Introduction

The Twentieth Century Hit Songs and Who Wrote Them

Introduction

These lists are of all of the hit songs written in the twentieth century in America, when American music swelled in popularity not just in the U.S. but around the world.  For each song, the composer of the melody and the writer of the lyrics is given along with other information as described in the key below. I am sorry, but this site does not have any way to link between categories to find, for example, all songs written by Joni Mitchell. 

How songs were chosen

What was deemed “popular or significant" was based primarily on Billboard’s Hot 100 List. Any song that attained a rank of 20 or higher was automatically included on the list. Other songs were included on the basis of lists from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest Rock songs, and lists showing the number of artists who had recorded any one song.

Some songs are so well known or sung by so many different artists that no single musician or group can be credited. In those cases the given indication is: (standard). For songs adapted by a 20th century songwriter but whose words or music were written prior to the 20th century and there is no known writer, the term “traditional” (Trad) is used or if the melody was adapted from an earlier composition, the composer is credited, e.g., (Bach).

KEY

All songs listed are considered popular or musically significant American pieces written during the period from 1901-2000. Songs are listed alphabetically by title. 

For songs written before 1955, the date the song was written is indicated, if known. After the song's title, the lyricist is then identified with an (L) or, if the lyricist also composed the music (L & C). If there is a separate composer he or she is indicated with a (C) following the lyricist. In a few cases where the music was taken or adapted from a classical composer, such as Beethoven, that composer's name is listed in parentheses. In those cases, the other composer listed, if any, adapted the song.

The last entry gives the most well known or representative artist (A) who recorded the song. In cases where one person was lyricist, composer and artist, this is shown by (L, C & A), but if he is she is known by a stage name as the artist, the artist is listed separately by the stage name. If the stage name differs significantly from the real name (e.g. J. P. Richardson is the Big Bopper), then a < appears. An (O) after the recording artist’s name indicates that the artist was a band-leader conducting a band or orchestra. In a few cases, where there is no artist identified with the song, it is so noted or noted as a "traditional standard."

For songs written for the movies, musical theater or television, the media source of the song is listed in italics followed by (f) for film [with an * If the song won an Oscar], (s) for staged performance, (r) for radio and (t) for television, unless there were multiple media in which case there is no designation. If an artist had a hit song from one of these media, then it is only credited to the artist where the artist is strongly identified with the song.

Instrumentals (with no lyricist) are indicated with an (I). In those cases, the composer is not indicated since the person listed must be the composer. Only songs written in or translated into English are listed. In cases where the song is originally in a foreign language, the translator is noted with an (E). If known, the original lyricist is also listed.

Sources and credits

All credits are based on secondary sources, so no claims are made regarding the accuracy of this list. In some cases, different songwriters are given credit for the same song. Where this has been impossible to resolve, all are given credit. In a few cases, a writer will be listed as the result of a lawsuit. There may be cases where the wrong songwriter is listed or the name is misspelled. No attempt is made to list the artists in order of their degree of involvement in writing the song except in the case of Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Legally, all Beatles songs were written by “Lennon & McCartney” but if there is some evidence* that some of the songs were written primarily or entirely by McCartney, his name is listed first.

The following web-sites were of special value to me in compiling this list:

allmusic: http://wc09.allmusic.com/
Rhapsody: http://www.rhapsody.com/home.html
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
The Preterhuman Network: http://preterhuman.net/texts/lyrics_and_music_related/
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: http://www.rockhall.com/exhibithighlights/500-songs-by-name-ac/
Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs


Printed Reference Books consulted were:
American Popular Songs, by David Ewen, New York, 1966.
The Billboard's Book of #1 Hits, by Fred Bronson, New York, 1985
The Billboard's Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition, by Joel Whitburn, New York, 1996.
Billboard Hottest 100 Hits, 4th Edition, by Fred Bronson, New York, 2007
The American Song Book, by Ken Bloom, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, New York, 2005.

Also
* Lennon, John, Playboy Interview, January 1981

A Note on Names and Aliases

Both the songwriter’s first and last name is used whenever available. Where the writer’s name is well known by the middle name or middle,  the middle name or initial is included. In cases where the artist wrote the song, the artist’s stage name is used even thought the real name is used in identifying the songwriter. In such cases, the < shows that this is the case. As far as possible, a songwriter’s real or birth name was used unless the person had become so well known by their alias that it would create some confusion. Thus Robert Zimmerman is always referred to as Bob Dylan, whereas Madonna Ritchie goes by that name instead of Madonna

Other Notes
In the case of instrumentals recorded when there were lyrics for the song, credit is given to both composer and lyricist, but the symbol (I) is not used. In these cases, the artist for the most well-known version of the song is listed even if the version was instrumental. As much as possible, songs with exactly the same title are listed in order of when they were written.