Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century: Vol. 1: Chart Detail & Encyclopedia, 1900-1949 - Softcover

This is the first and only book which completely and accurately summarizes American popular music for the first half of the century.

This volume covers the period 1900-1949. Its principal feature is the presentation of monthly popularity charts, 600 of them, running from January 1900 to December 1949. These charts appear in this book as they would have appeared if regular, accurate surveys had been conducted in those early years. Song charts were not created before 1944. Another section of the book uniquely displays these charts in a spreadsheet format so the reader can see how each song rose and fell during its period of popularity and how it compared with the other competing songs of its day.

The remaining section contains a massive and exhaustive encyclopedia of all charted songs giving every vital fact that pertains to each song, including chart highlights, writers, shows, movies, records, and principal artists connected with the song. An alphabetical index of song titles allows easy access to song information, and it eliminates the confusion that arises when two or more different songs have the same title but different writers. Likewise, it identifies any single song that charted on two or more occasions during the century by way of revivals and recording remakes.

This volume is a charted history of pop music. Its principal feature is the presentation of 600 monthly popularity charts, running from January 1900 to December 1949. These were created during ten years of exhaustive research, and they appear in this book as they would have appeared if regular, accurate surveys had been conducted and charted prior to 1945. The next section of the book displays these charts in a spreadsheet format so the reader can see how each song rose and fell during its period of popularity and how it compared with the other competing songs of its day. The remaining section contains a massive and comprehensive encyclopedia of all charted songs giving every vital fact that pertains to each song, including chart highlights, writers, shows, movies, records, and principal artists. An alphabetical index of song titles allows easy access to song information, and it eliminates the confusion that arises when two or more different songs have the same title but different writers. Likewise, it identifies any single song that charted on two or more occasions during the century by way of revivals and recording remakes. Research into the early part of the century disclosed that music periodicals of the day contradicted some of the information commonly found in music history books. For example, a song universally listed with a 1908 publication date was shown to actually have been published and widely popular in 1900. A song listed with a 1910 publication date did not actually become popular until 1915. Some of the most famous songs in history, such as “St. Louis Blues” and “Star Dust” did not make a huge splash upon introduction and never became big chart successes although they became all-time standards. It was proven that many show tunes were overrated in their national popularity by historians and were actually minor chart items in their time. Then there were some songs, enormously popular in their time, which received scant mention, if any, in previously issued music history books and encyclopedias. Gardner notes that prior to 1920, many songs did not come out on records until they became ! established hits by way of sheet-music sales and vaudeville performances. After that early period, the recording industry gradually became a major factor in the popularizing of a song and by the mid-1950’s became practically the exclusive factor.