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.

On This Day (1943): The Mills Brothers’ “Paper Doll” hit #1 for 1st of 12 weeks

Paper Doll The Mills Brothers

Writer(s): Johnny S. Black (see lyrics here) First Charted: October 24, 1942 Peak: 112 US, 13 GA, 13 HP (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, -- UK, 11.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 4.16 video, 5.81 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: It has been said that this song “signaled the demise of the big band era.” TY1 However, it also marked a revival for the group who had been suffering from declining sales for years. WK This vocal group, originally comprised of four brothers, first charted in 1931 with the #1 “Tiger Rag” and went on to chart 17 top ten hits over the next three years. In 1935, however, the fortunes of the group turned when oldest brother John died. The group soldiered on with Dad stepping in for his namesake son, PM but it looked like their days of chart glory were over. They didn’t chart again until 1937. Then, over the next five years they sent nine more songs up the charts, but only “Sixty Seconds Got Together” achieved top ten status. PM In 1942, the Mills Brothers charted with “Paper Doll”, a song about preferring a paper doll to the far more fickle real-life versions, TY1 It hit the charts for a solitary week, coming in at #20. PM The song had taken awhile to come to fruition. It was written in 1915 and wasn’t published until 1930. WK The songwriter, Johnny S. Black, died six years before the song finally charted. However, the 1942 peak was only the beginning. It recharted in July of 1943. This time, it went to #1 on its way to becoming one of the biggest songs of all time. With sales over six million, “Paper Doll” was the biggest non-holiday hit of the ‘40s PM and one of the ten best sellers of the first half of the century. PM The song also bears the distinction of being one of fewer than thirty songs to have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Mills Brothers DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 155. TY1 Don Tyler (1985). Hit Parade 1920-1955. Quill: New York, NY. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 316 and 631. WK Wikipedia.org First posted 11/20/2011; last updated 9/6/2023.