A Salute to the Golden Age of American Popular Music

We salute the music from Broadway, Hollywood, New Orleans, Tin Pan Alley and the "melody makers;" i.e. the bands and singers that brought the music to us via the radio, recordings and live events in the period from the 1920's to the 1960's. This is the golden period of Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Larry Hart, Oscar Hammerstein, Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, Jimmy Van Heusen, Harold Arlen, Harry Warren, etc.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

The Top Songs of 1944-Bing Crosby's 'Swinging On A Star' number one


Here are the Top Ten Songs of 1944;

1) Bing Crosby, "Swinging on a Star"
2) Andrews Sisters, "Shoo-Shoo Baby"
3) Bing Crosby & Andrews Sisters, "Don't Fence Me In"
4) Jimmy Dorsey, "Besame Mucho"
5) Harry James, "I'll Get By"
6) Merry Macs, "Mairzy Doats"
7) Bing Crosby, "San Fernando Valley"
8) Bing Crosby, "I Love You"
9) Mills Brothers, "You Always Hurt the One You Love"
10) Dinah Shore, "I'll Walk Alone"

Bing Crosby starred in the movie "Going My Way" (Swinging On A Star-Oscar winning song by Jimmy Van Heusen). Only two big band tunes, from Jimmy Dorsey and Harry James, made the top ten list. "I'll Get By" has since become one of the best love songs of the century.
Here is Bing in a clip from "Going My Way" singing "Swinging On A Star."
Read about the creation of the song by Jimmy Van Heusen.

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