Billboard: Best Sellers, 1940-1958

Billboard’s Best Sellers: 1940-1958

Billboard magazine started its best seller chart in 1940. It tracked the songs which sold the most according to surveys of stores which sold music. The chart ran until 1958 when it was merged, along with charts of the biggest DJ hits and jukebox hits, into the Billboard Hot 100. These, however, were the biggest #1 songs on the Billboard Best Sellers chart from 1940 to 1958. All songs which spent four weeks or more at #1 are listed here. Ties are broken by songs’ overall Dave’s Music Database points. See other chart-based lists here and specific Billboard lists here. 13 weeks: Artie Shaw “Frenesi” (1940) The Weavers with Gordon Jenkins’ Orchestra “Goodnight Irene” (1950) 12 weeks: Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra with Frank Sinatra & the Pied Pipers “I’ll Never Smile Again” (1940) Francis Craig with Bob Lamm “Near You” (1947) Ted Weems with Elmo Tanner “Heartaches” (1947) 11 weeks: Elvis Presley “Don’t Be Cruel” (1956) / Elvis Presley “Hound Dog” (1956) Vaughn Monroe “Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)” (1949) Johnnie Ray & the Four Lads “Cry” (1951) Les Paul with Mary Ford “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You)” (1953) Anton Karas “The Third Man Theme” (1950) 10 weeks: Dinah Shore & Her Harper Valley Boys “Buttons and Bows” (1948) The Ink Spots “The Gypsy” (1946) Perry Como “Till the End of Time” (1945) Vaughn Monroe’s Orchestra “Ballerina” (1947) Percy Faith with Felicia Sanders “Where Is Your Heart (Song from “Moulin Rouge”)” (1953) Perez “Prez” Prado “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” (1955) 9 weeks: Les Brown with Doris Day “Sentimental Journey” (1945) Patti Page “Tennessee Waltz” (1950) Bing Crosby with John Scottt Trotter’s Orchestra “Swinging on a Star” (1944) Les Paul & Mary Ford “How High the Moon” (1951) Guy Mitchell “Singing the Blues” (1956) Kitty Kallen with Jack Pleis’ Orchestra “Little Things Mean a Lot” (1954) Peggy Lee with Dave Barbour’s Orchestra “Manana Is Soon Enough for Me” (1948) Kay Starr “Wheel of Fortune” (1952) Vera Lynn with Ronald Shaw’s Orchestra “Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart” (1952) Bing Corsby “Only Forever” (1940) 8 weeks: Bill Haley & the Comets “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” (1954) Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel” / “I Was the One” (1956) Elvis Presley “All Shook Up” (1957) Pee Wee Hunt “Twelfth Street Rag” (1948) The Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen’s Orchestra “Rum and Coca-Cola” (1945) Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters “Don’t Fence Me In” (1944) Tonny Bennett with Percy Faith’s Orchestra “Because of You” (1951) Frankie Laine with Jud Conlon’s Rhythmaires “That Lucky Old Sun” (1949) Patti Page “The Doggie in the Window” (1953) Perry Como with Hugo Winterhalter’s Orchestar “Wanted” (1954) Eddie Fisher with Hugo Winterhalter’s Orchestra “O Mein Papa (Oh My Papa)” (1953) Frankie Carle with Marjorie Hughes “Rumors Are Flying” (1946) 7 weeks: Elvis Presley “Jailhouse Rock” (1957) Tennessee Ernie Ford “Sixteen Tons” (1955) Nat “King” Cole with Frank DeVol’s Orchestra “Nature Boy” (1948) Jo Mercer with the Pied Pipers “On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe” (1945) The Chordettes “Mr. Sandman” (1954) Jimmy Dorsey with Bob Eberly & Kitty Kallen “Besame Mucho (Kiss Me Much)” (1944) Elvis Presley “Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear” (1957) Evelyn Knight & the Stardusters “A Little Bird Told Me” (1948) The Crew-Cuts “Sh-Boom” (1954) Les Brown with Doris Day “My Dreams Are Getting Bigger All the Time” (1945) Sammy Kaye with Billy Williams “The Old Lamplighter” (1946) Russ Morgan & the Skylarks “Cruising Down the River on a Sunday Afternoon” (1949) 6 weeks: Mitch Miller “The Yellow Rose of Texas” (1955) The McGuire Sisters “Sincerely” (1954) Frankie Carle & Marjorie Hughes “Oh What It Seemed to Be” (1946) Tex Williams “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)” (1947) Frankie Laine & the Muleskinners “Mule Train” (1949) Rosemary Clooney with Buddy Cole “Hey There” (1954) Gogi Grant “Thw Wayward Wind” (1956) Sheb Wooley “The Purple People Eater” (1958) Kay Kyser with Gloria Wood “Woody Woodpecker” (1948) Perry Como with Mitchell Ayres Orchestra “If (They Made Me a King)” (1951) Tony Bennett with Percy Faith’s Orchestra “Rags to Riches” (1953) Rosemary Clooney “Come on-a My House” (1951) Tony Bennett with Percy Faith’s Orchestra “Cold Cold Heart” (1951) 5 weeks: Elvis Presley “Love Me Tender” / “Any Way You Want Me” (1956) Danny & The Juniors “At the Hop” (1957) Nat “King” Cole “Mona Lisa” (1950) Jo Stafford “You Belong to Me” (1952) Vaughn Monroe “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (1945) Perry Como “Some Enchanted Evening” (1949) Domenico Modugno “Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blue)” (1958) The Champs “Tequila” (1958) Pat Boone “Love Letters in the Sand” (1957) Nat “King” Cole “Too Young” (1951) Shep Fields with Hal Derwin “South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)” (1939) Eddy Howard “To Each His Own” (1946) Bill Hayes “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” (1955) The Mills Brothers “You Always Hurt the One You Love” (1944) Dean Martin “Memories Are Made of This” (1955) Perry Como & the Ramblers with Mitchell Ayres’ Orchestra “Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes” (1952) Glen Gray with Eugenie Baird “My Heart Tells Me (Should I Believe My Heart?)” (1943) Teresa Brewer with Jack Pleis’ Orchestra “Till I Waltz Again with You” (1952) Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra “I Love You” (1944) Patti Page “I Went to Your Wedding” (1954) Elvis Presley “Don’t” (1958) Tab Hunter “Young Love” (1956) Leroy Anderson & His “Pops” Concert Orchestra “Blue Tango” (1951) 4 weeks: The Everly Brothers “All I Have to Do Is Dream” (1958) Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra “I’ll Be Seeing You” (1944) The Harmonicats “Peg O’ My Heart” (1947) Roger Williams “Autumn Leaves” (1955) Harry James with Dick Haymes “I’ll Get by As Long As I Have You” (1941) Vic Damone “You’re Breaking My Heart” (1949) The Andrews Sisters with Gordon Jenkin’s Orchestra “I Can Dream, Can’t I?” (1949) Dinah Shore “I’ll Walk Alone” (1944) Red Foley “Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy” (1950) Teresa Brewer with the Dixieland All Stars “Music! Music! Music!” (1950) Les Baxter “The Poor People of Paris” (1956) Joni James with Lew Douglas’ Orchestra “Why Don’t You Believe Me” (1952) Phil Harris with Walter Scharf’s Orchestra “The Thing” (1950) Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra “Lisbon Antigua” (1955) Stan Freberg with Daws Butler & June Foray “St. George and the Dragonet” (1953) Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database “Other Best-of Billboard lists” Dave’s Music Database: “Other Chart-Based Lists” Dave’s Music Database: “USA: #1 Pop Songs, 1890-present” First posted 9/6/2021.

 

Top 100 Songs from 1950-1959

First posted 5/3/2011; last updated 10/26/2020.

Top 100 Songs of the Decade: 1950-1959

These are the top 100 songs from the 1950s 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. Check out other “songs of the decade” lists here. 1. “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” Bill Haley & His Comets (1954) 2. “Mack the Knife” Bobby Darin (1959) 3. “Don’t Be Cruel” Elvis Presley (1956) 4. “Heartbreak Hotel” Elvis Presley (1956) 5. “Hound Dog” Elvis Presley (1956) 6. “Jailhouse Rock” Elvis Presley (1957) 7. “Johnny B. Goode” Chuck Berry (1958) 8. “Tennessee Waltz” Patti Page (1950) 9. “All Shook Up” Elvis Presley (1957) 10. “What’d I Say” Ray Charles (1959) 11. “All I Have to Do Is Dream” The Everly Brothers (1958) 12. “That’ll Be the Day” Buddy Holly & the Crickets (1957) 13. “How High the Moon” Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951) 14. “Goodnight Irene” The Weavers with Gordon Jenkins’ Orchestra (1950) 15. “I Only Have Eyes for You” The Flamingos (1959) 16. “Great Balls of Fire” Jerry Lee Lewis (1957) 17. “Blue Suede Shoes” Carl Perkins (1956) 18. “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” Jerry Lee Lewis (1957) 19. “You Belong to Me” Jo Stafford (1952) 20. “Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)” The Penguins (1954) 21. “Love Me Tender” Elvis Presley (1956) 22. “Mona Lisa” Nat “King” Cole (1950) 23. “Tutti Frutti” Little Richard (1955) 24. “Sixteen Tons” Tennessee Ernie Ford (1955) 25. “At the Hop” Danny & the Juniors (1957) 26. “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers (1956) 27. “Blueberry Hill” Fats Domino (1956) 28. “You Send Me” Sam Cooke (1957) 29. “La Bamba” Ritchie Valens (1958) 30. “Peggy Sue” Buddy Holly & the Crickets (1957) 31. “The Battle of New Orleans” Johnny Horton (1959) 32. “The Great Pretender” The Platters (1955) 33. “I Walk the Line” Johnny Cash (1956) 34. “Diana” Paul Anka (1957) 35. “Wake Up Little Susie” The Everly Brothers (1957) 36. “Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blue)” Domenico Modugno (1958) 37. “Maybellene” Chuck Berry (1955) 38. “Tom Dooley” The Kingston Trio (1958) 39. “In the Still of the Nite” The Five Satins (1956) 40. “The Little Drummer Boy” Harry Simeone Chorale (1958) 41. “Cry” Johnnie Ray & the Four Lads (1951) 42. “Only You (And You Alone)” The Platters (1955) 43. “Bye Bye Love” The Everly Brothers (1957) 44. “Tequila” The Champs (1958) 45. “Singing the Blues” Guy Mitchell (1956) 46. “Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear” Elvis Presley (1957) 47. “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You)” Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953) 48. “Summertime Blues” Eddie Cochran (1958) 49. “The Yellow Rose of Texas” Mitch Miller Chorus (1955) 50. “That’s All Right, Mama” Elvis Presley (1954) 51. “Secret Love” Doris Day (1954) 52. “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” The Platters (1958) 53. “It’s All in the Game” Tommy Edwards (1951) 54. “The Third Man Theme” Anton Karas (1950) 55. Sh-Boom” The Chords (1954) 56. “Shout (Parts 1 and 2)” The Isley Brothers (1959) 57. “Mr. Sandman” The Chordettes (1954) 58. “April in Paris” Count Basie (1955) 59. “Where Is Your Heart (Song from ‘Moulin Rouge’)” Percy Faith with Felicia Sanders (1953) 60. “Love Letters in the Sand” Pat Boone (1957) 61. “Shake, Rattle and Roll” Big Joe Turner (1954) 62. “Be-Bop-A-Lula” Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps (1958) 63. “Ain’t That a Shame” Fats Domino (1955) 64. “Your Cheatin’ Heart” Hank Williams (1953) 65. “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” Bill Snyder (1950) 66. “Long Tall Sally” Little Richard (1956) 67. “Sincerely” The McGuire Sisters (1954) 68. “Too Young” Nat “King” Cole (1951) 69. “Bo Diddley” Bo Diddley (1955) 70. “Little Things Mean a Lot” Kitty Kallen (1954) 71. “Because of You” Tony Bennett (1951) 72. “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” Perez “Prez” Prado (1955) 73. “Kansas City” Wibert Harrison (1959) 74. “El Paso” Marty Robbins (1959) 75. “Crying in the Chapel” The Orioles (1953) 76. “Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” Doris Day (1956) 77. “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” The Four Aces (1955) 78. “Auf Wiederseh’n Sweetheart” Vera Lynn (1952) 79. “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” Jimmy Boyd (1952) 80. “He’ll Have to Go” Jim Reeves (1959) 81. “Wheel of Fortune” Kay Starr (1952) 82. “Take Five” Dave Brubeck (1959) 83. “Autumn Leaves” Roger Williams (1955) 84. “The Ballad of Davy Crocket” Bill Hayes (1955) 85. “Tenderly” Rosemary Clooney (1952) 86. “The Doggie in the Window” Patti Page (1953) 87. “Young Love” Sonny James (1956) 88. “Cold, Cold Heart” Hank Williams (1951) 89. “Donna” Ritchie Valens (1958) 90. “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” The Chipmunks (1958) 91. “Come Go with Me” The Dell-Vikings (1957) 92. “Hey There” Rosemary Clooney (1954) 93. “Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy” Red Foley (1950) 94. “Good Golly Miss Molly” Little Richard (1958) 95. “Roll Over Beethoven” Chuck Berry (1956) 96. “Wanted” Perry Como (1954) 97. “Rocket 88” Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats (1951) 98. “My Prayer (Avant de Mourir)” The Platters (1956) 99. “Venus” Frankie Avalon (1959) 100. “Who’s Sorry Now?” Connie Francis (1958)

50 years ago: The Tokens hit #1 with “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”

The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh) The Tokens

Writer(s): Hugo Peretti, Albert Stanton, Luigi Creatore, Paul Campbell, George Weiss, Roy Ilene (see lyrics here) Released: October 17, 1961 First Charted: November 13, 1961 Peak: 13 US, 14 CB, 14 HR, 7 RB, 11 UK, 13Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 6.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 82.93 video, 117.21 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: This African folk song dates back to the 1920s. WK South African singer Solomon Linda wrote it in Zulu as “Mbube,” which means lion. The idea came from having to chase lions away from the families’ cattle. SF His group, the Evening Birds, recorded it in 1939. The song became a huge hit across South Africa. SF Alan Lomax, who became famous for collecting field recordings of folk songs, brought the song to Pete Seeger in 1949. WK His group, the Weavers, adapted it with English lyrics and recorded it in November 1951. WK Seeger misunderstood the word “Uyimbube” (pronounced “oo-yim-bweh-beh” and meaning “you’re the lion”) as “Wimoweh” and retitled the song as such. SF They took the song to #6. The Kingston Trio recorded it in 1959 and Miriam Makeba recorded it with Zulu lyrics in 1960. WK The Tokens signed with the Warwick label in 1960 and released the song “Tonight I Fell in Love,” which reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. This provided them the catalyst to pursue a major label contract with RCA Records. They auditioned with “Wimoweh.” FB Producers Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore added new lyrics to the song and the Tokens recorded it as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” in May 1961 at their second RCA recording session. The group wasn’t sold on the song; their general sentiment being “Who is gonna buy a song about a lion sleeping?” SF Member Phil Margo said, “We were embarrassed by it and tried to convince Hugo and Luigi not to release it. They said it would be a big record and it was going out.” FB Robert John also had a #3 hit in 1972 with the Tokens singing backup. In 1982, Tight Fit took the song to #1 in the UK. When the song was used in the 1994 Disney animated movie The Lion King, the Tokens’ version was rereleased and reached #51. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Tokens FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 102. SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 3/13/2021; last updated 10/22/2022.

Today in Music (1950): The Weavers “Goodnight Irene” hit #1

Goodnight Irene The Weavers with the Gordon Jenkins Orchestra

Writer(s): Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter (see lyrics here) First Charted: July 1, 1950 Peak: 113 US, 14 HP, 110 CB, 16 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 1.82 video, 0.30 streaming

Awards (Leadbelly): Click on award for more details. Awards (Weavers): Click on award for more details. Awards (Ernest Tubb/Red Foley):

About the Song: Tasked by the Library of Congess with making field recordings, John and Alan Lomax traveled throughout the American South to capture prison hollers and folk ballads. “Goodnight Irene” was the “most famous song recorded on their travels.” TC They heard it in July 1933, as performed by Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter in Angola, Louisiana. He was 42 and serving his third stint in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. SS John Lomax said, “We came there looking for the roots of American black song and we certainly found them with Leadbelly.” TC He “sang spirituals, popular songs, field and prison hollers, cowboy and children’s songs, dance tunes and folk ballads, as well as his own compositions.” NRR As John Szwed wrote, he was “a man with a vast repertoire of traditional material and…such performing flair that he seemed to give off light when he sang.” SS “Goodnight Irene” was used “to open and close most of his concerts, in a conscious attempt to soften his rough-hewn image.” NPR John Lomax and Leadbelly took writing credits on the song, but it actually can be traced to African-American composer Gussie L. Davis, SS who, according to Charles Wolfe and Kip Lornell in The Life and Legend of Leadbelly, first published the sentimental waltz in Cincinnati in 1886 and again in New York in 1892. JA Wolf and Lornell say Leadbelly would have learned the song in 1908 in his native Texas from his uncle Terrell. SS He reworked it to “fit his performing needs, accompanied as always by his Stella 12-string guitar.” SS The song focuses on “a troubled man who needs love and stability but doesn’t have the constitution for them…The singer calls for morphine and contemplates suicide. Yet the love that he feels for Irene is transcendent and gentle and life-giving.” TC “In that flowing waltz we have a sense of the love that he craves.” TC By the early 1940s, the song “was very familiar to everyone in the folk community.” SS Pete Seeger, of the Weavers, had befriended Leadbelly and knew first-hand the power of the song to captivate an audience. His group’s recording of the song, complete with “violins and other orchestra touches provided by Gordon Jenkins,” SS divided folk purists but made for a monstrously successful commercial recording, hitting #1 in 1950, just months after Leadbelly’s death. There were five other chart versions that year by the Alexander Brothers (#26 PM), Dennis Day (#17 PM), Frank Sinatra (#5 PM), Jo Stafford (#1 UK), and Ernest Tubb & Red Foley (10 PM, #1 CW). Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for The Weavers DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Alan Lomax DMDB Encyclopedia entry for John Lomax DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Pete Seeger TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Pages 573-4. DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 67. NRR National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress The Full National Recording Registry NPR National Public Radio (1999). “The Most Important American Musical Works of the 20th Century” SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 747. Last updated 1/31/2024.