1946 Billboard Year End Chart

1946 Billboard Year End Chart


Because this is the first in the series I want to give a quick note on the Billboard Year End Charts.  These charts were based on the sales of "singles" either 78 rpm, or later on, 45 rpm records that contained one song on each side, with one song usually being the song that was supposed to get the focus called the "A side" and a throwaway song (but not always) called the "B side".  Until 1950 the Billboard Year End Chart was pretty sporadic as to how many songs were on the chart, then from 1950-1955 the chart was capped at 30 songs, from 1956-Present the Year End Chart has been 100 songs.  If you're at all curious how the lists are compiled here's a link to the Wikipedia article.  

Ok, now on to the chart for 1946, I'm not an expert in this era of music, but I know that this was still the era of the professional song writer, meaning someone who would sit in an office and write songs and then sell them to performers and the writer made money from the sale and royalties of the song.  In order to make more money many of these songs were sold to multiple performers which is why you'll see multiple versions of the same song on this chart, this will be the case for many of the charts we'll examine.

I want to focus on a few of the songs for various reasons:

Dusty Fletcher – Open The Door, Richard is a novelty song about a drunk man that can't get back into his apartment after a night on the town.  The 1940s had a lot of novelty songs that show up in the charts

Perry Como – (A Hubba-Hubba-Hubba) Dig You Later this song was featured in the movie Doll Face and is interesting because Perry Como sings pretty nonchalantly about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a little shocking to hear now.

Dinah Shore – Doin' What Comes Natur'lly and Sammy Kaye – I'm A Big Girl Now were pretty dirty songs for the time and it's humorous to hear them now, "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly" is from the musical Annie Get Your Gun and is all about people having sex, including an elderly man who dies while in the act. 

"I'm A Big Girl Now" is sung by a girl who has discovered her sexual side, after having recently gone through puberty, "I'm a little more padded/something new has been added", and she's ready to dump her childhood boyfriend and experiment with her new-found sexuality.

As is reflected in the charts this was the era of the crooner, both male and female, backed by a big band or small orchestra, you'll find early Frank Sinatra and Nat "King" Cole, as well as Bing Crosby, Dinah Shore and Peggy Lee.  Another interesting phenomenon is that at times a song charted with both the vocal and instrumental versions.

Be sure to subscribe to the blog to keep up with further charts

40. Sioux City Sue » Bing Crosby

39. To Each His Own » Modernaires & Paula Kelly

38. Symphony » Jo Stafford

37. Dig You Later A Hubba-Hubba-Hubba » Perry Como

36. Rumors Are Flying » Andrews Sisters & Les Paul Trio

35. Oh? What It Seemed To Be » Dick Haymes & Helen Forrest

32. The Old Lamplighter » Kay Kyser

32. Oh! What It Seemed To Be » Charlie Spivak

32. Doin' What Comes Natur'lly » Freddy Martin

31. Symphony » Benny Goodman

30. You Won't Be Satisfied Until You Break My Heart » Les Brown

27. To Each His Own » Tony Martin

27. They Say It's Wonderful » Perry Como

27. Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop » Tex Beneke & The Glenn Miller Orchestra

26. Laughing On The Outside Crying On The Inside » Andy Russell

25. Five Minutes More » Tex Beneke & The Glenn Miller Orchestra

24. Laughing On The Outside Crying On The Inside » Dinah Shore

22. The Gypsy » Sammy Kaye

22. Doin' What Comes Natur'lly » Dinah Shore

21. Symphony » Bing Crosby

19. I Can't Begin To Tell You » Bing Crosby & Carmen Cavallaro

19 . I'm A Big Girl Now » Sammy Kaye

18. The Old Lamplighter » Sammy Kaye

17. Symphony » Freddy Martin

16. To Each His Own » The Ink Spots

15. Ol' Buttermilk Sky » Kay Kyser

14. To Each His Own » Freddy Martin

13. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow » Vaughn Monroe

12. Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief » Betty Hutton

11. Surrender » Perry Como

10. Oh! What It Seemed To Be » Frank Sinatra

09. The Gypsy » Dinah Shore

08. South America, Take It Away » Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters

07. Personality » Johnny Mercer

06. Oh! What It Seemed To Be » Frankie Carle

05. Rumors Are Flying » Frankie Carle

04. Five Minutes More » Frank Sinatra

03. The Gypsy » The Ink Spots

02. To Each His Own » Eddy Howard

01. Prisoner Of Love » Perry Como

Chart courtesy of http://longboredsurfer.com/charts/1946