Songbook top ten lists, first ten years (February 2009-February 2019)

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The numbers at right represent collective page views.

Top ten pages, 17 March 2009 to 16 January 2019 (11AM PST):

1940-1949: selected standards and hits More stats 41,910
Duke Ellington: selected songs, 1927-1953 More stats 37,161
1890-1899 selected hits and standards More stats 35,067
Route 66 More stats 25,023
1900-1909 selected standards and hits More stats 23,781
Autumn Leaves (Les feuilles mortes) More stats 16,836
Bei Mir Bistu Shein / Bei Mir Bist Du Schön (Schoen): selected early recordings, part 1 (1937) More stats 14,819
1910-1919 selected standards, hits and special features More stats 13,628
Bing Crosby: selected recordings, 1927-1934 More stats 13,191
Selected popular dances of the Jazz Age (closed for repairs, 25 April 2020) More stats 12,685

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Top ten pages featuring a single song, March 2009-January 2019:

Route 66 More stats 25,023
Autumn Leaves (Les feuilles mortes) More stats 16,836
Bei Mir Bistu Shein / Bei Mir Bist Du Schön (Schoen): selected early recordings, part 1 (1937) More stats 14,819
Midnight, the Stars and You – 1934 More stats 10,012
Corcovado More stats 9,616
My One and Only Love More stats 9,568
Why Don’t You Do Right? More stats 9,344
Non Dimenticar (T´ho voluto bene) More stats 8,925
Hot Feet (Wendell Hall) – 1927, with lyric More stats 8,069
Tornerai / J’Attendrai / Komm zurück / Věřím vám / I’ll Be Yours
More stats
7,334

The biggest surprise in the second list would have to be the 1927 song “Hot Feet,” which until Disney resurrected it in an episode of Girl Meets World a few years ago had been lost in the mists of time. According to evidence that I present in the page, the song was recorded by its author, Wendell Hall, at least four times (1927-1928), though I’ve only heard one of the four, and this is the one featured in a video included in the page.* The only other recordings of “Hot Feet” that I’m aware of are a 1927 piano roll and a 1927 cover by Paul Specht and his Orchestra. I suspect that the Disney connection is a large factor in the sustained popularity of this page.

That “Midnight, the Stars and You” appears so high on the list is also rather odd. I’ve found no evidence that the 1934 Ray Noble-Al Bowlly recording was a hit, or that the song was ever popular in the 1930s or for decades after it was written and first recorded. There were two contemporaneous covers that I know of, and then there’s not a trace of interest in the song until its inclusion in the soundtrack of the 1980 horror film The Shining. I’d guess that many visits to my page on the song might have more to do with curiosity about the anachronistic use of the song in that film, or general curiosity regarding Kubrick and the film, than interest in the song itself.

While that soundtrack appearance has evidently resulted in few commercial studio recordings — SecondHandSongs, lists only four studio covers, none released before 2009 — the numerous recent live covers (found on YouTube, for example) by bands and solo artists suggest sustained and possibly growing interest in the song over the past several years.

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The top ten pages on a Latin standard, March 2009-January 2019:

  1. Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)
    More stats 9,616
  2. Perfidia
    More stats 7,130
  3. Manhã de Carnaval
  4. El Manisero (The Peanut Vendor)
  5. Chega de saudade
  6. Águas de março (Waters of March)
  7. Malagueña salerosa (La Malagueña)
  8. Bésame Mucho
  9. Te quiero dijiste / Magic is the Moonlight
  10. Para Vigo me voy (Say Si Si)
    More stats 3,035

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Last 365 days

Top ten pages featuring a single song, last 365 days:

Crawdad Song — lyric (Woody Guthrie version) More stats 1,350
Midnight, the Stars and You – 1934 More stats 1,331
Hot Feet (Wendell Hall) – 1927, with lyric More stats 892
White Christmas More stats 862
Non Dimenticar (T´ho voluto bene) More stats 822
Águas de Março (Waters of March) More stats 775
How Deep is the Ocean? (How High is the Sky?) More stats 728
Te quiero dijiste / Magic is the Moonlight More stats 615
The Cat Came Back More stats 589
It’s Time to Say Goodnight — 1934 More stats 573
Sayonara More stats 564

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* However, I’ve been unable to confidently identify which of the four recordings by Hall is represented in the video included in the page.

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