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Songs from the Year 1932

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Other Years: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

This page lists the top songs of 1932 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). These results should be treated with some caution since, with few exceptions, they are based on fairly subjective charts and biased towards the USA.

The top ten song artists of 1932 were:

1:Bing Crosby3:Guy Lombardo5:Rudy Vallee & his Connecticut Yankees7:George Olsen9:Cab Calloway & his Cotton Club Orchestra
2:Louis Armstrong4:Paul Whiteman6:Fred Astaire & Leo Reisman8:Duke Ellington10:The Mills Brothers
# Artist Song Title Year Chart Entries
1 Fred Astaire & Leo Reisman Night & Day 1932 US Billboard 1 - 1932 (18 weeks), US invalid BB 1 of 1932, Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004 (1932), POP 1 of 1932, ASCAP song of 1932, Music Imprint 14 of 1930s, Brazil 21 of 1933, nuTsie 34 of 1930s, DMDB 52 (1932), RIAA 195, Acclaimed 1369 (1932), RYM 4 of 1932
2 Bing Crosby Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? 1932 US Billboard 1 - 1932 (8 weeks), Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005 (1932), Library of Congress artifact added 2013 (1932), POP 4 of 1932, US invalid BB 7 of 1932, nuTsie 33 of 1930s, Europe 44 of the 1930s (1932), Visconti song of 1932
3 Rudy Vallee & his Connecticut Yankees Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? 1932 US Billboard 1 - 1932 (8 weeks), Library of Congress artifact added 2013 (1932), POP 4 of 1932, Music Imprint 15 of 1930s, Brazil 60 of 1933, Australian Nostalgia 60 of 1930-1939, RIAA 196, RYM 6 of 1932
4 Louis Armstrong All of Me 1932 US Billboard 1 - 1932 (18 weeks), Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005 (1932), US invalid BB 8 of 1932, POP 8 of 1932, Brazil 19 of 1932, nuTsie 42 of 1930s, RYM 5 of 1932
5 Bing Crosby Please 1932 US Billboard 1 - 1932 (16 weeks), US invalid BB 9 of 1932, Europe 11 of the 1930s (1932), POP 12 of 1932, Australian Nostalgia 17 of 1930-1939, Brazil 53 of 1932
6 Ted Lewis & his Orchestra In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town 1932 US Billboard 1 - 1932 (22 weeks), US invalid BB 3 of 1932, Australian Nostalgia 3 of 1930-1939, POP 3 of 1932, nuTsie 80 of 1930s
7 Bing Crosby & The Mills Brothers Dinah 1932 US Billboard 1 - 1932 (9 weeks), US invalid BB 5 of 1932, POP 5 of 1932, Brazil 27 of 1932, Europe 47 of the 1930s (1931)
8 Duke Ellington It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) 1932 Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008 (1932), US Billboard 6 - 1932 (6 weeks), UK 40s Sheet Music 10 - Aug 1941 (1 week), Scrobulate 31 of swing, nuTsie 32 of 1930s, RYM 1 of 1932, Song of 1932
9 Guy Lombardo We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye 1932 US Billboard 1 - 1932 (8 weeks), US invalid BB 10 of 1932, POP 10 of 1932, Australian Nostalgia 48 of 1930-1939
10 George Olsen Lullaby of the Leaves 1932 US Billboard 1 - 1932 (10 weeks), US invalid BB 13 of 1932, POP 20 of 1932, Brazil 84 of 1933
11 Paul Whiteman All of Me 1932 US Billboard 1 - 1932 (10 weeks), POP 8 of 1932, Brazil 66 of 1932
12 Guy Lombardo Paradise 1932 US Billboard 1 - 1932 (10 weeks), US invalid BB 6 of 1932, POP 6 of 1932
13 Bing Crosby Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day) 1932 US Billboard 4 - 1932 (7 weeks), Europe 13 of the 1930s (1931), US invalid BB 15 of 1932, POP 15 of 1932
14 Kate Smith River, Stay 'Way from My Door 1932 US Billboard 1 - 1932 (8 weeks), US invalid BB 11 of 1932, POP 16 of 1932
15 Guy Lombardo Too Many Tears 1932 US Billboard 1 - 1932 (9 weeks), US invalid BB 12 of 1932, POP 18 of 1932
16 Cab Calloway & his Cotton Club Orchestra I've Got the World On a String 1932 US invalid BB 2 of 1932, POP 2 of 1932, US Billboard 18 - 1932 (1 week)
17 Tommy Dorsey Take My Hand, Precious Lord 1932 Music Imprint 19 of 1930s, nuTsie 74 of 1930s, RIAA 223, Acclaimed 1301 (1932), RYM 33 of 1932
18 Leo Reisman Paradise 1932 US Billboard 1 - 1932 (17 weeks), POP 6 of 1932
19 George Olsen Say it Isn't So 1932 US Billboard 1 - 1932 (9 weeks), POP 9 of 1932
20 Guy Lombardo How Deep Is the Ocean 1932 US Billboard 4 - 1932 (6 weeks), POP 17 of 1932, Brazil 42 of 1933
21 Ted Fio Rito Willow Weep For Me 1932 US invalid BB 4 of 1932, POP 11 of 1932, US Billboard 17 - 1932 (2 weeks)
22 Paul Whiteman Willow Weep For Me 1932 US Billboard 2 - Dec 1932 (7 weeks), Jazz Standard 13, RYM 75 of 1932
23 Maurice Chevalier MiMi 1932 US Billboard 9 - 1932 (6 weeks), US invalid BB 14 of 1932, POP 14 of 1932
24 Pat O'Malley Goopy Geer 1932 Peel list 1 of 1932
25 Castro Barbosa & O Grupo da Velha Guarda O Teu Cabelo Nao Nega 1932 Brazil 1 of 1932
26 Bing Crosby Love Me Tonight 1932 US Billboard 4 - 1932 (6 weeks), POP 13 of 1932
27 Joe Rines & his Orchestra Underneath the Harlem Moon 1932 US Billboard 6 - 1932 (6 weeks), POP 7 of 1932
28 Louis Armstrong I Got Rhythm 1932 US Billboard 17 - 1932 (2 weeks), nuTsie 90 of 1930s, RYM 16 of 1932
29 Kate Smith Too Late 1932 US Billboard 9 - 1932 (4 weeks), Brazil 73 of 1932
30 Gus Arnheim & his Orchestra You're Blase 1932 US Billboard 5 - 1932 (5 weeks), Jazz Standard 640
31 Paul Whiteman Let's Put Out the Lights 1932 US Billboard 2 - 1932 (6 weeks), RYM 74 of 1932
32 Leo Reisman Alone Together 1932 US Billboard 9 - 1932 (5 weeks), Jazz Standard 89
33 Russ Columbo Prisoner of Love 1932 US Billboard 16 - 1932 (1 week), nuTsie 99 of 1930s
34 Fred Waring & the Pennsylvanians You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me 1932 US Billboard 15 - 1933 (2 weeks), Jazz Standard 770
35 Paul Whiteman We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye 1932 US Billboard 3 - 1932 (6 weeks), RYM 51 of 1932
36 Paul Whiteman Three on a Match 1932 US Billboard 3 - 1932 (5 weeks), RYM 72 of 1932
37 Maurice Chevalier & Jeanette MacDonald Isn't It Romantic 1932 AFI 73, Jazz Standard 337
38 Bing Crosby Sweet Georgia Brown 1932 US Billboard 2 - 1932 (8 weeks)
39 The Mills Brothers St Louis Blues 1932 US Billboard 2 - 1932 (8 weeks)
40 Rudy Vallee & his Connecticut Yankees I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plans 1932 US Billboard 2 - 1932 (10 weeks)
41 Art Kassel & his Kassels-in-the-Air Hell's Bells 1932 US Billboard 2 - 1932 (21 weeks)
42 Rudy Vallee & his Connecticut Yankees Let's Put Out the Lights 1932 US Billboard 2 - 1932 (8 weeks)
43 The Mills Brothers Bugle Call Rag 1932 US Billboard 2 - 1932 (5 weeks)
44 Jimmie Grier & his Orchestra One Hour with You 1932 US Billboard 2 - 1932 (11 weeks)
45 Jack Hylton & his Orchestra You're Blase 1932 US Billboard 2 - 1932 (6 weeks)
46 Ted Black & his Orchestra In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town 1932 US Billboard 2 - 1932 (7 weeks)
47 Ray Noble Try a Little Tenderness 1932 Peel list 2 of 1932
48 Gastao Formenti Maringa 1932 Brazil 2 of 1932
49 Louis Armstrong Love, You Funny Thing 1932 US Billboard 4 - 1932 (6 weeks), RYM 14 of 1932
50 Louis Armstrong You Can Depend On Me 1932 US Billboard 4 - 1932 (16 weeks), RYM 16 of 1932
51 Don Redman I Got Rhythm 1932 Jazz Standard 73, RYM 18 of 1932, Song of 1932
52 Louis Armstrong Chinatown, My Chinatown 1932 US Billboard 5 - 1932 (7 weeks), RYM 24 of 1932
53 Paul Whiteman How Deep Is the Ocean 1932 US Billboard 5 - 1932 (5 weeks), RYM 27 of 1932
54 Louis Armstrong Sweethearts On Parade 1932 US Billboard 6 - 1932 (9 weeks), RYM 37 of 1932
55 Louis Armstrong Body & Soul 1932 US Billboard 7 - 1932 (5 weeks), RYM 15 of 1932
56 Eddie Cantor What A Perfect Combination 1932 US Billboard 7 - 1932 (5 weeks), Song of 1932
57 Wayne King Sweethearts Forever 1932 US Billboard 3 - 1932 (7 weeks)
58 The Mills Brothers I Heard 1932 US Billboard 3 - 1932 (9 weeks)
59 Ted Black & his Orchestra Masquerade 1932 US Billboard 3 - 1932 (7 weeks)
60 Arden-Ohman Orchestra When We're Alone 1932 US Billboard 3 - 1932 (7 weeks)
61 Ruby Newman & his Orchestra My Silent Love 1932 US Billboard 3 - 1932 (6 weeks)
62 Jack Denny & his Orchestra Auf Wiedersehen, my Dear 1932 US Billboard 3 - 1932 (6 weeks)
63 The Mills Brothers You rascal you 1932 US Billboard 3 - 1932 (8 weeks)
64 Bert Ambrose & his Orchestra The Clouds Will Soon Roll By 1932 Peel list 3 of 1932
65 Francisco Alves Para Me Livrar do Mal 1932 Brazil 3 of 1932
66 Louis Armstrong Kickin' the Gong Around 1932 US Billboard 11 - 1932 (3 weeks), RYM 9 of 1932
67 Duke Ellington Rose Room (In Sunny Roseland) 1932 US Billboard 15 - 1932 (3 weeks), RYM 1 of 1932
68 Louis Armstrong Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea 1932 US Billboard 12 - 1932 (2 weeks), RYM 9 of 1932
69 Ruth Etting It Was So Beautiful 1932 US Billboard 13 - 1932 (2 weeks), RYM 81 of 1932
70 Louis Armstrong & Hoagy Carmichael Rockin' Chair 1932 US Billboard 14 - 1932 (3 weeks), RYM 37 of 1932
71 Paul Whiteman I'll Never Be The Same 1932 US Billboard 14 - 1932 (3 weeks), RYM 51 of 1932
72 Duke Ellington Moon Over Dixie 1932 US Billboard 14 - 1932 (3 weeks), RYM 54 of 1932
73 Louis Armstrong Lawd, You Made the Night Too Long 1932 US Billboard 15 - 1932 (2 weeks), RYM 26 of 1932
74 Duke Ellington Blue Ramble 1932 US Billboard 16 - 1932 (3 weeks), RYM 30 of 1932
75 Louis Armstrong Shine 1932 US Billboard 17 - 1932 (1 week), RYM 15 of 1932
76 Louis Armstrong Keepin' Out of Mischief Now 1932 US Billboard 17 - 1932 (2 weeks), RYM 26 of 1932
77 Louis Armstrong Home 1932 US Billboard 18 - 1932 (1 week), RYM 5 of 1932
78 Jimmie Rodgers Roll Along Kentucky Moon 1932 US Billboard 18 - 1932 (1 week), RYM 35 of 1933
79 Paul Whiteman I'll Follow You 1932 US Billboard 19 - 1932 (1 week), RYM 27 of 1932
80 Al Jolson Hallelujah, I'm a Bum 1932 US Billboard 19 - 1933 (1 week), RYM 82 of 1932
81 Bing Crosby Lazy Day 1932 US Billboard 4 - 1932 (5 weeks)
82 Ted Lewis & his Orchestra Play, Fiddle, Play 1932 US Billboard 4 - Dec 1932 (6 weeks)
83 The Mills Brothers Rockin' Chair 1932 US Billboard 4 - 1932 (6 weeks)
84 Guy Lombardo Lawd, You Made the Night Too Long 1932 US Billboard 4 - 1932 (5 weeks)
85 Isham Jones My Silent Love 1932 US Billboard 4 - 1932 (7 weeks)
86 Fred Waring & the Pennsylvanians Fit as a Fiddle 1932 US Billboard 4 - 1932 (6 weeks)
87 The Mills Brothers Good-Bye, Blues 1932 US Billboard 4 - 1932 (7 weeks)
88 Breno Ferreira Andorinha Preta 1932 Brazil 4 of 1932
89 Charlie Kunz Lovely To Look At/ Smoke Gets In Your Eyes/ Night & Day 1932 Peel list 4 of 1932
90 Louis Armstrong I've Got the World On a String 1932 Jazz Standard 184, RYM 29 of 1933
91 Ruth Etting I'll Never Be The Same 1932 Jazz Standard 210, RYM 81 of 1932
92 Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra Moten Swing 1932 Jazz Standard 249, Song of 1932
93 Al Jolson You Are Too Beautiful 1932 Jazz Standard 449, RYM 82 of 1932
94 Guy Lombardo Just a Little Home for the Old Folks (A Token from Me) 1932 US Billboard 5 - 1932 (4 weeks)
95 Ray Noble Sailing on the Robert E Lee 1932 US Billboard 5 - 1932 (9 weeks)
96 Fred Waring & the Pennsylvanians Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee 1932 US Billboard 5 - 1932 (7 weeks)
97 Ray Noble Lights of Paris 1932 US Billboard 5 - 1932 (7 weeks)
98 Isham Jones I Cannot Believe It's True 1932 US Billboard 5 - 1932 (4 weeks)
99 Ray Noble Hold My Hand 1932 US Billboard 5 - 1932 (8 weeks)
100 Guy Lombardo Puh-Leeze, Mr Hemingway 1932 US Billboard 5 - 1932 (5 weeks)
Comment on the contents of the 'Songs from the Year 1932' page
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Previous Comments (newest first)

20 Mar 2016

she lived down by the firehouse

by Pie Plant

22 Feb 2016

Charlie Kunz - Medley

Per John Peel & YouTube, the following (3) recordings should be combined into(1) as they are a medley. #90 - Lovely To Look At & #91 - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes & #88 - Night & Day (in that order).

Data fixed, thanks

15 Dec 2015

What Happened? Brother Can You Spare A Dime

I noticed that your Top 1000 Song Title List & Song Artist List have changeddramatically over the last few weeks e.g. this song was #326 in November and is now completely out of the Top 1000! There are dozens more examples like this. Was curious what new data or new formulas you are now using?

You will also have noticed that the major version number changed (2.5 to 2.6). The basic data has not changed (much), its the algorithm we use that is new.

The first thing to say is that the "Overall Top 1000 Songs" list depends strongly on how much you emphasise one year over another. If we counted up all the entries in charts then all the top songs would come from 1995-2005 (where we have most chart data). So we've applied some clever maths to overcome that bias.

The yearly charts are much more accurate because they compare songs from the same era and therefore from consistent sets of charts. We'd be relatively confident that Bing Crosby's "Brother, can you spare a dime?" was the second most successful song of 1932. Whether it was the 326th,, 1012th or 1696th song or of all time is much harder to judge.

The various things we do to overcome these issues are described in the FAQ "How is the site is generated?". The latest version change came because we found the "year adjustment factors" were slipping out of sync with the source data available (as we added more charts). So we have instituted a new scheme where we can validate the results (by looking at the songs that end up in positions 1000-2000) and use those results to tweak the year factors. This has the advantage that the factors better match the data but the disadvantage that we have to keep changing them.

In order that our more observant readers (such as yourself) can keep track and ensure we don't add an new unconscious biases we have made the year factors we use and the scores of the top 3000 songs (and top 2000 albums) available as CSV files. The final section on the FAQ explains the details. Have a play, see if you can find anything interesting (tell us if you do).

15 May 2015

#2-Bing Crosby-Brother Can You Spare A Dime

This recording was also selected for Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005.

Data fixed, thanks

15 Aug 2014

Fred Astaiire & Leo Reisman

Night and Day (#1) was also elected to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004.

It is not listed on the Wikipedia page listing the awards but is on the listing of the 2004 awards. We'll assume you are right and fix the data

Thanks for the suggestion

In addition the Wiki page also seems to be missing "A Night In Tunisia" by Dizzy Gillespie, "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye and the album "Ellington at Newport"

4 Dec 2013

Poor Butterfly

There was a version perhaps a little later than 32 of Poor Butterfly with a Shanty Town type of patter course. It started with "That chick was high like a big fat butterfly ....."

Any body know more?

Three versions made the charts after 1932. Benny Goodman in 1942, Oscar Peterson in 1947 and the biggest hit was The Hilltoppers in 1954 which reached 12 in Billboard and 14 in Cashbox

11 Nov 2012

I Don't Know why I Love You Like I do

wasn't "I Don't Know Why I Love You Like I Do" a big hit in 1931 along with "Guilty" and Prisoner of Love?

Tommy

There is a song "I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)" by Wayne King that was number 2 in the US in 1931. Also two songs called "I Don't Know Why" were hits in 1931 one by Benny Krueger the other by Kate Smith (we guess they are both the same song). None make it to the year list.

We don't have a song called "I Don't Know Why I Love You Like I Do" in our listings. Of course different versions would have had variations on the names.

"Guilty" was a hit in 1931 for Ruth Etting (peak 4), Wayne King (peak 11) and Russ Columbo (peak 13). None of them high enough to reach the year list.

"Prisoner of Love" was a hit in 1932 (and is listed there)

5 Nov 2012

TAT

THIS IS JUST JAY STUFF OLD BOARING FINGS

26 Feb 2012

Looking for a song

The words are "Women do get weary" is it called "Try a little tenderness". I love the songs of this period as they have words which make sense and tunes that have great harmonies.

Thank You, Bernard Bloch.

In the Otis Redding (1966) version the words are "young girls they do get weary". According to Wikipedia the song was written in 1932 and first recorded by Ray Nobel.

We have entries for Ray Noble (Peel list 2 of 1932), Ted Lewis & his Orchestra (US Billboard 6 - 1933 (10 weeks)), Ruth Etting (US Billboard 16 - 1933 (2 weeks)), Frank Sinatra (Peel list 2 of 1947, RYM 64 of 1945) and Aretha Franklin (US Billboard 100 - Sep 1962 (1 week)) that predate Otis Redding's 1966 version.

28 Sep 2011

# 15 Take My Hand, Precious Lord

This song was written be Rev. Thoamas A. Dorsey - not to be confused with bandleader Tommy Dorsey.

Indeed see the Tommy Dorsey page.

20 Sep 2011

Take My Hand

I think the gospel song "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" is by Thomas A. Dorsey and not Tommy Dorsey as described by the reference link.

Yes, there is already a comment about that on the Tommy Dorsey page

13 Aug 2011

Possible duplicate

#1 and #45 Fred Astaire "Night and Day"

Thanks for the correction, we'd already made it before we saw your post, but its good to get it confirmed.

4 Jan 2011

Take my hand, precious Lord

Hi, The song Take my hand, precious Lord is not by band leader Tommy Dorsey (1905-1956). It was however written by Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey (1899-1993). According to wikipedia the first recorded version is by The Heavenly Gospel Singers in 1937.

Best regards,

Martijn

You are right about there being two artists listed here. We've added some text to the page to clarify.

The song was written in 1932 (on the death of his wife and son). That is presumably why the majority of sources have assigned that year to it.

4 Nov 2010

"Songs From The Tear 1933"

The lists for 1932 and 1933 look. Need I say more?

We've looked. The lists have a limited number of sources, but the page does mention that.

So yes, you do need to say more, we don't understand what point you are trying to make.

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