Showing posts with label Night and Day. Show all posts

Friday, April 10, 2026

Joe Jackson: A Retrospective (1978-2026)

Joe Jackson

A Retrospective: 1978-2026

Overview:

Singer/songwriter and musician Joe Jackson was born David Ian Jackson on August 11, 1954, in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. He started learning to play the violin at age 11, but switched to piano after a couple of years. When he was 16, he started playing piano in bars. At 18, he won a scholarship to study musical composition at London’s Royal Academy of Music.

He was signed to A&M Records in 1978. His debut album, Look Sharp!, produced the memorable new wave hit “Is She Really Going Out with Him?” and earned him comparisons with contemporaries such as Elvis Costello and Graham Parker. However, he veered more toward jazz with his next few albums.

Jackson found his greatest success in 1982 with Night and Day. The album reached the top 10 in the U.S. and UK, supported by the top-10 hit “Steppin’ Out” and top-20 hit “Breaking Us in Two.” He had another top-20 hit in 1984 with “You Can’t Get What You Want Till You Know What You Want” from his 1984 Body and Soul album.

1989 marked Jackson’s last album (Blaze of Glory) with A&M Records. It capped his most commercial, pop-oriented years. In the ‘90s, he would venture into classical music, even signing with Sony Classical and releasing three albums with them.

He returned to more rock-oriented fare with 2003’s Volume 4 after signing with Rykodisc. After one more album with them, however, Jackson switched labels yet again, this time signing with Ear Music. He once again retreated to another familiar genre – jazz. He released The Duke, a tribute to Duke Ellington, in 2012. As of 2026, Jackson has released five studio albums with the label.

Compilations

^VB Stepping Out: The Very Best of (covers 1979-89, released 1990)
^GH Greatest Hits (covers 1979-89, released 1996)
^TI This is It! (The A&M Years) (covers 1979-89, released 1997)
^SC Steppin’ Out: The Collection (covers 1979-89, released 2014)
^UC The Ultimate Collection (covers 1979-2000, released 2003)
^CT Collected (box set, covers 1979-2008, released 2010)

Under each album snapshot, songs featured on the anthologies are noted. If the song charted, the date of the song’s release or first chart appearance and its chart peaks are noted in parentheses. Click for codes to charts.

Spotify Playlist

Check out my Spotify playlist Joe Jackson 1978-1989 to get all the songs from Stepping Out: The Very Best of, Greatest Hits, and Steppin’ Out: The Collection in one playlist.

Look Sharp! (1979):

Is She Really Going Out with Him? (Oct. ’78, 21 BB, 21 CB, 16 HR, 17 RR, 6 CL, 2 CO, 13 UK, 9 CN, 15 AU, 3 DF) ^{VB, GH, TI, UC, CT}
Sunday Papers (Feb. ’79, 42 CL, 6 CO, 14 DF) ^{GH, TI, UC, CT}
One More Time (5/18/79, 46 CL, 33 CO) ^{TI, UC}
Fools in Love (June ’79, 21, CL, 36 CO) ^{VB, TI, UC, CT}
Pretty Girls (single, 21 CL, 36 CO)
Look Sharp! (19 CL, 36 CO, 21 DF) ^{GH, TI, CT}
Got the Time ^{TI, CT}

I’m the Man (1979):

I’m the Man (9/25/79, 45 CL, 8 CO, 23 CN, 21 DF) ^{VB, GH, TI, UC, CT}
Come On (live) (9/25/79, B-side of “I’m the Man”) * ^{UC, CT}
It’s Different for Girls (11/30/79, 5 UK, 85 AU, 14 DF) ^{VB, GH, TI, UC, CT}
Kinda Kute (3/12/80, 91 CN) ^UC
On Your Radio ^{TI, CT}
Amateur Hour ^TI
Get That Girl ^CT
Don’t Wanna Be Like That ^TI
Friday (single, 22 CL, 36 CO)

* not on the original album but added later as a bonus track

“The Harder They Come” (single, 1980):

The Harder They Come (June ’80) ^{UC, CT}
Tilt (June ’80, B-side of “The Harder They Come”) ^{TI, CT}

Beat Crazy (1980):

Mad at You (10/3/80) ^{UC, CT}
Pretty Boys (Nov. ’80) ^UC
One to One (Nov. ’80) ^{TI, UC, CT}
Beat Crazy (Jan. ’81, 47 CL, 38 CO, 21 DF) ^{VB, GH, TI, UC, CT}
Biology ^{TI, CT}
Someone Up There ^TI

Jumpin’ Jive (1981):

Jumpin’ Jive (June ’81, 28 CO, 43 UK, 61 AU) ^{VB, GH, TI, UC, CT}
Jack, You’re Dead (Aug. ’81) ^{UC, CT}
What’s the Use of Getting Sober When You’re Gonna Get Drunk Again ^{TI, CT}
Is You is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby ^CT
Five Guys Named Moe ^CT

Night and Day (1982):

Real Men (6/11/82, 89 UK, 6 AU, 8 DF) ^{TI, UC, CT}
Breaking Us in Two (8/13/82, 18 BB, 17 CB, 8 RR, 8 AC, 4 CO, 59 U, 40 CN, 90 AU, 11 DF) ^{VB, GH, TI, UC, CT}
Steppin’ Out (Aug. ’82, 6 BB, 5 CB, 2 RR, 4 AC, 7 AR, 2 CO, 6 UK, 5 CN, 30 AU, 1 DF) ^{VB, GH, TI, UC, CT}
Another World (Oct. ’82) ^{TI, UC, CT}
A Slow Song (May ’83, 12 DF) ^{VB, GH, TI, UC, CT}
Chinatown ^TI
Cancer (18 CO, 16 DF)

Mike’s Murder (soundtrack, 1983):

Cosmopolitan (Aug. ’83, 26 DF) ^CT
Memphis (Nov. ’83, 85 BB, 35 CO, 15 DF) ^GH
Moonlight (single, 24 DF)
1-2-3 Go (This Town’s a Fairground) ^CT
Laundromat Monday ^CT

Body and Soul (1984):

You Can’t Get What You Want Till You Know What You Want (3/31/84, 15 BB, 19 CB, 13 RR, 13 AC, 12 AR, 4 CO, 77 UK, 30 CN, 96 AU, 8 DF) ^{VB, GH, TI, UC, CT}
Happy Ending (with Elaine Caswell) (4/20/1984, 57 BB, 14 CO, 58 UK, 47 AU, 24 DF) ^{TI, UC, CT}
Be My Number Two (June ’84, 35 CO, 70 UK, 19 DF) ^{VB, GH, TI, UC, CT}
Cha Cha Loco (single) ^{UC, CT}
Not Here, Not Now (24 DF) ^{TI, CT}
Go for It (single, 24 DF)
The Verdict (single)

Big World (1986):

Right and Wrong (4/12/86, 11 AR, 25 CO, 90 UK, 64 AU, 20 DF) ^{VB, GH, TI, CT}
Home Town (June ’86, 27 DF) ^{VB, GH, TI, CT}
The Jet Set (July ’86)
Tango Atlantico (single)
It’s a Big World (27 DF) ^CT
Forty Years ^CT
Precious Time ^TI
Wild West (single) ^TI

Pretty in Pink (soundtrack, 1986):

Left of Center (with Suzanne Vega) (5/26/86, 6 CO, 32 UK, 36 AU, 3 DF)

Will Power (1987):

Nocturne (May ’87)
Will Power ^CT

Tucker (soundtrack, 1988):

He’s a Shape in a Drape (11/14/88, 73 CN, 95 AU) ^{UC, CT}

Blaze of Glory (1989):

Nineteen Forever (4/22/89, 16 AR, 4 MR, 59 CN, 80 AU, 17 DF) ^{VB, GH, TI, UC, CT}
Down to London (10/2/89, 27 DF) ^{VB, GH, TI, CT}
Blaze of Glory (Dec. ’89, 24 DF)
The Human Touch (34 DF) ^{TI, CT}
Me and You Against the World (37 DF) ^{TI, CT}

Stepping Out: The Very Best of

Joe Jackson

Recorded: 1979-1989

Released: September 3, 1990

Peak: -- US, 7 UK, -- CN, 13 AU

Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.10 UK

Genre: new wave

Tracks:

(1) Is She Really Going Out with Him? (2) Fools in Love (3) I’m the Man (4) It’s Different for Girls (5) Beat Crazy (6) Jumpin’ Jive (7) Breaking Us in Two (8) Steppin’ Out (9) A Slow Song (live) (10) You Can’t Get What You Want Till You Know What You Want (11) Be My Number Two (12) Right and Wrong (13) Home Town (14) Down to London (15) Nineteen Forever

About the Album:

Joe Jackson’s first compilation is a pretty good overview of his A&M years from 1979 to 1989, although the 1996 Greatest Hits is a superior collection.

Greatest Hits

Joe Jackson

Recorded: 1979-1989

Released: May 7, 1996

Peak: --

Sales (in millions): --

Genre: new wave

Tracks:

(1) Is She Really Going Out with Him? (2) Look Sharp! (3) Sunday Papers (4) I’m the Man (5) It’s Different for Girls (6) Beat Crazy (7) Jumpin’ Jive (8) Breaking Us in Two (9) Steppin’ Out (10) A Slow Song (live) (11) Memphis (12) You Can’t Get What You Want Till You Know What You Want (13) Be My Number Two (14) Right and Wrong (15) Home Town (16) Down to London (17) Nineteen Forever

About the Album:

This is essentially a retread of the 1990 collection Stepping Out: The Very Best of, although this is the superior collection, adding songs like “Sunday Papers” and “Memphis” that weren’t on the first collection.

This Is It! (The A&M Years)

Joe Jackson

Recorded: 1979-1989

Released: March 1997

Peak: --

Sales (in millions): --

Genre: new wave

Tracks, Disc 1:

(1) Is She Really Going Out with Him? (2) Fools in Love (3) One More Time (4) Sunday Papers (5) Look Sharp! (6) Got the Time (live) (7) On Your Radio (8) It’s Different for Girls (9) Don’t Wanna Be Like That (10) Amateur Hour (11) I’m the Man (12) Tilt (13) Someone Up There (14) One to One (15) Beat Crazy (16) Biology (17) Jumpin’ Jive (18) What’s the Use of Getting Sober When You’re Gonna Get Drunk Again (19) Is She Really Going Out with Him? (live a cappella version) (20) Another World

Tracks, Disc 2:

(1) Breaking Us in Two (2) Chinatown (3) Real Men (4) Steppin’ Out (5) A Slow Song (6) You Can’t Get What You Want Till You Know What You Want (7) Not Here, Not Now (8) Be My Number Two (9) Happy Ending (with Elaine Caswell) (10) Wild West (11) Right and Wrong (12) Home Town (13) Precious Time (14) Me and You Against the World (15) Down to London (16) Nineteen Forever (17) The Human Touch

About the Album:

Jackson doesn’t have enough hits to warrant a double anthology, making this collection fairly unnecessary. What’s more, it skips over several of his albums (Mike’s Murder, Will Power, Tucker) from this period entirely.

Steppin’ Out: The Collection

Joe Jackson

Recorded: 1979-1989

Released: September 29, 2014

Peak: --

Sales (in millions): --

Genre: new wave

Tracks:

(1) One More Time (2) Is She Really Going Out with Him? (3) Sunday Papers (4) Got the Time (5) It’s Different for Girls (6) I’m the Man (7) Beat Crazy (8) Mad at You (9) Jumpin’ Jive (10) Real Men (11) Steppin’ Out (12) Breaking Us in Two (13) Memphis (14) You Can’t Get What You Want Till You Know What You Want (15) Be My Number Two (16) Right and Wrong (17) Home Town (18) Down to London (19) Nineteen Forever

About the Album:

The fourth compilation covering Jackson’s A&M years from 1979 to 1989. The Greatest Hits set from 1996 is the best bet.

Laughter & Lust (1991):

Stranger Than Fiction (4/8/91, 79 CN) ^{UC, CT}
Obvious Song (5/4/91, 28 AR, 2 MR)
Hit Single (May ’91, --)
Oh Well (Sept. ’91, 25 AR, 20 MR)
When You’re Not Around ^CT

Night Music (1994):

Ever After (single)

A Testimonial Dinner: The Songs of XTC (various artists, 1995):

Statue of Liberty (single, 24 DF)

Heaven & Hell (1997):

Angel (Lust) (single)
Passacaglia/A Bud and a Slice (Sloth)

Summer in the City: Live in New York City (live, 2000):

Summer in the City ^CT
The In-Crowd ^CT

Night and Day II (2000):

Stranger Than You (single) ^{UC, CT}
Glamour and Pain (with Dale DeVere) (single) ^CT
Happyland ^CT

The Ultimate Collection

Joe Jackson

Recorded: 1979-2000

Released: September 29, 2003

Peak: --

Sales (in millions): --

Genre: new wave

Tracks:, Disc 1

(1) Fools in Love (2) Is She Really Going Out with Him (3) One More Time (4) Sunday Papers (5) I’m the Man (6) Come On (live) (7) Kinda Kute (8) It’s Different for Girls (9) One to One (10) Pretty Boys (11) Mad at You (12) The Harder They Come (13) Beat Crazy (14) Jack You’re Dead (15) Jumpin’ Jive

Tracks, Disc 2:

(1) Another World (2) Steppin’ Out (3) Real Men (4) A Slow Song (5) Breaking Us in Two (6) Cha Cha Loco (7) Be My Number Two (8) You Can’t Get What You Want Till You Know What You Want (9) Happy Ending (with Elaine Caswell) (10) Is She Really Going Out with Him (live a cappella) (11) Jumpin’ Jive (live) (12) He’s a Shape in a Drape (13) Nineteen Forever (14) Stranger Than Fiction (15) Stranger Than You (live)

About the Album:

This two-disc collection would seemingly add another decade’s worth of material since it stretches to 2000 while previous sets stopped in 1989. Alas, that’s barely the case considering there are only two post-1989 songs. Also, for no clear reason, this set was paired with Jackson’s 1983 Mike’s Murder soundtrack.

Volume 4 (2003):

Awkward Age (2/17/03)
Chrome (7/14/03)

In 20-0-3 (non-album single, 2/16/04)

Rain (2008):

Invisible Man (1/17/08)
King Pleasure (11/17/08) ^CT
Too Tough (single) ^CT

Collected

Joe Jackson

Recorded: 1979-2008

Released: October 5, 2010

Peak: --

Sales (in millions): --

Genre: new wave

Tracks, Disc 1:

(1) Fools in Love (2) Is She Really Going Out with Him (3) Look Sharp! (4) Got the Time (5) Sunday Papers (6) It’s Different for Girls (7) I’m the Man (8) On Your Radio (9) Get That Girl (10) Tilt (11) Biology (12) Mad at You (13) Beat Crazy (14) One to One (15) The Harder They Come (16) Jack, You’re Dead (17) Jumpin’ Jive (18) Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby (19) Five Guys Named Moe (20) What’s the Use of Getting Sober When You’re Gonna Get Drunk Again

Tracks, Disc 2:

(1) Another World (2) Steppin’ Out (3) Real Men (4) A Slow Song (5) Breaking Us in Two (6) Cosmopolitan (7) 1-2-3 Go (This Town’s a Fairground) (8) Laundromat Monday (9) Cha Cha Loco (10) Be My Number Two (11) You Can’t Get What You Want Till You Know What You What (12) Happy Ending (with Elaine Caswell) (13) Not Here, Not Now (14) Will Power (15) He’s a Shape in a Drape (16) Nineteen Forever (17) Down to London

Tracks, Disc 3:

(1) The Human Touch (2) Me and You Against the World (3) When You’re Not Around (4) Stranger Than Fiction (5) Glamour and Pain (with Dale DeVere) (6) Happyland (7) Too Tough (8) King Pleasure Time (9) Come On (live) (10) Right and Wrong (live) (11) It’s a Big World (live) (12) Forty Years (live) (13) Home Town (live) (14) Is She Really Going Out with Him? (live a cappella) (15) Jumpin’ Jive (live) (16) Summer in the City (live) (17) The In-Crowd/Down to London (live) (18) Stranger Than You (live)

About the Album:

It took a box set in 2010 to finally recognize that Joe Jackson had a career beyond 1989. This three-disc set devotes nearly a full disc to Jackson’s post-1989 work.

Fast Forward (2015):

Fast Forward (8/14/15)
The Blue Time (9/4/15)
Ode to Joy (9/18/15)
If It Wasn’t for You (10/2/15)
A Little Smile (2/19/16)

Fool (2019):

Fabulously Absolute (10/9/18)
Strange Land (11/30/18)
Friend Better (1/8/19)
Night by Night (single)
Peter Gunn (single)

What a Racket! (2023):

Health & Safety (9/27/23)
What a Racket! (10/25/23)

Hope and Fury (2026):

Welcome to Burning-by-Sea (12/10/25)
Fabulous People (2/4/26, 1 DF)
After All This Time (3/18/26)

Resources/References:

Wikipedia page for Joe Jackson

Saturday, April 17, 2021

Variety Magazine: Golden 100 Songs

Variety Magazine:

Golden 100 Songs

Variety Magazine came up with a listing of what it called the “Golden 100.” The songs were listed in alphabetical order by title and no specific artist was noted. For this DMDB version of the list, the artist with the highest-ranked version of each song is noted and the songs have been ranked in order by their DMDB rating. There’s no indication when this list was done, but it covers songs from 1906-1959.

Click here to see lists from other publications and/or organizations

1. Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers “White Christmas” (1942)
2. Judy Garland “Over the Rainbow” (1939)
3. Arthur Collins with Byron Harlan “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1911)
4. Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman’s Orchestra “Night and Day” (1932)
5. Gene Austin “My Blue Heaven” (1927)
6. Artie Shaw “Stardust” (1941)
7. Artie Shaw “Begin the Beguine” (1938)
8. Al Jolson “April Showers” (1922)
9. Bessie Smith with Louis Armstrong “St. Louis Blues” (1925)
10. Ethel Waters “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)” (1933)

11. Al Jolson “Swanee” (1920)
12. Dooley Wilson “As Time Goes By” (1942)
13. Peerless Quartet “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” (1911)
14. Gene Autry with the Pinafores “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1949)
15. Coleman Hawkins “Body and Soul” (1940)
16. Bing Crosby with George Stoll’s Orchestra “Pennies from Heaven” (1936)
17. Billy Murray with the Haydn Quartet “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (1908)
18. Paul Whiteman with Bob Lawrence “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (1933)
19. The Harmonicats “Peg O’ My Heart” (1947)
20. Tommy Dorsey with Jack Leonard “All the Things You Are” (1939)

21. Byron Harlan “School Days (When We Were a Couple of Kids)” (1907)
22. Al Jolson “You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)” (1913)
23. Original Dixieland Jazz Band “Tiger Rag” (1918)
24. Paul Robeson “Ol’ Man River” (1928)
25. Ben Selvin “Happy Days Are Here Again” (1930)
26. Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra “I’ll Be Seeing You” (1944)
27. Marion Harris “After You’ve Gone” (1919)
28. Les Paul with Mary Ford “How High the Moon” (1951)
29. Kate Smith “God Bless America” (1939)
30. Harry MacDonough with Elise Stevenson (as Miss Walton) “Shine on, Harvest Moon” (1909)

31. Sophie Tucker “Some of These Days” (1911)
32. Marion Harris “Tea for Two” (1925)
33. Marion Harris “The Man I Love” (1928)
34. Judy Garland with Gene Kelly “For Me and My Gal” (1942)
35. Billie Holiday “Summertime” (1936)
36. Cliff Edwards “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” (1928)
37. George Olsen with Fran Frey, Bob Rice, & Edward Joyce “Always” (1926)
38. Heidelberg Quintet “Waiting for the Robert E. Lee” (1912)
39. Byron Harlan “Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie” (1906)
40. Count Basie “April in Paris” (1956)

41. Woody Herman “Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me)” (1941)
42. Ted Weems with Elmo Tanner “Heartaches” (1947)
43. Henry Burr “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now” (1909)
44. Arthur Collins with Byron Harlan “Darktown Strutters’ Ball” (1918)
45. Glen Gray with Kenny Sargent “Blue Moon” (1935)
46. Red Nichols “I Got Rhythm” (1930)
47. Rosemary Clooney “Tenderly” (1952)
48. Perry Como “Some Enchanted Evening” (1949)
49. Little Jack Little “I’m in the Mood for Love” (1935)
50. Walter Huston “September Song” (1939)

51. Ted Lewis “On the Sunny Side of the Street” (1930)
52. That Old Black Magic…Glenn Miller with Skip Nelson (1943)
53. Gene Austin “My Melancholy Baby” (1928)
54. Ray Noble “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” (1936)
55. Ruth Etting “Love Me Or Leave Me” (1929)
56. Bing Crosby with the Mills Brothers “Dinah” (1932)
57. Paul Whiteman with Jack Fulton “Lover” (1933)
58. Wayne King with Ernie Birchill “Goodnight Sweetheart” (1931)
59. The Victory Military Band “Poor Butterfly” (1917)
60. Prince’s Orchestra “Ballin’ the Jack” (1914)

61. Dinah Washington “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes” (1959)
62. John Steel “A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody” (1919)
63. Bill Snyder “Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered” (1950)
64. Artie Shaw “Dancing in the Dark” (1941)
65. Paul Whiteman “Somebody Loves Me” (1924)
66. Paul Whiteman with Jack Fulton, Charles Gaylord, & Austin Young “The Birth of the Blues” (1926)
67. Dick Haymes “It Might As Well Be Spring” (1945)
68. Benny Goodman with Helen Ward “These Foolish Things Remind Me of You” (1936)
69. Fred & Tom Waring “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life” (1928)
70. Leo Reisman “What Is This Thing Called Love?” (1930)

71. Al Jolson “All Alone” (1925)
72. George Olsen “Who?” (1926)
73. Ethel Merman “I Get a Kick Out of You” (1935)
74. Guy Lombardo with Carmen Lombardo How Deep Is the Ocean?” (1932)
75. Ben Selvin “Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town)” (1922)
76. Isham Jones with Ray Miller & Frank Bessinger “I’ll See You in My Dreams” (1925)
77. Tommy Dorsey with Jack Leonard “Marie” (1937)
78. Ben Pollack with Franklyn Baur “Sweet Sue, Just You” (1928)
79. Paul Whiteman with Jack Fulton “Lover Come Back to Me” (1929)
80. Ruth Etting “Exactly Like You” (1930)

81. Richard Himber with Stuart Allen “Just One of Those Things” (1935)
82. Edith Piaf “La Vie En Rose” (1950)
83. Frank Sinatra “You’ll Never Walk Alone” (1945)
84. Hal McIntyre “My Funny Valentine” (1945)
85. Margaret Whiting “Come Rain or Come Shine” (1946)
86. Leo Reisman with Clifton Webb “Easter Parade” (1933)
87. Roger Wolfe Kahn “Sometimes I’m Happy” (1927)
88. Larry Clinton with Bea Wain “You Go to My Head” (1938)
89. Paul Whiteman with Al Rinker, Jack Fulton, Charles Gaylord, & Austin Young “My Heart Stood Still” (1928)
90. Cab Calloway “I’ve Got the World on a String” (1932)

91. Frankie Laine “I Believe” (1953)
92. Paul Whiteman with Bing Crosby “Without a Song” (1929)
93. Paul Whiteman with Bing Crosby “Great Day” (1929)
94. Leo Reisman with Ran Weeks “With a Song in My Heart” (1929)
95. Glenn Miller “The Nearness of You” (1940)
96. Sarah Vaughn “S’ Wonderful” (1927)
97. Julie Andrews “I Could Have Danced All Night” (1956)
98. Olive Kline “Kiss Me Again” (1916)
99. Nat Shilkret with Phil Dewey, Frank Luter, & Leo O’Rourke “Get Happy” (1930)
100. Judy Garland “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart” (1943)

Resources and Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: “Lists from other publications and/or organizations”
Mattfeld, Julius (1971). Variety Music Cavalcade. Prentice-Hall, Inc: Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

First posted 8/1/2014; last updated 4/17/2021.

Friday, April 16, 2021

Standards of the American Songbook: Top 100

American Songbook Standards:

Top 100 Songs

Songs which have become known as standards or those comprising the great American songbook are generally popular songs from the early 20th century. These are songs from an era when songwriters were more at the forefront, penning songs for theater and film that were often recorded by multiple artists and spawned multiple chart versions.

This list has been created by aggregating 31 lists (see sources at the bottom of the page) which focused on 20th century song titles not recorded by any specific artist. Here are the top 100 songs listed with their songwriters and first year of appearance:

1. Irving Berlin “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1911)
2. Cole Porter “Night and Day” (1932)
3. Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parish “Stardust” (1927)
4. W.C. Handy “St. Louis Blues” (1914)
5. Irving Berlin “White Christmas” (1942)
6. Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II “All the Things You Are” (1939)
7. Harold Arlen and E.Y. “Yip” Harburg “Over the Rainbow” (1939)
8. Cole Porter “Begin the Beguine” (1935)
9. George M. Cohan “Give My Regards to Broadway” (1904)
10. George M. Cohan “Over There” (1917)

11. Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields “On the Sunny Side of the Street” (1930)
12. Fats Waller “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (1929)
13. George Gershwin and Irving Caesar “Swanee” (1920)
14. Isham Jones and Gus Kahn “It Had to Be You” (1924)
15. Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” (1928)
16. Hughie Cannon and Johnnie Queen “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home” (1902)
17. George and Ira Gershwin “I Got Rhythm” (1930)
18. Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar “Tea for Two” (1925)
19. Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields “The Way You Look Tonight” (1936)
20. Cole Porter “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” (1936)

21. Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II “Ol’ Man River” (1927)
22. Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (1933)
23. Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)” (1933)
24. Irving Berlin “Cheek to Cheek” (1935)
25. Richard H. Gerard and Harry Armstrong “Sweet Adeline (You’re the Flower of My Heart)” (1903)
26. Duke Ellington, Mitchell Parish, and Irving Mills “Sophisticated Lady” (1933)
27. Gus Kahn, Raymond B. Egan, and Richard Whiting “Ain’t We Got Fun?” (1921)
28. Ernie Burnett and George A. Norton “My Melancholy Baby” (1928)
29. Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson “Carolina in the Morning” (1923)
30. Kurt Weill, Mark Blitzstein, and Berthold Brecht “Mack the Knife” (1928)

31. Jack Norworth and Albert von Tilzer “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (1908)
32. Jay Gorney and E.Y. “Yip” Harburg “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” (1932)
33. Duke Ellington “Mood Indigo” (1931)
34. Herman Hupfield “As Time Goes By” (1931)
35. Jimmy Monaco and Joseph McCarthy “You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)” (1913)
36. George & Ira Gershwin “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” (1937)
37. Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer “Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me)” (1941)
38. George & Ira Gershwin “Someone to Watch Over Me” (1926)
39. Walter Donaldson and George A. Whiting “My Blue Heaven” (1927)
40. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart “Manhattan” (1925)

41. Arthur B Sterling and Kerry Mills “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis” (1904)
42. Irving Berlin “Blue Skies” (1927)
43. Vernon Duke and E.Y. “Yip” Harburg “April in Paris” (1932)
44. Jerome Kern and P.G. Wodehouse “They Didn't Believe Me” (1914)
45. George Meyer, Edgar Leslie, and E. Ray Goetz “For Me and My Gal” (1917)
46. traditional, adapted by Fred Weatherly “Danny Boy” (1913)
47. George M. Cohan “You’re a Grand Old Flag (aka “The Grand Old Rag”)” (1906)
48. Irving Berlin “God Bless America” (1939)
49. Edward Madden and Percy Wenrich “Moonlight Bay” (1912)
50. Irving Berlin “Always” (1926)

51. Harry H. Williams and Egbert Van Alstyne “In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree” (1905)
52. Harry Warren and Al Dubin “I Only Have Eyes for You” (1934)
53. Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson “September Song” (1905)
54. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart “Blue Moon” (1935)
55. John Schonberger, Richard Coburn, and Vincent Rose “Whispering” (1920)
56. Shelton Brooks “Darktown Strutters’ Ball” (1917)
57. Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed “Singin’ in the Rain” (1929)
58. Johnny Green, Eddie Heyman, Robert Sour, and Frank Eyton “Body and Soul” (1930)
59. Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell “Georgia on My Mind” (1930)
60. Richard A. Whiting and Raymond B. Egan “Till We Meet Again” (1919)

61. Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields “I’m in the Mood for Love” (1935)
62. Andy Razaf and Joe Garland “In the Mood” (1939)
63. Buddy DeSylva and Louis Silvers “April Showers” (1922)
64. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart “My Funny Valentine” (1937)
65. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart “Lover” (1933)
66. Irving Berlin “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning” (1918)
67. Fred Fisher “Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town)” (1922)
68. Cole Porter “Just One of Those Things” (1935)
69. Edward Madden and Gus Edwards “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (1909)
70. George Powell (aka Charles Asaf) and Felix Powell “Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile” (1915)

71. Alfred Bryan and Fred Fisher “Peg O’ My Heart” (1913)
72. Max Freedman and Jimmy DeKnight “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” (1954)
73. Paul Dresser “My Gal Sal” (1905)
74. Richard Whiting “The Japanese Sandman” (1920)
75. Ren Shields and George Evans “In the Good Old Summertime” (1902)
76. Ren Shields and George Evans “In My Merry Oldsmobile” (1902)
77. Jack Norworth and Nora Bayes “Shine on, Harvest Moon” (1908)
78. Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young, and Jean Schwartz “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody” (1918)
79. Milton Ager and Jack Yellen “Happy Days Are Here Again” (1930)
80. Leigh Harline and Ned Washington “When You Wish Upon a Star” (1940)

81. George M. Cohan “Yankee Doodle Boy” (1905)
82. Leo Friedman and Beth Slater Whitson “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” (1910)
83. Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn “My Buddy” (1922)
84. George & Ira Gershwin “Summertime” (1935)
85. Shelton Brooks “Some of These Days” (1910)
86. Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer “That Old Black Magic” (1943)
87. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” (1941)
88. Vernon Duke and Ira Gershwin “I Can’t Get Started” (1938)
89. Walter Donaldson and Arthur Fields “The Aba Daba Honeymoon” (1914)
90. Cole Porter “I Get a Kick Out of You” (1934)

91. Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive” (1945)
92. Harry Warren and Al Dubin “42nd Street” (1933)
93. Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin “Long Ago and Far Away” (1944)
94. Walter Gross and Jack Lawrence “Tenderly” (1947)
95. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II “It Might As Well Be Spring” (1945)
96. Nat D. Ayer and Seymour Brown “Oh You Beautiful Doll” (1911)
97. Walter Donaldson, Sam Lewis, and Joy Young “My Mammy (The Sun Shines East, the Sun Shines West)” (1920)
98. George & Ira Gershwin “Embraceable You” (1930)
99. George & Ira Gershwin “The Man I Love” (1928)
100. Turner Layton and Henry Creamer “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans” (1922)

Resources and Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: “Other Genre/Category Song Lists
AmericanMusicPreservation.com “American Music History Timeline (1820-1920)”
AmericanMusicPreservation.com (2017). “100 Essential Songs (1861-1961)”
ASCAP (1999). “Top 25 Songs of the Century”
ASCAP All-Time Hit Parade (1985) as found in Don Tyler’s Hit Parade 1920-1955. New York, NY: Quill.
Billboard (1953). “Disc Jockey Poll: All-Time Favorite Songs” as found in Joel Whitburn’s Pop Memories, page 639.
BBC Radio 2 (1999). “100 Favourite Songs of the Century”
BMI (1999). “Top 100 Songs of the Century”
Café Songbook (2018). “Catalog of the Great American Songbook”
Doug Clark (2008). “Popular Music in the First Half of the 20th Century”
Peter Evans and Peter Lavender (1999). Great Songs of the 20th Century: 1900-1950
Roger Hall (2018). “100 Essential Songs of the 20th Century”
Ronald Herder (1997). 500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics
David A. Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc.
LastMinuteMusicians.com (2020). “Top 100 Most Popular Cover Songs from 2500+ Set Lists”
Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY.
Julius Mattfield (1971). Variety Music Cavalcade, 1620-1969
Max Morath (2002). The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Popular Standards
National Public Radio (1999). “The Most Important American Musical Works of the 20th Century”
ParlorSongs.com (2020): catalog
ParlorSongs.com (2002). “Enduring American Song Hits: The Best of American Popular Song, Part One 1890-1910”
PopCultureMadness.com: “1900s’ Pop Song Hits” (1900-1919)
Public Domain Music (2020). “World War I Music from 1914-1918”
Theodore Raph (1964). The Songs We Sang
RimChiGuy.com “The Old Songs (1900-1929)”
Songbook “1890-1969 Selected Standards and Hits Index”
Don Tyler (1985). Hit Parade 1920-1955. New York, NY: Quill.
Variety (1/4/1956). “Hit Parade of a Half Century” (as published in Don Tyler’s Hit Parade 1920-1955
Wikipedia.org (2020). “List of Pre-1920 Jazz Standards”
Wikipedia.org (2000). “Great American Songbook”
Alec Wilder (1990). American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950

First posted 4/11/2020; last updated 4/16/2020.

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Most-Recorded Songs, 1890-1954: Top 100

Most-Recorded Songs, 1890-1954:

Top 100 Songs

This list comes from Joel Whitburn’s Pop Memories 1890-1954. As it says in the book, “During the pre-rock era, one of the most important indicators of a song’s enduring musical greatness was the number of artists to record it. This list represents the most comprehensive survey ever made of the pre-1955 songs which have been recorded by the most artists (multiple versions by an artist do not count). It encompasses: Edison and Columbia cylinders; all 78s in the extensive collections of the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, and the Syracuse, Stanford and Yale Uniiversity Libraries; and all new Recordaid listings from the 1950s to the present. Songs written before 1955 but most popular later, such as ‘Misty’ and ‘Autumn Leaves,’ are not included. The year published and the songwriters are shown after the title.”

Note: click here to see other genre-specific song lists.

1. “Silent Night” (1818) by Joseph Muhr and Franz Gruber
2. “St. Louis Blues” (1914) by W.C. Handy
3. “Stardust” (1929) by Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parish
4. “Body and Soul” (1930) by Johnny Green, Ed Heyman, Robert Sauer, and Frank Eyton
5. “Summertime” (1935) by George Gershwin and Dubose Heyward
6. “The Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)” (1851) by Stephen Foster
7. “Tea for Two” (1925) by Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar
8. “White Christmas” (1942) by Irving Berlin
9. “All the Things You Are” (1939) by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II
10. “Night and Day” (1932) by Cole Porter

11. “Begin the Beguine” (1935) by Cole Porter
12. “Danny Boy” (1913) by Fred Weatherly (adapted from “Londonberry Air”)
13. “Sweet Georgia Brown” (1925) by Maceo Pinkard, Keneth Casey, and Ben Bernie
14. “The Man I Love” (1924) by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin
15. “Over the Rainbow” (1939) by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg
16. “Caravan” (1937) by Duke Ellington, Juan Tizol, and Irving Mills
17. “After You’ve Gone” (1918) by Turner Layton and Harry Creamer
18. “Yesterdays” (1933) by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach
19. “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (1929) by Fats Waller, Harry Brooks, and Andy Razaf
20. “Lover, Come Back to Me” (1928) by Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II

21. “What Is This Thing Called Love?” (1930) by Cole Porter
22. “I Can’t Get Started” (1936) by Vernon Duke and Ira Gershwin
23. “Jingle Bells” (1857) by J.S. Pierpont
24. “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” (1928) by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields
25. “My Old Kentucky Home” (1853) by Stephen Foster
26. “When the Saints Go Marching In” (1896) by James Black and Katharine Purvis
27. “Tenderly” (1947) by Walter Gross and Jack Lawrence
28. “Blue Skies” (1927) by Irving Berlin
29. “September Song” (1938) by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson
30. “My Blue Heaven” (1927) by Walter Donaldson and George Whiting

31. “Always” (1925) by Irving Berlin
32. “Tiger Rag” (1917) by Harry DeCosta and Original Dixieland Jazz Band
33. “The Rosary” (1898) by Ethelbert Nevins and Robert Cameron Rogers
34. “Home, Sweet Home” (1823) by Henry Bishop and John Howard Payne
35. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (1933) by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach
36. “These Foolish Things Remind Me of You” (1936) by Jack Strachey, Harry Link, and Holt Marvell
37. “Ol’ Man River” (1928) by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II
38. “Limehouse Blues” (1924) by Philip Braham and Douglas Furber
39. “Sheik of Araby” (1923) by Ted Snyder, Harry B. Smith, and Francis Wheeler
40. “Embraceable You” (1930) by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin

41. “My Funny Valentine” (1937) by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
42. “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)” (1933) by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler
43. “Twelfth Street Rag” (1914) by Euday L. Bowman
44. “Blue Moon” (1935) by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
45. “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” (1863) by Julia Ward Howe and William Steffe
46. “My Melancholy Baby” (1913) by Ernie Burnett and George Norton
47. “I Got Rhythm” (1930) by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin
48. “Honeysuckle Rose” (1929) by Fats Waller and Anzy Razaf
49. “Love’s Old Sweet Song” (1884) by G. Clifton Bingham and James Mulloy
50. “The Stars and Stripes Forever” (1896) by John Philip Sousa

51. “Where or When” (1937) by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
52. “Laura” (1945) by David Raskin and Johnny Mercer
53. “Mood Indigo” (1931) by Duke Ellington, Barney Bigard, and Irving Mills
54. “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” (1946) by Mel Torme and Robert Wells
55. “Love for Sale” (1930) by Cole Porter
56. “Georgia on My Mind” (1930) by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell
57. “San Antonio Rose” (1938) by Bob Wills
58. “How High the Moon” (1940) by Morgan Lewis and Nancy Hamilton
59. “Someone to Watch Over Me” (1926) by George Gershwin and Ira Gerswhin
60. “I Only Have Eyes for You” (1934) by Harry Warren and Al Dublin

61. “Sweet Sue, Just You” (1928) by Victor Young and Will Harris
62. “The Darktown Strutters’ Ball” (1917) by Shelton Brooks
63. “On the Sunny Side of the Street” (1930) by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields
64. “Silver Threads Among the Gold” (1877) by Hart P. Danks and Eben Rexford
65. “I’m in the Mood for Love” (1935) by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields
66. “Deep Purple” (1933) by Peter DeRose and Mitchell Parish
67. “Sometimes I’m Happy” (1925) by Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar
68. “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” (1934) by Cole Porter
69. “The Star-Spangled Banner” (1814) by Francis Scott Key
70. “Easy to Love” (1936) by Cole Porter

71. “Avalon” (1921) by B.G. DeSylva, Vincent Rose, and Al Jolson
72. “Willow Weep for Me” (1932) by Ann Ronell
73. “Dinah” (1925) by Harry Akst, Sam Lewis, and Joe Young
74. “Moonglow” (1934) by Will Hudson, Eddie DeLange, and Irving Mills
75. “Auld Lang Syne” (1711) adapted by Robert Burns
76. “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” (1879) by James A. Bland
77. “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1911) by Irving Berlin
78. “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” (1934) by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie
79. “Basin Street Blues” (1929) by Spencer Williams
80. “Sweet Lorraine” (1935) by Clifford Burwell and Mitchell Parish

81. “I’ll Remember April” (1942) by Don Raye, Gene DePaul, and Patricia Johnston
82. “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1949) by Johnny Marks
83. “Solitude” (1934) by Duke Ellington
84. “Some of These Days” (1910) by Shelton Brooks
85. “Stella by Starlight” (1947) by Victor Young and Ned Washington
86. “Maple Leaf Rag” (1899) by Scott Joplin
87. “Lover” (1933) by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
88. “The Way You Look Tonight” (1936) by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields
89. “Pennies from Heaven” (1936) by Arthur Johnston and John Burke
90. “Dancing in the Dark” (1931) by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz

91. “Indiana” (1917) by James Hanley and Ballad MacDonald
92. “April in Paris” (1932) by Vernon Duke
93. “As Time Goes By” (1931) by Herman Hupfield
94. “Royal Garden Blues” (1923) by Spencer Williams and Clarence Williams
95. “The Very Thought of You” (1934) by Ray Noble
96. “Lover Man” (1942) by Jimmy Davis, Roger Ramirez, and Jimmy Sherman
97. “Round Midnight” (1947) by Thelonious Monk and Cootie Williams
98. “Perdido” (1942) by Juan Tizol, Ervin Drake, and Hans Lengsfelder
99. “All of Me” (1931) by Seymour Simons and Gerald Marks
100. “What’s New?” (1939) by Johnny Burke and Robert Haggart

Resources and Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: “Other Genre/Category Song Lists
Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, WI; Record Research, Inc. Pages 632-33.

First posted 1/24/2020; last updated 4/13/2021.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Dave's Music Database: Song Inductees (January 2020)

Originally posted 1/22/2020.

In honor of the 10th anniversary of the DMDB blog on January 22, 2019, Dave’s Music Database launched its own Hall of Fame. This is the fifth set of song inductees. These are the ten most-recorded songs from 1890-1954, according to Pop Memories. See full list here. While the list is not focused on a specific act for each song, the inductees are the highest-rated versions of the song in Dave’s Music Database. Not listed here is previous inductee “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby.

Fred Astaire “Night and Day” (1932)