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Song title 16 - Mack the Knife

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Mack the Knife Region Profile

This page lists the chart runs for songs called "Mack the Knife" in order of success. This list combines cover versions and distinct songs that happen to share the same title.

# Artist Song Title Year Chart Entries
1 Bobby Darin Mack the Knife 1959 UK 1 - Sep 1959 (18 weeks), US Billboard 1 - Aug 1959 (26 weeks), US CashBox 1 of 1959, US Radio 1 of 1959 (peak 1 18 weeks), Your Hit Parade 1 of 1959, Canada 1 - Aug 1959 (18 weeks), Radio Luxembourg sheet music 1 for 2 weeks - Oct 1959, Europarade 1 for 1 week - Nov 1959, US invalid BB 1 of 1959, Grammy in 1959, Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 (1959), POP 1 of 1959, Library of Congress artifact added 2015 (1959), US BB 2 of 1959, Billboard100 3, 55th Billboard 100 3 (1959), DDD 3 of 1959, Billboard 50th song 3, Norway 9 - Nov 1959 (3 weeks), Flanders 11 - Nov 1959 (3 months), South Africa 13 of 1959, RIAA 15, Brazil 20 of 1959, DMDB 33 (1959), Italy 38 of 1960, D.Marsh 40 of 1959, nuTsie 56 of 1950s, Europe 88 of the 1950s (1959), UKMIX 167, Rolling Stone 251, Acclaimed 407 (1959), WXPN 518, RYM 15 of 1959, Party 226 of 1999
2 Louis Armstrong Mack the Knife 1956 Radio Luxembourg sheet music 1 for 2 weeks - Oct 1959, Australia 1 for 4 weeks - May 1956, Grammy Hall of Fame in 1997 (1955), Library of Congress artifact added 2015 (1956), UK 8 - Apr 1956 (12 weeks), US invalid BB 16 of 1956, POP 16 of 1956, US Billboard 20 - Feb 1956 (15 weeks), Scrobulate 54 of jazz, RYM 22 of 1955
3 Bertolt Brecht Mack the Knife 1928 US invalid BB 1 of 1928, POP 1 of 1928, ASCAP song of 1928
4 Dick Hyman Trio Mack the Knife 1956 US Billboard 8 - Jan 1956 (20 weeks), UK 9 - Mar 1956 (10 weeks), US CashBox 9 - Jan 1956 (19 weeks), Brazil 31 of 1956, US BB 60 of 1956
5 Ella Fitzgerald Mack the Knife 1960 Grammy in 1960 (Nominated), UK 19 - Apr 1960 (9 weeks), US Billboard 27 - May 1960 (14 weeks), RYM 20 of 1960, Guardian Jazz 41
6 Richard Hayman Mack the Knife 1956 US CashBox 9 - Feb 1956 (14 weeks), US Billboard 11 - Feb 1956 (15 weeks), US BB 87 of 1956
7 Billy Vaughn Mack the Knife 1956 UK 12 - Mar 1956 (7 weeks), US Billboard 37 - Feb 1956 (13 weeks)
8 Lawrence Welk Mack the Knife 1956 US Billboard 17 - Feb 1956 (11 weeks)
9 Les Paul Mack the Knife 1956 US Billboard 49 - Feb 1956 (12 weeks)
10 King Kurt Mack the Knife 1984 UK 55 - Apr 1984 (4 weeks)
11 Sting Mack the Knife 1986 Poland 10 - Jan 1986 (10 weeks)
12 Psychedelic Furs Mack the Knife 1981 RYM 36 of 1981
13 Robbie Williams Mack the Knife unknown Scrobulate 22 of swing
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Previous Comments (newest first)

5 Nov 2011

US #1 in 1928? I don't think so.

I think that it's an error to state that Bertolt Brecht's 1928 version of Mack the Knife was #1 in the U.S. Joel Whitburn's book of Billboard charts "Pop Memories 1890-1954" doesn't mention Brecht or "Mack the Knife" or "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" (the song wasn't even given English lyrics until 1933).

[not truly pertinent, but the actual U.S. #1 song of 1928 was Al Jolson's "Sonny Boy"]

We have some sympathy with what you say, but we think this is a perfect illustration of why a site like ours has to list complete details of all the source entries. The two charts that placed this song at number 1 (neither explicitly based on Whitburn's books) clearly felt that the original version of this classic song from 1959 was the most important song of 1928.

Part of the issue is that there is so little validated chart data from the 1920s (or indeed before 1940). So a couple of top entries are sufficient to boost a song's rating to get it into the top 30, that is one of the reasons why we list so few songs for these years.

We would be happy to defend the rankings of the first 15 or so entries of this particular list, but the relative ordering after number 20 is, we agree, a touch arbitrary.

By providing all the information we hope to allow our users to make up their own minds, to decide which of these suggested songs are worth further investigation, and which source charts the user agrees with. Where users like yourself have, reasonable, issues with particular entries we hope to provide the links that allow you to make up your own mind.

We understand your issue with this particular entry, your viewpoint is clearly well reasoned and convincing. However, since we have included these two charts we feel that we have to reflect the top song for this year from them. Of course just by adding this comment you have provided other users with the information they need to make up their own minds.

Your final comment is more closely related than you suggest. It seems to us that the main reason why the Al Jolson song is number 4 in our list is that unlike the three higher entries it is not listed in the "Acclaimed Music" list. The point is that this list is, as you appreciate, an attempt to identify the most widely appreciated music. Of course for 1928 there is not enough evidence, and what there is is too focused on the US, but within those constraints we hope that you feel we've done a reasonable job.

5 Nov 2011

US #1 in 1928? I don't think so.

I think that it's an error to state that Bertolt Brecht's 1928 version of Mack the Knife was #1 in the U.S. Joel Whitburn's book of Billboard charts "Pop Memories 1890-1954" doesn't mention Brecht or "Mack the Knife" or "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" (the song wasn't even given English lyrics until 1933).

[not truly pertinent, but the actual U.S. #1 song of 1928 was Al Jolson's "Sonny Boy"]

We have some sympathy with what you say, but we think this is a perfect illustration of why a site like ours has to list complete details of all the source entries. The two charts that placed this song at number 1 (neither explicitly based on Whitburn's books) clearly felt that the original version of this classic song from 1959 was the most important song of 1928.

Part of the issue is that there is so little validated chart data from the 1920s (or indeed before 1940). So a couple of top entries are sufficient to boost a song's rating to get it into the top 30, that is one of the reasons why we list so few songs for these years.

We would be happy to defend the rankings of the first 15 or so entries of this particular list, but the relative ordering after number 20 is, we agree, a touch arbitrary.

By providing all the information we hope to allow our users to make up their own minds, to decide which of these suggested songs are worth further investigation, and which source charts the user agrees with. Where users like yourself have, reasonable, issues with particular entries we hope to provide the links that allow you to make up your own mind.

We understand your issue with this particular entry, your viewpoint is clearly well reasoned and convincing. However, since we have included these two charts we feel that we have to reflect the top song for this year from them. Of course just by adding this comment you have provided other users with the information they need to make up their own minds.

Your final comment is more closely related than you suggest. It seems to us that the main reason why the Al Jolson song is number 4 in our list is that unlike the three higher entries it is not listed in the "Acclaimed Music" list. The point is that this list is, as you appreciate, an attempt to identify the most widely appreciated music. Of course for 1928 there is not enough evidence, and what there is is too focused on the US, but within those constraints we hope that you feel we've done a reasonable job.

20 Aug 2011

Mack the Knife

Where can I find the lyrics to Mack the Knife ?

We don't have lyrics here, try searching for "Mack the Knife lyrics" on a search engine

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