This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1942.
For each Year in Music (beginning 1940) and Year in Country Music (beginning 1939), a comprehensive Year End Top Records section can be found at mid-page (popular), and on the Country page.
The charts are compiled from data published by Billboard magazine, using their formulas, with slight modifications. Most important, there are no songs missing or truncated by Billboard's holiday deadline. Each year, records included enter the charts between the prior November and early December. Each week, fifteen points are awarded to the number one record, then nine points for number two, eight points for number three, and so on. This system rewards songs that reach the highest positions, as well as those that had the longest chart runs. This is our adjustment to Mr. Whitburn's formula, which places no. 1 records on top, then no 2 and so on, ordered by weeks at that position. This allows a record with 4 weeks at no. 1 that only lasted 6 weeks to be rated very high. Here, the total points of a song's complete chart run determines its position. Our chart has more songs, more weeks and may look nothing like Billboard's, but it comes from the exact same surveys.
Before the Hot100 was implemented in 1958, Billboard magazine measured a record's performance with three charts, 'Best-Selling Popular Retail Records', 'Records Most-Played On the Air' or 'Records Most Played By Disk Jockeys' and 'Most-Played Juke Box Records'. As Billboard did starting in the 1940s, the three totals for each song are combined, with that number determining the final year-end rank. For example, 1944's "A Hot Time in the Town of Berlin" by Bing and the Andrews Sisters finished at no. 19, despite six weeks at no. 1 on the 'Most-Played Juke Box Records'(JB) chart. It scored 126 points, to go with its Best-Selling chart (BS) total of 0. Martha Tilton's version of "I'll Walk Alone" peaked at no. 4 on the Juke Box chart, which only totalled 65 points, but her BS total was also 65, for a final total of 130, ranking no. 18. Examples like this can be found in "The Billboard" magazine up to 1958. By the way, the 'Records Most-Played On the Air' chart didn't begin until January 1945, which is why we only had two sub-totals.
Our rankings are based on Billboard data, but we also present info on recording and release dates, global sales totals, RIAA and BPI certifications and other awards. Rankings from other genres like 'Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs' or 'Most Played Juke Box Race Records', Country charts including 'Most Played Juke Box Folk (Hillbilly) Records', 'Cashbox magazine', and other sources are presented if they exist. We supplement our info with reliable data from the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website, Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954[5] and other sources as specified.
| Rank | Artist | Title | Label | Recorded | Released | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "White Christmas"[6] | Decca 18429 | US Billboard 1942 #1, US Pop #1 for 11 weeks, 17 total weeks, 191 points, 2,600,000 sales 1944, 50,000,000 2007,[7] Grammy Hall of Fame 1974 | ||||
| 2 | Glenn Miller and his Orchestra | "(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo"[8] | Victor 27934 | US Billboard 1942 #2, US Pop #1 for 7 weeks, 18 total weeks, 181 points, 1,000,000 sales | |||
| 3 | "Moonlight Cocktail"[9] | Bluebird 11401 | US Billboard 1942 #3, US Pop #1 for 10 weeks, 21 total weeks, 178 points, 1,000,000 sales | ||||
| 4 | Kay Kyser and his Orchestra | "Who Wouldn't Love You" | Columbia 36526 | US Billboard 1942 #4, US Pop #2 for 8 weeks, 25 total weeks, 157 points, 1,000,000 sales | |||
| 5 | "Sleepy Lagoon" | Columbia 36549 | US Billboard 1942 #5, US Pop #1 for 4 weeks, 23 total weeks, 153 points | ||||
| 6 | "Jingle Jangle Jingle"[10] | Columbia 36604 | US Billboard 1942 #6, US Pop #1 for 8 weeks, 13 total weeks, 153 points, 1,000,000 sales | ||||
| 7 | Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra (Vocal Bob Eberle & Helen O'connell) | "Tangerine"[11] | Decca 4123 | US Billboard 1942 #7, US Pop #1 for 6 weeks, 20 total weeks, 148 points | |||
| 8 | Glenn Miller and his Orchestra | "A String of Pearls"[12] | Bluebird 11382 | US Billboard 1942 #8, US Pop #1 for 2 weeks, 22 total weeks, 128 points, 1,000,000 sales | |||
| 9 | "Jersey Bounce"[13] | Okeh 6590 | US Billboard 1942 #9, US Pop #2 for 6 weeks, 23 total weeks, 119 points | ||||
| 10 | Kay Kyser and his Orchestra | "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" | Columbia 36640 | US Billboard 1942 #10, US Pop #2 for 7 weeks, 14 total weeks, 109 points, 1,000,000 sales | |||
| 11 | Glenn Miller and his Orchestra | "Serenade in Blue"[14] | Victor 27935 | US Billboard 1942 #11, US Pop #2 for 1 weeks, 19 total weeks, 92 points | |||
| 12 | Glenn Miller and his Orchestra | "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree (With Anyone else But Me)"[15] | Bluebird 11474 | US Billboard 1942 #12, US Pop #2 for 2 weeks, 20 total weeks, 81 points | |||
| 13 | "Blues In the Night"[16] | Decca 4030 | US Billboard 1942 #13, US Pop #1 for 1 weeks, 21 total weeks, 78 points | ||||
| 14 | Harry James and his Orchestra | "I Don't Want To Walk Without You"[17] | Columbia 36478 | US Billboard 1942 #14, US Pop #2 for 5 weeks, 17 total weeks, 77 points | |||
| 15 | "When The Lights Go On Again (All Over The World)"[18] | Victor 27945 | US Billboard 1942 #15, US Pop #2 for 1 weeks, 18 total weeks, 77 points | ||||
| 16 | Kay Kyser and his Orchestra | "He Wears a Pair of Silver Wings" | Columbia 36604 | US Billboard 1942 #16, US Pop #2 for 4 weeks, 12 total weeks, 70 points | |||
| 17 | "My Devotion" | Columbia 36620 | US Billboard 1942 #17, US Pop #2 for 2 weeks, 13 total weeks, 70 points | ||||
| 18 | "I Said No!"[19] | Bluebird 11391 | US Billboard 1942 #18, US Pop #2 for 1 weeks, 15 total weeks, 54 points | ||||
| 19 | "Der Fuehrer's Face"[20] | Bluebird 11586 | US Billboard 1942 #19, US Pop #3 for 1 week, 16 total weeks, 50 points | ||||
| 20 | Harry James and His Orchestra (vocal Helen Forrest) | "Mister Five By Five" | Columbia 36650 | US Billboard 1942 #20, US Pop #2 for 1 weeks, 15 total weeks, 48 points |
| Composer | Composition | Date | Location | Performers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second Essay for Orchestra | 1942-04-16 | New York City | New York Philharmonic – Walter[21] | |
| A Ceremony of Carols | 1942-12-05 | Norwich, UK | Mason / The Fleet Street Choir – Lawrence | |
| Diversions for Piano Left Hand and Orchestra | 1942-01-16 | Philadelphia | Wittgenstein / Philadelphia Orchestra – Ormandy | |
| Symphony No. 2 | 1942-10-22 | New York City | New York Philharmonic – Walter[22] | |
| 1942-01-01 | New York City | Eugene List (piano) New York Philharmonic – Mitropoulos[23] | ||
| Statements | 1942-01-07 | New York City | New York Philharmonic – Bernstein | |
| Paganiniana | 1942-04-14 | Vienna | Vienna Philharmonic – Böhm[24] | |
| Let Us Garlands Bring | 1942-10-12 | London | Irvin, Ferguson[25] | |
| Abertura concertante | 1942-06-02 | São Paulo | Artistic Culture Society Orchestra – De Souza Lima[26] | |
| Cosmogonie | 1942-03-04 | Nice | French National Symphony – D'Auriol | |
| I Wonder as I Wander | 1942-12-11 | Minneapolis | Minneapolis Symphony – Mitropoulos | |
| Piano Concerto | 1942-06-22 | Venice | Gorini / Marcello Conservatory Orchestra – Gracis | |
| Sonata da chiesa for flute and organ | 1942-06-11 | Lausanne, Switzerland | M. Martin, Faller[27] | |
| 1942-11-13 | Boston | Boston Symphony – Koussevitzky[28] | ||
| 1942-01-12 | Tbilisi, Soviet Union | [unknown orchestra] – Stasevich[29] | ||
| 1942-06-05 | Moscow | |||
| 1942-04-07 | Moscow | Beethoven Quartet[30] | ||
| 1942-03-05 | Kuibyshev, Soviet Union | Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra – Samosud[31] | ||
| Danses concertantes | 1942-02-08 | Los Angeles | Janssen Symphony – Stravinsky | |
| Fantasia on a Theme of Handel | 1942-03-07 | London | Sellick / Goehr Orchestra – Goehr | |
| Rudepoêma | 1942-07-15 | Rio de Janeiro | Municipal Theatre Symphony – Villa-Lobos[32] | |
| Five Preludes for guitar | 1942-12-11 | Montevideo, Uruguay | Abel Carlevaro – Villa-Lobos[33] | |
See main article: 1942 in jazz.