1940 in music

Contents

1 Events

2 Top hit records

3 Published popular music

Events

January - Frank Sinatra joins the Tommy Dorsey orchestra
July 20 - Billboard magazine publishes its first "Music Popularity Chart"
May 27 - Quartetto Egie make their debut performance
November 23 - Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Quintet is premiered
December 6 - Arnold Schoenberg's Violin Concerto is premiered
Thelonius Monk begins performing
Woody Guthrie's musical career begins
Quartetto Egie becomes Quartetto Ritmo after a line-up change

Top hit records

"Careless" - Glenn Miller
"Frenesi" - Artie Shaw
"I'll Never Smile Again" - Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra
"In the Mood" - Glenn Miller
"Only Forever" - Bing Crosby
"Sierra Sue" - Bing Crosby
"Trade Winds" - Bing Crosby
"Tuxedo Junction" - Glenn Miller
"When You Wish Upon a Star" - Glenn Miller
"The Woodpecker Song" - Glenn Miller

Published popular music

"Ain't It A Shame About Mame" w. Johnny Burke m. James V. Monaco
"All Over The Place" w.m. Noel Gay
"All This And Heaven Too" w. Eddie De Lange m. James Van Heusen
"Along The Santa Fe Trail" w. Al Dubin & Edwina Coolidge m. Will Grosz
"April Played The Fiddle" w. Johnny Burke m. James V. Monaco
"Arm In Arm" Church, Bradbury
"The Bad Humour Man" w. Johnny Mercer m. Jimmy McHugh
"Beat Me Daddy, Eight To The Bar" w.m. Don Raye, Hugie Prince & Eleanore Sheehy
"Because Of You" w. Arthur Hammerstein m. Dudley Wilkinson
"Beneath The Lights Of Home" Grossman, Jurmann
"Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
"Bless 'Em All" w.m. Jimmie Hughes & Frank Lake
"Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind" Arthur Young, William Shakespeare, Evans
"Blueberry Hill" w.m. Al Lewis, Larry Stock & Vincent Rose
"Boog It" w.m. Jack Palmer, Cab Calloway & R. "Buck" Ram
"The Breeze And I" w. Al Stillman m. Ernesto Lecuona
"Buds Won't Bud" w. E. Y. Harburg m. Harold Arlen
"Cabin In The Sky" w. John Latouche m. Vernon Duke
"The Call Of The Canyon" w.m. Billy Hill
"Can't Get Indiana Off My Mind" w. Robert De Leon m. Hoagy Carmichael
"Celery Stalks At Midnight" m. Will Bradley & George Harris
"Concerto For Cootie" m. Duke Ellington
"Contrasts" m. Jimmy Dorsey
"Cotton Tail" m. Duke Ellington
"Den Of Iniquity" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
"Devil May Care" w. Johnny Burke m. Harry Warren
"Do I Worry?" w.m. Stanley Cowan & Bobby Worth
"Dolores" w. Frank Loesser m. Louis Alter
"Down The Road Apiece" w.m. Don Raye
"Falling Leaves" w. Mack David m. Frankie Carle
"Ferry Boat Serenade" w. (Eng) Harold Adamson (Ital) Mario Panzeri m. Eldo di Lazzaro
"The Five O'Clock Whistle" w.m. Josef Myrow, Kim Gannon & Gene Irwin
"Flamingo" w. Edmund Anderson m. Ted Grouya
"Fools Rush In" w. Johnny Mercer m. Rube Bloom
"Friendship" w.m. Cole Porter
"Give a Little Whistle" w.m. Ned Washington & Leigh Harline, from the film Pinocchio
"Good For Nothin' Joe" Ted Koehler, Rube Bloom
"Harlem Nocturne" w. Dick Rogers m. Earle Hagen
"Hear My Song, Violetta" w. (Ger) Ermenegildo Carosio & Othmar Klose (Eng) Buddy Bernier & Bob Emmerich m. Rudolf Luckesch & Othmar Klose
"Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee" w.m. Ned Washington & Leigh Harline, from the film Pinocchio
"High On A Windy Hill" w.m. Joan Whitney & Alex Kramer
"How High The Moon" w. Nancy Hamilton m. Morgan Lewis
"I Haven't Time To Be A Millionaire" w. Johnny Burke m. James V. Monaco
"I Hear A Rhapsody" w.m. George Fragos, Jack Baker & Dick Gasparre
"I Hear Music" w. Frank Loesser m. Burton Lane
"I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town" w.m. William Weldon & Andy Razaf
"I'm Looking For A Guy Who Plays Alto And Baritone And Doubles On A Clarinet And Wears A Size 37 Suit" w.m. Ozzie Nelson
"I'm Stepping Out With A Memory Tonight" w. Herb Magidson m. Allie Wrubel
"Imagination" w. Johnny Burke m. James Van Heusen
"Intermezzo" w. Robert Henning m. Heinz Provost
"Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby?" w.m. Billy Austin & Louis Jordan
"It Never Entered My Mind" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
"It Was A Lover And His Lass" w. William Shakespeare m. Arthur Young
"It's A Big, Wide, Wonderful World" w.m. John Rox
"It's A Great Day For The Irish" w.m. Roger Edens
"It's A Lovely Day Tomorrow" w.m. Irving Berlin
"It's Always You" w. Johnny Burke m. James Van Heusen
"It's The Same Old Shillelagh" w.m. Pat White
"I've Got No Strings" "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee" w.m. Ned Washington & Leigh Harline, from the film Pinocchio
"Java Jive" w. Milton Drake m. Ben Oakland
"Just A Little Bit South Of North Carolina" w.m. Sunny Skylar, Bette Cannon & Arthur Shaftel
"The Last Time I Saw Paris" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
"Let The People Sing" w.m. Noel Gay, Ian Grant & Frank Eyton
"Let There Be Love" w. Ian Grant m. Lionel Rand
"Let's Be Buddies" w.m. Cole Porter
"Louisiana Purchase" w.m. Irving Berlin
"Make It Another Old-Fashioned, Please" w.m. Cole Porter. Introduced by Ethel Merman in the musical Panama Hattie
"Make-Believe Island" w. Charles Kenny & Nick Kenny m. Will Grosz & Sam Coslow
"Mamma" w. B. Cherubini m. C. A. Bixio
"Mister Meadowlark" w. Johnny Mercer m. Walter Donaldson
"Never No Lament" m. Duke Ellington
"New San Antonio Rose" w.m. Bob Wills
"A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square" w. Eric Maschwitz m. Manning Sherwin
"On Behalf Of The Visiting Firemen" w. Johnny Mercer m. Walter Donaldson
"Only Forever" w. Johnny Burke m. James V. Monaco
"Our Love Affair" w. Arthur Freed m. Roger Edens
"Outside Of That, I Love You" Irving Berlin
"The Pessimistic Character" w. Johnny Burke m. James V. Monaco
"Playmates" w.m. Saxie Dowell
"Polka Dots And Moonbeams" w. Johnny Burke m. James Van Heusen
"Pompton Turnpike" w.m. Will Osborne & Dick Rogers
"Practice Makes Perfect" w.m. Don Roberts & Ernest Gold
"Rhumboogie" w.m. Don Raye & Hughie Prince
"Room 504" Posford, Maschwitz
"Say It (Over And Over Again)" w. Frank Loesser m. Jimmy McHugh
"Scrub Me Mama With A Boogie Beat" w.m. Don Raye
"The Singing Hills" w.m. Mack David, Sammy Mysels & Dick Sanford
"Six Lessons From Madame La Zonga" w. Charles Newman m. James V. Monaco
"Summit Ridge Drive" m. Artie Shaw
"Taking A Chance On Love" w. John Latouche & Ted Fetter m. Vernon Duke
"There I Go" w. Hy Zaret m. Irving Weiser
"There's A Boy Coming Home On Leave" w.m. Jimmy Kennedy
"Trade Winds" w. Charles Tobias m. Cliff Friend
"Two Dreams Met" w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Warren
"Wabash Cannon Ball" w.m. A. P. Carter
"Walkin' Through Mockin' Bird Lane" Lowell Peters, Clarence Jones, John Turner
"Waltzing In The Clouds" w. Gus Kahn m. Robert Stolz
"We Could Make Such Beautiful Music" w. Robert Sour m. Henry Manners
"We Three" w.m. Nelson Cogane, Sammy Mysels & Dick Robertson
"Well, Did You Evah?" w.m. Cole Porter
"When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano" w.m. Leon René
"When You Wish Upon a Star" w.m. Ned Washington & Leigh Harline, from the film Pinocchio
"Whispering Grass" w. Fred Fisher m. Doris Fisher
"The Woodpecker Song" w. (Eng) Harold Adamson (Ital) C. Bruno m. Eldo di Lazzaro
"Worried Mind" w.m. Jimmie Davis & Ted Daffan
"Yes, Indeed!" w.m. Sy Oliver
"Yes, My Darling Daughter" w.m. Jack Lawrence
"You Are My Sunshine" w.m. Jimmie Davis & Charles Mitchell
"You Stepped Out Of A Dream" w. Gus Kahn m. Nacio Herb Brown
"Zip" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers. In the role of reporter Melba Snyder in the Broadway production of Pal Joey, Jean Casto explained that the musings of a striptease artiste may be on a somewhat higher intellectual plane than those of her devotees.