UK Singles Chart For December 16,1940

 

TW LW Wks Song-Artist

 

1 1 7 BLESS YOU-INK SPOTS

2 3 7 I'M NOBODY'S BABY-Judy Garland

3 5 11 SIX LESSONS FROM MADAME LA ZONGA-Jimmy Dorsey

4 6 3 BLESS 'EM ALL-George Formby

5 7 3 I'LL NEVER SMILE AGAIN-Vera Lynn

6 2 7 SIERRA SUE-Bing Crosby

7 4 16 MEET THE SUN HALF-WAY-Bing Crosby

8 8 20 FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN-Marlene Dietrich

9 11 3 GLOOMY SUNDAY-Artie Shaw

10 9 25 MAYBE-Bing Crosby

11 10 11 PENNSYLVANIA 6-5000-Glenn Miller

12 16 3 ALL OVER THE PLACE-Hutch

13 14 3 I'M NOBODY'S BABY-Nat Gonella

14 13 6 SIERRA SUE-Glenn Miller

15 12 6 YOU DO SOMETHING TO ME-Marlene Dietrich

16 15 16 APRIL PLAYED THE FIDDLE-Bing Crosby

17 17 20 COQUETTE-Ink Spots

18 18 11 WE'LL GO SMILING ALONG-Geraldo

19 19 9 FERRYBOAT SERENADE-Andrews Sisters

20 22 3 THE WORLD IS WAITING FOR THE SUNRISE-Richard Tauber

21 20 25 EMBRACEABLE YOU-Judy Garland

22 21 7 I'LL NEVER SMILE AGAIN-Hutch

23 24 3 CHINESE LAUNDRY BLUES-George Formby

24 23 11 WE'LL GO SMILING ALONG-Turner Layton

25 - 1 IF TEARS COULD BRING YOU BACK-Organ Dance Band And Me

26 27 3 ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE-Adelaide Hall

27 - 1 ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE-Joe Loss

28 - 1 UNTIL YOU FALL IN LOVE-Geraldo

29 - 1 TRADE WINDS-Turner Layton

30 29 3 A NEW KIND OF OLD FASHIONED GIRL-Max Miller

 

From the book "The British Hit Singles Jan 1940 - Oct 1952: The Missing Charts":

 

This impressive 300-page publication is subtitled “The Week by Week Top 30 Best Selling 78s: The Missing Charts”. It’s based on statistics compiled by the late Colin Brown from weekly sales figures, although sadly he did not live to see the finished project. Each page of the charts proper carries 3 columns, one per week, showing artist, title, catalogue number, and position against the previous week. That’s interspersed with photos and outline histories of some of the personalities involved, some of which look to have been written in haste. Summaries show the biggest number one hits, a list of titles indexed to artists, songs with the most recorded versions, and an index of song titles. It’s a high-quality hardback production, with an attractive cover decked out with labels of some of the featured records. It should be an indispensable purchase for any devotee of this era of popular music.

 

Artists that still can still re-chart in the UK charts: Bing Crosby, Vera Lynn, and Judy Garland.

 

The charts 5 years later:

 

UK Singles Chart For December 17,1945

 

TW LW Wks Song-Artist

 

1 1 7 YOU BELONG TO MY HEART-BING CROSBY

2 8 21 WHITE CHRISTMAS-Bing Crosby

3 6 3 I BEGGED HER-Frank Sinatra

4 5 3 HOLIDAY FOR STRINGS-Spike Jones

5 10 3 I'LL CLOSE MY EYES-Dorothy Squires

6 2 16 LONDON FANTASIA-London Concert Orchestra

7 11 3 I'M CONFESSIN' (That I Love You)-Harry James

8 3 7 ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET-Tommy Dorsey

9 4 7 LET THE REST OF THE WORLD GO BY/LAURA-Dick Haymes

10 7 7 OL' MAN RIVER-Frank Sinatra

11 13 3 SKYLINER-Geraldo

12 9 16 MORE AND MORE-Bing Crosby

13 12 7 MANANA-Harry Roy

14 14 12 THE THREE CABALLEROS-Edmundo Ros

15 17 3 SYMPHONY-Vera Lynn

16 15 7 I'M IN LOVE WITH TWO SWEETHEARTS-Joe Loss

17 18 3 (You Came Along) FROM OUT OF NOWHERE-Squadronaires

18 19 3 TOO BAD-Ambrose

19 20 2 IT'S BEEN A LONG LONG TIME-Carroll Gibbons

20 22 2 SYMPHONY-Hutch

21 21 6 I'LL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU-Hutch

22 24 2 LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY-Lou Preager

23 23 6 I'LL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU-Joe Loss

24 16 12 LET HIM GO, LET HIM TARRY-Joe Loss

25 26 2 UNDER THE WILLOW TREE-Harry Roy

26 25 12 THERE'S NO YOU-Frank Sinatra

27 29 2 I'LL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU-Denny Dennis

28 28 2 STARS IN YOUR EYES-Monte Rey

29 27 25 MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, LOUIS-Judy Garland

30 30 12 LET HIM GO, LET HIM TARRY-Nat Gonella

 

Artists that still live on: the same, but add Frank Sinatra.

 

And 5 years after that:

 

UK Singles Chart For December 18,1950

 

TW LW Wks Song-Artist

 

1 5 48 WHITE CHRISTMAS-BING CROSBY

2 3 4 RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER-Bing Crosby

3 6 3 ME AND MY IMAGINATION-Donald Peers

4 4 4 RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER-Donald Peers

5 1 7 I TAUT I TAW A PUDDY TAT-Mel Blanc

6 2 7 ORANGE COLOURED SKY-Nat 'King' Cole

7 8 3 SLEIGH RIDE-Boston Promenade Orchestra

8 7 12 MAMBO JAMBO / MAMBO NO. 5-Perez Prado

9 16 3 ORANGE COLOURED SKY-Danny Kaye & The Andrews Sisters

10 12 6 DREAM OF OLWEN-Charles Williams Orchestra

11 9 7 ORANGE COLOURED SKY-Doris Day

12 15 20 OLWEN (Dream Of Olwen)-Reggie Goff

13 10 12 PLAY A SIMPLE MELODY-Bing Crosby And Gary Crosby

14 17 6 DREAM OF OLWEN-Ronnie Ronalde

15 11 16 TZENA, TZENA, TZENA-Mitch Miller

16 18 3 SERENATA-Reggie Goff

17 21 2 MARSHMALLOW WORLD / ALL MY LOVE-Bing Crosby

18 20 3 THE THING-Teresa Brewer

19 22 4 THE HALLS OF IVY / DRINK, DRINK, DRINK-Reggie Goff

20 13 29 MONA LISA-Nat 'King' Cole

21 25 2 LIFE IS SO PECULIAR-Louis Armstrong And Louis Jordan

22 14 7 YES, I'LL BE THERE / LOVE LIKE OURS-Reggie Goff

23 24 3 I LEAVE MY HEART IN AN ENGLISH GARDEN-Lee Lawrence

24 28 12 SOMETIME-Donald Peers

25 19 16 SAM'S SONG (A Happy Tune)-Bing Crosby And Gary Crosby

26 - 1 FALLING IN LOVE WITH LOVE-Lee Lawrence

27 23 7 SINORA-Ray Ellington

28 - 1 (Down At The) FERRYBOAT INN/THE PETITE WALTZ-Tanner Sisters

29 26 6 BELOVED BE FAITHFUL-Teddy Johnson

30 27 16 I DIDN'T SLIP, I WASN'T PUSHED, I FELL-Doris Day

 

And artists that still live on in the festive season: Crosby, Nat King Cole, and Louis Armstrong (if you play What A Wonderful World circa New Year's Day).

 

Fun fact: according to these missing charts, White Christmas spent 25 weeks at #1! :o And he was definitely the biggest star of the 40s and early 50s with 44 #1's in total!

Edited December 14, 20204 yr by Ne Plus Ultra

Shows how when the British chart were beginning Sinatra, Bing, Doris Day etc were nearly fading! They had big careers from the 30s onwards!

fascinating stuff!

 

I surprisingly know of the majority of the acts, have hits albums by Nat King Cole, Doris Day, Glen Miller, Frank Sinatra, and have bought tracks or compilations with tracks from Harry James, Donald Peers, Ink Spots, Vera Lynn, Bing Crosby, Prez Parado. Yes this was almost 20 years before I was born, 1940. :lol:

 

In terms of songs, though, most of them I dont know. Fallin' In Love Again is a well-known classic of the 20th century and Marlene Dietrich iconic, not sure it's known these days with black & white movie bans from modern pop culture, White Christmas is eternal, and the older versions of famous christmas songs may not get played but the songs do. I can still sing the hook to Pennsylvania 6-5000, On The Sunny Side Of The Street, I Taught I Taw A Puddy Tat (Mel Blanc was the voice of all those Bugs/Daffy etc Warner Brothers characters and the phrase was still huge in the 60's), and the tracks that still stand up today, Mona Lisa, Mambo No 5, and especially the wonderful It's Been A Long Long Time (in the version by Harry James) which featured in the Avengers: Endgame/ Captain America films.