72. Says My Heart (w EW, 1938)
73. You and I (w/ FS, 1941)
74. Sweet Sue, Just You (w/ JL, 1939)

DMDB Top 20%:

75. The Big Apple (w/ EW, 1937) #1
76. I Dream of You (w/ Freddy Stewart, 1944)
77. Dolores (w/ FS, 1941) #1
78. I’ll Be Seeing You (w/ FS, 1961)
79. When I Take My Sugar to Tea (BS w/ DB, 1931)
80. Again (1949)

81. Are You Having Any Fun? (w/ EW, 1939)
82. Be Careful, It’s My Heart (w/ FS, 1942)
83. Say It Over and Over Again (w/ FS, 1940)
84. Our Love Affair (w/ FS, 1940)
85. Only Forever (w/ Alan Starr, 1940)
86. You Leave Me Breathless, 1938)
87. All This and Heaven Too (w/ FS, 1940)
88. Who? (w/ JL, 1937)
89. I Can Dream, Can’t I? (w/ JL, 1938)
90. You’re Lonely and I’m Lonely (1940)

91. I’m Gettin’ Sentimental Over You (DB w/ Bob Crosby, 1934)
92. Lazy Bones (Mildred Bailey w/ DB, 1933)
93. More and More (w/ Bonnie Lou Williams, 1945)
94. Trade Winds (w/ FS, 1940)
95. Aren’t You Glad You’re You? (w/ Stuart Foster, 1946)
96. I’ll Never Say “Never Again” Again (DB w/ Don Mattison, Skeets Herfurt, and Rock Hillman, 1935)
97. Song of India (1937)
98. I’ve Got a Feelin’ You’re Foollin’ (DB w/ Bob Eberly, 1935)
99. Violets for Your Furs (w/ FS, 1941)
100. Fine and Dandy (DB w/ Scrappy Lambert, 1930)

Resources and Related Links:

First posted 5/26/2019; last updated 11/17/2023.

at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Monday, September 6, 2021

Billboard: Best Sellers, 1940-1958

Billboard’s Best Sellers:

1940-1958

Billboard magazine started its best seller chart in 1940. It tracked the songs which sold the most according to surveys of stores which sold music. The chart ran until 1958 when it was merged, along with charts of the biggest DJ hits and jukebox hits, into the Billboard Hot 100.

These, however, were the biggest #1 songs on the Billboard Best Sellers chart from 1940 to 1958. All songs which spent four 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. Artie Shaw “Frenesi” (1940)
  2. The Weavers with Gordon Jenkins’ Orchestra “Goodnight Irene” (1950)
    12 weeks:
  3. Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra with Frank Sinatra & the Pied Pipers “I’ll Never Smile Again” (1940)
  4. Francis Craig with Bob Lamm “Near You” (1947)
  5. Ted Weems with Elmo Tanner “Heartaches” (1947)
    11 weeks:

  6. Elvis Presley “Don’t Be Cruel” (1956) /
  7. Elvis Presley “Hound Dog” (1956)
  8. Vaughn Monroe “Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)” (1949)
  9. Johnnie Ray & the Four Lads “Cry” (1951)
  10. Les Paul with Mary Ford “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You)” (1953)
  11. Anton Karas “The Third Man Theme” (1950)
    10 weeks:
  12. Dinah Shore & Her Harper Valley Boys “Buttons and Bows” (1948)
  13. The Ink Spots “The Gypsy” (1946)
  14. Perry Como “Till the End of Time” (1945)
  15. Vaughn Monroe’s Orchestra “Ballerina” (1947)
  16. Percy Faith with Felicia Sanders “Where Is Your Heart (Song from “Moulin Rouge”)” (1953)
  17. Perez “Prez” Prado “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” (1955)
    9 weeks:

  18. Les Brown with Doris Day “Sentimental Journey” (1945)
  19. Patti Page “Tennessee Waltz” (1950)
  20. Bing Crosby with John Scottt Trotter’s Orchestra “Swinging on a Star” (1944)
  21. Les Paul & Mary Ford “How High the Moon” (1951)
  22. Guy Mitchell “Singing the Blues” (1956)
  23. Kitty Kallen with Jack Pleis’ Orchestra “Little Things Mean a Lot” (1954)
  24. Peggy Lee with Dave Barbour’s Orchestra “Manana Is Soon Enough for Me” (1948)
  25. Kay Starr “Wheel of Fortune” (1952)
  26. Vera Lynn with Ronald Shaw’s Orchestra “Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart” (1952)
  27. Bing Corsby “Only Forever” (1940)
    8 weeks:

  28. Bill Haley & the Comets “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” (1954)
  29. Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel” / “I Was the One” (1956)
  30. Elvis Presley “All Shook Up” (1957)
  31. Pee Wee Hunt “Twelfth Street Rag” (1948)
  32. The Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen’s Orchestra “Rum and Coca-Cola” (1945)
  33. Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters “Don’t Fence Me In” (1944)
  34. Tonny Bennett with Percy Faith’s Orchestra “Because of You” (1951)
  35. Frankie Laine with Jud Conlon’s Rhythmaires “That Lucky Old Sun” (1949)
  36. Patti Page “The Doggie in the Window” (1953)
  37. Perry Como with Hugo Winterhalter’s Orchestar “Wanted” (1954)
  38. Eddie Fisher with Hugo Winterhalter’s Orchestra “O Mein Papa (Oh My Papa)” (1953) Frankie Carle with Marjorie Hughes “Rumors Are Flying” (1946)
    7 weeks:

  39. Elvis Presley “Jailhouse Rock” (1957)
  40. Tennessee Ernie Ford “Sixteen Tons” (1955)
  41. Nat “King” Cole with Frank DeVol’s Orchestra “Nature Boy” (1948)
  42. Jo Mercer with the Pied Pipers “On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe” (1945)
  43. The Chordettes “Mr. Sandman” (1954)
  44. Jimmy Dorsey with Bob Eberly & Kitty Kallen “Besame Mucho (Kiss Me Much)” (1944)
  45. Elvis Presley “Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear” (1957)
  46. Evelyn Knight & the Stardusters “A Little Bird Told Me” (1948)
  47. The Crew-Cuts “Sh-Boom” (1954)
  48. Les Brown with Doris Day “My Dreams Are Getting Bigger All the Time” (1945)
  49. Sammy Kaye with Billy Williams “The Old Lamplighter” (1946)
  50. Russ Morgan & the Skylarks “Cruising Down the River on a Sunday Afternoon” (1949)
    6 weeks:

  51. Mitch Miller “The Yellow Rose of Texas” (1955)
  52. The McGuire Sisters “Sincerely” (1954)
  53. Frankie Carle & Marjorie Hughes “Oh What It Seemed to Be” (1946)
  54. Tex Williams “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)” (1947)
  55. Frankie Laine & the Muleskinners “Mule Train” (1949)
  56. Rosemary Clooney with Buddy Cole “Hey There” (1954)
  57. Gogi Grant “Thw Wayward Wind” (1956)
  58. Sheb Wooley “The Purple People Eater” (1958)
  59. Kay Kyser with Gloria Wood “Woody Woodpecker” (1948)
  60. Perry Como with Mitchell Ayres Orchestra “If (They Made Me a King)” (1951)

  61. Tony Bennett with Percy Faith’s Orchestra “Rags to Riches” (1953)
  62. Rosemary Clooney “Come on-a My House” (1951)
  63. Tony Bennett with Percy Faith’s Orchestra “Cold Cold Heart” (1951)
    5 weeks:

  64. Elvis Presley “Love Me Tender” / “Any Way You Want Me” (1956)
  65. Danny & The Juniors “At the Hop” (1957)
  66. Nat “King” Cole “Mona Lisa” (1950)
  67. Jo Stafford “You Belong to Me” (1952)
  68. Vaughn Monroe “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (1945)
  69. Perry Como “Some Enchanted Evening” (1949)
  70. Domenico Modugno “Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blue)” (1958)

  71. The Champs “Tequila” (1958)
  72. Pat Boone “Love Letters in the Sand” (1957)
  73. Nat “King” Cole “Too Young” (1951)
  74. Shep Fields with Hal Derwin “South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)” (1939)
  75. Eddy Howard “To Each His Own” (1946)
  76. Bill Hayes “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” (1955)
  77. The Mills Brothers “You Always Hurt the One You Love” (1944)
  78. Dean Martin “Memories Are Made of This” (1955)
  79. Perry Como & the Ramblers with Mitchell Ayres’ Orchestra “Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes” (1952)
  80. Glen Gray with Eugenie Baird “My Heart Tells Me (Should I Believe My Heart?)” (1943)

  81. Teresa Brewer with Jack Pleis’ Orchestra “Till I Waltz Again with You” (1952)
  82. Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra “I Love You” (1944)
  83. Patti Page “I Went to Your Wedding” (1954)
  84. Elvis Presley “Don’t” (1958)
  85. Tab Hunter “Young Love” (1956)
  86. Leroy Anderson & His “Pops” Concert Orchestra “Blue Tango” (1951)
    4 weeks:

  87. The Everly Brothers “All I Have to Do Is Dream” (1958)
  88. Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra “I’ll Be Seeing You” (1944)
  89. The Harmonicats “Peg O’ My Heart” (1947)
  90. Roger Williams “Autumn Leaves” (1955)

  91. Harry James with Dick Haymes “I’ll Get by As Long As I Have You” (1941)
  92. Vic Damone “You’re Breaking My Heart” (1949)
  93. The Andrews Sisters with Gordon Jenkin’s Orchestra “I Can Dream, Can’t I?” (1949)
  94. Dinah Shore “I’ll Walk Alone” (1944)
  95. Red Foley “Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy” (1950)
  96. Teresa Brewer with the Dixieland All Stars “Music! Music! Music!” (1950)
  97. Les Baxter “The Poor People of Paris” (1956)
  98. Joni James with Lew Douglas’ Orchestra “Why Don’t You Believe Me” (1952)
  99. Phil Harris with Walter Scharf’s Orchestra “The Thing” (1950)
  100. Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra “Lisbon Antigua” (1955)
  101. Stan Freberg with Daws Butler & June Foray “St. George and the Dragonet” (1953)
Resources and Related Links:

First posted 9/6/2021.

 
at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Frank Sinatra's Top 100 Songs

Frank Sinatra

Top 100 Songs

Singer born Francis Albert Sinatra on 12/12/1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Died 5/14/1998. “Ol’ Blue Eyes” is one of the premiere pop crooners and traditional pop artists of all time. His personal life was tabloid fodder thanks to several high-profile marriages and divorces and his alleged association with the Mafia.

He began professionally singing as a teenager. Worked with the Hoboken Four (35-39), the Harry James’ Orchestra (39), and Tommy Dorsey’s Orchestra (39-42) before going solo on 9/3/42. On 6/1/43, he signed with Columbia Records and on 3/13/53 to Capitol Records, where he recorded a series of critically acclaimed and commercially successful themed albums. He was a residency performer with the Rat Pack in Las Vegas in the early 1950s and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in From Here to Eternity. Formed his own record label, Reprise Records, in 1960 and sold it to Warner Brothers in 1963.

“I’ll Never Smile Again,” which featured Sinatra on lead vocals with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era, 1890-1953.

Links:

Awards:

Top 100 Songs

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.

Notes: TD = Tommy Dorsey’s Orchestra. Sinatra landed 40 songs at #1 on various charts, including the U.S. pre-Billboard pop charts (US), Hit Parade (HP), adult contemporary charts (AC), the UK charts (UK), the Canadian charts (CN), and the Australian charts (AU).

DMDB Top 1%:

1. I’ll Never Smile Again (w/ TD & the Pied Pipers, 1940) #1 US, HP
2. All or Nothing at All (w/ Harry James’ Orchestra, 1939) #1 US, HP
3. Strangers in the Night (1966) #1 US, AC, UK, AU
4. There Are Such Things (w/ TD & the Pied Pipers (1942) #1 US, HP
5. My Way (1969)

DMDB Top 5%:

6. Five Minutes More (1946) #1 US, HP, AU
7. Somethin’ Stupid (w/ Nancy Sinatra, 1967) #1 US, AC, UK, CN, AU
8. You’ll Never Walk Alone (w/ the Ken Lane Singers, 1945)
9. Theme from ‘New York, New York’ (1980)
10. One for My Baby and One for the Road (1949)

11. White Christmas (w/ the Bobby Tucker Singers, 1949)
12. In the Blue of the Evening (w/ TD, 1942) #1 US
13. Saturday Night Is the Loneliest Night of the Week (1944)
14. They Say It’s Wonderful (1946) #1 HP
15. Stardust (w/ TD & the Pied Pipers, 1940)
16. Learnin’ the Blues (1955) #1 US, HP, AU
17. Young at Heart (1954) #1 HP, AU
18. Night and Day (w/ Axel Stordahl’s Orchestra, 1942)
19. I’ve Got You Under My Skin (1956)
20. Oh! What It Seemed to Be (1946) #1 US, HP

21. I Couldn’t Sleep a Wink Last Night (w/ the Bobby Tucker Singers, 1944) #1 HP
22. Oh, Look at Me Now (w/ TD, Connie Haines, & the Pied Pipers, 1941)
23. All the Way (1957)
24. I’ll Be Seeing You (w/ TD, 1940) #1 HP
25. How About You? (w/ TD, 1942)
26. Almost Like Being in Love (1947)
27. Autumn in New York (1949)
28. Love and Marriage (1955)
29. But Beautiful (1948)
30. I’ve Got a Crush on You (w/ Bobby Hackett, 1948)

31. A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening (w/ the Bobby Tucker Singers, 1944) #1 AU
32. Goodnight Irene (w/ the Mitch Miller Singers, 1950) #1 HP, UK
33. Mam’selle (1947) #1 US, HP, AU
34. Some Enchanted Evening (1949) #1 HP
35. Time After Time (1947)
36. People Will Say We’re in Love (w/ the Bobby Tucker Singers, 1943) #1 HP
37. You’ll Never Know (w/ the Bobby Tucker Singers, 1943) #1 HP
38. This Love of Mine (w/ TD & the Pied Pipers, 1941)
39. Nancy with the Laughing Face (1945)
40. Call Me Irresponsible (1963)

41. Love Is the Tender Trap (1955)
42. It Was a Very Good Year (1965) #1 AC
43. Stardust (1962)
44. Begin the Beguine (1946)

DMDB Top 10%:

45. Oh, What a Beautiful Morning (w/ the Bobby Tucker Singers, 1943)
46. Everything Happens to Me (w/ TD, 1941)
47. High Hopes (w/ A Bunch O Kids, 1959)
48. September Song (1946)
49. Sunday, Monday or Always (w/ the Bobby Tucker Singers, 1943) #1 HP, AU
50. Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) #1 HP, UK, AU

51. Imagination (w/ TD, 1940) #1 HP
52. Polka Dots and Moonbeams (w/ TD, 1940)
53. It’s Always You (w/ TD, 1943)
54. I Get a Kick Out of You (1953)
55. Witchcraft (1957)
56. Fools Rush in Where Angels Fear to Tread (w/ TD, 1940) #1 HP
57. Summer Wind (1966) #1 AC
58. My Funny Valentine (1954)
59. Here’s That Rainy Day (1959)
60. It Started All Over Again (w/ TD, 1943)

61. Dream (When You’re Feeling Blue) (1945) #1 HP
62. That’s Life (1966) #1 AC
63. Come Fly with Me (1958)
64. Nature Boy (1948) #1 HP
65. If I Loved You (1945)
66. Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time) (w/ the Ken Lane Singers, 1945)
67. I’ve Got the World on a String (1953)
68. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me) (w/ TD, 1940) #1 HP
69. The Second Time Around (1961)
70. It Only Happens When I Dance with You (1948)

71. I’m Walking Behind You (1953) #1 HP, AU
72. Just As Though You Were Here (w/ TD, 1942)
73. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning (1955)
74. Day by Day (1946)
75. The Way You Look Tonight (1964)
76. Take Me (w/ TD, 1942)
77. Nice ‘N’ Easy (1960)
78. I Only Have Eyes for You (1949)
79. Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town) (1957)
80. All of Me (1948)

81. I’m a Fool to Want You (1951)
82. Fly Me to the Moon (1964)
83. They Can’t Take That Away from Me (1954)
84. Nevertheless I’m in Love with You (1950) #1 HP
85. Granada (1961)
86. Do I Worry? (w/ TD, 1941)
87. You and I (w/ TD, 1941)
88. Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me) (1958)
89. New York, New York (w/ Gene Kelly, 1949)
90. Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy (1950) #1 HP

DMDB Top 20%:

91. I’ve Got You Under My Skin (w/ Bono, 1993)
92. Dolores (w/ TD, 1941) #1 US
93. I’ll Be Seeing You (re-recording w/ TD, 1961)
94. All Through the Day (1946) #1 HP
95. Be Careful, It’s My Heart (w/ TD, 1942)
96. What’ll I Do? (1948)
97. Say It Over and Over Again (w/ TD, 1940)
98. Me and My Shadow (w/ Sammy Davis, Jr., 1962)
99. The Birth of the Blues (1952)
100. Our Love Affair (w/ TD, 1940)

Resources and Related Links:

First posted 12/12/2015; last updated 12/6/2023.

at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Friday, July 27, 1990

On This Day (1940): Frank Sinatra hit #1 for the first time with "I'll Never Smile Again"

I’ll Never Smile Again

Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra & the Pied Pipers

Writer(s): Ruth Lowe (see lyrics here)

Recorded: April 23, 1940

First Charted: June 29, 1940

Peak: 112 US, 17 HP, 12 GA (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): 3.0 US (includes 1.0 in sheet music)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 5.07 video, 40.68 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

Ruth Lowe was a pianist with Ina Ray Hutton’s all-girl orchestra when she composed this song about the death of her husband, just a few months after their marriage. TY1 Believing in the song’s potential, she staked out Tommy Dorsey’s several-night engagement at Toronto’s Canadian National Exhibition in September 1939. She finally got Carmen Mastren, the band’s guitarist, to give her demo a listen. SS Dorsey wasn’t initially swayed and passed the song on to Glenn Miller, who recorded a medium-tempo version, but it got overlooked. However, when Frank Sinatra came on board with Dorsey, they took another stab at recording it. SS

Sinatra had recorded with Harry James and His Orchestra in 1939, including the eventual #1 song “All Or Nothing at All.” However, those recordings didn’t chart until 1943 and 1944. When vocalist Jack Leonard parted ways with Dorsey in 1939, Dorsey was looking for a replacement. When Dorsey and James ended up at nearby gigs in Chicago, Dorsey sent someone to talk to Sinatra. James knew Sinatra, whose wife Nancy was pregnant, needed the money and agreed to let Sinatra work with Dorsey. SS

Sinatra’s first recording session with Dorsey in February 1940 led to Dorsey’s 100th chart entry, “Polka Dots and Moonbeams,” and the first taste of the charts for Sinatra. They charted a couple of more times before they struck gold with the “unabashedly sentimental ballad” SS “I’ll Never Smile Again.” Down Beat magazine called it “the most sensational Tin Pan Alley hit of the year.” SS

It was Dorsey’s fourteenth trip to the top and the biggest hit of his career. PM- As Sinatra’s maiden voyage to the pinnacle, it “made him a national heartthrob virtually overnight.” SS He would hit #1 eleven times total, but this was his most successful song. It also bore the distinction of being the first #1 on Billboard’s best-selling chart. TY1 It also marked a shift from the “swing era” to the “sing era” when “the vocalists, not the bands and their leaders, were kings”. TY1 Previously, vocalists were generally limited to one chorus. TY1

Resources:

Related Links:

First posted 7/20/2011; last updated 9/5/2023.

at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)