The Long Play

1915

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

John McCormack — “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary” (#1) — Archive.org
Peerless Quartet — “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier” (#6) — Archive.org
Harry Macdonough & Olive Kline — “They Didn’t Believe Me” (#2) — Archive.org
Al Jolson — “Back to the Carolina You Love” (#14) — Archive.org
Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan — “Alabama Jubilee” (#17) — Archive.org
American Quartet — “Chinatown, My Chinatown” (#9) — Archive.org

1914

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

American Quartet — “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary” (#2) — Archive.org
Chauncey Olcott — “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That’s an Irish Lullaby)” (#7) — Archive.org
Prince’s Orchestra — “Ballin’ the Jack” (#8) — Archive.org
Billy Murray — “He’d Have to Get Under - Get Out and Get Under” (#14) — Archive.org
Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan — “The Aba Daba Honeymoon” (#10) — Archive.org
Heidelberg Quintet — “By the Beautiful Sea” (#5) — Archive.org

1913

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Chauncey Olcott — “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” (#1) — Archive.org
Al Jolson — “You Made Me Love You” (#4) — Archive.org
Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan — “When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam’” (#6) — Archive.org
Henry Burr — “When I Lost You” (#2) — Archive.org
Henry Burr & Albert Campbell — “The Trail of the Lonesome Pine” (#8) — Archive.org
Bert Williams — “Woodman, Woodman, Spare That Tree” (#20) — Archive.org

1912

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

American Quartet — “Moonlight Bay” (#1) — Archive.org
American Quartet — “Oh, You Beautiful Doll” (#11) — Archive.org
Bob Roberts — “Ragtime Cowboy Joe” (#3) — Archive.org
Al Jolson — “Ragging the Baby to Sleep” (#6) — Archive.org
Heidelberg Quintet — “Waiting for the Robert E. Lee” (#4) — Archive.org
Ada Jones & Billy Murray — “Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee” (#5) — Archive.org

1911

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan — “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (#1) — Archive.org
Ada Jones & Billy Murray & American Quartet — “Come, Josephine, in My Flying Machine” (#7) — Archive.org
Sophie Tucker — “Some of These Days” (#13) — Archive.org
Peerless Quartet — “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” (#2) — Archive.org
John McCormack — “Mother Machree” (#4) — Archive.org
Arthur Collins — “Steamboat Bill” (#21) — Archive.org

1910

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

American Quartet & Billy Murray — “Casey Jones” (#1) — Archive.org
Billy Murray & Haydn Quartet — “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (#2) — Archive.org
Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan — “That Mesmerizing Mendelssohn Tune” (#12) — Archive.org
Bert Williams — “Play That Barber-Shop Chord” (#4) — Archive.org
Sophie Tucker — “That Lovin’ Rag” (#33) — Archive.org
Henry Burr — “Meet Me To-Night in Dreamland” (#6) — Archive.org

1909

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Haydn Quartet — “Put on Your Old Gray Bonnet” (#1) — Archive.org
Harry Macdonough & Elise Stevenson — “Shine On, Harvest Moon” (#2) — Archive.org
Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan — “The Right Church, but the Wrong Pew” (#4) — Archive.org
Ada Jones — “I’ve Got Rings on My Fingers” (#8) — Archive.org
Henry Burr — “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now” (#3) — Archive.org

1908

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Haydn Quartet with Harry Macdonough — “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (#1) — Archive.org
Ada Jones & Billy Murray — “Cuddle Up a Little Closer, Lovey Mine” (#6) — Archive.org
Billy Murray — “I’m Afraid to Come Home in the Dark” (#31) — Archive.org
Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan — “Down in Jungle Town” (#40) — Archive.org
Lucy Isabelle Marsh — “The Glow-Worm” (#7) — Archive.org

1907

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Byron G. Harlan — “School Days” (#1) — Archive.org
Billy Murray — “Harrigan” (#3) — Archive.org
Ada Jones & Billy Murray — “Let’s Take an Old-Fashioned Walk” (#4) — Archive.org
Bert Williams — “He’s a Cousin of Mine” (#9) — Archive.org
U.S. Marine Band — “Maple Leaf Rag” (#23) — Archive.org
Harry Lauder — “I Love a Lassie” (#20) — Archive.org
Enrico Caruso — “Vesti la Giubba” (#5) — Archive.org

1906

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Billy Murray — “The Grand Old Rag” (#1) — Archive.org
Byron G. Harlan — “Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie” (#2) — Archive.org
Bert Williams — “Nobody” (#3) — Archive.org
Ada Jones — “Waiting at the Church” (#17) — Archive.org
Corrine Morgan & Haydn Quartet — “How’d You Like to Spoon with Me?” (#9) — Archive.org
Henry Burr — “Love Me and the World is Mine” (#4) — Archive.org

1905

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Billy Murray — “Yankee Doodle Boy” (#2) — Archive.org
Billy Murray — “Give My Regards to Broadway” (#6) — Archive.org
Arthur Collins — “The Preacher and the Bear” (#1) — Archive.org
Billy Murray — “In My Merry Oldsmobile” (#4) — Archive.org
Henry Burr (as Irving Gillette) — “In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree” (#3) — Archive.org
Ada Jones — “Just Plain Folks” (#28) — Archive.org

1904

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Haydn Quartet — “Sweet Adeline” (#1) — Archive.org
Billy Murray — “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis” (#2) — Archive.org
Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan — “Under the Anheuser Bush” (#14) — Archive.org
Corrine Morgan & Haydn Quartet — “Toyland” (#12) — Archive.org
Enrico Caruso — “Vesti la Giubba” (#19) — Archive.org
Arthur Pryor’s Band — “The St. Louis Rag” (#47) — Archive.org
Richard Jose — “Silver Threads Among the Gold” (#5) — Archive.org

1903

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Haydn Quartet — “In the Good Old Summer Time” (#1) — Archive.org
Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan — “Down Where the Wurzburger Flows” (#2) — Archive.org
Henry Burr — “Come Down, Ma Evening Star” (#8) — Archive.org
Arthur Collins — “I’m a Jonah Man” (#26) — Archive.org
Arthur Collins — “Any Rags?” (#5) — Archive.org
Billy Murray — “Tessie” (#39) — Archive.org
Henry Burr — “The Rosary” (#33) — Archive.org

1902

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Len Spencer — “Arkansaw Traveler” (#1) — Archive.org
Arthur Collins — “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home” (#2) — Archive.org
J.W. Myers — “In the Good Old Summer Time” (#3) — YouTube
Bert Williams — “Good Morning, Carrie” (#6) — YouTube
Harry Macdonough — “The Mansion of Aching Hearts” (#7) — Archive.org (?)
Arthur Collins — “Under the Bamboo Tree” (#9) — YouTube

1901

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Arthur Collins — “Ma Blushin’ Rosie” — UCSB Cylinder Archive.

Albert Campbell’s recording of this song was the most popular in 1901, but not findable online; Collins’ recording is also from 1901.
Harry Macdonough & Grace Spencer — “Tell Me, Pretty Maiden” (#2) — Archive.org
Byron G. Harlan — “Hello Central, Give Me Heaven” (#3) — Archive.org
Dan W. Quinn — “Good Morning, Carrie” (#8) — YouTube

1890s

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

U.S. Marine Band — “Semper Fidelis” (#1, 1890) — Archive.org
George Washington Johnson — “The Laughing Song” (#1, 1891) — Archive.org
George J. Gaskin — “After the Ball” (#1, 1893) — Archive.org
Dan Quinn — “The Sidewalks of New York” (#2, 1895) — Archive.org
Dan Quinn — “A Hot Time in the Old Town” (#1, 1896) — Archive.org
George J. Gaskin — “On the Banks of the Wabash” (#1, 1897) — Archive.org

1900

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Harry Macdonough — “When You Were Sweet Sixteen” — YouTube

(George J. Gaskin’s recording of this song) was the most popular recording in 1900, but I couldn’t find a recording; Macdonough’s recording is from 1901.
Arthur Collins — “Ma Tiger Lily” (#2) — Archive.org
Steve Porter — “A Bird in a Gilded Cage” (#3) — YouTube
Arthur Collins — “Mandy Lee” (#4) — Archive.org
Vess Ossman — “A Coon Band Contest” (#17) — Archive.org

About

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Like it says on the main page, I got it in my head to get a vibe for the whole of the 20th century in music. There’s a lot there, so we’re slicing through it with a machete, just hearing what we can hear in a speedrun.

Methodology: We’re picking 6-12 songs from each year, aiming for the most popular songs of the time. The source: a spreadsheet from a music collector going by the handle Bullfrog, which consolidates chart data from Billboard magazine dating to the 1890s. From there, I’m selecting a handful songs that give a sense for the year.