List of Billboard number-one R&B songs of 1945

At the start of 1945, Billboard magazine published a chart ranking the "most popular records in Harlem" under the title of the Harlem Hit Parade. Placings were based on a survey of record stores primarily in the Harlem district of New York City, an area noted for its African American population and regarded as the "black capital of America".[1] This chart was published for the final time in the issue dated February 10.[2] The following week the magazine launched a new chart, Most Played Juke Box Race Records, based not on retail sales but on the number of times songs had been played in jukeboxes;[2] "race records" was a term then in common usage for recordings by black artists.[3] The two charts are considered part of the lineage of the magazine's multimetric R&B chart,[2] which since 2005 has been published under the title Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs.

Cootie Williams topped the final Harlem Hit Parade chart with "Somebody's Gotta Go".

In the issue of Billboard dated January 6, The Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald topped the Harlem Hit Parade with "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall", retaining the top spot from the previous week. The song remained at number one through the issue dated February 3 for a final total of 11 weeks atop the chart. It was displaced by "Somebody's Gotta Go" by Cootie Williams and his Orchestra on the final chart published under the Harlem Hit Parade title. It was the first number one for Williams but would prove to be the final charting song of his career.[4] The following week, Pvt. Cecil Gant topped the first Most Played Juke Box Race Records listing with "I Wonder". Gant spent two weeks at number one before being displaced by Roosevelt Sykes with his recording of the same song. Both versions would be the only number one for their respective artists.[5]

The only act with more than one number one in 1945 was Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, who spent a single week atop the chart with "Mop! Mop!" in April and six weeks in the top spot with "Caldonia" beginning in June. Having first reached number one in 1943, Jordan was by far the most successful artist of the 1940s on Billboard's R&B charts. His tally of 18 chart-toppers was a record which would stand until the 1980s, and he spent 113 weeks at number one,^[a] a record which would still stand in the 21st century.[6] Jordan's success fell away in the 1950s, but his music is considered to have been hugely influential on the development of both R&B and rock and roll.[7] In the issue of Billboard dated September 8, Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers reached number one with "The Honeydripper" (Parts 1 & 2), which remained atop the chart for the rest of the year. The track would spend one further week in the top spot in 1946 for a final total of 18 weeks at number one, a record for an R&B chart-topper which would be equalled by Louis Jordan in 1946 and Drake in 2016 but not broken until "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X spent a 19th week atop the modern Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart in 2019.[8][9]

Chart history

The Ink Spots were at number one at the start of the year.

Erskine Hawkins and his Orchestra reached number one with "Tippin' In".

Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra spent eight weeks at number one with "Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well".

Harlem Hit Parade

Issue date	Title	Artist(s)	Ref.
January 6	"Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall"	The Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald
January 13
January 20
January 27
February 3
February 10	"Somebody's Gotta Go"	Cootie Williams and his Orchestra

Most Played Juke Box Race Records

Issue date	Title	Artist(s)	Ref.
February 17	"I Wonder"	Pvt. Cecil Gant
February 24
March 3		Roosevelt Sykes
March 10
March 17
March 24
March 31
April 7
April 14	"Tippin' In"	Erskine Hawkins and his Orchestra
April 21	"Mop! Mop!"	Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five
April 28	"Tippin' In"	Erskine Hawkins and his Orchestra
May 5
May 12
May 19
May 26
June 2	"Caldonia"	Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five
June 9
June 16
June 23
June 30
July 7
July 14	"Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well"	Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra
July 21
July 28
August 4
August 11
August 18
August 25
September 1
September 8	"The Honeydripper" (Parts 1 & 2)	Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers
September 15
September 22
September 29
October 6
October 13
October 20
October 27
November 3
November 10
November 17
November 24
December 1
December 8
December 15
December 22
December 29

Notes

a. ^ Jordan's first 16 number ones occurred at a time when Billboard published only one R&B chart. His final two number ones occurred during a period when the magazine published two charts and each topped both listings, but the figure of 113 weeks at number one does not double-count weeks when he topped both.

References

1. Goldfarb, Michael (February 1, 2011). "Who 'owns' Harlem, the capital of black America?". BBC. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
2. Whitburn, Joel (1996). Joel Whitburn's Top R & B Singles, 1942-1995. Record Research Incorporated. p. xii. ISBN 9780898201154.
3. Cole, Tom (November 2, 2013). "Paramount Records: The Label Inadvertently Crucial To The Blues". NPR. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
4. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research Incorporated. p. 624. ISBN 9780898201604.
5. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research Incorporated. pp. 223, 563. ISBN 9780898201604.
6. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research Incorporated. p. 783. ISBN 9780898201604.
7. Dahl, Bill. "Louis Jordan Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
8. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research Incorporated. p. 783. ISBN 9780898201604.
9. Fekadu, Mesfin (August 12, 2019). "Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road' sets more records on Billboard charts". USA Today. Retrieved January 29, 2021.}