Arranged in general chronological order of popularity, the tracks in this playlist include all of the very top-selling instrumental record hits of 1940-thru-1949, plus some others that may have gained increased recognition or have been shown to have had an impact during the decades that followed. You'll note that the big-band swing instrumentals so common during the late '30s and early '40s greatly diminished in popularity following the war (as did the swing bands themselves).
