American hit records, 1840-2013

How he could leave out After the Ball by Charles K Harris (1892) is beyond me. That's the first modern super hit that was written in New York on a Monday and could be heard being sung by street singers in Tokyo 4 days later. It spread all over the globe in less than a week because it was that big a hit. No internet, no radio, few telephones, telegraph isn't really a way of spreading music effectively though they had a very sophisticated and wide ranging telegraph network. so only sheet music, public performances, and people whistling in the streets.
 
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