Your Hit Parade Charts 1935 1940
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LEONIDAS FRAGIAS LEONIDAS FRAGIAS ©2017 - ARTS & CHARTS INTRODUCTION Your Hit Parade is an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1955 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During this 24-year run, the show had 19 orchestra leaders and 52 singers or groups. Many listeners and viewers casually referred to the show with the incorrect title The Hit Parade. When the show debuted, there was no agreement as to what it should be called. The press referred to it in a variety of ways, with the most common being "Hit Parade," "The Hit Parade," and even "The Lucky Strike Hit Parade" (see for example "Lucky Strike Hit Parade is Popular," Laredo (Texas) Times, May 21, 1935, p 7). The program's title was not officially changed to "Your Hit Parade" until November 9, 1935 ("Al Goodman to Be Maestro on Radio Series," Oakland Tribune, November 9, 1935, p. 14.) Each Saturday evening, the program offered the most popular and bestselling songs of the week. The earliest format involved a presentation of the top 15 songs. Later, a countdown with fanfares led to the top three finalists, with the number one song for the finale. Occasional performances of standards and other favorite songs from the past were known as "Lucky Strike Extras." Listeners were informed that the "Your Hit Parade survey checks the best sellers on sheet music and phonograph records, the songs most heard on the air and most played on the automatic coin machines, an accurate, authentic tabulation of America's taste in popular music." However, the exact procedure of this "authentic tabulation" remained a secret. Some believe song choices were often arbitrary due to various performance and production factors. The show's ad agencies— initially Lord and Thomas and later Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborne— never revealed the specific sources or the methods that were used to determine top hits. They made a general statement that it was based mainly on "readings of radio requests, sheet music sales, dance-hall favorites and jukebox tabulations"; Radio Guide claimed "an endless popularity poll on a nationwide scale." Your Hit Parade began on NBC April 20, 1935, as a 60-minute program with 15 songs played in a random format. Initially, the songs were more important than the singers, so a stable of vocalists went uncredited and were paid only $100 per episode. In 1936-37, it was carried on both NBC and CBS. Script continuity in the late 1930s and early 1940s was written by Alan Jay Lerner before he found fame as a lyricist. The first number one song on the first episode was "Soon" by Bing Crosby. (Bruce C. Byrd, Your Hit Parade & American Top Ten Hits, 4th edition, 1994, p 15.) Some years passed before the countdown format was introduced, with the number of songs varying from seven to 15. Vocalists in the 1930s included Buddy Clark, Lanny Ross, Kay Thompson and Bea Wain (1939-44), who was married to the show's announcer, French-born Andre Baruch. Frank Sinatra joined the show in 1943, and was fired for messing up the No. 1 song, "Don't Fence Me In" by interjecting a mumble to the effect that the song had too many words and missing a cue. An AFRS transcription survives of this show. One source says his contract was not renewed due to demanding a raise and the show being moved to the West Coast. As he zoomed in popularity he was rehired, returning (1947-49) to co-star with Doris Day. Hugely popular on CBS through the WWII years, Your Hit Parade returned to NBC in 1947. The show's opening theme, from the musical revue George White's Scandals of 1926, was "This is Your Lucky Day," with music by Ray Henderson and lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva, Stephen W. Ballantine and Lew Brown. Orchestra leaders over the years included Al Goodman, Lennie Hayton, Abe Lyman, Leo Reisman, Harry Salter, Ray Sinatra, Harry Sosnik, Axel Stordahl, Peter Van Steeden, Mark Warnow and Raymond Scott (1949-57). The chorus was led by musical director Lyn Murray. Dozens of singers appeared on the radio program, including "Wee" Bonnie Baker, Dorothy Collins, Beryl Davis, Gogo DeLys, Joan Edwards (1941-46), Georgia Gibbs, Dick Haymes, Snooky Lanson, Gisele Mackenzie, Johnny Mercer, Andy Russell, Dinah Shore, Ginny Simms, Lawrence Tibbett, Martha Tilton, Eileen Wilson, Barry Wood, and occasional guest vocalists. The show featured two tobacco auctioneers, Lee Aubrey "Speed" Riggs of Goldsboro, North Carolina and F.E. Boone of Lexington, Kentucky. The radio series continued until January 16, 1953. Token from Wikipedia Week Ending 20 April 1935 1 SOON Bing Crosby 1 LULLABY OF BROADWAY Dorsey Brothers (Bob Crosby) 1 LOVELY TO LOOK AT Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) 1 I WON’T DANCE Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) 1 WHEN I GROW TOO OLD TO DREAM Glen Gray (Kenny Sargent) 1 ISLE OF CAPRI Ray Noble (Al Bowlly) 1 EV'RY DAY Victor Young 1 I WAS LUCKY Benny Goodman (Helen Ward) 1 EVERYTHING'S BEEN DONE BEFORE Freddy Martin (Elmer Feldkamp) 1 IT'S EASY TO REMEMBER Bing Crosby 1 IT'S AN OLD SOUTHERN CUSTOM Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) 1 HERE COMES COOKIE Henry Busse (Marion Holmes) 1 IF THE MOON TURNS GREEN Paul Whiteman (Ramona Davies) 1 WHAT’S THE REASON (I'M NOT PLEASIN' YOU) Guy Lombardo 1 SOLITUDE Duke Ellington Week Ending 27 April 1935 3 2 LOVELY TO LOOK AT Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) 2 2 LULLABY OF BROADWAY Dorsey Brothers (Bob Crosby) 5 2 WHEN I GROW TOO OLD TO DREAM Glen Gray (Kenny Sargent) 1 2 SOON Bing Crosby 6 2 ISLE OF CAPRI Ray Noble (Al Bowlly) 8 2 I WAS LUCKY Benny Goodman (Helen Ward) 4 2 I WON'T DANCE Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) 7 2 EV'RY DAY Victor Young 10 2 IT'S EASY TO REMEMBER Bing Crosby 12 2 HERE COMES COOKIE Henry Busse (Marion Holmes) 11 2 IT'S AN OLD SOUTHERN CUSTOM Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) NE FLOWERS FOR MADAME Ray Noble (Al Bowlly) NE WHOSE HONEY ARE YOU? Fats Waller NE SHE’S A LATIN FROM MANHATTAN Victor Young (Hal Burke) NE ONCE UPON A MIDNIGHT Hal Kemp (Bob Allen) Week Ending 4 May 1935 2 3 LULLABY OF BROADWAY Dorsey Brothers (Bob Crosby) 1 3 LOVELY TO LOOK AT Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) 4 3 SOON Bing Crosby 7 3 I WON'T DANCE Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) NE LIFE IS A SONG Ruth Etting 5 3 ISLE OF CAPRI Ray Noble (Al Bowlly) 3 3 WHEN I GROW TOO OLD TO DREAM Glen Gray (Kenny Sargent) 6 3 I WAS LUCKY Benny Goodman (Helen Ward) 8 3 EV'RY DAY Victor Young NE YOU'RE A HEAVENLY THING Benny Goodman (Helen Ward) 2 EVERYTHING'S BEEN DONE BEFORE Freddy Martin (Elmer Feldkamp) NE LOVE AND A DIME Jan Garber (Fritz Heilbron) 9 3 IT'S EASY TO REMEMBER Bing Crosby 11 3 IT'S AN OLD SOUTHERN CUSTOM Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) 2 WHAT’S THE REASON (I'M NOT PLEASIN' YOU) Guy Lombardo 4 Week Ending 11 May 1935 1 4 LULLABY OF BROADWAY Dorsey Brothers (Bob Crosby) 3 SOON Bing Crosby 7 4 WHEN I GROW TOO OLD TO DREAM Glen Gray (Kenny Sargent) 5 2 LIFE IS A SONG Ruth Etting 2 4 LOVELY TO LOOK AT Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) NE ABOUT A QUARTER TO NINE Ozzie Nelson 4 4 I WON’T DANCE Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) 2 SHE'S A LATIN FROM MANHATTAN Victor Young (Hal Burke) 9 4 EV'RY DAY Victor Young 10 2 YOU'RE A HEAVENLY THING Benny Goodman (Helen Ward) 15 3 WHAT'S THE REASON (I'M NOT PLEASIN' YOU) Guy Lombardo 2 FLOWERS FOR MADAME Ray Noble (Al Bowlly) NE WOULD THERE BE LOVE? Guy Lombardo 13 4 IT'S EASY TO REMEMBER Bing Crosby 2 ONCE UPON A MIDNIGHT Hal Kemp (Bob Allen) Week Ending 18 May 1935 6 11 4 WHAT'S THE REASON (I'M NOT PLEASIN' YOU) Guy Lombardo 7 5 I WON’T DANCE Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) 3 5 WHEN I GROW TOO OLD TO DREAM Glen Gray (Kenny Sargent) 1 5 LULLABY OF BROADWAY Dorsey Brothers (Bob Crosby) 5 5 LOVELY TO LOOK AT Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) 8 3 SHE'S A LATIN FROM MANHATTAN Victor Young (Hal Burke) 4 3 LIFE IS A SONG R uth Etti ng NE TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME TONIGHT Freddy Martin 6 2 ABOUT A QUARTER TO NINE Ozzie Nelson 2 LOVE AND A DIME Jan Garber (Fritz Heilbron) 12 3 FLOWERS FOR MADAME Ray Noble (Al Bowlly) 14 5 IT'S EASY TO REMEMBER Bing Crosby 10 3 YOU'RE A HEAVENLY THING Benny Goodman (Helen Ward) NE THE LADY IN RED Xavier Cugat (Don Reid) NE IN A LITTLE GYPSY TEA ROOM Bob Crosby (Frank Tennille) Week Ending 25 May 1935 1 5 WHAT'S THE REASON (I'M NOT PLEASIN' YOU) Guy Lombardo 3 6 WHEN I GROW TOO OLD TO DREAM Glen Gray (Kenny Sargent) 6 4 SHE'S A LATIN FROM MANHATTAN Victor Young (Hal Burke) 9 3 ABOUT A QUARTER TO NINE Ozzie Nelson 4 6 LULLABY OF BROADWAY Dorsey Brothers (Bob Crosby) 7 4 LIFE IS A SONG Ruth Etting 2 I WON'T DANCE Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) 8 2 TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME TONIGHT Freddy Martin NE WAY BACK HOME Victor Young (Milton Watson) 5 6 LOVELY TO LOOK AT Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) 10 3 LOVE AND A DIME Jan Garber (Fritz Heilbron) 11 4 FLOWERS FOR MADAME Ray Noble (Al Bowlly) 3 EVERYTHING'S BEEN DONE BEFORE Freddy Martin (Elmer Feldkamp) 5 SOON Bing Crosby NE IN THE MIDDLE OF A KISS Hal Kemp (Skinnay Ennis) Week Ending 1 June 1935 1 6 5 LIFE IS A SONG Ruth Etting 2 5 7 LULLABY OF BROADWAY Dorsey Brothers (Bob Crosby) 3 1 6 WHAT'S THE REASON (I'M NOT PLEASIN' YOU) Guy Lombardo 4 3 5 SHE'S A LATIN FROM MANHATTAN Victor Young (Hal Burke) 5 4 4 ABOUT A QUARTER TO NINE Ozzie Nelson 6 15 2 IN THE MIDDLE OF A KISS Hal Kemp (Skinnay Ennis) 7 - 2 IN A LITTLE GYPSY TEA ROOM Bob Crosby (Frank Tennille) 8 8 3 TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME TONIGHT Freddy Martin 9 12 5 FLOWERS FOR MADAME Ray Noble (Al Bowlly) 10 13 4 EVERYTHING'S BEEN DONE BEFORE Freddy Martin (Elmer Feldkamp) 11 7 7 1 WON'T DANCE Eddy Duchin (Lee Sherwood) 12 11 4 LOVE AND A DIME Jan Garber (Fritz Heilbron) 13 NE RESTLESS Hal Kemp (Maxine Gray) 14 10 7 LOVELY