Songs from the Year 1936

Other Years:

1936

1937

1938

This page lists the top songs of 1936 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), hence these results should be treated with caution since, with few exceptions, they are based on fairly subjective charts.

During this era music was dominated by a number of "Big Bands" and songs could be attributed to the band leader, the band name, the lead singer or a combination of the them. It is common, for example, to see the same song listed with three different artists. And, just to stop us from getting bored, the success of a song was tied to the sales of sheet music, so a popular song would often be perfomed by many different combinations of singers and bands and the contemporary charts would list the song, without clarifying whose version was the major hit. Where we have found such issues we have attempted to consolidate the entries using the most widely accepted value for the artist in each case.

#	Artist	Song Title	Year	Chart Entries
1	Fred Astaire	The Way You Look Tonight	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (17 weeks), Oscar in 1936 (film 'Swing Time'), Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 (1936), US BB 2 of 1936, POP 2 of 1936, Brazil 26 of 1937, RYM 40 of 1936, AFI 43, Europe 94 of the 1930s (1936)
2	Bing Crosby	Pennies From Heaven	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (15 weeks), US BB 1 of 1936, Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004 (1936), POP 1 of 1936, Europe 32 of the 1930s (1936), RYM 41 of 1936, RIAA 129, Acclaimed 1222 (1936)
3	Robert Johnson	Cross Road Blues	1936	Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 (1936), RYM 3 of 1937, Scrobulate 34 of blues, Acclaimed 224 (1936), RIAA 342
4	Billie Holiday	Summertime	1936	Europe 1 of the 1930s (1936), RYM 2 of 1936, US Billboard 12 - 1936 (2 weeks), Scrobulate 84 of jazz
5	Leadbelly	Goodnight, Irene	1936	Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002 (1936), RYM 2 of 1943, RIAA 163, Acclaimed 885 (1936)
6	Fred Astaire	A Fine Romance	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (12 weeks), RYM 6 of 1936, US BB 12 of 1936, POP 12 of 1936
7	Fats Waller	It's a Sin to Tell a Lie	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (12 weeks), US BB 7 of 1936, POP 7 of 1936, RYM 37 of 1935
8	Andy Kirk	Until The Real Thing Comes Along	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (13 weeks), RYM 9 of 1936, US BB 18 of 1936, POP 18 of 1936
9	Benny Goodman	Glory of Love	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (15 weeks), US BB 10 of 1936, POP 10 of 1936, Brazil 67 of 1936
10	Tommy Dorsey	Alone	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (14 weeks), US BB 3 of 1936, POP 3 of 1936
11	Fred Astaire	I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (10 weeks), US BB 15 of 1936, POP 15 of 1936, RYM 39 of 1936
12	Eddy Duchin	Moon Over Miami	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (11 weeks), US BB 16 of 1936, POP 16 of 1936, Europe 99 of the 1930s (1936)
13	Hal Kemp	There's a Small Hotel	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (15 weeks), US BB 19 of 1936, POP 19 of 1936, Europe 100 of the 1930s (1936)
14	Tommy Dorsey	The Music Goes Round & Round	1936	US Billboard 1 - Dec 1935 (9 weeks), US BB 4 of 1936, POP 4 of 1936
15	Shep Fields & His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra	Did I Remember?	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (12 weeks), US BB 11 of 1936, POP 11 of 1936
16	Jimmy Dorsey	Is it True What they Say About Dixie?	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (10 weeks), US BB 13 of 1936, POP 13 of 1936
17	Jan Garber	A Melody From the Sky	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (12 weeks), US BB 14 of 1936, POP 14 of 1936
18	Tommy Dorsey	I'm getting sentimental over you	1936	Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 (1936), US Billboard 8 - 1936 (4 weeks), Acclaimed 1498 (1932)
19	Jan Garber	A Beautiful Lady in Blue	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (13 weeks), US BB 17 of 1936, POP 17 of 1936
20	Fats Waller	All My Life	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (11 weeks), US BB 20 of 1936, POP 20 of 1936
21	Roy Acuff	Great Speckled Bird	1936	Grammy Hall of Fame in 2009 (1936), US Billboard 13 - 1938 (3 weeks), RYM 91 of 1936
22	Tommy Dorsey	Stardust	1936	US 1940s 7 - Jan 1941 (1 week), US Billboard 8 - 1936 (5 weeks), RYM 42 of 1940, Europe 87 of the 1930s (1936)
23	Andy Kirk	Lotta Sax Appeal	1936	Peel list 1 of 1936, RYM 24 of 1936
24	Robert Johnson	Sweet Home Chicago	1936	RYM 2 of 1937, Scrobulate 26 of blues, Acclaimed 1582 (1936)
25	Guy Lombardo	When Did You Leave Heaven?	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (15 weeks), Europe 52 of the 1930s (1936)
26	Hal Kemp	When I'm With You	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (13 weeks), Europe 72 of the 1930s (1936)
27	Eddy Duchin	Take My Heart	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (10 weeks), Europe 81 of the 1930s (1936)
28	Eddy Duchin	I'll Sing You A Thousand Love Songs	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (8 weeks), Europe 95 of the 1930s (1936)
29	Eddy Duchin	Lights Out	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (15 weeks), Europe 96 of the 1930s (1936)
30	Robert Johnson	Terraplane Blues	1936	RYM 1 of 1936, Acclaimed 1678 (1936)
31	Benny Goodman	Stompin' at the Savoy	1936	US Billboard 4 - 1937 (5 weeks), RYM 5 of 1936, Scrobulate 50 of swing
32	Benny Goodman	These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)	1936	US BB 5 of 1936, POP 5 of 1936, Europe 90 of the 1930s (1936)
33	Benny Goodman	Goody Goody	1936	US BB 6 of 1936, POP 6 of 1936, Brazil 32 of 1936
34	Shep Fields & His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra	Easy to Love	1936	US BB 8 of 1936, POP 8 of 1936, US Billboard 13 - 1936 (2 weeks)
35	Billie Holiday	No Regrets	1936	US Billboard 9 - 1936 (5 weeks), RYM 16 of 1936, Scrobulate 68 of female vocalist
36	Andy Kirk	Christopher Columbus	1936	US Billboard 2 - 1936 (14 weeks), RYM 49 of 1936
37	Andy Kirk	What Will I Tell My Heart	1936	US Billboard 2 - 1937 (9 weeks), RYM 51 of 1936
38	Bing Crosby	I'm An Old Cowhand	1936	US Billboard 2 - 1936 (13 weeks), Europe 59 of the 1930s (1936)
39	Fred Astaire	Let Yourself Go	1936	US Billboard 2 - 1936 (12 weeks), RYM 69 of 1936
40	Bing Crosby	Robins & Roses	1936	US Billboard 2 - 1936 (10 weeks), Europe 76 of the 1930s (1936)
41	Eddy Duchin	Pennies From Heaven	1936	US Billboard 2 - Dec 1936 (9 weeks), Brazil 87 of 1937
42	Benny Goodman	Stardust	1936	US Billboard 2 - 1936 (10 weeks), RYM 88 of 1955
43	Guy Lombardo	Lost	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (13 weeks)
44	Marian Anderson	He's Got the Whole World in His Hands	1936	Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008 (1936)
45	Helen Ward	Good-Goody	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (13 weeks)
46	Helen Ward	You Turned the Tables on Me	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (10 weeks)
47	Joel & Gaucho	Pierro Apaixonado	1936	Brazil 1 of 1936
48	Robert Johnson	Kind Hearted Woman Blues	1936	RYM 1 of 1936
49	Tommy Dorsey	You	1936	US Billboard 1 - 1936 (10 weeks)
50	Benny Goodman	Moonglow	1936	Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 (1936)