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.

100 years ago: Marion Harris hit #1 with “After You’ve Gone”

After You’ve Gone Marion Harris

Writer(s): Turner Layton, Harry Creamer (see lyrics here) First Charted: January 18, 1919 Peak: 13 US, 7 GA (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.18 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: John Turner Layton, born in Washington, D.C. in 1894, was a rarity in his time – a black composer. He teamed with lyricist Harry Creamer as a vaudeville act PS and they contributed to many Broadway shows. The pair had hits with “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans” (1922) and “Dear Old Southland” (1921), PS but their greatest success came from “After You’ve Gone.” This “sultry ballad” PS has been called “one of the first meaningful torch songs.” MM It featured darker lyrics than the usual Tin Pan Alley fare of the day MM and its timeless melodic style and lyrical construct make it feel like a song which could have been written yesterday. PS From 1918 to 1937, ten different versions of this song hit the top 20. The first, a 1918 rendition by Henry Burr and Albert Campbell, peaked at #2. Billy Murray, Bessie Smith, Sophie Tucker, Paul Whiteman, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, and Lionel Hampton were among the others to chart with the song. PM Because it can easily be improvised over, it has become a favorite of even modern-day jazz-oriented artists, WK being covered by Wynton Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., and Jamie Cullum. However, the most successful version was Marion Harris’ 1919 take which went to #1. She became widely known as the first white singer to tackle jazz and blues. From 1916 to 1930, she charted 43 songs, hitting #1 with “St. Louis Blues” (1920), “Look for the Silver Lining” (1921), and “Tea for Two” (1925). PM The song also appeared in film, including For Me and My Gal (1942), Make Mine Music (1946), Jolson Sings Again (1949), The Five Pennies (1959), the Oscar-winning film, All That Jazz (1979), PS and The Aviator (2004). Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Marion Harris MM Max Morath (2002). The NPR Curious Listener’s Guide to Popular Standards. New York, NY; Penguin Putnam Inc. Page 148. PS ParlorSongs.com Lessons in America’s Popular Music History PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 196, 467. First posted 2/1/2013; last updated 3/16/2023.

50 years ago: Marion Harris released “The Man I Love”

The Man I Love Marion Harris

Writer(s): George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin (see lyrics here) Released: February 3, 1928 First Charted: March 10, 1928 Peak: 4 US, 4 GA (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards (Marion Harris): Click on award for more details. Awards (Ella Fitzgerald):

About the Song: In 1964, Wilfrid Mellers wrote in Music in a New Found Land that “The Man I Love” could “stake a claim to being the most moving pop song in our time SS In 1950, Sigmund Spaeth wrote in the New York Times that it was “the best popular song ever written.” SS The Gershwin brothers wrote the song in the spring of 1924 SS following George’s masterful “Rhapsody in Blue.” Deena Rosenberg noted that George used motifs in “Rhapsody in Blue” – including its conclusion – to craft the chorus melody for “The Man I Love,” which meant that the latter “almost literally picks up where the ‘Rhapsody’ leaves off.” SS Originally intended for the Broadway show Lady, Be Good! starring Fred and Adele Astaire, it was dropped JA when she couldn’t match the emotional demand of the song. SS The song was then slated for Strike Up the Band which never made it to New York, and then got bumped from the musical Rosalie SS before finally finding success on Tin Pan Alley. RCG George speculated that the song didn’t catch on because it was difficult to whistle or hum. RCG Eventually, though, it became one of the brothers’ most-recorded ballads. RCG Eva Gauthier gave the first public performance of the song at one of her concerts and it slowly gained in popularity when publisher Max Deyfus liked the song enough to publish it despite not being featured in a Broadway musical. RCG Helen Morgan then featured it in her nightclub act RCG and Marion Harris had a top 5 hit with it in 1928. Three more versions charted that year – Sophie Tucker (#11), Paul Whiteman (#15), and Fred Rich (#19). In 1937, Benny Goodman charted with a top 20 version of the song. PM The song was featured in at least ten films RCG including the Gershwin biopic Rhapsody in Blue (1945), the Billie Holiday biopic Lady Sings the Blues (1972), JA and New York, New York (1977). RCG 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 128. RCG RimChiGuy.com The Old Songs (1900-1929) SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 25. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, WI; Record Research, Inc. Page 546. Related Links: First posted 2/3/2014; last updated 8/15/2022.

50 years ago: Marion Harris hit #1 with “Tea for Two”

Tea for Two Marion Harris

Writer(s):Vincent Youmans, Irving Caesar (see lyrics here) First Charted: January 24, 1925 Peak: 13 US, 3 GA, 2 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US (sheet music sales) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.05 video, -- streaming

Awards (Marion Harris) Awards (Art Tatum):

About the Song: This “charming boy/girl duet” LW was introduced by Louise Groody and John Barker in the Broadway musical comedy No, No, Nanette. JA The score was generally regarded as the best of composer Vincent Youman’s short career. He died from tuberculosis at 48. LW Meanwhile, lyricist Irving Caesar “demonstrates all the hallmarks of Tin Pan Alley craftsmanship, artfully simple and pleasingly full of rhymes and alliterations.” LW He was “the archetypical Tin Pan Alley cigar chomping, wisecracking showman” LW with more than a 1000 songs to his name upon his death at age 101 in 1996. The lyrics, which were dashed off in 5 minutes, were intended to be temporary, but were never changed. TY Marion Harris had the first charted version, taking it to #1 in 1925. That same year, the Benson Orchestra of Chicago landed at #5 with their instrumental version while Ben Bernie also had a top ten hit with the song. PM Other charted versions came from the Ipana Troubadours (#15, 1930) and Teddy Wilson (#18, 1937). PM Warren Covington had a million-selling cha-cha version with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (“Tea for Two Cha Cha,” #7, 1958). TY The song “is one of the most recorded standards of Tin Pan Alley,” JA having been covered by musicians as diverse as Russian classical composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who adapted the tune as “Tahiti Trot” in 1928, LW and jazz pianist Art Tatum (#18, 1939) whose instrumental version is “a masterclass in piano virtuosity.” LW Jazz musicians have particularly responded to the song because “the complex harmonic construction of the melody gives great scope for improvisation.” LW Tatum had played the song for years, even predating his initial 1933 recording of it at his debut solo recording session. Fellow musician Fats Waller once stopped in the middle of playing at New York Club when Art Tatum entered and announced, “I play piano, but God is in the house tonight!” SS Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Marion Harris DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Fats Waller DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Irving Caesar JA David A. Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 189. LW Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 50. PM Record Research’s Pop Memories 1890-1954 (1986). By Joel Whitburn. Menomonee Falls, WI; Record Research, Inc. Page 590. SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 598. TY Don Tyler (1985). Hit Parade 1920-1955. New York, NY: Quill. Page 132. Last updated 11/23/2022.