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Billboard number-one singles chart (which preceded the Billboard Hot 100 chart), which was updated weekly by the Billboard magazine, was the main singles chart of the American music industry since 1940 and until the Billboard Hot 100 chart was established in 1958.
Reached Number OneArtist (s)SingleRecord LabelJuly 27, 1940VictorOctober 19, 1940DeccaDecember 21, 1940VictorMarch 15, 1941Bluebird- 3 min
- 100
- Tim Chester
- 100 Dion & The Belmonts, ‘A Teenager In Love’ Written by blues rock stalwarts Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, ‘A Teenager In Love’ found itself in the UK charts three times over in June 1959.
- 99 Sonny Boy Williamson, ‘Don’t Start Me Talkin’ A perennial blues fave, ‘Don’t Start Me Talkin” was a self-penned hit for Williamson and housed a who’s who of blues heavyweights in its credits, including Willie Dixon on bass and Muddy Waters on guitar.
- 98 Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry, ‘Ain’t Got No Home’ Clarence earned his nickname from an uncanny ability to sing like a frog – as he boasts on ‘Ain’t Got No Home’, “I can sing like a bird/ And I can sing like a frog”.
- 97 Elizabeth Cotten, ‘Freight Train’ Elizabeth Cotten got her belated break in 1957 at the grand old age of 62 when her shimmering guitar playing talents were finally spotted by the Seeger family.
- White Christmas – Bing Crosby
- Stardust – Artie Shaw
- Body and Soul – Coleman Hawkins
- Swinging on A Star – Bing Crosby
- Riders in The Sky – Vaughn Monroe
- God Bless The Child – Billie Holiday
- As Time Goes by – Dooley Wilson
- Take The “A” Train – Duke Ellington
- The Christmas Song – Nat King Cole
- Sentimental Journey – Les Brown & Doris Day
First on our list is a song we all know, White Christmas, but the version by Bing Crosby is one of the most iconic. The version Bing sang is the biggest in sales, with over 50 million copies sold worldwide. The first time Bing sang White Christmas was just a few weeks after Pearl Harbor, on December 25, 1941, on The Kraft Music Hall radio show, whi...
Up next is a remake ofStardust, recorded by Artie Shaw in 1940. By this point, the song had already become a standard since it had been released several years earlier, but the version by Artie became his biggest hit and ended up selling more than a million records. Stardust has been in several movies, including Casino, Sleepless In Seattle, andGood...
Bebop fans may have heard the songBody and Soul, which makes our list since Coleman Hawkins recorded a version released in 1940. His version ofBody and Soul became one of the earlier bebop recordings, and he improvised lines that made his version a little different from the original. In 2004, this song was inducted into the National Recording Regis...
Bing Crosby released Swinging On A Star in 1944, and this song was made for the movie Going My Way. The song was such a hit that it stayed number one for over two months! Swinging On A Star also won Best Original Song. This is one of the most famous Bing Crosby songs, and it’s been covered by multiple artists through the years.
Up next is Vaughn Monroe withRiders In The Sky, which he released in 1949 and is one of several versions of this song that have been released through the years. This song is an anthem for cowboys, and it’s all about riders trying to chase demonic cattle but is doomed.
Next is Billie Holiday with her songGod Bless The Child which was recorded in 1941 and then released in 1942. She recorded the song three times, including the first time in 1941, then again in 1950, and lastly, in 1956. This very popular song was named one of the Songs Of The Century by the RIAA, and the version by Billie was inducted into the Gram...
Up next is Dooley Wilson covering As Time Goes By, which was released in 1942 for the movie Casablanca, and Dooley performed it as Sam. This was one of the movie’s most notable songs, with only Over The Rainbow topping it. As Time Goes By was used by Warner Brothers as their signature tune and has been in several films, including Fallen and Message...
Our list has to include the Duke Ellington song Take The “A” Train, a signature song of Duke, and the most popular recording was released in 1941. In the movie, Reveille With Beverly, released in 1943, Duke and the band played the song in what was supposed to be a railway car. NPR included this song in its NPR 100 list of the best songs of the cent...
Next is the song we’re all familiar with, The Christmas Song, often referred to as “Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire,” and it was recorded in 1946 by Nat King Cole. The Christmas Song became a hit on both the R&B and Pop charts, becoming one of the most-played songs around Christmas. It has been recorded several times by other artists, although t...
In 1944, Sentimental Journey was recorded by Doris Day and Les Brown after a two-year strike by musicians. The song became a homecoming for the soldiers returning after World War IIsince it was released at the same time the war was over. It was the first number-one song for Doris and it charted for 23 weeks on the Billboard charts. The song has bee...
Playlist · The 50 Best Hit Songs of the 1940s · 50 items · 131 likes
This playlist showcases the greatest hits of the 1940s. Bing Crosby had nine number one hits (including a still perennial holiday favorite and the best-selli...
Dec 21, 2009 · Popular Songs 1940s Criteria: These songs from the 1940s were chosen and ranked according to their initial and lasting popularity and also on their impact and influence on the course of musical history.
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Listen to The 50 Best Hit Songs of the 1940s on Spotify · Compilation · Various Artists · 2013 · 50 songs
