Showing posts with label Jimmy Dorsey. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Big Band Leaders: Top 50+

Big Band Leaders:

Top 50+

Big band was a popular form of music in the first half of the 20th century. It was essentially a jazz orchestra, typically comprised of ten or more musiicans including saxophonists, trumpeters, trombonists, and a rhythm section which might tconsist of guitar, piano, double bass, and drums. By the mid-1930s, swing music, which had a more supple feel than early jazz, became increasingly popular. On the charts, such bands were generally credited to the bandleaders with featured vocalists noted.

This list focuses on those most popular band leaders. It was comprised by aggregating 16 lists focused on the best big band leaders of all time. The list here includes all individuals appearing on 4 or more lists.

See other lists of Acts/Music Makers by Categories.

15 lists:

1. Benny Goodman
2. Count Basie

13 lists:

3. Glenn Miller
4. Duke Ellington

10 lists:

5. Artie Shaw

9 lists:

6. Tommy Dorsey
7. Cab Calloway

8 lists:

8. Louis Armstrong
9. Jimmy Dorsey
10. Harry James
11. Woody Herman

7 lists:

12. Gene Krupa
13. Chick Webb

6 lists:

14. Lionel Hampton
15. 20. Earl Hines

5 lists:

16. Fats Waller
17. Eddy Duchin
18. Kay Kyser
19. Glen Gray
20. Bob Crosby
21. Ozzie Nelson
22. Buddy Rich
23. Fletcher Henderson
24. Jimmie Lunceford
25. Jack Teagarden
26. Charlie Spivak

4 lists:

27. Paul Whiteman
28. Sammy Kaye
29. Isham Jones
30. Freddy Martin

31. Louis Jordan
32. Hal Kemp
33. Ray Noble
34. Russ Morgan
35. Horace Heidt
36. Ted Weems
37. Dizzy Gillespie
38. Stan Kenton
39. Benny Carter
40. Les Brown

41. Frankie Carle
42. Xavier Cugat
43. Bunny Berigan
44. Will Bradley
45. Andy Kirk
46. Red Norvo
47. Claude Thornhill
48. Eddie DeLange
49. Erskine Hawkins
50. Ina Ray Hutton

51. Tony Pastor
52. Jan Savitt

Resources/Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: Lists of Acts/Music Makers by Categories
Dave’s Music Database: Big Band: Top 100 Songs

First posted 6/23/2026.

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.

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:

DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Tommy Dorsey
Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists”

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

Tuesday, August 1, 2023

On This Day in Music (1942): The American Federation of Musicians’ Strike

August 1, 1942

The American Federation of Musicians Strike

On August 1, 1942, the American Federation of Musicians went on strike against the major American recording companies over disagreements regarding royalty payments. This meant no union musician could record for any record company, ^WK but it did not prohibit performances on live radio shows or in concert. ^WK While the move was seen as advantageous for musicians who wanted payment each time their songs were played in jukeboxes or on radio, ^PBS FCC chair James Fly suggested the 60% of the country’s radio stations could go out of business. ^DB

As the ban approached, numerous artists rushed to get in last-minute recordings in July 1942. Among them were Count Basie, Bing Crosby, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Judy Garland, Benny Goodman, Guy Lombardo, and Glenn Miller. ^WK

When this stockpile was exhausted, record companies turned to older recordings – some as far back as the dawn of the recording era in the mid-1920s. One of the most successful releases was Harry James’ “All Or Nothing at All”, which featured Frank Sinatra before he became famous. ^WK

After October 27, 1943, special recordings known as V-Discs were exempt as they were intended for the armed forces and not the general public. ^WK In addition, some record companies, including Decca and Capitol, caved that 1943 while Victor and Columbia, the two largest companies, held out until November 11, 1944. ^WK

One unintended consequence of the strike was the hastening of the swing era’s decline and the rise of the “sing era” as the music industry shifted from a focus on big bands to singers. ^WK The ban only applied to musicians; singers were not union members. Therefore, they could still record a cappella songs consisting of vocal quartets or soloists backed by choruses. ^PBS As historian Peter Soderbergh put it, “Until the war most singers were props. After the war they became the stars and the role of the bands was gradually subordinated.” ^WK

For more important days in music history, check out the Dave’s Music Database history page.

Resources and Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: “History Index”
^DB Down Beat All Recording Stops Today by Mike Levin (8/1/1942). As posted on SwingMusic.net.
^PBS PBS.org Recording Ban (exerpted from Jazz: A History of America’s Music
^SM SwingMusic.net Big Band Era Jazz History: The 1942 Recording Band
^WK Wikipedia.org 1942-44 musicians’ strike

First posted 8/1/2011; updated 8/24/2023.

Monday, April 19, 2021

Big Band: Top 100 Songs

Big Band:

Top 100 Songs

Big Band, or Swing music, was especially popular in the 1930s and ‘40s. They were generally jazz-oriented orchestras led by such dominant names as Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Glenn Miller. In fact, more than 20 of these songs also appear on the DMDB’s Top 100 Jazz Songs list.

This list was created by aggregating 21 lists focused on big band songs.

Click here to see other genre-specific song lists.

1. Duke Ellington “Take the ‘A’ Train” (1941)
2. Benny Goodman “Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)” (1938)
3. Glenn Miller “In the Mood” (1939)
4. Glenn Miller “A String of Pearls” (1942)
5. Glenn Miller with Tex Beneke & the Four Modernaires “Chattanooga Choo Choo” (1941)
6. Artie Shaw “Begin the Beguine” (1938)
7. Artie Shaw “Stardust” (1941)
8. Glenn Miller “Tuxedo Junction” (1940)
9. The Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen’s Orchestra “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” (1941)
10. Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra “I’ll Never Smile Again” (1940)

11. Glenn Miller “Moonlight Serenade” (1939)
12. Fats Waller “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (1929)
13. Benny Goodman “Stompin’ at the Savoy” (1936)
14. Jimmy Dorsey with Bob Eberly “Tangerine” (1942)
15. Tommy Dorsey “Opus One” (1945)
16. Les Brown’s Orchestra with Doris Day “Sentimental Journey” (1945)
17. Count Basie “One O’Clock Jump” (1937)
18. Woody Herman “At the Woodchoppers’ Ball” (1939)
19. Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields “On the Sunny Side of the Street” (1930)
20. Bobby Darin “Mack the Knife” (1959)

21. Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra “I’ll Be Seeing You” (1944)
22. Duke Ellington with Ivie Anderson “It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing” (1932)
23. Rosemary Clooney “Tenderly” (1952)
24. Cab Calloway “Minnie the Moocher (The Ho Do Ho Song)” (1931)
25. Duke Ellington “Perdido” (1942)
26. Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman’s Orchestra “Night and Day” (1932)
27. Coleman Hawkins “Body and Soul” (1940)
28. Glenn Miller “Pennsylvania 6-5000” (1940)
29. Billie Holiday with Camarata’s Orchestra “Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)” (1945)
30. Woody Herman “Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me)” (1941)

31. Tommy Dorsey “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” (1936)
32. Glen Gray “Sunrise Serenade” (1939)
33. Charlie Barnet “Skyliner” (1944)
34. Lionel Hampton “Flying Home” (1940)
35. Benny Goodman “Moonglow” (1934)
36. Jimmy Dorsey with Bob Eberly & Helen O’Connell “Green Eyes (Aquellos Ojos Verdes)” (1941)
37. Glenn Miller with Tex Beneke & Marion Hutton “I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo” (1942)
38. Charlie Barnet “Cherokee (Indian Love Song)” (1939)
39. Duke Ellington “Caravan” (1937)
40. Harry James “You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)” (1941)

41. Bing Crosby “White Christmas” (1942)
42. Judy Garland “Over the Rainbow” (1939)
43. Billie Holiday “Summertime” (1936)
44. The Andrews Sisters “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen (Means That You're Grand)” (1938)
45. Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (1938)
46. Bunny Berigan “I Can’t Get Started” (1938)
47. Marion Harris “The Man I Love” (1928)
48. Paul Whiteman “Oh, Lady Be Good” (1925)
49. Duke Ellington “Mood Indigo“ (1931)
50. Count Basie “April in Paris” (1956)

51. Billie Holiday “God Bless the Child” (1941)
52. Cab Calloway “Hep! Hep! The Jumpin’ Jive” (1939)
53. Harry James with Frank Sinatra “All or Nothing at All” (1939)
54. Walter Huston “September Song” (1939)
55. Duke Ellington “Satin Doll” (1953)
56. Benny Goodman with Peggy Lee “Why Don’t You Do Right?” (1943)
57. Glenn Miller with Marion Hutton, Tex Beneke, & the Modernaires “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree with Anyone Else But Me” (1942)
58. Tommy Dorsey with the Pied Pipers “Let’s Get Away from It All” (1941)
59. Duke Ellington “Solitude” (1934)
60. Paul Whiteman “Song of India” (1921)

61. Benny Goodman “Don’t Be That Way” (1938)
62. Count Basie “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” (1938)
63. Tommy Dorsey with Jo Stafford & Sy Oliver “Yes Indeed!” (1941)
64. Teddy Wilson “Sweet Lorraine” (1935)
65. Johnny Mercer with Jo Stafford & the Pied Pipers “Candy” (1945)
66. Glenn Miller “Skylark” (1942)
67. Ethel Waters “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)” (1933)
68. Tommy Dorsey with Jack Leonard “All the Things You Are” (1939)
69. The Andrews Sisters “Rum and Coca-Cola” (1945)
70. Larry Clinton with Bea Wain “Deep Purple” (1939)

71. Artie Shaw “Frenesi” (1940)
72. Jelly Roll Morton “King Porter Stomp” (1923)
73. Dick Haymes with Victor Young’s Orchestra “It Might As Well Be Spring” (1945)
74. Nat “King” Cole with Frank DeVol’s Orchestra “Nature Boy” (1948)
75. Hal Kemp with Bob Allen “Where or When” (1937)
76. Ella Fitzgerald & the Delta Rhythm Boys “It’s Only a Paper Moon” (1945)
77. Roger Wolfe Kahn “Sometimes I’m Happy” (1927)
78. Dooley Wilson “As Time Goes By” (1942)
79. Nat “King” Cole “Straighten Up and Fly Right” (1944)
80. Artie Shaw “Dancing in the Dark” (1941)

81. Nat “King” Cole “Get Your Kicks on Route 66” (1946)
82. Johnny Mercer & the Pied Pipers “On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe” (1945)
83. Judy Garland with Georgie Stoll’s Orchestra “The Trolley Song” (1944)
84. Tommy Dorsey with Jack Leonard “Marie” (1937)
85. Glenn Miller with Ray Eberle “Fools Rush in Where Angels Fear to Tread” (1940)
86. Benny Goodman with Martha Tilton “And the Angels Sing” (1939)
87. Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman’s Orchestra “Cheek to Cheek” (1935)
88. Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields “I’m in the Mood for Love” (1935)
89. Earl Burtnett with Harry Richman “Puttin’ on the Ritz” (1930)
90. Paul Whitman with George Gershwin “Rhapsody in Blue” (1924)

91. Kate Smith “The Last Time I Saw Paris” (1940)
92. Duke Ellington “Sophisticated Lady” (1933)
93. Perry Como with Russel Case’s Orchestra “If I Loved You” (1945)
94. The Ink Spots “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” (1943)
95. Horace Heidt with Larry Cotton, Donna Wood, & Don Juans “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire’ (1941)
96. Harry James with Helen Forrest “I’ve Heard That Song Before” (1943)
97. Benny Goodman with Helen Forrest “Taking a Chance on Love” (1940)
98. Louis Jordan “Choo Choo Ch’ Boogie” (1946)
99. Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra “Oh, Look at Me Now” (1941)
100. Nat “King” Cole “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” (1946)

Resources and Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: “Other Genre/Category Song Lists

First posted 4/18/2021; last updated 4/19/2021.

Monday, June 22, 2020

Dave's Music Database Hall of Fame: Music Maker Inductees (June 2020)