Greatest Hits of the 1940’s
Do you know which song of this decade was the most popular? Which song spent the most weeks at the number one position? You will be surprised at the results. Below you will find the 100 top ranking songs of this decade 1940 through 1949.
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Charts Used For Compiling Top 100 Songs
The following resources were used to compile the list of the 100 songs of the 40’s:
- Your Hit Parade (April 1935-July 1940)
- Billboard Radio Airplay charts
- ASCAP
- Billboard “Music Box Machine (1938-1944)
- Most Played in Juke Boxes (1944-1954)
- Billboard regional favorites (1940-19440
- Billboard “up and coming hits” (Nov. 1947 – May 1948)
- Billboard “Best Buys”
The number of positions that were ranked during this era were 15-30.
Every song that made this list had to peak at the coveted #1 position. On top of that, each song had to stay at the #1 position for a minimum of three weeks.
The songs are ranked by the following criteria:
- Number of weeks at the #1 peak position
- Number of weeks in the top 10
- Number of weeks in the top 40
- Total weeks charted
Interesting Facts:
- Bing Crosby is the artist with the most songs on this chart with 12, and Glenn Miller has 9.
- The year of 1944, has the most songs on the chart with 12.
- There were a total of 178 songs that peaked at the number 1 position during the 1940’s.
- The song Peg O’ My Heart” was recorded by six different artists in 1947 and all went to the top 10, with three peaking at number 1 for a total of 18 combined weeks and made the top 100 chart of the 40’s. This is the second time that a year had three #1’s for the same song. In 1917, “Over There“, accomplished the same feat.
- The longevity title goes to the song “You Always Hurt The One You Love” by the Mills Brothers as it was on the charts for 33 weeks.
- The song “There! I’ve Said It Again” by Vaughn Monroe #1 for 6 weeks, was also recorded by Bobby Vinton with the same title in 1964, and peaked at the #1 position for 4 weeks.
- The song White Christmas by Bing Crosby recorded in 1943, is the biggest selling record of all time with over 50 million copies sold. This song is also ranked #8 on the list of the 100 most recorded songs from 1890-1954.
This listing will consist of rank, title, artist, weeks at #1 (), and year of release. Note: An (I) after a title denotes an instrumental song.
Rank Title/Artist/Peak Weeks ()/Year
- Near You / Francis Craig (17) 1947
- White Christmas / Bing Crosby (14) 1942
- Frenesi (I) / Artie Shaw (13) 1940
- I’ve Heard That Song Before / Harry James (13) 1943
- The Gypsy / Ink Spots (13) 1946
- Heartaches / Ted Weens (13) 1947
- Paper Doll / Mills Brothers (12) 1943
- In The Mood (I) / Glenn Miller (12) 1940
- Riders In The Sky / Vaughn Monroe (12) 1949
- I’ll Never Smile Again / Tommy Dorsey (12) 1940
- Oh! What It Seemed To Be / Frankie Carle (11) 1946
- Buttons And Bows / Dinah Shore (10) 1948
- Ballerina / Vaughn Monroe (10) 1947
- Rum And Coca-Cola / Andrews Sisters (10) 1945
- Till The End Of Time / Perry Como (10) 1945
- Moonlight Cocktail (I) / Glenn Miller (10) 1942
- Amapola / Jimmy Dorsey (10) 1941
- Sentimental Journey / Les Brown (9) 1945
- Swinging On A Star / Bing Crosby (9) 1944
- Chattanoogia Choo Choo / Glenn Miller (9) 1941
- Shoo-Shoo Baby / Andrews Sisters (9) 1944
- Manana (Is Soon Enough For Me) / Peggy Lee (9) 1948
- Only Forever / Bing Crosby (9) 1940
- Tuxedo Junction (I) / Glenn Miller (9) 1940
- Rumors Are Flying / Frankie Carle (9) 1946
- Pistol Packin’ Mama / Al Dexter & His Troopers (8) 1943
- Twelfth Street Rag / Pee Wee Hunt (8) 1948
- Peg O’ My Heart (I) / Harmonicats (8) 1947
- Piano Concerto In B Flat (I) / Freddy Martin (8) 1941
- To Each His Own / Eddy Howard (8) 1946
- That Lucky Old Sun / Frankie Laine (8) 1949
- Don’t Fence Me In / Bing Crosby & Andrews Sisters (8) 1944
- The Gypsy / Dinah Shore (8) 1946
- (I’ve Got A Gal In) Kalamazoo / Glenn Miller (8) 1942
- Daddy / Sammy Kaye (8) 1941
- Nature Boy / Nat “King” Cole (8) 1948
- Oh! What It Seemed To Be / Frank Sinatra (8) 1946
- Jingle, Jangle, Jingle / Key Kyser (8) 1942
- Besame Mucho / Jimmy Dorsey (7) 1943
- You Can’t Be True Dear (7) 1948
- Cruising Down The River / Russ Morgan (7) 1949
- A Little Bird Told Me / Evelyn Knight (7) 1949
- Cruising Down The River / Blue Barron (7) 1949
- Sunday, Monday Or Always / Bing Crosby (7) 1943
- You’ll Never Know / Dick Haymes (7) 1943
- The Old Lamplighter / Sammy Kaye (7) 1946
- The Woodpecker Song / Glenn Miller (7) 1940
- My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time / Les Brown (7) 1945
- There! I’ve Said It Again / Vaughn Monroe (6) 1945
- I’ll Get By / Harry James (6) 1944
- There Are Such Things / Tommy Dorsey (6) 1943
- For Sentimental Reasons / Nat “King” Cole (6) 1946
- You Call Everybody Darlin’ / Al Trace (6) 1948
- I Can’t Begin To Tell You / Bing Crosby (6) 1945
- Maria Elena / Jimmy Dorsey (6) 1941
- Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) / Tex Williams (6) 1947
- Tangerine / Jimmy Dorsey (6) 1942
- Peg O’ My Heart / Buddy Clark (6) 1947
- Woody Woodpecker / Kay Kyser (6) 1948
- A Hot Time In The Town Of Berlin / Bing Crosby (6) 1944
- Mule Train / Frankie Laine (6) 1949
- You Always Hurt The One You Love / Mills Brothers (5) 1944
- Some Enchanted Evening / Perry Como (5) 1949
- I Can Dream Can’t I / Andrews Sisters (5) 1949
- Love Somebody / Doris Day & Buddy Clark (5) 1948
- A Tree In The Meadow / Margaret Whiting (5) 1948
- San Fernando Valley / Bing Crosby (5) 1944
- My Heart Tells Me / Glen Gray (5) 1944
- I Love You / Bing Crosby (5) 1944
- I’m Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover / Art Mooney (5) 1948
- When You Wish Upon A Star / Glenn Miller (5) 1940
- Mairzy Doats / Merry Macs (5) 1944
- Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! / Vaughn Monroe (5) 1946
- Careless / Glenn Miller (5) 1940
- You And I / Glenn Miller (5) 1941
- You’re Breaking My Heart (4) 1949
- I’ll Walk Alone / Dinah Shore (4) 1944
- Green Eyes / Jimmy Dorsey (4) 1941
- I’ll Be Seeing You / Bing Crosby (4) 1944
- Five Minutes More / Frank Sinatra (4) 1946
- Sleepy Lagoon / Harry James (4) 1942
- Jersey Bounce (I)/ Benny Goodman (4) 1942
- Peg o’ My Heart (I) / Three Suns (4) 1947
- Blues In The Night / Woody Herman (4) 1942
- Trade Winds / Bing Crosby (4) 1940
- As Time Goes By / Rudy Vallee (4) 1943
- Chickery Chick / Sammy Kaye (4) 1945
- Sierra Sue / Bing Crosby (4) 1940
- He Wears A Pair Of Silver Wings / Kay Kyser (4) 1942
- There’ll Be Some Changes Made / Benny Goodman (4) 1941
- Forever And Ever / Russ Morgan (3) 1949
- Now Is The Hour / Bing Crosby (3) 1948
- Slippin’ Around / Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely (3) 1949
- Prisoner Of Love / Perry Como (3) 1946
- In The Blue Of The Evening / Tommy Dorsey (3) 1943
- It’s Been A Long, Long Time / Harry James (3) 1945
- We Three / Ink Spots (3) 1941
- Somebody Else Is Taking My Place / Benny Goodman (3) 1942
- When The Lights Go On Again / Vaughn Monroe (3) 1943
- Ferryboat Serenade / Andrews Sisters (3) 1940
Source for the above chart: Pop memories 1890-1954 “The History of American Popular Music” by Joel Whitburn.
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