Sunday, June 10, 2012

My number ones 1960-65

As long term readers will know, I kept my own personal top ten from March 1960 to December 1965 when I was a teenager, and it didn't bear much relationship to the UK top ten of the time. Here, for lovers of lists, are all the records that made it to number one in my top ten in chronological order.
1960
Sweet Nuthin's - Brenda Lee; Stuck On You - Elvis Presley; Got A Girl - Four Preps; Robot Man - Connie Francis; Three Steps To heaven - Eddie Cochran; Good Timin' - Jimmy Jones; Down Yonder - Johnny & The Hurricanes; Wonderful World - Sam Cooke; Please Don't Tease - Cliff Richard; Alley Oop - Hollywood Argylls; Only The Lonely - Roy Orbison; Please Help Me I'm Falling - Hank Lochlin; I Just Go For You - Jimmy Jones; Chain Gang - Sam Cooke; So Sad - Everly Brothers; MacDonald's Cave - Piltdown Men; Devil Or Angel - Bobby Vee; It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley; Blue Angel - Roy Orbison; Learning The Game - Buddy Holly; Perfidia - Ventures; Poetry In Motion - Johnny Tillotson; Hushabye Little Guitar - Paul Evans; My Girl Josephine - Fats Domino; Last Date - Floyd Cramer; Like Strangers - Everly Brothers; You're Sixteen - Johnny Burnette.
1961
Are You Lonesome Tonight - Elvis Presley; Calendar Girl - Neil Sedaka; Walk Right Back - Everly Brothers; Shop Around - Miracles; Ja-da - Johnny & the Hurricanes; Once In A While - Chimes; I Told You So - Jimmy Jones; Little Boy Sad - Johnny Burnette; On The Rebound - Floyd Cramer; Theme From Dixie - Duane Eddy; Mother In Law - Ernie K-Doe; What'd I Say - Jerry Lee Lewis; Little Devil - Neil Sedaka; Running Scared - Roy Orbison; That Old Black Magic - Bobby Rydell; Hello Mary Lou - Ricky Nelson; I Feel So Bad - Elvis Presley; Baby I Don't Care - Buddy Holly; Cupid - Sam Cooke; Girls - Johnny Burnette; Baby Face - Bobby Vee; Sea Of Heartbreak - Don Gibson; Hats Off To Larry - Del Shannon; Cryin' - Roy Orbison; I Like It Like That - Chris Kenner; You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby - Bobby Darin; One Track Mind - Bobby Lewis; Take Good Care of My Baby - Bobby Vee; His Latest Flame - Elvis Presley; Under The Moon Of Love - Curtis Lee; So Long Baby - Del Shannon; Happy Birthday Sweet 16 - Neil Sedaka; Run To Him - Bobby Vee; Lonesome Number One - Don Gibson.
1962
The Wanderer - Dion; La Bamba - Ritchie Valens; It Will Stand - Showmen; I Could Have Loved You So Well - Ray Peterson; Chip Chip - Gene McDaniels; Twistin' The Night Away - Sam Cooke; Please Don't Ask About Barbara - Bobby Vee; Dream Baby - Roy Orbison; Hey Baby - Bruce Channel; What's Your Name - Don & Juan; Come Back Silly Girl - Lettermen; Salvation - Johnny & the Hurricanes; Don't Play That Song - Ben E King; Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley; Soldier Boy - Shirelles; Number One Man - Bruce Channel; That's Old Fashioned - Everly Brothers; The Crowd - Roy Orbison; Lipstick Traces - Benny Spellman; Sealed With A Kiss - Brian Hyland; Cry Myself To Sleep - Del Shannon; I Wanna Thank Your Folks - Johnny Burnette; Let's Dance - Chris Montez; He Got What he Wanted - Little Richard; Workin' For The man - Roy Orbison; He's A Rebel - Crystals; Nothing Can Change This Love - Sam Cooke; Up On The Roof - Drifters; Stop The Music - Shirelles; Love Came To me - Dion; Chains - Cookies.
1963
Zip A Dee Doo Dah - Bob B Soxx & the Blue Jeans; Little Town Flirt - Del Shannon; He's Sure The Boy I Love - Crystals; Sandy - Dion; In Dreams - Roy Orbison; You Really Got A Hold On Me - Miracles; He's So Fine - Chiffons; If You Want To Be Happy - Jimmy Soul; Foolish Little Girl - Shirelles; Another Saturday Night - Sam Cooke; It's My Party -Lesley Gore; Da Doo Ron Ron - Crystals; Go Go Go - Chuck Berry; Easier Said Than Done - Essex; Come Go With Me - Dion; Surf City - Jan & Dean; Two Silhouettes - Del Shannon; Then He Kissed me - Crystals; Pretty Thing - Bo Diddley; Let It Rock - Chuck Berry; Be My Baby - Ronettes; Walkin' The Dog - Rufus Thomas; Swingin' On A Star - Big Dee Irwin; Run Rudolph Run - Chuck Berry.
1964
Baby I Love You - Ronettes; Louie Louie - Kingsmen; Nadine - Chuck Berry; I Wonder - Crystals; Good News - Sam Cooke; Fun Fun Fun - Beach Boys; Hi-Heel Sneakers - Tommy Tucker; Walk On By - Dionne Warwick; Shoop Shoop Song - Betty Everett; My Guy - Mary Wells; Bama Lama Bama Lu - Little Richard; When You Walk In The Room - Jackie De Shannon; I Get Around - Beach Boys; Good Times - Sam Cooke; I'm Into Something Good - Earl-Jean; Where Did Our Love Go - Supremes; Baby I Need Your Loving - Four Tops; When I Grow Up - Beach Boys; Dancing In The Street - Martha & The Vandellas; Needle In A Haystack - Velvelettes; Oh No Not My Baby - Maxine Brown.
1965
You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling - Righteous Brothers; Shake - Sam Cooke; Hold What You've Got - Joe Tex; Yield Not To Temptation - Bobby Bland; My Girl - Temptations; King Of The Road - Roger Miller; Voice Your Choice - Radiants; People Get Ready - Impressions; Mr Pitiful - Otis Redding; Help Me Rhonda - Beach Boys; I Can't Help Myself - Four Tops; It's Wonderful To Be In Love - Ovations; In The Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett; It's Too Late Baby - Arthur Prysock; Treat Her Right - Roy Head; 1-2-3 - Len Barry; My Girl - Otis Redding.

4 Comments:

At 8:59 pm , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Looks great Nick; surprised by a few of your choices - Beach Boys and Jan and Dean - didn't have you down as a surfer! will have a proper look through and comment further!

 
At 9:25 pm , Blogger Nick said...

Surf music is one my greatest loves. There are a few there that I regret but I was young and just feeling my way. Note there is only one UK record in the whole lot!

 
At 10:19 am , Anonymous Alan said...

Obviously we had better taste in music in Australia, as (with a few exceptions) this is quite a good reflection of the pop charts of the day.

 
At 12:54 pm , Blogger Nick said...

You have to remember that the only access we had to pop music in those days was via Radio Luxembourg. The record companies made the programmes and therefore plugged the ones most likely to succeed, so it was difficult or even impossible to hear many great records which they didn't expect to be a hit. They might get one or two plays and then were never heard of again, so it was quite hard to pick out these often excellent records because of the lack of air play. These probably made it into the lower half of my top ten and then slipped out simply because 208 stopped playing them. It took weeks before I could get hold of a copy of Only The Lonely, for example, because Decca hadn't predicted its success and therefore didn't produce many copies initially. The UK charts, it has to be said, were dominated by UK records, many of which were cover versions of US hits. I would never allow cover versions into my top ten on principle - hence originals such as Chains, You Really Got A Hold On me, I'm Into Something Good and Oh No Not My Baby were only really made famous later in the UK by the Beatles, Hermans Hermits and Manfred Mann.

 

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