Top 100 Songs from 1930-1939

First posted 4/4/2012; last updated 3/25/2020.

Top 100 Songs of the Decade: 1930-1939

These are the top 100 songs from the 1930s 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. 1. Over the Rainbow...Judy Garland (1939) 2. Night and Day...Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman (1932) 3. In the Mood...Glenn Miller (1939) 4. Cheek to Cheek...Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman (1935) 5. Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)...Ethel Waters (1933) 6. Begin the Beguine...Artie Shaw (1938) 7. The Way You Look Tonight...Fred Astaire with Johnny Green (1936) 8. Pennies from Heaven...Bing Crosby with George Stoll (1936) 9. A-Tisket, A-Tasket...Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb (1938) 10. All the Things You Are...Tommy Dorsey with Jack Leonard (1939) 11. Silent Night...Bing Crosby (1935) 12. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes…Paul Whiteman with Bob Lawrence (1933) 13. Mood Indigo...Duke Ellington (1931) 14. I Got Rhythm...Red Nichols (1930) 15. Deep Purple...Larry Clinton with Bea Wain (1939) 16. Happy Days Are Here Again...Ben Selvin (1930) 17. God Bless America...Kate Smith (1939) 18. Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?...Rudy Vallee (1932) 19. Blue Moon…Glen Gray with Kenny Sargent (1935) 20. I’m in the Mood for Love...Little Jack Little (1935) 21. Strange Fruit...Billie Holiday (1939) 22. On the Sunny Side of the Street...Ted Lewis & His Band (1930) 23. Minnie the Moocher (The Ho De Ho Song)...Cab Calloway (1931) 24. Puttin’ on the Ritz...Harry Richman with Earl Burtnett & His Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel Orchestra (1930) 25. They Can’t Take That Away from Me...Fred Astaire with Johnny Green (1937) 26. The Last Round-Up...George Olsen with Joe Morrison (1933) 27. If I Didn’t Care...The Ink Spots (1939) 28. I’ve Got You Under My Skin...Ray Noble (1936) 29. Sweet Leilani...Bing Crosby with Lani McIntire & His Hawaiians (1937) 30. All or Nothing at All...Harry James with Frank Sinatra (1939) 31. The Peanut Vendor (El Manisero)...Don Azpiazu with Antonio Machin (1930) 32. Sophisticated Lady...Duke Ellington (1933) 33. In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town...Ted Lewis & His Band (1932) 34. Stein Song (University of Maine)...Rudy Vallee (1930) 35. Bei Mir Bist Du Schon (Means That You’re Grand)...The Andrews Sisters (1938) 36. Dinah…Bing Crosby & the Mills Brothers (1932) 37. All of Me...Louis Armstrong (1932) 38. Summertime…Billie Holiday (1936) 39. Moonlight Serenade...Glenn Miller (1939) 40. Goodnight, Sweetheart…Wayne King with Ernie Birchill (1931) 41. 42nd Street...Don Bestor with Dudley Mecum (1933) 42. Let’s Fall in Love...Eddy Duchin with Lew Sherwood (1934) 43. Lover…Paul Whiteman with Jack Fulton (1933) 44. I Can’t Get Started...Bunny Berigan (1938) 45. September Song...Walter Huston (1939) 46. Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)...Benny Goodman (1938) 47. The Very Thought of You...Ray Noble with Al Bowlly (1934) 48. That Old Feeling...Shep Fields with Bob Goday (1937) 49. Winter Wonderland...Guy Lombardo (1934) 50. Wabash Cannonball...Roy Acuff & the Smoky Mountain Boys (1938) 51. Honeysuckle Rose...Thomas “Fats” Waller (1935) 52. Stars Fell on Alabama...Guy Lombardo with Carmen Lombardo (1934) 53. It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing...Duke Ellington (1932) 54. These Foolish Things Remind Me of You...Benny Goodman with Helen Ward (1936) 55. Lullaby of Broadway...The Dorsey Brothers with Bob Crosby (1935) 56. Jeepers Creepers...Al Donahue with Paula Kelly (1938) 57. How Deep Is the Ocean?...Guy Lombardo with Carmen Lombardo (1932) 58. Once in a While...Tommy Dorsey (1937) 59. September in the Rain…Guy & Carmen Lombardo (1937) 60. Lazy Bones…Ted Lewis (1933) 61. A Fine Romance (A Sarcastic Love Song)…Fred Astaire with Johnny Green & His Orchestra (1936) 62. My Reverie…Larry Clinton with Bea Wain (1938) 63. Isle of Capri…Ray Noble with Al Bowlly (1934) 64. South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)...Shep Fields with Hal Derwin (1939) 65. Out of Nowhere...Bing Crosby with Victor Young (1931) 66. Embraceable You...Red Nichols (1930) 67. June in January…Bing Crosby with George Stoll’s Orchestra (1934) 68. Whistle While You Work...The Seven Dwarfs (1938) 69. What Is This Thing Called Love?...Leo Reisman (1930) 70. Paradise…Leo Reisman with Frances Maddux (1932) 71. Red Sails in the Sunset…Guy & Carmen Lombardo (1935) 72. Where or When…Hal Kemp with Bob Allen (1937) 73. You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby…Bing Crosby (1938) 74. The Continental (You Kiss While We’re Dancing)…Leo Reisman (1934) 75. Tumbling Tumbleweeds...Sons of the Pioneers (1934) 76. One O’Clock Jump...Count Basie (1937) 77. Little White Lies…Fred Waring with Clare Hanlon (1930) 78. The Old Spinning Wheel...Ray Noble with Al Bowlly (1933) 79. Sweet and Lovely…Gus Arnheim with Donald Novis (1931) 80. Goody Goody…Benny Goodman with Helen Ward (1936) 81. Beer Barrell Polka...Will Glahe (1939) 82. Dream a Little Dream of Me...Wayne King with Ernie Birchill (1931) 83. Alone…Tommy Dorsey with Cliff Weston (1936) 84. Three Little Words...Duke Ellington (1930) 85. And the Angels Sing …Benny Goodman with Martha Tilton (1939) 86. I’ll String Along with You…Ted Fio Rito with Muzzy Marcellino (1934) 87. Music, Maestro, Please...Tommy Dorsey with Edythe Wright (1938) 88. Thanks for the Memory…Shep Fields with Bob Goday (1937) 89. Love for Sale…Libby Holman with Dick Robertson (1931) 90. I Get a Kick Out of You...Johnny Green with Ethel Merman (1934) 91. When the Saints Go Marching In...Louis Armstrong (1939) 92. I Found a Million Dollar Baby in a Five and Ten Cent Store...Fred Waring with Clare Hanlon (1931) 93. You’re Getting to Be a Habit with Me…Bing Crosby with Guy Lombardo’s Orchestra (1933) 94. Cocktails for Two…Duke Ellington (1934) 95. Marie...Tommy Dorsey (1937) 96. Too Marvelous for Words…Bing Crosby with Jimmy Dorsey’s Orchestra (1937) 97. Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?...Bing Crosby with Lennie Hayton’s Orchestra (1932) 98. Exactly Like You...Ruth Etting (1930) 99. The Carioca…Enric Madriguera with Patricia Gillmore (1934) 100. Willow Weep for Me…Paul Whiteman with Irene Taylor (1932)

50 years ago: Coleman Hawkins charted with “Body and Soul”

Body and Soul Coleman Hawkins

Writer(s): Johnny Green, Ed Heyman, Robert Saur, Frank Eyton (see lyrics here) First Charted: January 27, 1940 Peak: 13 US (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 2.1 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Body and Soul” is “an all-time classic torch song” SF and “the most recorded jazz standard.” WK The song was originally written for actress and singer Gertrude Lawrence to sing for the British Broadcasting Company. MM Then Libby Holman introduced it in the United States through the 1930 Broadway revue Three’s a Crowd. Paul Whiteman, with vocal by Jack Fulton, hit #1 with his version that year. It became one of the top five recorded songs from 1890-1954 with fourteen charted versions during that time, including takes by Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Ozzie Nelson, Leo Reisman, and Art Tatum. PM John Coltrane, Ella Fitzerald, Billie Holiday, Etta James, Charles Mingus, Frank Sinatra, and Sarah Vaughan are among the others to tackle the song. WK However, in an unusual twist, the highest-ranked version of the song is neither the first nor the highest-charting version. Coleman Hawkins, who has been called “the father of the tenor saxophone” NPR’09 for his role in establishing the tenor sax as a jazz instrument, NPR revived the song as an instrumental in 1939, showing how “it was possible to modernize well-worn Tin Pan Alley standards.” NPR It “became one of the most important jazz recordings of all time” JA as one of the genre’s “most influential performances” NPR’09 and one of its best-known performances in history. NRR His recording was unique because it only hinted at the song’s melody in his recording, focusing instead on two choruses of improvisation. WK When “Body and Soul” came out, people continuously told him he was playing the wrong notes. NPR He had been playing in Europe and upon returning to the United States, Hawkins was surprised jazz artists hadn’t changed styles. NPR Swing bands still ruled at the time, but “the early tremors of bebop” were in the air. NPR He “replaced blues-based riffing with brisk arpeggios, sharp-cornered phrases and endless lines that were the jazz equivalent of run-on sentences. He danced at the upper extremes of chords, foreshadowing the altered harmonies that later were so important to bebop.” NPR Hawkins made the song “a standard for tenor sax players, with many later recordings referencing parts of Hawkins’ solo and playing in the challenging key of D flat.” NRR The song has shown stamina. In 2011, Tony Bennett charted with a duet with the late Amy Winehouse. It won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Resources: JA David A. Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 26. MM Max Morath (2002). The NPR Curious Listener’s Guide to Popular Standards. New York, NY; Penguin Putnam Inc. Page 153. NPR National Public Radio web site (1999). “The Most Important American Musical Works of the 20th Century” NPR’09 NPR.org (11/9-20/09) The Decade in Music: ‘00s NRR National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress The Full National Recording Registry SF Songfacts.com PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, WI; Record Research, Inc. Pages 479, 632. Related Links: First posted 1/27/2013; last updated 8/16/2022.

50 years ago: Fred Astaire hit #1 with “The Way You Look Tonight”

The Way You Look Tonight Fred Astaire with Johnny Greer’s Orchestra

Writer(s): Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields (see lyrics here) First Charted: August 29, 1936 Peak: 16 US, 16 HP, 14 GA, 16 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2.28 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The 1936 Academy Award winner for Best Song was crooned by Fred Astaire to Ginger Rodgers in Swing Time while she shampooed her hair. In the movie, she emerges from the bathroom in a robe, so smitten by his declaration of love that she forgets about her lathered-up scalp. When he looks up from the piano after the last line, he’s startled to see her there. She flees in embarrassment, now aware of her sudsy look. The moment made for a cute, romantic moment which perfectly fit Dorothy Fields’ “gentle lyric [which] made the song as singable to a child as to a sweetheart.” MM Fields started crying when Jerome Kern first played her the melody. “I couldn’t stop,” she said. “It was so beautiful.” SB Astaire charted with the song in 1936 (#1), as did Guy Lombardo (#3) and Teddy Wilson with Billie Holiday (#3). Benny Goodman charted (#21) with it in 1942. It has also been recorded by Betty Buckley, John Coltrane, Neil Diamond, Billy Eckstine, the Lettermen, and Betty Carter with Ray Bryant on piano. MM It has enjoyed additional movie success, most notably in the 1997 Julia Roberts’ film My Best Friend’s Wedding. MM “Tonight” actually has no verse, which isn’t unusual for a Kern song, but at 44 bars, it is also a long song. SB The “long, open melody and characteristic key change” MM has made the song “a jazz and cabaret standard.” JA Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Dorothy Fields DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 206. MM Max Morath (2002). The NPR Curious Listener’s Guide to Popular Standards. New York, NY; Penguin Putnam Inc. Page 154. SB Songbook1.wordpress.com Related Links: Last updated 3/19/2023.