Wayne Cottrell

Charting the Music of the Early 20th Century Wayne Cottrell

What is the number 14 popular single of 1900-1904? "Navajo" by popular tenor Billy Murray. The song was part of a short-lived craze for Native-American themes. How about the number 14 popular single of 1905-1909? "Vesti la Giubba" by Enrico Caruso, who remains the only opera singer in history to hit the pop charts with arias. How about the number 14 popular single of 1915-1919? "Beautiful Ohio" by Henry Burr; it was later adopted as Ohio's Official State Song, with modified wording. The number 14 popular single of 1920-1924 is "The Sheik" by the Club Royal Orchestra, one of numerous 1920s instrumentals played at a fox-trot tempo. The number 14 popular single of 1935-1939 is "Deep Purple" by Larry Clinton & Bea Wain. The song went to number one again, in 1963, for the brother-sister duo of Nino Tempo & April Stevens. Tempo kept forgetting the words, so his sister recited them. The spoken recitations were retained on their recording. In contrast, the 1939 version is a solo vocal by Bea Wain, backed by Clinton's orchestra. For the entire 40-year period, 1900-1939, the number 14 Christmas single is "Ave Maria," the Bach-Gounod version, performed by John McCormack & Fritz Kreisler, from 1915. McCormack's Christmas music is still heard occasionally during the holidays. And, the number 14 Classical composition is "Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius. It is said that this proud and moving piece did more than a hundred speeches in Finland's quest for independence from the Russian Empire. All of the singles and compositions listed in the book are scored based on a method developed by the author, using data from multiple resources, such as "Your Hit Parade." In addition to the rankings of recordings and compositions in the Christmas, Classical, and Popular genres, the book also features mini-biographies of notable artists and composers from the period of coverage. There are links to the top recordings, as well as a lengthy bibliography for extended studies.