Here are the #1 hits of 1924 for all you centenarians out there.
From A Century of Pop Music by Joel Whitburn: “The record industry was on a roller coaster throughout the decade. Sales were booming in 1920-21 with postwar enthusiasm, but by 1924 had plunged alarmingly. Consumers were buying radios – offering far better sound quality than any acoustic phonograph – instead of phonographs and records… The roaring national good times at mid-decade reversed the downturn…”
It Ain’t Gonna Rain No Mo’ – Wendell Hall (Victor), six weeks at #1, gold record. “Comedian with ukulele.”
California, Here I Come – Al Jolson (Brunswick), the gold record was six weeks at #1. I know that song! At least one video features Jolson in blackface, which I declined to use.
Memory Lane -Fred Waring featuring Tom Waring (Victor), five weeks at #1. Fred Waring arranged a lot of the music I sang as part of the Glee club in high school.
Somebody Stole My Gal – Ted Weems (Victor), five weeks at #1, gold record. Instrumental, including banjo. Leo Wood wrote it.
It Had To Be You – Isham Jones (Brunswick), five weeks at #1. Instrumental. It’s a well-known tune written by Jones. The lyrics, which do not appear in this version, were by Gus Kahn.
Born Israel Beilin
What I’ll Do – Paul Whiteman (Victor), five weeks at #1. The instrumental is a familiar waltz written by Irving Berlin.
Somebody Loves Me – Paul Whiteman (Victor), five weeks at #1. Instrumental. The music is from George White’s Scandals.
Sleep – Waring’s Pennsylvanians. (Victor), five weeks at #1.
Linger Awhile – Paul Whiteman (Victor), four weeks at #1. Instrumental.
I Wonder What’s Become Of Sally – Al Jolson with Carl Fenton’s Orchestra (Brunswick), three weeks at #1.
Spain – Isham Jones (Brunswick), two weeks at #1. Instrumental.
Charleston – Arthur Gibbs (Victor), one week at #1. Instrumental. From the musical Running Wild. Do you have your dancing shoes on?
Incidentally, Columbia, which had only five of the top 40 singles that year, “went into receivership before reorganization in 1924” because it was “burdened by a large inventory of unsold phonographs.” However, it “re-established itself as second only to mighty Victor among the major labels.”