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: Isham Jones hit #1 with “Wabash Blues”

Wabash Blues Isham Jones

Writer(s): Fred Meinken (music), Dave Ringle (words) (see lyrics here) First Charted: December 10, 1921 Peak: 16 US, 11 GA, 12 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.06 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Born in Ohio in 1894, Isham Jones became a pianist, saxophonist, and composer before he formed his own jazz band. Some considered his “the best dance band of the pre-swing era.” PM That band included trumpeter Louis Panico, who played an integral part of “Wabash Blues” as “the laughing cornet,” a nickname derived from how much his trumpet playing sounded like a person laughing. SM Wabash was a river which flows through Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois. It had been written about previously, most notably in “On the Banks of the Wabash” in the late 1890s. SM Dave Ringle added “standard blues lyrics” SM about being unhappy and lonesome that were similar to the song “Wang Wang Blues,” a hit from a year earlier. SM Both songs are examples of “up-tempo, rather cheerful blues,” TY2 a break from the view “of the blues as being slow and depressing.” TY2 “Wabash Blues” “doesn’t follow the classic 12-bar blues form.” TY2 Instead, it was “a good example of a commercial blues, written in Tin Pan Alley for the general market.” TY2 “Wabash Blues” was one of Jones’ earliest hits. He reached the charts 73 times from 1920 to 1938. This was his first of eight #1 songs. PM It became “a jazz band favorite.” DJ The Benson Orchestra, featuring pianist Roy Bargy, also charted with the song (#6, 1922) DJ as did Dolly Kay (#13, 1922), Ted Lewis (#16, 1930), and Russ Morgan (#17, 1939). PM Resources: DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 204. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Pages 120-1. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 602. Related Links: First posted 4/25/2023.

 

Today in Music (1941): Artie Shaw charted with “Stardust”

Stardust Isham Jones

Writer(s): Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish (see lyrics here) First Charted: September 13, 1930 Peak: 11 US, 12 GA (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Stardust Artie Shaw

First Charted: January 18, 1941 Peak: 2 US, 8 GA (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 3.5 US (includes 1 million in sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1.28 video, -- streaming

Awards (Hoagy Carmichael): Click on award for more details. Awards (Isham Jones): Awards (Louis Armstrong): Awards (Artie Shaw): Awards (Nat “King” Cole): Awards (The Dominoes):

About the Song: Hoagy Carmichael’s first major songwriting success NRR grew out of a visit to his University of Indiana alma mater when the inspiration for a melody came to him while he was reminiscing about a lost college love. TY Stuart Gorell, who had been a fellow student and the lyricist for Carmichael’s “Georgia on My Mind,” offered the idea for the song title when he said it “sounded like dust from the stars drifting down through the summer sky.” TY The melody came so easily that Carmichael wondered if he’d actually recalled someone else’s composition. LW However, his melody didn’t follow the traditional Tin Pan Alley format of the day; instead he crafted two separate melodies for the chorus and the verse. LW Originally conceived as “an up-tempo dance instrumental” NPR in 1927. However, publisher Irving Mills suggested reworking it as a romantic vocal ballad. LW In 1929, Mitchell Parish penned the lyrics MM although Hoagy’s son claims they were based on words already written by his father. LW Mills had the first chart version of the song in 1930 (#20 US), but it was Isham Jones who had the greatest success with his version in the slower tempo format, taking it to #1 in 1931. By decade’s end, Bing Crosby (#5 US, 1931), Louis Armstrong (#16 US, 1931), Wayne King (#17 US, 1931), Lee Sims (#20 US, 1931), Jimmie Lunceford (#10 US, 1935), Benny Goodman (#2 US, 1936), and Sammy Kaye (#16 US, 1939) all charted with the song. In the 1940s, additional versions charted by Glenn Miller (#20 US, 1940), Tommy Dorsey (#7 US, 1941), and Baron Elliott (#18 US, 1943). All told, the song charted fifteen times from 1930 to 1943, PM helping brand it as “a certifiable American classic.” NPR Other later charting versions included the Dominoes (#12 US, 1957), Nat “King” Cole (#79 US, 1957), Frank Sinatra (#20 AC, 1962), Nino Tempo with April Stevens (#32 US, #10 AC, 1964), Johnny Mathis (#4 AC, 1975), and Harry Connick Jr. (#46 AC, 1993). Dorsey seemingly had “a stranglehold on the song” JA after returning to the top ten in 1941 with a new version sporting vocals by Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers. That same version recharted in 1943. However, in a 1956 Billboard poll, disc jockeys rated Artie Shaw’s arrangement not just the best version of “Stardust,” but as their favorite record of all time. PM It has been recorded more than 2000 times LW in more than forty languages, RCG making it one of the most recorded songs in popular music, JA the most recorded love song of all time, PM and “the standard that defines the meaning of the word.” MM Country singer Willie Nelson calls it his all-time favorite song and Bette Midler has the lyrics carved in the stone of her fireplace. LW Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Hoagy Carmichael DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Dominoes JA David A. Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 180. LW Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Pages 60-1. MM Max Morath (2002). The NPR Curious Listener’s Guide to Popular Standards. New York, NY; Penguin Putnam Inc. Pages 182-3. NPR National Public Radio web site (1999). “The Most Important American Musical Works of the 20th Century” NRR National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress The Full National Recording Registry RCG RimChiGuy.com The Old Songs (1900-1929) TY Don Tyler (1985). Hit Parade 1920-1955. New York, NY: Quill. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, WI; Record Research, Inc. Pages 76, 584, and 638. Related Links: First posted 1/8/2012; last updated 11/22/2022.