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Songs from the Year 1938

Other Years: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s

This page lists the top songs of 1938 in the source charts. The way that the various charts are combined to reach this final list is described on the in the site generation page.

Between 1920 and 1940 there are few available charts (at least that we can find), hence these results should be treated with caution since they are based on fairly subjective charts.

# Artist Song Title Year Chart Entries
1 Artie Shaw Begin the Beguine 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (18 weeks), Grammy Hall of Fame in 1977, US BB 2 of 1938, POP 2 of 1938, RYM 10 of 1938, Brazil 32 of 1939, RIAA 91, Acclaimed 1163
2 Benny Goodman Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing) 1938 Grammy Hall of Fame in 1982, US BB 3 of 1938, Peel list 3 of 1937, POP 3 of 1938, US Billboard 7 - 1938 (6 weeks), Brazil 54 of 1939, RIAA 205, Acclaimed 526, WXPN 766
3 Ella Fitzgerald A-Tisket A-Tasket 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (19 weeks), Grammy Hall of Fame in 1986, US BB 8 of 1938, RYM 8 of 1938, POP 8 of 1938, Brazil 57 of 1939, RIAA 104, Acclaimed 848
4 The Andrews Sisters Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (10 weeks), Grammy Hall of Fame in 1996, US BB 5 of 1938, RYM 5 of 1937, POP 5 of 1938, Europe 6 of the 1930s, Brazil 73 of 1938
5 Seven Dwarfs Whistle While You Work 1938 US BB 1 of 1938, POP 1 of 1938, US Billboard 2 - 1938 (13 weeks)
6 Bunny Berigan I Can't Get Started 1938 Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975, US Billboard 10 - 1938 (3 weeks), US BB 15 of 1938, POP 15 of 1938, Acclaimed 1480
7 Fred Astaire Nice Work If You Can Get It 1938 US Billboard 1 - Nov 1937 (15 weeks), US BB 13 of 1938, POP 13 of 1938, RYM 20 of 1937, Europe 79 of the 1930s
8 Bing Crosby I've Got a Pocket Full of Dreams 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (17 weeks), US BB 20 of 1938, POP 20 of 1938, Europe 26 of the 1930s, RYM 43 of 1938
9 Fred Astaire Change Partners 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (8 weeks), US BB 16 of 1938, POP 16 of 1938, Europe 83 of the 1930s, RYM 89 of 1938
10 Duke Ellington I Let a Song Go out of My Heart 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (19 weeks), US BB 10 of 1938, POP 10 of 1938, RYM 54 of 1938
11 Bing Crosby You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (11 weeks), US BB 12 of 1938, POP 12 of 1938, Europe 25 of the 1930s
12 Tommy Dorsey Music, Maestro, Please 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (20 weeks), US BB 11 of 1938, POP 11 of 1938, Europe 55 of the 1930s
13 Benny Goodman Don't Be That Way 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (13 weeks), US BB 14 of 1938, POP 14 of 1938, Europe 65 of the 1930s
14 Larry Clinton My Reverie 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (19 weeks), US BB 17 of 1938, POP 17 of 1938, Brazil 38 of 1938
15 Bob Hope & Shirley Ross Thanks For the Memory 1938 Oscar in 1938, AFI 63, RIAA 170, Acclaimed 1316
16 Larry Clinton Heart & Soul 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (14 weeks), US BB 6 of 1938, POP 6 of 1938
17 Larry Clinton Cry, Baby, Cry 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (25 weeks), US BB 18 of 1938, POP 18 of 1938
18 The Andrews Sisters Short'nin' Bread 1938 US BB 4 of 1938, POP 4 of 1938, US Billboard 16 - 1938 (2 weeks), RYM 42 of 1938
19 Fats Waller Two Sleepy People 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (11 weeks), Europe 78 of the 1930s, RYM 93 of 1938
20 The Boswell Sisters Alexander's ragtime band 1938 US Billboard 4 - 1938 (5 weeks), POP 9 of 1938, Europe 17 of the 1930s, RIAA 154
21 Al Jolson & Bing Crosby Alexander's ragtime band 1938 US BB 9 of 1938, POP 9 of 1938, Europe 16 of the 1930s, US Billboard 20 - May 1947 (2 weeks)
22 Larry Clinton You Go to My Head 1938 US Billboard 3 - 1938 (12 weeks), US BB 7 of 1938, POP 7 of 1938
23 Walter Huston September Song 1938 Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984, US Billboard 12 - 1939 (5 weeks)
24 Tampa Red Lula Mae 1938 Peel list 1 of 1944, RYM 12 of 1938
25 Woody Herman Four Brothers 1938 Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984, RYM 39 of 1938
26 Artie Shaw Any Old Time 1938 Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001, RYM 44 of 1938
27 Shep Fields & His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra Cathedral In The Pines 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (10 weeks), Europe 93 of the 1930s
28 The Andrews Sisters Hold Tight, Hold Tight (Want Some Seafood, Mama) 1938 US Billboard 2 - 1939 (11 weeks), RYM 2 of 1938
29 Tommy Dorsey Boogie Woogie 1938 US Billboard 3 - 1938 (9 weeks), US 1940s 4 - Oct 1943
30 Robert Johnson Honeymoon Blues 1938 RYM 1 of 1938
31 Jimmy Dorsey Change Partners 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (12 weeks)
32 Red Norvo & His Orchestra Says My Heart 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (12 weeks)
33 Sammy Kaye Love Walked In 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (16 weeks)
34 Horace Heidt Ti-Pi-Tin 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (13 weeks)
35 Martha Tilton I Let a Song Go out of My Heart 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (9 weeks)
36 Kokomo Goin' Down in Galilee 1938 Peel list 1 of 1938
37 Russ Morgan I've Got a Pocketful of Dreams 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (13 weeks)
38 Red Norvo & His Orchestra Please Be Kind 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (16 weeks)
39 Bing Crosby & Connee Boswell Alexander's ragtime band 1938 US Billboard 1 - 1938 (11 weeks)
40 Robert Johnson Stop Breakin' Down Blues 1938 RYM 1 of 1938

Previous Comments

8 May 2009

A Tisket A Tasket

Thanks for this great site that I must have overlooked for a considerable time. There are some mistakes of course, e.g. Ella Fitzgerald's "A-Tisket A-Tasket" (#8 in the 1938 chart) is the same record as Chick Webb's (#26 in the year chart) because she was the band's singer at the time and Joel Whitburn is always listing the bandleader and the featured singer. Here you can see the label of the original 78 rpm record with both names on it: http://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/chick_webb__and_his_orchestra_/a_tisket_a_tasket___liza__all_the_cloudsll_roll_away_/

Best wishes from Germany Cornelius

Thanks for the correction, the data has been fixed. That type of issue is the most difficult one to spot.


19 May 2009

A-Tisket A-Tasket Again

Thanks for fixing the "A-Tisket A-Tasket" entry. I'd say however that the correct artist specification for this record would be "Chick Webb & Ella Fitzgerald" (with a link to Ella, the same way as you did with some other collaborations, e), not just Ella Fitzgerald.

Regards Cornelius

You make a valid point, there certainly is a good case for listing it under "Chick Webb & Ella Fitzgerald". However, many sources list the song under just "Ella Fitzgerald" (possibly because she co-wrote it), there is no separate page for Chick Webb on the site and the "Chick Webb Orchestra" was renamed in 1939 as "Ella Fitzgerald and her Famous Orchestra" (after Chick Webb died) so we decided to assign this song to "Ella Fitzgerald".

The goal of this site is to consolidate the range of input charts, this often means that we have to "standardise" names. For example some artists have different names in different countries (like "Yazoo" or "The Detroit Spinners"), some artists change names from one year to the next (like "Prince"), or for a particular song (for "(Meet) the Flintstones" "The B52s" became "The BC52s"). Mapping the actual names on the record labels or charts to a "most common form" makes it easier for users to find connections between charts, if they then use that information to track to the original chart data they will find the original information and can decide if our consolidations are valid for them.

A note has been added to Ella Fitzgerald's page to explain the situation, this also means that anyone looking up Chick Webb in the index will be directed to the right place as well.

Thanks for the input


26 May 2009

Thanks for clarifying that, although I'm not quite convinced when I look at the already existing Bing Crosby collaborations for example. Anyway it's okay for me with the newly added comments on the Ella Fitzgerald page.

I got another one: #34 ("Hold Tight, Hold Tight", 1939) and #35 ("Hold Tight, Hold Tight (Want Some Sea Food, Mama?)", 1938) on the Andrews Sisters' page and is the same song and the same record, released at the end of 1938 and charted in the beginning of 1939, see the record label on http://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/andrews_sisters/hold_tight__hold_tight__want_some_sea_food__mama_____billy_boy/ (which also shows that it was a collaboration of the Andrews Sisters with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra).

Corrected, thanks again for the info


2 Jun 2009

Andrews Sisters

Corrected? I still see them both (now #35 and #36).

What we meant was that the data was corrected in the source data set, it obviously takes some time to "publish" from the source to the web pages. The processing alone takes about 16 hours.

In addition for the last couple of days the result has failed some of our quality tests, so we have had to correct some elements and resubmit the job (which adds another day).

The data should now show the correct values.


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