The Billboard charts have been our measurement for music success for years now and 74 years ago today the very first chart was published! Check out who was topping the charts back in 1940 after the jump!
Here’s a little history for you:
Subsequently, the Billboard 200 would begin showcasing the top-selling weekly albums as of March 24, 1956. The premise introduced on this date 74 years ago of ranking the best-selling songs in the U.S. would expand to include a radio airplay component, spurring the birth of the Billboard Hot 100 as the premier national singles chart in the Aug. 4, 1958, issue. (The last year alone has brought the Streaming Songs, real-time Billboard+Twitter and brand-new Billboard Artist 100 charts.)
Prior to July 27, 1940, Billboard had highlighted the national “Sheet Music Best Sellers”; “Records Most Popular on Music Machines” (compiled from national reports from phonograph operators); and, “Songs With the Most Radio Plugs” on a handful of New York radio stations.
The “National List of Best Selling Retail Records,” however, was the first to poll retailers nationwide on record sales.
From the very first list Tommy Dorsey topped the chart with “I’ll Never Smile Again.” The rest of the list was as follows:
2. “The Breeze and I,” Jimmy Dorsey
3. “Imagination,” Glenn Miller
4. “Playmates,” Kay Kyser
5. “Fools Rush In,” Glenn Miller
6. “Where Was I?,” Charlie Barnet
7. “Pennsylvania 6-5000,” Glenn Miller
8. “Imagination,” Tommy Dorsey
9. “Sierra Sue,” Bing Crosby
10 “Make Believe Island,” Mitchell Ayres
