Episode
Exposed! 1954-1955 Music Charts
- Podcast
- Generation X Offender
- Published
- Apr 12, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 5938
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
Our tale begins in the mid to late 40s... The 1940s Post War America The Great Cities of the East are full of electricity and light And music... Swing beat is DEAD daddio Bebop and Blues rule! Jump Swing Shout Blues ...but this new thing, as yet, remains undefined Founded in 1894 (solely sheet music back then kids!) Billboard Magazine didn't know what to do with it or what to call it either... Although the area of Harlem, situated within the borough of New York City known as Manhattan, only takes up approximately 1.4 square miles (as reported by the New York City Department of City Planning in March of 2019) Billboard Magazine, began publishing a music chart directed towards the entire African American customer base of the United States in 1942. They called this chart The Harlem Hit Parade. Close to 50 years after the publication's inception, Billboard Magazine decided the African American music consuming demographic mattered, or rather, their money mattered (cue Randy Newman "It's Money That Matters"). Three short years later, Billboard changed the name of the chart to "The Most Played Juke Box Race Records" followed by "Best Selling Retail Race Records" in 1948. These unfortunate (and possibly even hateful) labels used to categorize a type of music are literally, the very definition of racist (look it up). While some historians suggest the term "race" was a self referential term used by African Americans in the early part of the 20th Century, the word came to be considered offensive in the post-war world. This prompted the editorial staff of Billboard Magazine to rename the chart "Rhythm & Blues Chart Listings" in June of 1949... ...which is where our story begins As this exciting new music slithered out of the primordial sludge of post War rhythm and blues, some…