I’m a paleontologist listening to all the Billboard top 100s so I can learn something about popular music and history. Here are my previous years : 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945.

The sixth year of my run through the history of pop music, 1946, is after the end of World War II. We get a top 48 songs this year.

The period between WW2 and the Doo-wop era of the 1950s gets very little coverage in US popular culture, so I’m particularly interested in building my knowledge of both the music and the evolution of US politics and culture through this time. I’ll start putting more contextual details in this header.

The top grossing movie in 1946 was The Best Years of Our Lives ($10M), about three servicemen re-adjusting to civilian life. That movie also won the Best Picture Oscar for the year. 1946 saw the introduction of the first computer (ENIAC), the start of the CIA, the first use of “Iron Curtiain”, the Philippines granted independence by the USA, publication of Dr. Spock’s book on childcare, continued nuclear testing, the founding of the Atomic Energy Commission, Yogi Berra begin his pro baseball career, Republicans win majorities in the House and Senate in the mid-term elections, the last mass lynching in the USA, and Harry Truman establishing the President’s Committee on Civil Rights.

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 1941-1945). Based on the racial mix of the USA in the 1940s, you would expect about five of the top 48 tunes to be by a Black artist or artists and maybe one or two by another non-White racial group. Similarly, you would expect one or two songs 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 1946 chart was dominated by Bing Crosby, with five of the 48 tunes, followed by Perry Como with four. There were 17 artists with only one tune in the top 48, so it’s less even this year.
2. Black artists were three of the 29 artists on the 1946 charts, so 10%. When you go by tracks, Black folks are on four out of 48, so 8%. The expected rate for the 1940s would be 10%, so Black artists are underrepresented in tracks for the first time since 1942.
3. There is one Latinx artist on the 1944 charts (3%), and Latinx folks were about 1.5% of the US at the time, so they’re overrepresented on the charts. Latinx folks were on one out of the 48 tracks, so 2%.
4. Women are in eight of the 29 named artists (28%), and 10 of the 48 tracks (21%). You would, of course, expect them to be in half of the groups on average (maybe more: no reason you couldn’t have all the groups have men and women, after all), so women are underrepresented. This is up from 1945.
5. Notable songs include: #45 “Open the Door, Richard”, #28 “Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop”, #16 “To Each His Own”, and #7 “Personality”. My favorite is #13 “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow”. I gave 22 tracks (46%) a heart this year. Compare that to 52/80 (65%) in 1945, 24/40 (60%) in 1944, 25/40 (63%) in 1943, 45/100 in 1942, and 33/80 (41%) in 1941. I think the reason why my heart percentage dropped is a movement back to pre-war style crooning, sappy love songs and a movement away from the snappy songs that got Americans through WW2.

The 1946 Charts:

1. Kay Kyser – Ol’ Buttermilk Sky – Happy, rocking beat to start us out, female vocalist going “doot doot-de-doot” then a male vocalist singing a light line. It hints at a doo-wop sound like “Mr. Sandman”, but it’s not quite there yet. I like it and I’ll give it a heart. White male artist.
2. Peggy Lee – Golden Earrings – Strumming guitar, and Peggy Lee humming start us out, set a kind of middle eastern flavor. If I didn’t know the date of this song, I would put it in the 1960s. It is about magic golden earrings that bring you love, I think. I see: the sound of the song is supposed to invoke “Gypsy” imagery, and that links in with the magic earrings. It’s good enough for a heart. White female artist.
3. Eddy Howard – I Love You For Sentimental Reasons – Horns and saxes set us up with a lazy city sound. Eddy Howard has a very high voice, contrasting with many of the male singers of the time. This is a bit of a sappy, slow song, and it doesn’t keep my interest. White male artist.
4. Dusty Fletcher – Open The Door, Richard – This one is based on Fletcher’s long-running Vaudeville routine. It is a novelty song, and the drummer plays the role of Dusty knocking on the door. After the spoken-word intro, it goes into a male chorus singing across the saxophone. Dusty isn’t going to sing, is he? This is contrasting spoken-word across the chorus. It’s pretty good, and I recognize that beats from it have found their way into modern artists like George Thorogood’s work. The track goes on for six minutes! I’ll give it a heart. Black male artist.
5. Bing Crosby – The Whiffenpoof Song – Bing starts us out with a recitation about the Whiffenpoofs singing in a bar. Is the whole song going to be like this? It is. It’s, maybe, a comedy crooning song? I’m not connecting with it at all. Oh, it seems to be a Yale a cappella song or something. White male artist.
6. Vaughn Monroe – How Soon – Swelling strings do not bode well for this song. It wants to be “dreamy”. Yes, it is another crooner. “Hooooow sooooooon will I be seeeeing yooooou?” It’s not for me. White male artist.
7. Guy Lombardo – Managua, Nicaragua – Bright trumpets start us out with a fast, syncopated beat. It’s a male chorus singing about how great it is to be in Managua, Nicaragua. It’s catchy. Lombardo is not Latino but is using the popularity of Latinx music to his advantage, so there’s a cultural appropriation issue. I’ll give it a heart anyway. White male artist.
8. The King Cole Trio – I Love You For Sentimental Reasons – Let’s see if Nat King Cole can rescue this song. Yes, he can: after only about two seconds, even. His voice is so amazing. Also, the way he’s singing this line doesn’t suffer from the typical crooning issues; I’m not sure, but he can hit those vowels in a way that’s beautiful and not grating. I’ll give it a heart. Black male artist.
9. Bing Crosby – Sioux City Sue – This is a cover of a song that charted with a different artist in 1945. I liked that one, so let’s see whether Bing can deliver. Bright, bouncing trumpets set us out on a swing track. Bing sings it well, and again it’s a “Western” song, but with a swing modality, so I like it. This is such a catchy tune. I’ll give it a heart. White male artist.
10. Modernaires and Paula Kelly – To Each His Own – First of five covers of this song. It must be popular in 1946. YouTube to the rescue. Flutes and woodwinds set us up for “Dreamy”. It’s a crooning song, alas. I’m about ready to move on from this era, please. White male and female artists.
11. Jo Stafford – Symphony – I didn’t like this song when it charted in 1945, so I’m going to skip it for 1946. White female artist.
12. Perry Como – Dig You Later A Hubba-Hubba-Hubba – I wrote a bunch about this song when it charted in 1945, and I did finally go back and heart it, despite the offhand way it mentions the fire-bombing of Tokyo. It is what it is. White male artist.
13. Andrews Sisters and Les Paul Trio – Rumors Are Flying – Les Paul *and* the Andrews Sisters? Oh, my. Turns out that it’s pretty good, but not as good as I expected: it’s too slow, and the oom-pah of the beat isn’t inspiring. I’m hoping it will change in the second half. Now we get a guitar solo, and that’s a plus. It’s not going to change pace, alas. It’s OK, and I’ll give it a heart. White male and female artists.
14. Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest – Oh! What It Seemed To Be – Woodwinds set up for a dreamscape. It’s a crooning song, alas. I just don’t have any patience for these songs today. White male and female artists.
15. Kay Kyser – The Old Lamplighter – Oboe starts us out reedily. Then we get “doo-doots” from a female vocalist. Now a male vocalist is crooning about the lamplighter. The chorus croons along. It’s just more crooning. White male artist.
16. Freddy Martin – Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly – Trombones wah-wah us into the song; it promises to be irreverent. Plinky strings now, contrasting with blaring trumpets. It seems to be a “Western” song making fun of uneducated rural people. I think it’s about uneducated folks having lots of sex. This cover is clearly intended to make fun of country folks. Is it also about gay sex? And arson? Honestly, this is a pretty mean song and I’m embarrassed to listen to it. White male artist.
17. Charlie Spivak – Oh! What It Seemed To Be – Whiny, muted trumpets set us up for what I expect to be more crooning. Lots of crooning in 1946. Maybe folks wanted a return to the pre-war culture? This one is marginally better than the previous one, but I’ll still give it a pass. White male artist.
18. Benny Goodman – Symphony – Starts out with Benny on the clarinet. Can this one be better than the Jo Stafford version? I hope so. It has that Benny Goodman sound, with a swinging beat and good mix of sections, so I’m happy so far. The vocalist is better, too. This is actually a good, jazzy, swing tune. I’ll give it a heart. White male artist.
19. Les Brown – You Won’t Be Satisfied Until You Break My Heart – Spotify makes clear that Doris Day is the singer on this track. Muted trumpets and plinky string bass start us out. Man, Doris Day has a great voice. She really carries this track. It’s a falling-out-of-love song, about how poorly she’s treated by her man; but it sounds like a sultry falling-in-love song. It’s really good, so I’ll give it a heart. White male artist.
20. Tony Martin – To Each His Own – Second of five covers. Swelling strings show this will be a maudlin tune. So it is, with Tony Martin crooning through the lyrics. Not really for me, but I can tell it’s well put together from a musical perspective. White male artist.
21. Tex Beneke and The Glenn Miller Orchestra – Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop – YouTube to the rescue. Starts with a fast pace, building trumpets, and it’s clearly a swinging Big Band song. It’s one that folks have heard before, but this version isn’t on Spotify. It has a feel more like a doo-wop 1950s tune, like you might expect Elvis to sing it. I would give it a heart if it were on Spotify. White male artist.
22. Perry Como – They Say It’s Wonderful – Woodwinds sighing in to set us up for another sappy song. Perry Como croons in that “They say that faaaling in looove is wooonderfuuuuul…” and I’m gone. Not for me, alas. White male artist.
23. Andy Russell – Laughing On The Outside Crying On The Inside – Strings and a waltzy-beat. Andy Russel croons along to this sad song about hiding your disappointment with lost love. Not for me, either. Latino male artist.
24. Tex Beneke and The Glenn Miller Orchestra – Five Minutes More – Bright trumpets and plinky strings set us up for another swinging Big Band tune. It’s clear that Tex is trying to pick up from where Glenn left off. He’s pretty good, too, so I’ll allow it. The singing here is less do-wop and more like classic jazz. I’ll give this swinging tune a heart. White male artist.
25. Dinah Shore – Laughing On The Outside Crying On The Inside – Can Dinah Shore save this crooning tune? It starts better, with sassy trombones and electric guitar. Dinah’s voice is mixed so that she isn’t louder than the instruments, so she almost falls into the background. She’s got better vocal quality than Perry Como, in my opinion, and the instrumentation makes this a jazzier cover. It gets into some jazzy solos in the third section. Nice. I like it and I’ll give it a heart. White female artist.
26. Sammy Kaye – The Gypsy – YouTube to the rescue. Trumpets contrasting with woodwinds set up a sense of competition. There’s not much to it, so far: we get a vocalist singing “The Gypsy” and then more instruments that sound like they’re setting up for something else. Now, after 1:20, we get a story song sung by a female vocalist. It’s a story of a fortune telling gypsy, and it’s really not compelling musically or lyrically. White male artist.
27. Dinah Shore – Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly – How will Dinah cover this irreverent song? Her strong voice makes it better, but the strong anti-rural sentiment of the song is difficult to overcome. So, while this one is musically good, I don’t like it because of the classist attitude. White female artist.
28. Bing Crosby – Symphony – Third of four covers of this song in 1946. YouTube to the rescue. Big swelling, symphonic opening. Then Bing is crooning about a “Symphooony of loooove”. This song was hard to find because searching for “Symphony” isn’t very narrowing. Too bad it suuuuucks. In my opinion. I’m sure plenty of folks like it, just not me. White male artist.
29. Sammy Kaye – I’m A Big Girl Now – YouTube to the rescue. Big trumpets start us out and then straight into a female vocalist singing in a Jazz mode. She’s singing about how she’s breaking up with her boyfriend because he doesn’t appreciate how she’s grown up. It’s a great song, with many double entendres. I would totally heart this song if it were on Spotify. White male artist.
30. Bing Crosby and Carmen Cavallaro – I Can’t Begin To Tell You – Piano to start (Carmen C.). Then Bing croons the title as the opening line. It’s better, musically, so I can handle this crooning. It’s actually a good balance of instruments to voice, and the great piano makes it all worthwhile. I’ll give it a heart. White male artist.
31. Sammy Kaye – The Old Lamplighter – I didn’t like the last cover, so let’s see whether this is less crooning. Big band swelling crescendo to open is promising… Good balance of instruments. Then we get a male vocalist, with the doo-doo chorus. In the end, it’s too slow and croon-y for me. White male artist.
32. Freddy Martin – Symphony – The last of the four covers of this song in 1946. Trumpest with dun-dun-dun to start us out. It’s not promising. There’s a frantic violin, too. And a piano. I sounds like they have a full symphony. The long musical introduction is OK. Will there be a vocalist? The saxophone is playing the crooning voice part and it’s fine. How about that? We get the crooning male vocalist after the halfway point of the track… And that ruins it (for me). White male artist.
33. The Ink Spots – To Each His Own – Third of five covers. I love the Ink Spots. This one starts out with tinkly piano and strumming guitar, then in to crisp male vocals. I can hear the chorus humming along, but they blend in well: the track mixing is very good here, too. This is how to do a crooning song and make it sound good, to my ears. Nice spoken word bridge, too. I’ll gladly give it a heart. Black male artists.
34. Kay Kyser – Ol’ Buttermilk Sky – This one seems to be on the chart twice. Maybe a single and an album version? I gave it a heart before. White male artist.
35. Freddy Martin – To Each His Own – Fourth of five covers. Whiny violins set the melody at the outset. Then we get a saxophone playing the melody. This goes on for some time, swelling to meet the vocalist who then croooons through the rest of the song. White male artist.
36. Vaughn Monroe – Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow – This is one of those songs that’s familiar to us today. This version is great, with quality vocals and a good balance of the big band. This song seems to be a consent-recognizing version of “Baby it’s cold outside” and that earns it points, too. I’ll give it a heart. White male artist.
37. Betty Hutton – Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief – I’m worried about this song, given the title… This is a jazzy, swingy big band tune. Apparently the Doctor, Lawyer, and Indian Chief cannot love you more than I do… It does eventually get to stereotyping the Indian Chief, making fun of Native culture, alas. Otherwise, it’s a pretty good tune with a fast beat and good musicality. White female artist.
38. Perry Como – Surrender – Swelling strings set a maudlin scene. Then Perry comes in with his silky vocals, crooning about how he wants you to surrender to his overtures of love. It’s one of those songs, trying to wear down the resistant woman. Plus crooning. Not for me. White male artist.
39. Frank Sinatra – Oh! What It Seemed To Be – After the last two covers, I expect crooning. Swelling strings foreshadow more crooning. Frank has a great voice, so it makes this cover marginally more palatable, but it’s still not to my liking. White male artist.
40. Dinah Shore – The Gypsy – 2/3 covers… Dinah has a great voice, and she carries this song better than the Sammy Kaye version. It’s still not really a song for me, but it definitely has a sound that feels more 1950s than 1940s to my modern ear. White female artist.
41. Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters – South America, Take It Away – Worried about the title. The Atom Bomb is used as a characteristic of the USA (along with baseball, etc.) in setting up a contrast with South America. It’s a song reflecting on the popularity of Latin music at the time, essentially using a Latin beat to ask for the Latin folks to take it all back. It’s musically a good song, and I’m unsure about the cultural appropriation aspect, as they seem to be saying that the Latin music is too rocking for USA folks to handle… I’ll give it a heart. White male and female artists.
42. Johnny Mercer – Personality – I think I know this song as one of the standards that has made it to me in 2020…. Saxophones set us up with a train-track beat. Yes, it is the song I recognized. It’s great, and that’s why it’s known today. I’ll give it a heart. White male artist.
43. Frankie Carle – Oh! What It Seemed To Be – Clarinet-heavy intro, with some spoken-word radio introductions. Now, after a whole minute, we get into the song itself. It’s that same song, that I’ve heard three times before this “year”. It has a female vocalist who’s doing an OK job with this song, but it’s just not one I like. White male artist.
44. Frankie Carle – Rumors Are Flying – This sounds like so many of the crooning songs this year. It’s not as good as the Andrews Sisters and Les Paul version that I liked. The vocals are pretty good, though, and to be fair, it’s not actually a crooning song. There’s a female vocalist, and she has a solid sound. It’s a bit slow for me, and without Les Paul it’s not worth coming back to. White male artist.
45. Frank Sinatra – Five Minutes More – Glockinspiel to open us up and then straight to Frank’s vocals. It’s a pretty swinging song, letting Frank show off his voice without slipping into crooning. I’ll give it a heart, even though it’s not as good as the Glenn Miller Orchestra version. White male artist.
46. The Ink Spots – The Gypsy – Characteristic plinky piano and guitar, with crisp male vocals that I love from the Ink Spots. This is the only version of the three this “year” I will give a heart to. I just love everything the Ink Spots do, even if there is a formula (there is a spoken word bridge here, too). If you do your formula well, it’s still good. Black male artists.
47. Eddy Howard – To Each His Own – Last of five covers. This song sort of embodies 1946. Clarinets feature strongly in the intro. It sounds kind of Benny Goodman-like. The vocalist has a crisp sound, with this otherwise croon-y song. This is my favorite of these five covers, and I’ll give it a heart. I didn’t think this song could be saved, but this cover does it. White male artist.
48. Perry Como – Prisoner Of Love – Strings and harp set a sweet and sentimental stage, swelling to Perry’s vocals coming in. It’s a crooning song. 1946 is a year of resurgence of crooning songs, with less of the avant garde jazz, apparently. This song doesn’t move me. White male artist.