A funny thing happened on my way to the blog this morning. My 26-year old son Neal hit me with a piece he had just developed over the past 72 hours as his choices for the greatest songs of the 20th century, by year. It’s an Internet play list that anyone could put together by either buying the albums that contain these songs – or by purchasing the rights for their individual use on an MP3 album.
Neal got no help from me on the list. It’s simply a manifestation of his ever-expanding good taste for what I like to think of as “real music.” He did manage to leave out my favorite song of all time from his playlist. I won’t say what that one is, exactly, but I will hold out hope that he realizes this minor error of his ways, as time goes by.
In the meanwhile, here is the “Best Music of the 20th Century by Neal McCurdy:”
“Oscar” – the symbol of Neal McCurdy’s musical pick for 1951.
In the past 72 hours, I embarked on a journey through time back to the year 1901. My objective: to collect one song, and only one song, from each year of the 20th century (1901-2000) and make an Internet play list of popular songs of the years. This is an idea I’ve had for quite some time, since about the late 90s. Thanks to the glorious internet and Google, I was able to locate a website “http://tsort.info/music/index.htm” that listed the top songs of all the years from 1900-2010. My interests were only in “The Twentieth Century.” My compilation is complete, and start to finish, the full running time for all of these, if they are ever played non-stop in some form, is 6 hours, 24 minutes & 27 seconds.
I may not have chosen everyone’s beloved favorite, as I was only born in 1984, but I chose them based on two prerequisites: #1, I must LIKE the song, and #2, it must be a song that expresses the “sounds of the time.” In doing this project, I have DRASTICALLY expanded my taste for different types of music. So, how do I know I “like” a song?
Personally, I’m not a fan of idle singing. I pay more attention to the beat of a song (I listen to a lot of house/techno music from the 90s). But in this journey through time, I have found that it isn’t really the “beat” of a song that grabs my attention. What gets me is this: the song must have either an attention grabber throughout the song, or a climatic point in the song, a “breakdown” if you will, prevalent to the 1929 song “Ain’t Misbehaving” by the late and great Fats Waller. It starts off cool and slow, and then goes CRAZY towards 3/4 of the way through. Great stuff!
What’s an attention grabber if not for a climax? Various things. Singing style is a major thing. I absolutely love close vocal harmony, especially that of the Modernaires in Glenn Miller’s “Chattanooga Choo-Choo.” Love it! It strums the strings of your soul and leaves positive vibrations. I don’t care for, however, glass-breaking vocal music such as that of Whitney Houston and Celine Dion. That diva scream. Seriously ladies, I’ll call you if I lock my keys in my car.
Now that the objective has been thoroughly explained, what was the purpose of making this list? To study the humble beginnings of modern music and enjoy hearing the evolutionary course of music throughout a period of 100 years; to simultaneously artistically and scientifically listen to the evolution of society as a whole. One observation I have noticed is that it seems that each time we hit a war in the 20th century, we see a major change in the mainstream.
Also, and this goes without saying, but music is of course reflective of the ways of society at the time. One thing today’s society seems to be lacking to me is originality and character, and that is directly reflected in the sounds played on today’s radio stations. Sure, the people of the 1900s were saying that about people of the 1920s, and the people of the 1920s saying that about the people of the 1940s, and so on. Every generation has been saying that about every upcoming generation, but, in defense of the future, I don’t think we ever will understand what creates sentimentality in the minds of the upcoming generation. Either this statement proves true or we really ARE near the end of times.
Anywhoo, without further ado, I’d like to present my list of songs of the 20th century, from 1901-2000, and let it be noted that I thoroughly enjoy every single song on this list. Songs are listed as “year,” “artist,” then “title.”
Example:
1900 Artist – Title
And now, here’s the list…
“The 20th Century”
1901 Metropolitan Orchestra – The Gridiron March
1902 Scott Joplin – The Entertainer
1903 The Haydn Quartet – In the Good Old Summertime
1904 The Haydn Quartet – Sweet Adeline
1905 JW Myers – Come Take a Trip in My Air Ship
1906 Billy Murray – Grand Old Rag
1907 Florrie Ford – I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside
1908 The Haydn Quartet – Take Me Out to the Ballgame
1909 Henry Burr – I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now
1910 Henry Burr and the Peerless Quartet – Let Me Call You Sweetheart
1911 Guido Deiro – Dill Pickles Rag
1912 Al Jolson – That Haunting Melody
1913 Walter Van Brunt – Ghost of the Violin
1914 Victor Military Band – Ballin’ the Jack
1915 James F. Harrison – My Hula Maid
1916 Victor Dance Orchestra – Somewhere a Voice is Calling
1917 Harold Veo’s Orchestra – Don’t Leave Me Daddy
1918 Original Dixieland Jazz Band – Tiger Rag
1919 Selvin’s Novelty Orchestra – I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles
1920 Mamie Smith – Crazy Blues
1921 Paul Whiteman – April Showers
1922 Paul Whiteman Orchestra – It Had to be You
1923 Tennesse Ten – Gulf Coast Blues
1924 Paul Whiteman Orchestra – It Had to be You
1925 Lee Morse – Yes, Sir! That’s My Baby!
1926 Jan Garber’s Orchestra – Baby Face
1927 George Olsen & His Orchestra – Blue Skies
1928 Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians – I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream
1929 Fats Waller – Ain’t Misbehavin’
1930 Fred Astaire – Puttin’ on the Ritz
1931 Al Bowlly – Guilty
1932 Cab Calloway – The Scat Song
1933 Ethel Waters – Stormy Weather
1934 Bing Crosby – Love in Bloom
1935 Benny Goodman – King Porter Stomp
1936 Billie Holiday – Summertime
1937 Russ Morgan – The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down
1938 Ella Fitzgerald – A-Tisket, A-Tasket
1939 Judy Garland – Somewhere Over the Rainbow
1940 Cliff Edwards – When You Wish Upon a Star
1941 The Glenn Miller Orchestra feat. Tex Beneke & The Modernaires – Chattanooga Choo Choo
1942 The Glenn Miller Orchestra feat. Tex Beneke & The Modernaires – (I’ve Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo
1943 Bing Crosby feat. The Andrews Sisters – Pistol Packin’ Mama
1944 The Pied Pipers & Jo Stafford – The Trolley Song
1945 Duke Ellington feat. Joya Sherrill – I’m Beginning to See the Light
1946 Desi Arnaz – Babalu
1947 Tex Williams – Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)
1948 Nat King Cole – Nature Boy
1949 Vaughn Monroe – Riders in the Sky
1950 Teresa Brewer – (Put Another Nickel In) Music, Music, Music
1951 Ike Turner, Jackie Brenston – Rocket 88
1952 The Mills Brothers – The Glow-Worm
1953 Dean Martin – That’s Amore
1954 The Chordettes – Mr. Sandman
1955 Little Richard – Tutti Frutti
1956 Johnny Cash – I Walk the Line
1957 Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock
1958 The Everly Brothers – All I Have to do is Dream
1959 Ray Charles – What’d I Say
1960 Chubby Checker – The Twist
1961 The Tokens – The Lion Sleeps Tonight
1962 Booker-T & the MG’s – Green Onions
1963 The Beach Boys – Surfin’ USA
1964 Gloria Jones – Tainted Love
1965 The Beatles – Yesterday
1966 The Rolling Stones – Paint it Black
1967 Jimi Hendrix – Purple Haze
1968 Otis Redding – (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay (1967)*
1969 David Bowie – Space Oddity
1970 Norman Greenbaum – Spirit in the Sky
1971 Led Zeppelin – Stairway to Heaven
1972 Hot Butter – Popcorn
1973 The Sweet – Ballroom Blitz
1974 Carl Douglas – Kung Fu Fighting
1975 Van McCoy – The Hustle
1976 Kool & the Gang – Open Sesame
1977 Meco – Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band
1978 Gerry Rafferty – Baker Street
1979 The Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
1980 Blondie – Call Me
1981 Depeche Mode – Just Can’t Get Enough
1982 Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
1983 The Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams
1984 Ray Parker, Jr. – Ghostbusters
1985 ‘Til Tuesday – Voices Carry
1986 The Bangles – Walk Like an Egyptian
1987 M.A.R.R.S. – Pump Up the Volume
1988 Bobby Mcferrin – Don’t Worry Be Happy
1989 Technotronic – Pump Up the Jam
1990 Warrant – Uncle Tom’s Cabin
1991 Metallica – Enter Sandman
1992 Elton John – Simple Life
1993 Billy Joel – River of Dreams
1994 The Cranberries – Zombie
1995 Coolio – Gangsta’s Paradise
1996 No Doubt – Don’t Speak
1997 Chumbawamba – Tubthumping
1998 Aerosmith – I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing
1999 Ricky Martin – Livin’ La Vida Loca
2000 Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication
* Otis Redding recorded this song three days before he died in a plane crash in December of 1967 at the age of 26, but remained a #1 hit on the charts for several weeks going into 1968. Turns out, he was originally going to re-record it when he got back and simply whistled that last part of the song as a filler to be replaced with spoken words towards the fadeout.
And that’s my list. All are easily found on YouTube. Enjoy!
The Pecan Park Eagle 
August 11, 2011 at 6:23 pm |
Very interesting and well done, Neal. This is perhaps the ultimate in subjective exercises, isn’t it. I can’t imagine the odds on any two people making the same choices.
First comment is that several songs came out much earlier than I would have guessed off the top of my head.
Second thing I notice is no country, really.
And I must make a plug for my pick for best song of the 20th century- the 1937 recording of Sing Sing Sing by Benny Goodman.
Thanks for the brain food.
August 12, 2011 at 12:37 am |
This was so well done that I did not notice the relative lack of country music until I read the comment above. I would at least add one Hank Williams tune (probably “Long Gone Lonesome Blues” rather than “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”).
It’s still a great list: Billy Murray, Ethel Waters, Fats Waller, etc. Just fabulous.
August 12, 2011 at 5:30 am |
Mike and Gary,
Thanks for the positive feedback. Please see 1947, 1949, and 1956. In doing this project, I find that as music progresses throughout the 20th century, the main artery of the mainstream genres of “Popular Music” and “Jazz Age” branches out into the finest capillary veins later in the century, and to capture every sub-genre was near impossible. However, I feel Tex Williams’ “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) was a good merger of Swing with Western and a good intro to early Country. Another early country song appears two years (songs) later in 1949’s “Riders in the Sky” by Vaughn Monroe. I also introduced Johnny Cash in 1956.
I can’t imagine the odds on two people making the same list either. I know I left out a lot of greats like Hank Williams, ZZ Top, Lynard Skynard, but when those capillaries span out from the thicker genre arteries, I wanted to capture the pioneering effort of steering the trend in that direction, then return my attention to the next big thing.
This is a project that could be done over and over and over again with several THOUSAND possibilities! The goal of this go-round was to listen to and study trends in 20th century music. One possibility of a “redo” is to trace the origins of a specific genre, like country, and keep it country all the way up until 2000. Same can be done with Rap, Vocal Singing, Heavy Metal, Electronica/Techno, R&B, etc. But no matter what genre it is, in the beginning of the 20th century, you can’t get past the humble beginnings of a good ‘ol ragtime tune!
Oh, and in my defense for 1937, I just couldn’t overlook the full version of the Looney Tunes theme, “The Merry-Go-Round Broke down.” Benny Goodman is great, and at least I have his catchy “King Porter Stomp” in 1935.
I’m glad you all enjoyed this! I had fun sharing it with you guys.
August 13, 2011 at 2:46 pm |
For me no such list could omit The Eagles or Crosby Stills and Nash. Pick any one of a dozen songs.
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