The Billboard Music Charts Are as Old as Bugs Bunny

Wild Hare and Tommy Dorsey's "I'll Never Smile Again"

Gary Trust, associate director of charts for Billboard magazine, has a fun item noting the launch of the famous Billboard music charts in the weekly edition dated July 27, 1940:

The maiden 10-position “National List of Best Selling Retail Records” was the first to poll retailers nationwide on record sales.

The new chart was billed as a “trade service feature,” based on the “10 best selling records of the past week” at a selection of national retailers from New York to Los Angeles.

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