#1 Songs - 1963

As promised, we are back to our regular posts. Let's get things going this week with the hit songs of 1963. Here are the contenders:

Telstar	The Tornadoes
Go Away Little Girl	Steve Lawrence
Walk Right In	The Rooftop Singers
Hey Paula	Paul and Paula
Walk Like A Man	The 4 Seasons
Our Day Will Come	Ruby And The Romantics
He's So Fine	The Chiffons
I Will Follow Him	Little Peggy March
If You Wanna Be Happy	Jimmy Soul
It's My Party	Lesley Gore
Sukiyaki	Kyu Sakamoto
Easier Said Than Done	The Essex
Surf City	Jan & Dean
So Much In Love	The Tymes
Fingertips - Pt 2	Little Stevie Wonder
My Boyfriend's Back	The Angels
Blue Velvet	Bobby Vinton
Sugar Shack	Jimmy Gilmer And The Fireballs
Deep Purple	Nino Tempo & April Stevens
I'm Leaving It Up To You	Dale & Grace
Dominique	The Singing Nun (Soeur Sourire)

As we go further into the 1960s, rock 'n' roll is starting to take over the charts, pushing country and instrumentals to the side. Some country hits still hold on, like "Go Away Little Girl," by Steve Lawrence, but the shift in popular music is undeniable. The song that stayed on top for the longest in 1963 was Jimmy Gilmer's "Sugar Shack." We also get our first number 1 hit by Stevie Wonder, who was only 12 years old at the time, the live song "Fingertips - Pt 2" (the whole song was too long to be a single in 1963). This year also bizarrely featured not one, but two foreign language songs: "Dominique," by the Singing Nun is in French, and "Sukiyaki," a song that is completely in Japanese. I had no idea Americans were listening to Asian pop music 50 years before "Gangnam Style" swept the nation.

The Best:

Overall, 1963 was a pretty good year in music. "Walk Right In," "Walk Like a Man," "He's So Fine," and "Fingertips - Pt 2" were all great songs. But the song that I think is not only the most fun, but also sounds ahead of its time is "If You Wanna Be Happy," by Jimmy Soul.

The Worst:

Not a whole lot of bad songs. There are a few songs that sound dated, or fairly pedestrian, but nothing really stands out. That is, until you get to the last hit of the year, "Dominique." This song really sticks out, and there was a song that's in Japanese (that is really quite good). I really do not understand how this song became an international hit.

Pat is crazy.

#1 Songs - 1962

It's been a little while since we looked at the number 1 songs, but I'm determined to not let this project die, so let's get back to it. Damn, that sentence was terrible. But, this is the internet and there's no time for editing or doing more than one draft! It's just type and publish. Anyway, here are the songs that topped the charts in 1962:

The Lion Sleeps Tonight	The Tokens
The Twist	Chubby Checker
Peppermint Twist - Part I	Joey Dee & the Starliters
Duke Of Earl	Gene Chandler
Hey! Baby	Bruce Channel
Don't Break The Heart That Loves You	Connie Francis
Johnny Angel	Shelley Fabares
Good Luck Charm	Elvis Presley With The Jordanaires
Soldier Boy	The Shirelles
Stranger On The Shore	Mr. Acker Bilk
I Can't Stop Loving You	Ray Charles
The Stripper	David Rose and His Orchestra
Roses Are Red (My Love)	Bobby Vinton
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do	Neil Sedaka
The Loco-Motion	Little Eva
Sheila	Tommy Roe
Sherry	The 4 Seasons
Monster Mash	Bobby Boris Pickett And The Crypt-Kickers
He's A Rebel	The Crystals
Big Girls Don't Cry	The 4 Seasons
Telstar	The Tornadoes

1962 was not a terrible year in music, but not an outstanding one either. The longest any song stayed on top of the chart was 5 weeks, and three songs managed to do that: "I Can't Stop Loving You," by Ray Charles, and "Sherry" and "Big Girls Don't Cry," both by the 4 Seasons. One rarity that happened in 1962: a number 1 from a previous year climbed back up to the top. That was "The Twist," by Chubby Checker, which first rose to number 1 back in 1960.

The best:

There were a few fun songs that came out in 1962 such as "Hey! Baby," "The Loco-Motion," and "Big Girls Don't Cry," but for me, the song that still holds up the best after all these years is the instrumental "The Stripper." SPOILER ALERT: The video is going to be the end of Slap Shot.



The worst:

There were also a few dreadful songs that somehow managed to top the chart in 1962. I normally don't like novelty songs like "Monster Mash," but it's not as terrible as our winner. "He's A Rebel" features some piano playing that doesn't really jive with the rest of the song, but even so it is still better than "Telstar," by the Tornadoes. It's "electronic music" was inspired by the satellite of the same name and supposed to sound futuristic or something, but it just doesn't hold up. At all. This is the 1980s CGI of songs.

#1 songs - 1961

Let's look at the hit songs of 1961:

Wonderland By Night	Bert Kaempfert And His Orchestra
Will You Love Me Tomorrow	The Shirelles
Calcutta	Lawrence Welk And His Orchestra
Pony Time	Chubby Checker
Surrender	Elvis Presley With The Jordanaires
Blue Moon	The Marcels
Runaway	Del Shannon
Mother-In-Law	Ernie K-Doe
Travelin' Man	Ricky Nelson
Running Scared	Roy Orbison
Moody River	Pat Boone
Quarter To Three	U.S. Bonds
Tossin' And Turnin'	Bobby Lewis
Wooden Heart	Joe Dowell
Michael	The Highwaymen
Take Good Care Of My Baby	Bobby Vee
Hit The Road Jack	Ray Charles and his Orchestra
Runaround Sue	Dion
Big Bad John	Jimmy Dean
Please Mr. Postman	The Marvelettes
The Lion Sleeps Tonight	The Tokens

It turns out that 1961 was a pretty dull year in music. There were two instrumentals in "Wonderland by Night" and "Calcutta." There were a few dance numbers like Chubby Checker's
Pony Time" and U.S. Bonds' "Quarter to Three." There's no terrible songs, but there aren't any that are really great either. But, we have to pick a winner and a loser, so let's go.

#1 songs - 1960

Hello again dear reader(s)! I am finally free from the hell that was going down to Orange County nearly every week for a trial, so I should be able to post more regularly now. Anyway, let's get back into it with the biggest hits of 1960.

First, here are the contenders:

Why	Frankie Avalon
El Paso	Marty Robbins
Running Bear	Johnny Preston
Teen Angel	Mark Dinning
The Theme From A Summer Place	Percy Faith And His Orchestra
Stuck On You	Elvis Presley With The Jordanaires
Cathy's Clown	The Everly Brothers
Everybody's Somebody's Fool	Connie Francis
Alley-Oop	Hollywood Argyles
I'm Sorry	Brenda Lee
Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini	Brian Hyland
It's Now Or Never	Elvis Presley With The Jordanaires
The Twist	Chubby Checker
My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own	Connie Francis
Mr. Custer	Larry Verne
Save The Last Dance For Me	The Drifters
I Want To Be Wanted	Brenda Lee
Georgia On My Mind	Ray Charles
Stay	Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs
Are You Lonesome To-night?	Elvis Presley With The Jordanaires

1960 was an interesting year in music. There are songs from quite a few different genres: country, rock 'n' roll, rhythm and blues, and even the novelty song, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini." It was not a good year for native americans (not that there have been many since the white man came...), as both "Running Bear" and "Mr. Custer" are kind of racist. The biggest hit of the year was the instrumental, "Theme from a Summer Place," which spent an incredible 9 weeks at number 1, which is still the record for an instrumental.

Ranking the #1 Songs - 1959

The first full year of the Billboard Hot 100 chart was 1959. Let's take a look at all of the songs to reach #1 in that year:

The contenders:

The Chipmunk Song	The Chipmunks With David Seville
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes	The Platters
Stagger Lee	Lloyd Price
Venus	Frankie Avalon
Come Softly To Me	The Fleetwoods
The Happy Organ	Dave 'Baby' Cortez
Kansas City	Wilbert Harrison
The Battle Of New Orleans	Johnny Horton
Lonely Boy	Paul Anka
A Big Hunk O' Love	Elvis Presley With The Jordanaires
The Three Bells	The Browns
Sleep Walk	Santo & Johnny
Mack The Knife	Bobby Darin
Mr. Blue	The Fleetwoods
Heartaches By The Number	Guy Mitchell

The year started with the previous year's Christmas hit, the "Chipmunk Song." Since we looked at it last time, we'll disqualify it for this year. The biggest hit of 1959 was Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife," which spent a total of 9 weeks at number 1. It's a fun song, but I never quite understood all the love it gets. Some other notable songs are the Platters' "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," Lloyd Price's "Stagger Lee," and "Kansas City" by Wilbert Harrison, which I first heard on my way to Kansas City with the PIC crew.

Best song: Come Softly To Me

There were a few strong contenders for best song, including "Sleep Walk" by Santo & Johnny, the aforementioned "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" and "Stagger Lee," but I have to give it to the Fleetwoods' "Come Softly To Me." To me, it has a timeless sound.



Worst song: The Battle of New Orleans

This was a much easier choice. I don't even know what to say about "The Battle of New Orleans" by Johnny Horton. I (very briefly) tried to find a reason this song not only went to #1, but stayed there for six (6!) weeks (maybe a movie?), but came up empty.

Ranking the #1 Songs

Since August of 1958, Billboard has been coming out with its "Hot 100," a chart that attempts to determine what the most popular song in the US is at the time. Many songs have made it to #1 over the years. Most of these are because they're good songs with widespread appeal, but as we'll see, there are plenty of bad songs, too.

I have decided to listen to every #1 song in history, and hold a tournament. At one end, I will give my favorite song, and on the other, my least favorite. What will be crowned the best song in history? What will be the worst song to make it to the top of the charts?

I'll first break it down year by year, and then decade by decade. I'll start at the beginning, 1958. Since the chart started in August, I'll have fewer songs to judge this time around.

Here are the contenders (in chronological order of when they first topped the charts):

Poor Little Fool - Ricky Nelson
Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare) - Domenico Modugno
Little Star - The Elegants
It's All In The Game - Tommy Edwards
 It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty
Tom Dooley - The Kingston Trio
To Know Him, Is To Love Him - The Teddy Bears
The Chipmunk Song - The Chipmunks With David Seville

The first ever song to top the charts was Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool." "Poor Little Fool" spent two weeks at number one before it was knocked off by "Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu (Volare)" by Domenico Modugno, an Italian song that would ultimately spend 5 weeks at #1. The only song to spend more time at #1 was Tommy Edwards' "It's All in the Game," which went 6 straight weeks as the top song in the country. The year ended with "The Chipmunk Song," at #1, which has become a Christmas classic.

The Best:

While "It's All in the Game" is a great song, listening to it today, it sounds dated. That is not the case with "Volare," and for that reason, I have to go with it for best song of 1958.



The Worst:

This one was a little trickier. None of the songs are bad, per se, but a few are rather dated. "The Chipmunk Song" is a novelty song, but it also spent 4 weeks at the top (including January 1959), and continues to be played at Christmas time to this day. "Little Star" is basically putting a rock beat behind the lullaby "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star," and "To Know Him, Is to Love Him" is just kind of boring. In the end, I think I'm going to go with "Little Star" for its lack of creativity.