1945

On the week of the 18^th of January 1945, the USA introduced a third singles chart to go alongside the Best-Selling Retail Records and Most Played Juke Box Records. This chart was the Disks With Most Radio Plugs, but just for its first week and by the second week had its name changed to Records Most Played On The Air. We will be considering all three charts equally official as Billboard did at the time. When it comes to listing the singles that reached number one, we will list the song chronologically when it hit no.1 on any of the charts and give priority to the chart on which it remained at the top for the longest. Therefore, Accentuate The Positive by Johnny Mercer is considered as a number one hit, even though it only peaked at no.2 on the Retail sales and the Juke Box charts. Till The End Of Time by Perry Como is listed with the date it reached no.1 on the Retail chart as it had ten weeks at the top of that chart, compared to just nine weeks at the top of both the other charts. Inversely, Chickery Chick by Swing & Sway With Sammy Kaye is listed with the date it first hit no.1 on the Most Played On the Air chart as it had four weeks on top of that, compared to three weeks at no.1 on the Retail sales chart and two weeks at no.1 on the Juke Box chart. Records that peaked at no.2 are treated in the same way and therefore as previously mentioned, Accentuate The Positive is not considered no.2 hit.

228. 1 February 1945

Andrews Sisters (with Vic Schoen & His Orchestra)

Rum And Coca Cola

Written by Lord Invader & Lionel Belasco

No.1 for 10 weeks (juke box)
10 February 1945 No.1 for 8 weeks (sales)

When Don’t Fence Me In had completed its run at the top, The Andrews Sisters replaced it at no.1 in both the Retail sales chart and the Juke Box chart, remaining at the top in the former for eight weeks and the latter for ten weeks. They were presented with the song but had no idea of the battle raging behind the scenes as it had been written by Lionel Belasco who had settled on the island of Trinidad and a local calypso writer Rupert Westmore Grant, going by the name of Lord Invader. In the USA, the copyright of the song was bought by Moray Amsterdam who then proceeded to clean up and sanitise some of the more unsavoury lyrics and credit his name on the label as the composer. The original composers sued for copyright infringement and won substantial damages although Amsterdam was left free to continue to credit his name as composer. The Andrews Sisters admitted they like the song for its Calypso rhythm but never gave a thought to the meaning of the lyrics they were singing which even in the sanitised version was about US soldiers visiting the tropical island of Trinidad and expecting the local girls to prostitute themselves, if you ever go down Trinidad they make you feel so very glad, Calypso sing and make up rhyme guarantee you one real good fine time, drinkin’ rum and Coca-Cola, go down Point Koomahnah, both mother and daughter workin’ for the Yankee dollar. By this time in early February there was a third chart in the US, based on number of plays on the radio and many radio stations refused to play Rum And Coca Cola as they weren’t allowed to promote alcohol and the song spoke constantly of rum. So in the new airplay chart, it only peaked at no.2. In the UK, the song did even worse as the BBC banned the song completely, not because of alcohol, nor because of the lyrics stating blatantly that the girls were working as prostitutes but because it prominently mentioned the product Coca Cola throughout the song which charted but at a lowly position 14.

229. 8 March 1945

Johnny Mercer & Pied Pipers (with Paul Weston & His Orchestra)

Ac cent Tchu Ate The Positive

Written by Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer

No.1 for 2 weeks (disc jockeys)

The song Accentuate The Positive was listed on the record label as Ac-Cent Tchu-Ate The Positive and was the first to stop at no.2 both the Sales and Juke Box charts but go all the way to the top in the Radio plays chart, so it was the most popular record to listen to for two weeks in March but when it came to spending their money, people preferred to buy Don’t Fence Me In in stores and Rum And Coca Cola on Juke Boxes. However, Accentuate The Positive did spend two weeks at no.1 in the new chart that was named Disks With Most Radio Plugs just for its first week in January 1945 but by the second week had changed to Records Most Played On The Air. It featured in the romantic comedy film Here Come The Waves starring Bing Crosby and Betty Hutton but the most successful version in the charts was by the composer himself. The song was in the form of a sermon, preaching that you should always give prominence to the positive and eliminate the negative and the introductory verse was sung as a preacher beginning his speech, gather round me everybody, gather round me while I preach some, feel a sermon coming on me, the topic will be sin and that’s what I’m agin, if you wanna hear my story, then settle back and just sit tight, while I start reviewing, an attitude of doing right. It was the first time at the top as an artist for Johnny Mercer although as a composer he had now written thirteen no.1 singles. There were two further top ten versions of the song by Artie Shaw & His Orchestra and Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters which was the only one to chart in the UK.

230. 22 March 1945

Johnny Mercer & Jo Stafford & Pied Pipers (with Paul Weston & His Orchestra)

Candy

Written by Alex Kramer, Mack David & Joan Whitney

No.1 for 1 week (disc jockeys)
31 May 1945 No.1 for 1 week (juke box)

The composing team that had previously written It’s Love Love Love for Guy Lombardo had their second no.1 although for the husband and wife team of Kramer and Whitney it was actually their third chart topper, having also composed My Sister And I. Jo Elizabeth Stafford was born in Coalinga, California in 1917 and had been the lead singer, albeit uncredited separately with The Pied Pipers. On the single, Candy her name appeared at no.1 for the first time as she was given a separate billing as Johnny Mercer had his second no.1 single and this time he also topped the Juke Box chart, although remaining at no.2 in Retail sales. The Pied Pipers opened the song with Candy I call my sugar Candy, and then Johnny Mercer entered for the next two lines, because I’m sweet on Candy and Candy’s sweet on me, she understands me and then they alternated, my understanding Candy and Candy’s always handy when I need sympathy, I wish that there were four of her, so I could love much more of her, she has taken my complete heart, got a sweet tooth for my sweetheart Candy, it’s gonna be just dandy the day I take my Candy and make her mine all mine. The biggest hit in the UK was by Harry Roy & His Orchestra which peaked at no.12.

231. 7 April 1945

Les Brown & His Orchestra (Vocal chorus by Doris Day)

My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time

Written by Vic Mizzy & Manny Curtis

No.1 for 7 weeks (sales)
21 April 1945 No.1 for 7 weeks (juke box)
7 April 1945 No.1 for 3 weeks (disc jockeys)

My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time was a number one single on all three charts, the Retail sales and Juke Box for seven weeks and Most Played On The Air for three. Les Brown was born Lester Raymond Brown in Reinerton, Pennsylvania in 1912 and had been the bandleader of his own orchestra since the late-1930s but didn’t achieve his first hit single until he recruited Doris Day, born Doris Mary Kappelhoff in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1922, as the band’s vocalist. The song was introduced in the Abbott and Costello comedy, In Society and sung by Marion Hutton but taken into the charts by four different artists, Johnny Long & His Orchestra, Phil Moore Four, The Pied Pipers and the biggest hit version by Les Brown, none of which charted in the UK. There were quite a few words to sing and Day sung them through once slowly, well what do you know he smiled at me in my dreams last night, my dreams are getting better all the time, and what do you know he smiled at me in a different light, my dreams are getting better all the time, to think that we were strangers a couple of nights ago, and though it’s a dream I never dreamed he’d ever say hello, oh maybe tonight I’ll hold him tight when the moonbeams shine, my dreams are getting better all the time. Then the orchestra speeded up the tempo of the song for the final minute and she repeated the final four lines.

232. 14 April 1945

Harry James & His Orchestra (Vocal chorus by Kitty Kallen)

I’m Beginning To See The Light

Written by Duke Ellington, Don George, Johnny Hodges & Harry James

No.1 for 1 week (disc jockeys)
28 April 1945 returned to no.1 for 1 week

Harry James & His Orchestra had their fifth no.1 single but the first with Kitty Kallen on vocals, although she had previously sung on Jimmy Dorsey’s Besame Mucho. I’m Beginning To See The Light was more like a thirties song than the forties as Harry James allowed his trumpet to dominate in an instrumental intro that lasted for one minute twenty-seven seconds before Kitty Kallen came in with the vocals, I never cared much for moonlit skies, I never wink back at fireflies, but now that the stars are in your eyes, I’m beginning to see the light, I never went in for afterglow, or candlelight on the mistletoe, but now when you turn the lamp down low, I’m beginning to see the light, used to ramble through the park, shadow boxing in the dark, then you came and caused a spark, that’s a four-alarm fire now, I never made love by lantern-shine, I never saw rainbows in my wine, but now that your lips are burning mine, I’m beginning to see the light. Although this was obviously a love song about seeing the light in a relationship, the title was thought of as a metaphor for beginning to see the light at the end of a long period of darkness as the war was obviously drawing to a close. Eventually after six long years of darkness (or four years for the Americans) or even twelve years for the ordinary German people, there was a light that could be seen as the Allies closed in through Western and Southern Germany and the Russians moved in for the kill towards Berlin from the East. The song only hit no.6 in the Retail sales chart and no.4 in Juke boxes but topped the Most played on the air charts for two weeks. There were three other versions in the top ten by the Phil Moore Four, Ink Spots & Ella Fitzgerald and by the composer Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra with the Harry James version, the only top twenty hit in the UK.

233. 5 May 1945

Pied Pipers (with Paul Weston & His Orchestra)

Dream

Written by Johnny Mercer

No.1 for 1 week (disc jockeys)

The Pied Pipers had already been credited on two no.1 singles this year, Accentuate The Positive and Candy and both had been as a secondary artist to Johnny Mercer and both were also backed by Paul Weston & His Orchestra. This time Mercer left the vocals entirely to the Pied Pipers and they had their first solo no.1, again backed by Paul Weston. Johnny Mercer wasn’t completely absent from this hit however as he was the sole composer credited, moving him up to fourteen no.1s on the all-time list, just one behind Mack Gordon and two behind Harry Warren. Dream could only hit no.7 on both the Retail and Juke Box charts and had to settle for a share of the top position in Radio plays with Les Brown who also moved up to no.1 for his second long run at the top. By this time, The Pied Pipers had replaced Jo Stafford as lead singer by June Hutton as Stafford had left to pursue her solo career. As would one expect for a song called Dream, this was very slow and dreamy as they sang in harmony throughout, dream when you’re feelin’ blue, dream that’s the thing to do, dream while the smoke rings rise in the air, you’ll find your share of memories there, so dream when the day is through, dream and they might come true, things never are as bad as they seem, so dream dream dream. In the UK, the only top ten version of the song was by Vaughan Monroe who would have to wait until 1947 before he hit the top ten for just one week.

234. 5 May 1945

Les Brown & His Orchestra (Vocal chorus by Doris Day)

Sentimental Journey  

Written by Les Brown, Ben Homer & Bud Green

No.1 for 9 weeks (sales)
16 June 1945 26 April 1945 No.1 for 7 weeks (juke box)
5 May 1945 No.1 for 7 weeks (disc jockeys)

Les Brown achieved his second no.1 of 1945 with Sentimental Journey, again using the vocals of Doris Day. Sentimental Journey like My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time topped all three charts but was biggest in Retail sales, remaining at no.1 for nine weeks. Unlike My Dreams, this song remained at a slow tempo all the way through as Day sang, gonna take a sentimental journey, gonna set my heart at ease, gonna make a sentimental journey to renew old memories, got my bag got my reservation, spent each dime I could afford, like a child in wild anticipation, long to hear that all aboard, seven that’s the time we leave at seven, I’ll be waitin’ up for heaven, countin’ every mile of railroad track that takes me back, never thought my heart could be so yearny why did I decide to roam? gotta take that sentimental journey, sentimental journey home. On the Most Plays On The Air charts, it reached the top first at the end of April for just one week and then it dropped down for the five weeks of May only to rise again to no.1 in June as it was beginning its run at the top of the Retail sales charts. Les Brown co-write the song and one of his collaborators was Bud Green who had been at no.1 previously in 1937 with Once In A While. In the UK, the only version to reach charts was by The Merry Macs who hit no.12. Les Brown never topped the charts again after his double in 1945 but he led his orchestra through to the 21st century until he died in 2001 aged 88. As for his vocalist, Doris Day, she would become one of solo singing stars of the early to mid 1950s.   

235. 12 May 1945

Vaughn Monroe & His Orchestra (Vocal refrain by Vaughn Monroe & Norton Sisters)

There I’ve Said It Again

Written by Redd Evans & David Mann

No.1 for 5 weeks (disc jockeys)
28 July 1945 returned to no.1 for 1 week

Vaughn Monroe & His Orchestra had their first no.1 single in both the USA and the UK with the song There I’ve Said It Again on which he credited himself as providing the vocal refrain along with the Norton Sisters, Betty, Grace and Dottie. The single hit no.2 on both the Retail sales and Juke Box charts and had a strange run in the Most Played On The Air charts with five weeks at no.1 throughout May 1945, then six weeks at no.2 before returning to the top for one final week in July. Monroe’s deep baritone voice can be heard singing prominently throughout with the Sisters adding harmony on some lines and ooohs on others, I love you there’s nothing to hide, it’s better than burning inside, I love you no use to pretend, there I’ve said it again, I’ve said it what more can I say, believe me there’s no other way, I love you I will to the end, there I’ve said it again, I’ve tried to drum up a phrase that would sum up all that I feel for you, but what good are phrases the thought that amazes is you love me and it’s heavenly, forgive me for wanting you so, but one thing I want you to know, I’ve loved you since heaven knows when, there I’ve said it again. The first recorded version of the song was by Benny Carter & His Orchestra who never had a hit single and the hit versions were by Vaughn Monroe and Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra and the song would make a spectacular comeback all the way to no.1 for Bobby Vinton at the beginning of 1964.

236. 28 July 1945

Johnny Mercer & Pied Pipers (with Paul Weston & His Orchestra)

On The Atchison Topeka And The Santa Fe

Written by Harry Warren & Johnny Mercer

No.1 for 8 weeks (juke box)
28 July 1945 No.1 for 7 weeks (sales)
4 August 1945 No.1 for 6 weeks (disc jockeys)

The third no.1 single in 1945 by Johnny Mercer and the fourth by The Pied Pipers was with the song On The Atchison Topeka And The Santa Fe and if Mercer needed a co-writer, he couldn’t have chosen better than Harry Warren, the most successful composer to date with seventeen no.1s to his name to date, although Mercer himself was closing in, just two behind now, equal with Mack Gordon. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway opened in 1859 to join Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, with Santa Fe, New Mexico and was the centrepiece of the film Harvey Girls starring Judy Garland and the song was written for the principle cast to tell their stories why they were travelling, do ya hear that whistle down the line? I figure that it’s engine number forty nine, she’s the only one that’ll sound that way, on the Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe. The Pied Pipers joined in with, here she comes whoo hoo hoo hoo hoo, All aboard all aboard, chuga-chuga-chuga-chuga woo-woo, chuga-chuga-chuga-chuga woo-woo, see the towns and the roads go a-whizzin’ by, fare thee well Laramie Albuquerque high, yesiree here we are goin’ all the way, mustn’t quit till we hit Californiay, she’s got a list of passengers that’s pretty big, and they’ll all want lifts to Brown’s hotel, ’cause of lots of them been travellin’ for quite a spell, all the way from Philadelphiay, on the Atchison Topeka and the Santa Fe. Despite the name checks in the lyrics, the train never went as far as California, nor Philadelphia and didn’t go anywhere near Laramie in Wyoming. The song hit no.1 on all three charts, for seven weeks in Retail sales, six weeks on Airplay and eight in the Juke Box charts. There were three other versions of the song in the top ten by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra, Judy Garland & Merry Macs and Bing Crosby with Six Hits & A Miss, the hit version in the UK which hit no.1 in May 1946.

237. 15 September 1945

Perry Como (with orchestra conducted by Russell Case)

Till The End Of Time

Written by Buddy Kaye, Ted Mossman & Frédéric Chopin

No.1 for 10 weeks (sales)
29 September 1945 No.1 for 9 weeks (juke box)
15 September 1945 No.1 for 9 weeks (disc jockeys)

Frédéric Chopin was added to the list of credits as the melody was based on his Polonaise, not the first time that the Polish composer had one of his melodies adapted into a pop song and taken to no.1, following Charles Harrison’s I’m Always Chasing Rainbows, a monthly no.1 from December 1918 based on his Fantaisie Impromptu. Perry Como was born Pierino Ronald Como in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania in 1912    and had been the vocalist for the Ted Weems Orchestra in the late-1930s. Till The End Of Time which spent ten weeks at no.1 in the Retail sales chart, a record to date only beaten by five other hits. As Chopin’s Polonaise, Till The End Of Time began with a dramatic piano but then the melody mellowed into a love song, till the end of time long as stars are in the blue, long as there’s a Spring of birds to sing I’ll go on loving you, till the end of time long as roses bloom in May, my love for you will grow deeper with every passing day, till the wells run dry and each mountain disappears, I’ll be there for you to care for you through laughter and through tears, so take my heart in sweet surrender and tenderly say that I’m the one you love and live for till the end of time.

238. 17 November 1945

Swing & Sway With Sammy Kaye (Vocal refrain by Nancy Norman, Billy Williams & Kaye Choir)

Chickery Chick

Written by Sylvia Dee & Sidney Lippman

No.1 for 1 week (disc jockeys)
1 December 1945 returned to no.1 for 3 weeks
17 November 1945 No.1 for 3 weeks (sales)
15 December 1945 No.1 for 2 weeks (juke box)

Chickery Chick was even more of a nonsense novelty song than Mairzy Doats because at least that song explained what the lyrics means in the central verse and then it wasn’t such nonsense after all. Chickery Chick on the other hand was not explained and was a song about a chicken who would say chick chick all day and one day, he got sick and tired of saying the same old thing and changed it to chickery chick cha-la cha-la, check-a-la romey in a bananika, bollika wollika, can’t you see, chickery chick is me. Some advice is given that should you feel like that chicken and get tired of the same old words, be just like him and find something new to sing even if its chickery chick cha-la cha-la check-a-la romey in a bananika etc. Nancy Norman and Billy Williams were members of the Kaye Choir who were credited with Sammy Kaye on his previous no.1 single, Daddy but this time, they received a separate credit. Chickery Chick hit no.1 on all three charts, two weeks on Juke Boxes, three weeks on Retail sales and four weeks on Most Played On The Air. In the UK, the only version to chart was by Joe Loss & His Orchestra and only at no.26.

239. 15 November 1945

Harry James & His Orchestra (Vocal refrain by Kitty Kallen)

It’s Been A Long Long Time

Written by Jule Styne & Sammy Cahn

No.1 for 2 weeks (sales)
22 December 1945 returned to no.1 for 1 week
24 November No.1 for 2 weeks (disc jockeys)

On the Retail sales chart, Harry James version of It’s Been A Long Long Time reached the top before Bing Crosby’s and since Your Hit Parade didn’t allow for multiple versions of the same song, this was the first occasion that two songs had topped the charts since the monthly pre-chart era in 1928 when Ramona by Paul Whiteman and Gene Austin were equally popular. This was a perfect example of how to interpret a song in two totally different ways, Crosby opening the song with just twelve seconds of guitar notes picked out individually by Les Paul and gave the trio a slow instrumental section in the middle. Harry James alternately had one minute and eight seconds of a full orchestra introduction led by his trumpet and then Kitty Kallen sang an introductory verse that wasn’t used by Crosby, never thought that you would be standing here so close to me, there’s so much I feel that I should say, but words can wait until some other day. Then Harry James brought back the orchestra for a big finish while Crosby just sang the final few lines with Les Paul again, picking out some guitar notes.    

240. 1 December 1945

Bing Crosby (with Les Paul & His Trio)

It’s Been A Long Long Time

Written by Jule Styne & Sammy Cahn

No.1 for 2 weeks (juke box)
8 December 1945 No.1 for 1 week (sales)

The two versions of It’s Been A Long Long Time both hit the top of the charts but Bing Crosby is listed first by virtue of his two-week run at no.1 on the Juke Box charts beginning slightly earlier than Harry James three-week run in Retail sales. Crosby was accompanied by the Les Paul Trio, led by Les Paul born Lester William Polsfuss in Waukesha, Wisconsin in 1915 and featuring rhythm guitarist Jim Atkins and bassist/percussionist Ernie Darius Newton. Les Paul would go on to become one of the pioneers of the solid body electric guitar. This was a song that resonated well with couples re-uniting after the war and a long long time away from each other as Crosby sang, kiss me once then kiss me twice then kiss me once again, it’s been a long long time, haven’t felt like this my dear since I can’t remember when, it’s been a long long time, you’ll never know how many dreams I’ve dreamed about you, or just how empty they all seemed without you, so kiss me once then kiss me twice then kiss me once again, it’s been a long long time. With his version of It’s Been A Long Long Time, Bing Crosby achieved his twenty-first no.1 single but reached the landmark of one hundred weeks at the top. It was also the eighth no.1 single in both the USA and the UK, six of which had been by Bing Crosby.

241. 22 December 1945

Bing Crosby (with Carmen Cavallaro at the piano)

I Can’t Begin To Tell You

Written by James V Monaco & Mack Gordon

No.1 for 1 week (juke box)
5 January 1946 returned to no.1 for 5 weeks
19 January 1946 No.1 for 1 week (sales)

I Can’t Begin To Tell You hit no.1 in mid-December on the Juke Box charts for Bing Crosby giving him his twenty-second chart topper in total and eleventh of the 1940s. He had to wait until the third week of January for the song to cross over to the top of the Retail sales charts and it only remained at the top for one week. On his previous hit he had used the small guitar led combo of the Les Paul Trio and on this hit he was supported by Carmen Cavallaro at the piano. He was born in New York City in 1913 and formed his own small band in the late-1930s which expended into a full orchestra and earlier in 1945 his orchestra had hit no.3 remaining in that position for ten weeks with a recording of Chopin’s Polonaise and was still at no.3 when Perry Como took his pop song adaptation of the melody to no.1. The song was introduced in the biographical film The Dolly Sisters and sung by John Payne and then reprised by Betty Grable. Bing Crosby had the first recording on disc and sang, I can’t begin to tell you how much you mean to me, my world would end if ever we were through, I can’t begin to tell you how happy I would be, if I could speak my mind like others do, I make such pretty speeches whenever we’re apart, but when you’re near the words I choose refuse to leave my heart, so take the sweetest phrases the world has ever known and make believe I’ve said them all to you. In the UK, the song peaked at no.2 for Crosby and no.3 by Steve Conway. Crosby (with Ken Darby Singers & John Scott Trotter & His Orchestra)

242. 29 December 1945

Bing Crosby (with Ken Darby Singers & John Scott Trotter & His Orchestra)

White Christmas

Written by Irving Berlin

No.1 for 2 weeks (disc jockeys)

Having spent eleven weeks on top of the charts in 1942, Bing Crosby’s all-time best-seller White Christmas returned to the Retail sales chart, peaking at no.9. Obviously, most people who wanted to buy the record had done so in 1942. Most places that stocked Juke Boxes also re-introduced the song and it re-entered that chart too, hitting no.4. However on the new Most Played On The Air charts which were coming to the end of their first year, the record was proving the most popular to play on radio and it climbed back up to no.1 for two further weeks, the final two weeks of the year. In the UK, they were getting used to White Christmas re-entering the charts. After its initial run of three weeks at the top in 1942, it had climbed back up to no.2 in both 1943 and 1944 and this year, it went one better and like in the USA, had another week at no.1 on the final week of 1945.

Summary 1945

1946