What's the old saying, "Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it?" How about "When gossip grows old it becomes myth? Would you believe "The essential matter of history is not what happened but what people thought or said about it?" No matter. Today I thought we could go back 100 years or so and find out what was on the hit parade of our ancestors.
In 1898, the songs on everybody's lips included:
"Because" (Frederick V. Bowers and Charles Horowitz)
"Gypsy Love Song" (Victor Herbert and Harry B. Smith)
"She Was Bred In Old Kentucky" (Stanley Carter and Harry Braisted)
"The Rosary" (Ethelbert Nevin and Robert Cameron Rogers)
"When You Were Sweet Sixteen" (James Thorton)
In 1899 a few of the hits were:
"Hello Ma Baby" (Joseph E. Howard and Ida Emerson)
"Mandy Lee" (Thurland Chattaway)
"Maple Leaf Rag" (Scott Joplin)
"My Wild Irish Rose" (Chauncey Olcott)
"On The Banks of the Wabash Far Away" (Paul Dresser)
"She Was Happy Till She Met You" (Monroe H. Rosenfield and Charles Graham)
In 1900, four of the songs that made the whole world sing were:
"A Bird in a Gilded Cage" (Harry von Tizler and Arthur J. Lamb)
"Goodbye Dolly Gray" (Will D. Cobb and Paul Barnes)
"Just Because She Made Dem Goo Goo Eyes" (John Queen and Hughie Cannon)
"Tell Me Pretty Maiden" (Leslie Stuart)
For the record, "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home" didn't hit the charts until 1902, "Waltzing Matilda" got heavy rotation in 1903 and "Frankie And Johnny" skyrocketed up the charts in 1904.
One more thought. "Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own" (Lichtenberg)
by Mitch Myers
copyright 1999 New City Communications, Inc.