Summary 1946

There were two versions of the song Oh What It Seemed To Be at no.1 in 1946 by Frankie Carle & His Orchestra with his second no.2 and Frank Sinatra with his first solo single to reach the top without the co-credit of a bandleader. Both Sinatra and Carle also achieved their second no.1s later in the year with Five Minutes More and Rumors Are Flying. Another song that hit the top in two different versions was The Gypsy, by Dinah Shore with her second no.1 and The Ink Spots with their fourth and longest running no.1 single of the year at thirteen weeks, equalling Frenesi and I’ve Heard That Song Before. The Ink Spots also topped the charts this year with To Each His Own, one of three versions of this song to hit no.1 and the first since Over There in 1918. Perry Como achieved two no.1 hits in 1946, as did Swing & Sway With Sammy Kaye taking his total up to six. Johnny Mercer had his fourth no.1 single with Personality and it was the second time at the top for Vaughn Monroe and Kay Kyser & His Orchestra with Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow and Ole Buttermilk Sky. Betty Hutton had her only chart topper with Doctor Lawyer Indian Chief and having already achieved a no.1 album, the King Cole Trio hit the top of the singles chart for the first time with I Love You For Sentimental Reasons. At Christmas week on the Records Most Played On The Air, Bing Crosby’s White Christmas returned to no.1 for its final week, giving the title a total of fourteen weeks at the top, eleven in 1942, two in 1945 and now one in 1946. Peaking at no.2 in consecutive weeks in July were two songs from the stage musical Annie Get Your Gun, Doin’ What Comes Naturally by Freddy Martin & His Orchestra and They Say It’s Wonderful by Frank Sinatra. Because of the multiple number one singles by various songs, the composers obviously enjoyed the same status with several composing multiple chart toppers during 1946. Bennie Benjamin and George Weiss wrote four number ones this year, Jay Livingston and Ray Evans both contributed to three each, Billy Reid, Hoagy Carmichael, Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn and Frankie Carle all achieved two no.1s singles as composers, Frankie Carle repeated his achievement as a bandleader. Johnny Burke had his ninth no.1, Leo Robin and Jimmy Van Heusen both had their sixth, Al Hoffman and Charlie Tobias their third each, it was the second time at the top for Jerry Livingston and Paul Francis Webster and there were a further eleven composers with their first no.1 singles.

Top singles of 1946
1 Perry Como – Prisoner Of Love
2 Eddy Howard – To Each His Own
3 Ink Spots – The Gypsy
4 Frank Sinatra – Five Minutes More
5 Frankie Carle – Rumors Are Flying
6 Frankie Carle – Oh What It Seemed To Be
7 Johnny Mercer – Personality
8 Bing Crosby & Andrews Sisters – South America Take It Away
9 Dinah Shore – The Gypsy
10 Frank Sinatra – Oh What It Seemed To Be
11 Perry Como – Surrender
12 Betty Hutton – Doctor Lawyer Indian Chief
13 Vaughn Monroe – Let It Snow Let It Snow Let it Snow
14 Freddy Martin – To Each His Own
15 Kay Kyser – Ole Buttermilk Sky
16 Ink Spots – To Each His Own
17 Freddy Martin – Symphony
18 Sammy Kaye – The Old Lamplighter
19 Bing Crosby – I Can’t Begin To Tell You
20 Sammy Kaye – I’m A Big Girl Now

The artists with the most weeks in the top ten during 1946 were as follows
1 Perry Como 72
2 Frank Sinatra 71
3 Bing Crosby 58
4 Swing & Sway With Sammy Kaye 57
5 Dinah Shore 49
6 Freddy Martin & His Orchestra 48
7 Ink Spots 35
8 Eddy Howard & His Orchestra 33
9 Frankie Carle & His Orchestra 32
10 Andrews Sisters 29
11 Les Brown & His Orchestra 23
12 Pied Pipers 21
13 Johnny Mercer 20
13 Kay Kyser & His Orchestra 20
15 Tex Beneke 19
16 Dick Haymes 16
17 Betty Hutton 15
17 Tony Martin 15
19 Jo Stafford 14
19 Vaughn Monroe & His Orchestra 14