Top 100 Songs Of The 10’s

Over There Sheet Music Cover - Nora Bayes Artist
Over There Sheet Music Cover

Back in this era, songs were ranked by the number of sheet music sales for each song sold. Also, during this period, phonograph discs and cylinders were produced and were included in tabulating the popularity of a song. During 1910-1919, the introduction of two sided songs on a disc made big headlines being able to get two songs for the price of one. The costs of records in this decade were between 35 to 50 cents.

News Headlines In The Decade

In the news during this decade saw the sinking of the Titanic, the beginning and ending of World War I,  the election of Woodrow Wilson, the first democrat to be elected president since Grover Cleveland.  And in sports, the Black Sox Scandal took place in 1919 during the World Series in baseball.

In July of 1913, Billboard begins regular surveys of the most popular music in Vaudeville. Then, in September of 1914, Talking Machine World prints its first monthly list of the best-selling records for each major record company.

Many new artists were coming into their own and providing a ray of sunshine with many of the top hits like “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”, By The Light Of The Silvery Moon, “For Me And My Gal”, and Down By The Old Mill Stream, hit #1, and are still being recorded today.

In unrelated news, now there is a way to preserve your vinyl records and convert them to the CD format. Click here for more information.

Henry Burr
Henry Burr

Interesting Music Facts about This Decade

  • All the songs on the list were a #1 hit for a minimum of 2 weeks.
  • There were a total of 127 songs that reached the #1 peak position during this decade.
  • The years of 1915-16-17 all tied with 11 songs on the chart.
  • The artists Al Jolson and Henry Burr each had 9 songs on the chart.
  • In this era the song “Last Night Was The End Of The World” holds the longevity title for being on the chart for 22 weeks.
  • For a song to be in the top 10, it had to stay at #1 for a minimum of 8 weeks.
  • For a song to be in the top 40, it had to say at #1 for 5 weeks.
  • The biggest selling song of this decade was “Casey Jones” by Billy Murray as it sold over 2 million copies.
  • The most recorded song from this decade was “St. Louis Blues” written by H.C. Handy in 1914.
  • The song Over There a World War I tune, had six versions of the song released in 1917 with three of them, by different artists, peaking at #1. This is the most song titles reaching #1 in the same year for the same song in popular music history. The song also hit number 1 in 1918 by a fourth artist.
  • The biggest selling sheet music songs of this era was “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” in 1910, and “Down By The Old Mill Stream” in 1910, both sold 6 million copies.
Picture of John McCormack
Picture of John McCormack

Criteria Used For Ranking The Top 100 Songs

Very simply, the highest peak position reached from all charts, number weeks the song held the #1 position, the number of weeks the song was on the charts. Most charts carried 10 positions during this era. Sources used in tabulating the top 100 were: Talking Machine World, Billboard sheet music best sellers, Sheet music sales, ASCAP, Record label publications, and Best-selling records information.

The Top 100 Songs 1910-1919

The top 100 songs will include the rank, title, artist, peak weeks (), and year of release.

Rank      Title/Artist / Peak Weeks () / Year of Release

  1. Casey Jones / Billy Murray (11) 1910
  2. Just A Baby’s Prayer At Twilight / Henry Burr (11) 1918
  3. Alexander’s Ragtime Band / Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan (10) 1911
  4. Over There / American Quartet (9) 1917
  5. By The Light Of The Silvery Moon / Billy Murray & Haydn Quartet (9) 1910
  6. Till We Meet Again / Henry Burr & Albert Campbell (9) 1919
  7. Beautiful Ohio / Henry Burr (9) 1919
  8. Moonlight Bay / American Quartet (8) 1912
  9. Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody / Al Jolson (8) 1918
  10. It’s A Long, Long Way To Tipperary / John McCormack (8) 1915
  11. Down By The Old Mill Stream / Harry MacDonough (7) 1912
  12. Let Me Call You Sweetheart / Peerless Quartet (7) 1911
  13. When Irish Eyes Are Smiling / Chauncey Olcott (7) 1913
  14. When I Lost You / Henry Burr (7) 1913
  15. Peg O’ My Heart / Charles Harrison (7) 1913
  16. The Song That Stole My Heart Away / Henry Burr (7) 1914
  17. You Made My Love You / Al Jolson (7) 1913
  18. It’s A Long, Long Way To Tipperary / American Quartet (7) 1914
  19. I’m Falling In Love You Someone / John McCormack (7) 1911
  20. They Didn’t Believe Me / Olive Kline (7) 1915
  21. The Last Night Was The End Of The World / Henry Burr (6) 1913
  22. Oh! What A Pal Was Mary / Henry Burr (6) 1919
  23. Ragtime Cowboy Joe / Bob Roberts (6) 1912
  24. Where The River Shannon Flows / Harry MacDonough (6) 1910
  25. When The Midnight Choo Choo Leaves For Alabam’ / Arthur Collins & Bryon Harlan (6) 1913
  26. Waiting For The Robert E. Lee / Heidelberg Quartet (6) 1912
  27. I’m On My Way To Mandalay / Henry Burr & Albert Campbell (6) 1914
  28. Rebecca Of Sunny-brook Farm / American Quartet (6) 1914
  29. By The Beautiful Sea / Heidelberg Quartet (6) 1914
  30. M-O-T-H-E-R / Henry Burr (6) 1916
  31. Till The Clouds Roll By / Anna Wheaton & James Harrod (6) 1917
  32. Play That Barber Shop Chord / Bert Williams (6) 1910
  33. Good-Bye, Good Luck, God Bless You / Henry Burr (6) 1916
  34. Hello Frisco / Olive Kline & Reinald Werrenrath (6) 1915
  35. Poor Butterfly / Victor Military Band (6) 1917
  36. I’ll Say She Does / Al Jolson (6) 1919
  37. A Little Bit Of Heaven / George MacFarlane (5) 1915
  38. Cohen On The Telephone / Joe Hayman (5) 1914
  39. A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody / John Steel (5) 1919
  40. Carry Me Back To Old Virginny / Alma Gluck (5) 1915
  41. Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee / Ada Jones & Billy Murray (5) 1912
  42. I’m Always Chasing Rainbows / Charles Harrison (5) 1918
  43. Mother Machree / John McCormack (5) 1911
  44. Ragging The Baby To Sleep / Al Jolson (5) 1912
  45. Hello Hawaii, How Are You? / Prince’s Orchestra (5) 1916
  46. Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey / Arthur Collins & Byron Harlon (5) 1911
  47. Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag / Kinckerbacker Quartet (5) 1917
  48. The Spaniard That Blighted My Life / Al Jolson (5) 1913
  49. Under The Yum Yum Tree / Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan (5) 1911
  50. Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral / Chauncey Olcott (4) 1914
  51. Every Little Movement / Harry MacDonough (4) 1910
  52. I Didn’t Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier / Peerless Quartet (4) 1915
  53. Oh, How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning / Arthur Fields (4) 1918
  54. I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles / Ben Selvin (4) 1919
  55. Hush-A-Bye Ma Baby / Elsie Baker (4) 1917
  56. My Bird Of Paradise / Peerless Quartet (4) 1915
  57. Call Me Up Some Rainy Afternoon / Ada Jones & Billy Murray (4) 1910
  58. Meet Me To-night In Dreamland / Henry Burr (4) 1910
  59. When I Was 21 & You Were 16 / Henry Burr & Albert Campbell (4) 1912
  60. Send Me Away With A Smile / John McCormack (4) 1918
  61. My Own Iona / Hoarce Wright & Rene Dietrich (4) 1917
  62. Hail! Hail! The Gang’s All Here / Irving kaufman (4) 1918
  63. The Sunshine Of Your Smile / John McCormack (4) 1916
  64. There’s A Long, Long Trail / James F. Harrison & James Reed (3) 1916
  65. I Didn’t Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier / Morton Harvey (3) 1915
  66. Ballin’ The Jack / Prince’s Orchestra (3) 1914
  67. Come, Josephine, In My Flying Machine / Ada Jones & Billy Murray (3) 1911
  68. Till The Sand Of The Desert Grow Cold / Alan Turner (3) 1913
  69. The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine / Henry Burr & Albert Campbell (3) 1913
  70. Over There / Nora Bayes (3) 1917
  71. Turn Back The Universe And Give Me Yester Day / Orpheus Quartet (3) 1916
  72. For Me And My Gal / Van & Schenck (3) 1917
  73. Row! Row! Row! / Ada Jones (3) 1913
  74. I’m All Bound Round With The Mason Dixon Line / Al Jolson (3) 1918
  75. Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh! / American Quartet (3) 1917
  76. Love Is Mine / Enrico Caruso (3) 1912
  77. The Girl On The Magazine / Harry MacDonough (3) 1916
  78. After You’ve Gone / Marion Harris (3) 1919
  79. Hello Central, Give Me No Man’s Land / Al Jolson (3) 1918
  80. I Love The Ladies / Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan (3) 1914
  81. Ireland Must Be Heaven, For My Mother Came From There / Charles Harrison (3) 1916
  82. The Star-Spangled Banner / John McCormack (3) 1917
  83. I Sent My Wife To The Thousand Isles / Al Jolson (3) 1916
  84. If I Knock The L’ Out Of Kelly / Marguerite Farrell (3) 1916
  85. Over There / Enrico Caruso (3) 1918
  86. There’s A Quaker Down In Quaker Town / Henry Burr & Albert Campbell (3) 1916
  87. I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles / Henry Burr & Albert Campbell (2) 1919
  88. That Haunting Melody / Al Jolson (2) 1912
  89. Chinatown, My Chinatown / American Quarter (2) 1915
  90. The Aba Daba Honeymoon / Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan (2) 1914
  91. Carrie / Billy Murray (2) 1910
  92. I Love You Truly / Elsie Baker (2) 1912
  93. In The Valley Of Yesterday / Harry MacDonough (2) 1910
  94. Tiger Rag / Original Dixieland Jazz Band (2) 1918
  95. Come, Josephine, In My Flying Machine / Blanche Ring (2) 1911
  96. Close To My Heart / Henry Burr & Albert Campbell (2) 1915
  97. My Little Dream Girl / James F. Harrison & James Reed (2) 1915
  98. Till We Meet Again / Nicholas Orlando’s Orchestra (2) 1919
  99. Over There / Peerless Quartet (2) 1917
  100. Mother Machree / Will Oakland (2) 1911

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