Music & Media in the 1940s

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Music

In the 1940s, the swing music of the big bands was popular. These bands were divided into three categories...Sweet Bands, Swing Bands and All-Around Bands. The Glenn Miller Orchestra was #1 in the "Sweet Band" polls. Singers often launched their careers as big band vocalists before becoming solo acts. Doris Day sang with Les Brown, Helen O'Connell sang with Jimmy Dorsey, Perry Como performed with Ted Weems, and a skinny young kid from New Jersey named Frank Sinatra sang with the Tommy Dorsey band. Even Bing Crosby performed with Paul Whiteman before striking out on his own. During World War II, the top-selling songs became extremely nostalgic, focusing on the pre-war days of mom, apple pie and the girl back home. Bing Crosby's 1942 hit "White Christmas" owes much of its popularity to the fact that it was released during a time when America and the soldiers overseas were yearning for a simpler era. Swing dancing was born in the 1920s, when the Lindy-Hop was all the rage. In the 1940s, this energetic dance was known as the Jitterbug.	-----	What's on the turntable? Merry Christmas --Bing Crosby Decca, 1945, 78 RPM Five-record set containing 10 songs, including "White Christmas" and two selections with the Andrews Sisters *These record sets were called albums because they resembled photo albums, with the record sleeves folding out like the pages of a book. Pop Music During World War II Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" Female Big Band Singers Male Big Band Singers Big Bands & Big Names Solid!
1940 top singles of 1940 All The Things You Are (Tommy Dorsey) Blueberry Hill (Glenn Miller) Fools Rush In Where Angels Fear To Tread (Glenn Miller) Frenesi (Artie Shaw) I'll Never Smile Again (Tommy Dorsey) Indian Summer (Tommy Dorsey) In The Mood (Glenn Miller) Tuxedo Junction (Glenn Miller) In The Mood Glenn Miller (midi) Moonlight Serenade Glenn Miller (midi)	-----	1941 top singles of 1941 Amapola (Pretty Little Poppy) (Jimmy Dorsey w/Helen O'Connell) Chattanooga Choo Choo (Glenn Miller) Piano Concerto In B Flat (Freddy Martin) Daddy (Sammy Kaye) Green Eyes (Jimmy Dorsey w/Helen O'Connell) Maria Elena (Jimmy Dorsey) My Sister & I (Jimmy Dorsey) Elmer's Tune (Glenn Miller) Blue Champagne (Jimmy Dorsey) Song Of The Volga Boatmen (Glenn Miller) Chattanooga Choo Choo Glenn Miller (midi) Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy The Andrews Sisters (midi)
1942 top singles of 1942 White Christmas (Bing Crosby) Moonlight Cocktail (Glenn Miller) Jingle Jangle Jingle (Kay Kyser) (I've Got A Gal In) Kalamazoo (Glenn Miller) Tangerine (Jimmy Dorsey) Sleepy Lagoon (Harry James) A String Of Pearls (Glenn Miller) Blues In The Night (Woody Herman) Who Wouldn't Love You (Kay Kyser) Praise The Lord & Pass The Ammunition (Kay Kyser)		1943 top singles of 1943 I've Heard That Song Before (Harry James) Paper Doll (The Mills Brothers) Sunday, Monday Or Always (Bing Crosby) There Are Such Things (Tommy Dorsey) You'll Never Know (Dick Haymes) In The Blue Of The Evening (Tommy Dorsey) Comin' In On A Wing & A Prayer (The Song Spinners) Taking A Chance On Love (Benny Goodman) I Had The Craziest Dream (Harry James) That Old Black Magic (Glenn Miller)
1944 top singles of 1944 Swinging On A Star (Bing Crosby) Shoo-Shoo Baby (Andrews Sisters) Don't Fence Me In (Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters) Besame Mucho (Jimmy Dorsey) I'll Get By (Harry James) (There'll Be A) Hot Time In The Town Of Berlin (Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters) You Always Hurt The One You Love (The Mills Brothers) San Fernando Valley (Bing Crosby) My Heart Tells Me (Glen Gray) I Love You (Bing Crosby)		1945 top singles of 1945 Rum & Coca-Cola (Andrews Sisters) Till The End Of Time (Perry Como) Sentimental Journey (Les Brown w/Doris Day) On The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (Johnny Mercer) My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time (Les Brown) There! I've Said It Again (Vaughn Monroe) I Can't Begin To Tell You (Bing Crosby & Carmen Cavallaro) Chickery Chick (Sammy Kaye) It's Been A Long, Long Time (Harry James) I'm Beginning To See The Light (Harry James) Sentimental Journey Les Brown featuring Doris Day (midi)
1946 top singles of 1946 Come Rain Or Come Shine (Margaret Whiting) Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief (Betty Hutton) Doing What Comes Naturally (Freddy Martin) Five Minutes More (Frank Sinatra) I Love You For Sentimental Reasons (Nat "King" Cole) Let It Snow, Let It Snow (Vaughn Monroe) Oh What It Seemed To Be (Frank Sinatra) Old Lamplighter (Sammy Kaye) Personality (Johnny Mercer) Prisoner Of Love (Perry Como) Shoo Fly Pie (Stan Kenton) Sioux City Sue (Bing Crosby) The Gypsy (Ink Spots) To Each His Own (Ink Spots)		1947 top singles of 1947 Anniversary Song (Dinah Shore) Ballerina (Vaughn Monroe) Chi Baba (Perry Como) Heartaches (Ted Weems) Hugging & Chalking (Hoagy Carmichael) Mam'selle (Frank Sinatra) Managua Nicaragua (Freddy Martin) Near You (Francis Craig) Peg Of My Heart (The Harmonicats) Smoke Smoke Smoke That Cigarette (Tex Williams) Temptation (Red Ingle)
1948 top singles of 1948 Baby Face (Art Mooney) Buttons & Bows (Dinah Shore) Golden Earrings (Peggy Lee) I'll Dance At Your Wedding (Ray Noble) I'm Looking Over A Four-Leaf Clover (Art Mooney) Love Somebody (Doris Day) Manana (Peggy Lee) Maybe You'll Be There (Gordon Jenkins) Nature Boy (Nat "King" Cole) Now Is The Hour (Bing Crosby) Sabre Dance (Woody Herman) Twelfth Street Rag (Pee Wee Hunt) You Were Only Fooling (Ink Spots)		1949 top singles of 1949 A, You're Adorable (Perry Como) A Little Bird Told Me (Evelyn Knight) Baby It's Cold Outside (Margaret Whiting) Bali Hai (Perry Como) Cruising Down The River (Blue Barron) Forever & Ever (Russ Morgan) Galway Bay (Bing Crosby) I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (Les Brown) Lavender Blue (Swing & Sway With Sammy Kaye) Maybe It's Because (Dick Haymes) Mule Train (Frankie Laine) My Darling, My Darling (Jo Stafford) Powder Your Face With Sunshine (Evelyn Knight) Riders In the Sky (Vaughn Monroe) Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (Gene Autry) Slipping Around (Margaret Whiting) Some Enchanted Evening (Perry Como)

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