I’m a paleontologist listening to all of the Billboard top 100s so I can learn something about popular music and history. Here are my previous years : 1941, 1942.

The third year of my run through the history of pop music, 1943, is interesting because of the musicians strike that ran from August 1942 to 1944. The strike was for musicians and not singers, so it brought about the end of the Big Band Era and meant that only 40 tunes charted in 1943. The USA was in its second year of World War 2, and I expect this music to reflect both the strike and that national effort. According to that same Wikipedia article, 1943 saw the origin of Bebop, but it wasn’t recorded because of strike rules, so we won’t get Bebop until 1944 or maybe later.

As I go through the songs each year, I note the race and gender of the artists, so I can track how representation changes over the years. You might expect 50% of tunes to be performed by women if they were a random sample of the population (although that was not the case in 1941 or 1942). Based on the racial mix of the USA in the 1940s, you would expect about four of the top 40 tunes to be by a Black artist or artists and maybe one by another non-White racial group. Similarly, you would expect one song by Latinx artists.

As before, I’m going to go through the songs in reverse order so I can count down to the big hits.

TL;DR notes:

1. The 1943 chart was much more evenly distributed than the Glenn-Miller-dominated 1942 chart, with 27 artists accounting for the 40 songs. The big winner was Bing Crosby with four, followed by Duke Ellington, Harry James, and Tommy Dorsey with three each.
2. Of the 27 artists in the 1943 chart, six included Black folks in their headliners, and you would expect 10%, or two to three, so it’s an overrepresentation. When you go by number of tunes in the top 40, you see eight of them with Black folks, so twice as many as you might expect by random chance. That’s up a lot from five out of 100 in 1942 and six out of 80 in 1941. So Black artists are overrepresented in 1943. Could that be a consequence of the musicians’ strike?
3. There is one Latinx artist this year, according to my research. That’s up from none in 1942 and down from 9 in 1941.
4. Women are part of six of the 27 artists, and they would be expected to be half, so that’s extremely underrepresented. When you go by tracks, six of 40 have female artists, so still extremely underrepresented.
5. Notable songs include: “Perdido”, “Two O’clock Jump”, “Zing! Went the strings of my heart”, “Comin in on a Wing and a Prayer”, and “Paper Doll”. My favorite is “Perdido”, I think, but I also like “Two O’clock Jump” a lot. I gave 25/40 (63%) tracks a heart this year. That’s up from 45/100 in 1942 and 33/80 (41%) in 1941.

The 1943 Charts:

1. Shoo-Shoo Baby – Ella Mae Morse – Tinny, muted trumpet to start, backed by a sparse band. Now the saxophones come in strong, and the band is making anticipation music. Now we have the solid vocals of Ella Mae. It seems to be a goodbye song. The man is saying “Shoo” to his lady as he goes off to the Seven Seas. It makes sense as a song for wartime USA. It’s got great vocals and the musicality is solid, so I’ll give it a heart. White female artist.
2. Brazil – Xavier Cugat – This one charted in 1941 in English, but I prefer the Portugese version, which was used as the theme for the Terry Gilliam Movie Brazil. This cut by Xavier Cugat is instrumental only, but it’s great so I’ll give it a heart. It has that authentic Latin sound. Latino male artist.
3. I’m Old Fashioned – Fred Astaire – Fred is known for his dancing, but apparently he sang, too. This one has a generic orchestral intro. Fred’s voice is soft and not notable. It’s a nice little song about how he doesn’t like new stuff and likes to hold on to solid, known stuff, like his love. YouTube to the rescue on this one. White male artist.
4. Why Don’t You Do Right – by Benny Goodman – Starts with clarinets setting the melody and tone (surprised?) and then the whole Big Band gets into it, getting us going on a nice, walking-pace beat. We get vocals after only 40 seconds. It’s a female vocalist, with good tone, singing as she asks why her man doesn’t do right by her like other men do for their ladies. “Get out of here and get me some money, too.” It’s a good tune and I’ll give it a heart. Benny Goodman, folks, he’s pretty a pretty good man. White male artist.
5. All for You – King Cole Trio – As you would expect for Nat King Cole, it starts out with jazzy licks in a soft tone, and Nat King Cole starts out singing from the start. He’s got a great voice, and this is a happy song about his happy love. It has some good electric guitar in the band as well. It’s pretty sparsely instrumented in this era of Big Bands. It’s the sort of song you might listen to on a lazy summer weekend to just chill and be happy. I like it and I’ll give it a heart. Black male artists.
6. Moonlight Becomes You – Bing Crosby – Whiny strings to set the stage, building to Bing after only 14 seconds. He’s singing about how beautiful his lover is in the moonlight and how they have good fashion sense. It’s not quite a crooner song: his voice is solid and he’s not dwelling on the vowels tooooo muuuuuch. I like it and I’ll give it a heart. White male artist.
7. Mister Five By Five – Harry James – This one charted in 1942, also, so it must be a wrap-around hit. See my 1942 chart for my impression. It’s a silly song.
8. Let’s Get Lost – Vaughn Monroe – Big Band trumpets and woodwinds to set the stage. Now it settles into a walking beat, with vocals after about 25 seconds. Male vocalist leads, with female chorus backing him. He’s singing about getting lost in his lovers’ arms, and the ladies are singing “doo doo doo” behind him. It’s actually a bit of a silly song, about scandalizing other people with their public displays of affection, I think. I’ll give it a heart because I find it a fun song. White male artist.
9. Don’t Get Around Much Anymore – Duke Ellington – Great saxophone right from the start. It’s alto, tenor, and bass, I think. Then, short of 20 seconds in, we get Duke singing the vocal line of the tune. It’s great, jazzy, bluesy singing. He’s singing about he doesn’t go out much anymore after you’ve been gone. In that way, it’s a typical “I’m so sad without you” kind of love song. I’ll give it a heart. Black male artist.
10. People Will Say We’re in Love – Frank Sinatra – a chorus begins with “ooohs” then straight into Frank’s vocals. Could this be an a cappella piece because of the musicians’ strike? Yes, it seems to be. Sinatra has a great voice, and this song is OK, but it verges on too croony for me. White male artist.
11. Perdido – Duke Ellington – Great piano to intro, then into some solid saxophone with horns and brushes on the snares. It’s got a fast walking pace and it’s clear this song is going somewhere. Now we’re getting a trumpet taking the melody line over the saxophone on harmony. Back to the sax on the melody. This is a really great tune that I’ve never heard before, and this experience is exactly why I’m crawling through all these old charts. Duke Ellington is a master, and this tune is like a clinic. I’ll give it a heart. Black male artist.
12. Don’t Cry, Baby – Erskine Hawkins – Big band solid sound led by trumpets with some big percussion and a slow walking beat for the introduction. It builds and then falls for the start of the singing line at 20 seconds. He’s singing that you shouldn’t cry: “dry your eyes and let’s be sweethearts again.” It’s a make-up song, and it’s sweet in its simplicity and authenticity. I’ll give it a heart. Black male artist.
13. There’s A Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere – Jimmy Wakely – YouTube to the rescue. It sets a country/western sound at the beginning and gets right into the vocals. It sounds like it’s a patriotic song and mostly consists of a listing of US heroes and wishing that the singer can be a part of the war effort. It’s not great to my ears today, no fault to the patriotic sentiment. White male artist.
14. Artistry In Rhythm – Stan Kenton – Starts with, is that harpsichord? And piano? Or just piano? Hard to tell, but I think this is all piano. Now it sounds like just all piano, and I think this may be a piano instrumental piece? No, now we’ve got a salsa band picking up right around the 50 seconds mark, and it’s gone hard from classical piano to a kind of Bossa Nova sound. It’s kind of catchy, but it also sounds a bit kitschy to my modern ear. It goes on like this for some time. Four minutes, in fact. It almost sounds like background music from a 1960s action movie. It’s out of character with these other 1943 tunes. White male artist.
15. You’ll Never Know – Frank Sinatra – more a cappella from Frank Sinatra and the Bobby Tucker Singers. It’s pretty good, but it’s more crooning. He’s singing about how you’ll never know how much he misses you. It’s good, but not for me. White male artist.
16. Praise The Lord and Pass the Ammunition – Kay Kyser – This is another holdover from 1942, and I can understand why folks in 1943 would insist on listening to this song on repeat. To read my reaction, go to the 1942 charts. White male artist.
17. People Will Say We’re in Love – Bing Crosby – Bing’s version starts out with happy piano, then straight to his strong vocals. He’s call-and-respond singing with a female vocalist. It’s honestly much better than the Frank Sinatra version. This version on Spotify has Rosemary Clooney as the female vocalist, and she’s a great match to Bing. It’s got a piano, electric guitar, and drum set backing them up, but it seems to not have a full instrumentation, which probably reflects the musician strike. I’ll give this one a heart. Good job. White male artist.
18. When The Lights Go On Again (All Over The World) – Vaughn Monroe – another wrap-around success from 1942, so check that chart for my reaction.
19. Juke Box Saturday Night – Glenn Miller – Big band sound from the beginning, then into vocals singing about the happy times at the soda shop for a Saturday night dancing around the jukebox. It’s got a fast walking pace, and the vocals do a good job mixing with the big band sound, all carrying forward the solid four beat. They call out Harry James on the trumpet, and it sounds like he may have had a rivalry with Glenn Miller, but I can’t find details online. I like it and I’ll give it a heart. White male artist.
20. Two O’Clock Jump – Harry James – Nice tinkly piano with hi-hat drums to start, then into a trumpet solo leading the melody. Some chorus singing “hi-hi” in the background, and the trumpet and piano are trading off the line, all while a string bass pushes the very fast solid four beat. Now the whole band is in, with the woodwinds carrying the melody for a while before trading back to the horns. This is overall a great piece with some interesting use of the musical sections and no vocals to distract from the musicality. It’s classic Big Band, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before. Information on the internet suggests it was a tune from the late 1930s that was reissued in the strike. I’ll give it a heart. White male artists.
21. You’d Be So Nice To Come Home to – Dinah Shore – whiny violins set the mood. Dinah starts singing and it’s clear this is a song in a sad-song modality, but it’s not clear that the words quite match. She’s singing about how nice it would be to come home to you: so maybe you should get with her? But why does it sound so sad? Maybe because she knows she can’t get you? It does have full instrumentation, and it’s making use of it, but not in an inspiring way that makes me want to listen to this song again. White female artist.
22. Boogie Woogie – Tommy Dorsey – trilling flutes to start make it feel like we’re anticipating something. Then it gets into a boogie-woogie beat, with the fast walking pace solid four. The sections are trading off and trading with the piano, and it all sounds very good and friendly and jazzy. It’s well put together and I’ll give it a heart. White male artist.
23. Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart – Judy Garland – Jazzy band intro, straight into Judy with the melody. She’s singing about love at first sight, which I could guess from the title. This sounds like a Jazz standard, and it’s pretty good. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before, but it sounds like a song everyone should know. It has a good, moderate beat, the band does a great job backing Judy’s vocals, and it’s overall musically very good. I’ll give it a heart. White female artist.
24. In the Blue of the Evening – Tommy Dorsey – Whiny trumpets backed by the whole big band to start. It has a blue sound, which fits the title. It’s a slow walking pace, but it doesn’t have a solid four feel: it’s got a big, expansive sound, and it wants to set a maudlin feel. Now a male vocalist is singing about his “dream reverie” with his lover in the blue of the evening. I think it’s supposed to be a happy song, but it’s in a glum mode. I suppose it’s for folks who like slow dancing (not me). White male artist.
25. I Had The Craziest Dream – Harry James – Another wrap around tune from 1942. I didn’t like it then and I didn’t like it any more this time.
26. Pistol Packin’ Mama – Al Dexter & His Troops – Starts with a fast trumpet playing over a ?banjo. It has a honky-tonk sound. Straight into the male vocalist, singing about his pistol packing mama who abuses him in so many ways. It has a good pace, and it does a good job using the instruments. It reminds me of the aesthetic of “O Brother Where Art Thou?” I’ll give it a heart. White male artist.
27. You’ll Never Know – Dick Haymes – Starts with a chorus of male and female voices singing in harmony. Sparse instrumentation backing them, or it may be a cappella. It’s a crooning song with a heavy emphasis oooon the vooooowels. It is a cappella: there are no instruments, so it may be another product of the musician strike. It’s not for me. White male artist.
28. There Are Such Things – Tommy Dorsey – Harp to open: it sounds like a flashback. Then into a chorus singing “A heart that’s true… There are such things”. The gimmick of the song is singing an idea and then singing “There are such things”. It has a slow oom-pah beat, and there are instruments backing the chorus: violins, the harp, and a string bass. White male artist.
29. Comin In on a Wing and a Prayer – The Song Spinners – YouTube to the rescue. It starts with a clear “bom-bom-bom” a cappella beat. It’s a song about the return of a bomber that has done its duty and is shot up and limping back to England. It’s a very relevant song for 1943, given the air war in Europe. It’s catchy, even though I’m not usually a fan of a cappella. I’ll give it a heart, or I would, if it were on Spotify. White male and female artists.
30. Sunday, Monday or Always – Bing Crosby – Starts with the chorus singing an or list of the days of the week. Bing sings the melody very soon into the tune. He’s singing about how he wants to be with you, but no pressure to tell him when he can be with you again. His voice is pretty amazing. Its another a cappella tune, presumably in the wake of the musician’s strike. OK, I’ll give it a heart. White male artist.
31. Taking a Chance on Love – Benny Goodman – Starts out strong, setting up a moderate solid four beat with the whole band. Then it pares down to the clarinet along with some muted trumpets and the saxophones. As with all Benny Goodman pieces, it’s got a good beat and the instruments play well together. We get a female vocalist after almost a minute. She’s singing about how she’s thinking about taking another chance on love, but she sounds like she’s suspicious after her past experiences. Some gambling metaphors. Her voice is good and it’s mixed well with the band. It’s the kind of music I like, so I’ll give it a heart. White male artist.
32. Stormy Weather – Lena Horne – Starts low and builds ominously. Then straight into Lena’s singing: she’s great. She’s got stormy weather because she and her man ain’t together. It sounds like it’s an “I miss you” song. It’s great, and, again, I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before. Really, this is all Lena singing with spare instrumentation to highlight her singing, very well orchestrated. I’ll give it a heart. Black female artist.
33. That Old Black Magic – Glenn Miller – Horns build to a big crescendo, then fall back again to let the clarinets toot some. Now we have a male vocalist crooning about the black magic that happens when your eyes meet his. I’m usually a fan of Glenn Miller, but this is a basic crooning tune, so no love from me. White male artist.
34. Don’t Get Around Much Anymore – The Ink Spots – Guitar to start, then into the vocalists. It’s got a good sound, like I’ve come to expect from the Ink Spots. It’s a very different cover from the Duke Ellington version, but it’s also good in its own way. It has very spare instrumentation and relies on the singer. I’ll give it a heart. Black male artists.
35. Sentimental Lady – Duke Ellington – Piano softly opens the piece. Then a saxophone comes in, setting the mood. It’s very sparse, but musically very good. After a minute or so, we get the horns and slowly add the rest of the band. It’s a slow dancing piece, but I really like it, so what does that say about the slow dance pieces I don’t like? We’re getting hi-hat and full band sound building into the third minute. It’s clear this is going to be an instrumental piece. I really like it, so I’ll give it a heart. Black male artist.
36. I’ve Heard That Song Before – Harry James with Helen Forrest – Nice walking beat set up by the band, then the trumpet takes the lead. I’ve heard this song before. It’s catchy and I’m not surprised it gets play today. Now we get Helen Forrest, and she has a great voice. This is a great Big Band piece with a great balance of instruments and voice and a nice pace. I’ll give it a heart. White male and female artists.
37. Oklahoma! – Alfred Drake – I guess this is from the musical? Yes, it’s the one song from Oklahoma! that I’ve heard before. It’s funny, this is a song that I’ve always used to make fun of musicals, because it’s over the top and so recognizable. It may be for some people, but it’s not for me. White male artist.
38. As Time Goes By – Rudy Vallee – tinkly harp makes it sound like a flashback. Then we’re right into that famous song from Casablanca, and I’m sold. It’s a great song, everyone knows it, and it has such an important place in history. This is, of course, not the version in the movie, but it’s still great. I’ll give it a heart. White male artist.
39. Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’ – Bing Crosby – My grandfather used to sing this song to me when he was waking me up on trips to visit him when I was a kid, so it has a special place in my heart. Also, it seems to be from Oklahoma!, so I guess I know two songs from that musical. Flute leads out to set a happy scene, then into Bing’s voice, singing call-and-response with Trudy Erwin. It’s exactly the song I remember, and it fills me with nostalgia. I’ll give it a heart. White male artist.
40. Paper Doll – Mills Brothers – Happy guitar and straight into the male vocalist soloing the tune. He’s singing that he’d rather have a paper doll to call his own than a fickle real-live girl. Sounds like he’s been burned by his loves, so he doesn’t want to get burned again. It gets into a more jazzy-swingy section in the middle, with a different vocalist. Now we’re into some harmony singing the section that opened the tune, so it folds back onto itself while building musical complexity. I can understand why this tune got to be #1. It’s interesting and has a happy feel. It’s also of note that the Mills Brothers are a Black quartet and they got to be #1 in 1943, so Black artists were getting to the top of the charts at this time. I’ll give it a heart. Black male artists.