100 Greatest Songs From 1945

Criteria: These songs from 1945 were chosen and ranked based on their initial & lasting popularity, and on their impact on the overall scope of musical history.

Note: Yearly song lists go by earliest 'release date' (Single, Album, or Country of first release). Not necessarily the year a song peaked in the U.S. charts.

1. Caldonia
Louis Jordan / Woody Herman
2. The Honeydripper
Joe Liggins
3. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Vaughn Monroe
4. On The Atchison, Topeka, And Santa Fe
Johnny Mercer / Bing Crosby / Tommy Dorsey (Sentimentalists)
5. Driftin' Blues
Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (Charles Brown)
6. Candy
Johnny Mercer & Jo Stafford
7. Sentimental Journey
Les Brown (Doris Day)
8. There! I've Said It Again
Vaughn Monroe
9. Who Threw The Whiskey In The Well?
Lucky Millinder (Wynonie Harris)
10. Tippin' In
Erskine Hawkins
11. Buzz Me
Louis Jordan
12. Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be)
Billie Holiday
13. Till The End Of Time
Perry Como / Les Brown (Doris Day) / Dick Haymes
14. I'm Beginning To See The Light
Ella Fitzgerald & Ink Spots
15. It's Been A Long, Long Time
Harry James (Kitty Kallen) / Les Paul (Bing Crosby)
16. Chickery Chick
Sammy Kaye
17. Strange Things Happening Every Day
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
18. I Can't Begin to Tell You
Bing Crosby
19. I'll Buy That Dream
Helen Forrest & Dick Haymes / Harry James (Kitty Kallen)
20. It Might As Well Be Spring
Dick Haymes / Paul Weston (Margaret Whiting) / Sammy Kaye
21. My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time
Les Brown (Doris Day)
22. Personality
Johnny Mercer
23. Laura
Woody Herman / Johnnie Johnston / Freddy Martin / Jerry Wald
24. Just a-Sittin' and a-Rockin'
Delta Rhythm Boys / Stan Kenton (June Christy)
25. I Wonder
Louis Armstrong / Roosevelt Sykes / Warren Evans
26. Groovin' High
Dizzy Gillespie
27. Guitar Boogie
Arthur Smith
28. Bell-Bottom Trousers
Tony Pastor / Guy Lombardo (Jimmy Brown) / Kay Kyser
29. You'll Never Walk Alone
Frank Sinatra
30. Tampico
Stan Kenton (June Christy)
31. The Cattle Call
Eddy Arnold
32. Sioux City Sue
Dick Thomas
33. You Can't Get That No More
Louis Jordan
34. Salt Peanuts
Dizzie Gillespie
35. Along The Navajo Trail
Bing Crosby & Andrews Sisters / Gene Krupa / Dinah Shore
36. Dream
Frank Sinatra / Pied Pipers
37. Mop! Mop!
Louis Jordan
38. Don't Worry 'Bout That Mule
Louis Jordan
39. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive
Bing Crosby & Andrews Sisters
40. Symphony
Freddy Martin (Clyde Rogers) / Benny Goodman (Liza Morrow)
41. Shame on You
Spade Cooley (Tex Williams) / Lawrence Welk (Red Foley)
42. Gotta Be This Or That
Benny Goodman
43. Dig You Later (A Hubba-Hubba-Hubba)
Perry Como
44. Rock Me Mamma
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup
45. Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief
Betty Hutton
46. Somebody Done Changed the Lock on My Door
Louis Jordan
47. I Should Care
Frank Sinatra / Tommy Dorsey (Bonnie Lou Williams) / Martha Tilton
48. Twilight Time
Three Suns / Les Brown
49. Oklahoma Hills
Jack Guthrie
50. Chopin's Polonaise
Carmen Cavallaro
51. The House I Live In
Frank Sinatra

52. Love Letters
Dick Haymes
53. Harlem Nocturne
Johnny Otis
54. That's The Stuff You Gotta Watch
Buddy Johnson (Ella Johnson)
55. I Cover The Waterfront
Billie Holiday / Cats 'N Jammer Three
56. It's Only a Paper Moon
Ella Fitzgerald & Delta Rhythm Boys
57. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
Benny Goodman (Peggy Mann)
58. Can't You Read Between The Lines
Jimmy Dorsey (Jean Cromwell) / Kay Kyser / Charlie Spivak
59. Aren't You Glad You're You?
Bing Crosby / Les Brown (Doris Day)
60. Stars and Stripes on Iwo Jima
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys / Sons of the Pioneers
61. S.K. Blues
Pete Johnson (Joe Turner)
62. Voo-It! Voo-It!
Blues Woman
63. Stuff Like That There
Betty Hutton
64. A Kiss Goodnight
Woody Herman / Freddie Slack
65. Chloe
Spike Jones & His City Slickers (Red Ingle)
66. Sleigh Ride In July
Dinah Shore / Bing Crosby / Tommy Dorsey (Bonnie Lou Williams)
67. Waitin' For The Train To Come In
Peggy Lee / Harry James / Johnny Long
68. A Little on The Lonely Side
Guy Lombardo (Jimmy Brown)
69. Cocktails For Two
Spike Jones & His City Slickers
70. 11:60 PM
Harry James
71. The Bells of St. Mary's
Bing Crosby
72. Got a Right to Cry
Joe Liggins
73. Close as Pages In A Book
Benny Goodman (Jane Harvey)
74. Good, Good, Good (That's You-That's You)
Xavier Cugat (Del Campo) / Sammy Kaye
75. The Blond Sailor
Andrews Sisters
76. Artistry Jumps
Stan Kenton
77. Poor Little Rhode Island
Guy Lombardo
78. Keep Your Arms Around Me
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup
79. Hong Kong Blues
Tommy Dorsey (Skeets Herfurt)
80. Put Another Chair at the Table
Mills Brothers
81. There Must Be A Way
Charlie Spivak / Johnnie Johnston
82. If I Loved You
Perry Como
83. Yah-Ta-Ta, Yah-Ta-Ta (Talk, Talk, Talk)
Bing Crosby & Judy Garland
84. Stuffy
Coleman Hawkins
85. At Mail Call Today
Gene Autry
86. I Wish I Knew
Dick Haymes
87. Money is The Root Of All Evil
Andrews Sisters
88. (Did You Ever Get) That Feeling In The Moonlight
Perry Como
89. Filipino Baby
Cowboy Copas / T. "Texas" Tyler
90. Triflin' Gal
Al Dexter / Walter Shrum
91. Jimmy's Blues
Count Basie (Jimmy Rushing)
92. I Wish
Mills Brothers
93. The Moment I Met You
Tommy Dorsey (Sentimentalists)
94. I Fall In Love Too Easily
Eugenie Baird & Mel Torme
95. A Cottage For Sale
Billy Eckstine
96. With Tears in My Eyes
Wesley Tuttle
97. Blues At Sunrise
Ivory Joe Hunter
98. All of My Life
Bing Crosby / Sammy Kaye / Three Suns
99. I Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues
Duke Ellington
100. Two-Timed Me One Time Too Often
Tex Ritter
20 more worth mentioning.
101. Baia
Xavier Cugat (Bing Crosby)
102. Some Sunday Morning
Helen Forrest & Dick Haymes
103. Fuzzy Wuzzy
Jesters
104. Beulah's Boogie
Lionel Hampton
105. Christmas Carols By the Old Corral
Tex Ritter
106. You Came Along (From Out Of Nowhere)
Tommy Dorsey (Skeets Herfurt)
107. Be-Baba-Leba
Helen Humes
108. Fifteen Years (And I'm Still Serving Time)
Erskine Hawkins / Pearl Bailey
109. Grievin' My Heart Out for You
Jimmie Davis
110. Daddy-Daddy
Savannah Churchill
111. Wynonie's Blues
Wynonie Harris
112. Things Have Changed
Big Maceo
113. Detroit Blues
Tampa Red
114. Swingin' The Boogie
Hadda Brooks
115. Hitler's Last Letter to Hirohito
Carson Robinson
116. Just a Little Fond Affection
Gene Krupa
117. I Will Be Home Again
Golden Gate Quartet
118. I'm a Shy Guy
King Cole Trio
119. Left a Good Deal in Mobile
Herb Jeffries
120. My Baby Said Yes
Bing Crosby & Louis Jordan
DigitalDreamDoor Editor Picks for 1945
An unheralded great record from 1945
Adam's choice:
* Please Let Me Forget
Lester Young (Helen Humes)
Bruce's choice:
* The Frim Fram Sauce
Nat "King" Cole
Lew's choice:
* Come On Over to My House
Jay McShann (Julia Lee)
    1944   |   1946
Vaughn Monroe
Les Brown & Doris Day
Erskine Hawkins Billie Holiday

Last Updated: 2010-05-22