Summary 1945

By the early-1920s radio broadcasting became a household medium as people found a new way to listen to music and unlike buying a recording or dropping a coin in a Juke Box, it was all totally free once one had purchased the necessary receiving equipment. Radio airplay of songs is considered a public performance and therefore the radio stations do not have to pay the performers on the recording, unlike on a live recording commissioned by the station for broadcast. They do however generate performance royalties for the songwriters, if not the performing artists and the station would have to recoup these fees from advertising or any other source of revenue, in the UK for example via a compulsory license fee. From the 1920s onwards therefore, it became more and more popular to listen to the radio in order to hear the biggest hit records and the only drawback was that it was the stations which decided which songs to play and the public were not given a choice. However, because the stations waned to remain relevant and play what they thought their listeners wanted to hear, they based their playlists around the popular songs, or the songs they believed would become popular. For the record companies who were collecting composers’ royalties on every play, this was yet another source of revenue and an opportunity to create a chart to note the most played records across the country, which is what Billboard did early in 1945. They already had a chart based on retail sales and another based on Juke Box plays and now there would be a third chart, tracking what was being played On The Air. On the Retail sales chart there were only eight number one singles during 1945 as several of them remained at the top for a very long time. There were nine number one singles on the Juke Box charts and thirteen chart toppers on the new Most Played On The Air charts with five recordings crossing over to top all three charts and fifteen titles reaching no.1 in at least one of the charts. Bing Crosby achieved three no.1 singles during 1945 to take his all-time total to twenty-two, all three this year were recorded with a different backing, It’s Been A Long Long Time saw the debut no.1 for guitarist Les Paul, I Can’t Begin To Tell You used the pianist Carmen Cavallaro and the re-appearance at no.1 on the Airplay chart of White Christmas was record with John Scott Trotter & His Orchestra. One group with even more appearances at no.1 in 1945 was the Pied Pipers who appeared in their own right on the single Dream and with Johnny Mercer on two of his three no.1s, Candy and On The Atchison Topeka And The Santa Fe. Johnny Mercer did have a third no.1 single in 1945 without the Pied Pipers, Accentuate The Positive. Two long running no.1 hits were by Les Brown & His Orchestra with the vocalist Doris Day, seven weeks with My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time and nine weeks with Sentimental Journey. Harry James & His orchestra achieved two no.1 singles both with vocalist Kitty Kallen, I’m Beginning To See The Light and a second chart topping version of the song It’s Been A Long Long Time. The songs with the most weeks at no.1 this year were the Andrews Sisters Rum And Coca Cola, their fifth chart topper, and newcomer Perry Como with Till The End Of Time, both with ten weeks at the top. Swing & Sway With Sammy Kaye had a novelty no.1 hit with Chickery Chick and it was the first time at the top by Vaughn Monroe & His Orchestra with the song There I’ve Said It Again. With the opportunity to reach the top of three different charts, Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters had two singles stop at no.2 on at least one of the charts, as did Benny Goodman & His Orchestra. Two different versions of Bell Bottom Trousers by Tony Pastor and Guy Lombardo both stopped at no.2 as did two different versions of the song I’ll Buy That Dream by Helen Forrest & Dick Haymes and Harry James & His Orchestra. Stan Kenton had his biggest chart hit with Tampico and also appearing at no.2 in 1945 were Frank Sinatra and Woody Herman & His Orchestra. For the composers, across the fifteen number one hits, Johnny Mercer was credited with three of them, taking his total up to fifteen, with the two versions of It’s Been A Long Long Time, Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn moved up the list of composers with the most no.1s, as did Harry Warren, now with seventeen and Mack Gordon with sixteen. Harold Arlen and James V Monaco both moved up to six no.1s. Duke Ellington, Alex Kramer and Joan Whitney all had their third chart toppers and it was the second time at no.1 for Mack David and Bud Green with a further sixteen composers credited for the first time.

Top singles of 1945 USA
1 Andrews Sisters – Rum And Coca Cola
2 Les Brown – Sentimental Journey
3 Perry Como – Till The End Of Time
4 Les Brown – My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time
5 Johnny Mercer – On The Atchison Topeka & The Santa Fe
6 Harry James – It’s Been A Long Long Time
7 Bing Crosby – I Can’t Begin To Tell You
8 Johnny Mercer – Accentuate The Positive
9 Sammy Kaye – Chickery Chick
10 Vaughn Monroe – There I’ve Said It Again
11 Johnny Mercer – Candy
12 Duke Ellington – I’m Beginning To See The Light
13 Judy Garland – On The Atchison Topeka & The Santa Fe
14 Ink Spots & Ella Fitzgerald – I’m Beginning To See The Light
15 Bing Crosby – It’s Been A Long Long Time
16 Frank Sinatra – Nancy
17 Louis Jordan – Caldonia
18 Harry James – I’m Beginning To See The Light
19 Bing Crosby & Andrews Sisters – Accentuate The Positive
20 Pied Pipers – Dream

The artists with the most weeks in the top ten during 1945 were as follows
1 Bing Crosby 96
2 Pied Pipers 69
3 Harry James & His Orchestra 55
4 Andrews Sisters 53
5 Johnny Mercer 49
6 Les Brown & His Orchestra 49
6 Perry Como 49
8 Dick Haymes 43
9 Swing & Sway With Sammy Kaye 33
10 Vaughn Monroe & His Orchestra 28
11 Woody Herman & His Orchestra 27
12 Frank Sinatra 25
12 Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra 25
14 Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians 24
15 Benny Goodman & His Orchestra 23
15 Jo Stafford 23
17 Carmen Cavallero & His Orchestra 19
18 Charlie Spivak & His Orchestra 18
18 Dick Robertson 18
18 Hal McIntyre & His Orchestra 18
18 Johnny Long & His Orchestra 18