Ooohhh so you're born in 1958? That's the same year as my mom. My dad is born in 1957 and they definitely influence a LOT of the songs that take the top spot for me, especially from 1970-1999 as there's a bunch of songs they showed me as a kid (I'm born in 1990) and I'll point those out as we get there. Will be interesting to see if any of those are some of your favorites too :)

 

Yup 1958, I expect they had a load of songs I loved, so look forward to seeing them! :)

Barrett Strong's Money is a goodie, and Puppy Love is Donny Osmond for me (though some might think S Club Juniors) but Paul Anka is top of my personal chart this week for the first time ever (Doja Cat's Freak uses Put Your Head On My Shoulders, which she finally got permission to release, and Paul sings the fade out - so yes still very much going!)

 

1961 is a big improvement, 1960 was still 50's leftover, and by 1964 the charts get genius.

Barrett Strong's Money is a goodie, and Puppy Love is Donny Osmond for me (though some might think S Club Juniors) but Paul Anka is top of my personal chart this week for the first time ever (Doja Cat's Freak uses Put Your Head On My Shoulders, which she finally got permission to release, and Paul sings the fade out - so yes still very much going!)

 

1961 is a big improvement, 1960 was still 50's leftover, and by 1964 the charts get genius.

Ohhhh that might be why it sounded familiar but still somewhat unfamiliar. Probably heard the SCJ version sometime :lol:

 

But yeah I agree, 1961 is better but it's only up from here for sure!

0007

 

 

THE DRIFTERS

This Magic Moment

 

 

No. 1 Run: 6 May, 1960 - 20 May, 1960 (3 weeks)

 

.........UK Chart Peak: (did not chart)

.........US Chart Peak: #16 (12 weeks on chart)

.........Release Date: January 28, 1960 on Atlantic

.........Sales: 170k (est.)

 

The Drifters are the next to take the top slot, featuring singer Ben E King here who would leave the band a few months after they released this song to go solo. We'll be seeing some of his solo material on here, particularly one huge well-known song but that's for another year. "This Magic Moment" is a R&B ditty, one of the first of its kind to top my chart but certainly not the last as black musicians were a strong asset to the musical genius of the 1960s and the R&B genre owes its brilliance to those musicians still to this day. Like with many of the other 1960 tracks "This Magic Moment" is nice enough to hit number one for three weeks but its sales are still pretty low. We'll see this trend continue for a while but I'll try to speed through 1960 as fast as I can so we can start getting to the really good songs!

0008

 

 

JOHNNY PRESTON

Cradle of Love

 

 

No. 1 Run: 27 May, 1960 - 3 June, 1960 (2 weeks)

 

.........UK Chart Peak: #2 (15 weeks on chart)

.........US Chart Peak: #7 (17 weeks on chart)

.........Release Date: 1960 on Mercury

.........Sales: 150k (est.)

 

Johnny Preston is sadly not with us anymore, having passed away in 2011, but he delivers this rock 'n roll tune that is very akin to Elvis' earlier stuff. It's a fun song, and without knowing too much how the genre works I'd say it's what I imagine rockabilly to be like? I may be way wrong here so don't quote me on that. Anyway, the song is fun and manages to become the eighth number one on my chart. As with many of the previous songs it's not really fighting off competition from any real contenders so while in any other year this song would be lucky to get to number one here it manages not one week, but two weeks on top! Fun fact: this song quotes several well known nursery rhymes including the obvious Rock-a-bye Baby (from the chorus), Jack Be Nimble, Jack and Jill and finally Hey Diddle Diddle. I don't know most of these but maybe they're more familiar to those of you who grew up in English speaking households.

Of the versions of 'Money' I know,my favourite would certainly be the Flying Lizards cover from 1979 which reached the top 5 in the UK.

0009

 

 

SAM COOKE

(What A) Wonderful World

 

 

No. 1 Run: 10 June, 1960 - 24 June, 1960 (3 weeks)

 

.........UK Chart Peak: #2 (16 weeks on chart)

.........US Chart Peak: #12 (15 weeks on chart)

.........Release Date: April 14, 1960 on Keen Records

.........Sales: 135k (est.)

 

I admittedly was expecting a cover of a certain Louis Armstrong song when I saw the title of this but was surprised to find that while it wasn't that song I still actually knew it lol. It's a cute song but it doesn't really keep my focus for the entirety of its duration. Sam Cooke was an interesting bloke however and unlike most of the singers already covered here he died a while back. Sam died in 1964, only a mere 4 years after this song came out, and his death is a mysterious one. Apparently he was killed in self defence by a woman called Bertha Franklin and while his death was ruled justifiable homicide at the time since it's been called into question whether it was or not due to inconsistencies in Bertha's retelling of events and such. Etta James was a close friend of Cooke's and one of the people who thought something didn't add up regarding his death. "Wonderful World" would later be re-issued in the UK in the 80s and reach #2 after initially only peaking at #27 in 1960. You will be seeing more of Cooke on this chart in the years leading up to his death.

I like the fact that the writer thought of including the word trigonometry in a love song.

The Drifters track is great, written by Shuman and Pomus, they wrote some crackers! Can't go wrong with Sam Cooke! That one was a big hit (finally) in 1986 thanks to an advert.

The Drifters track is great, written by Shuman and Pomus, they wrote some crackers! Can't go wrong with Sam Cooke! That one was a big hit (finally) in 1986 thanks to an advert.

Ohh interesting! I was wondering why it was re-released but I know a lot of songs were randomly re-released in the 80s and 90s so I didn't think much of it :lol:

0010

 

 

STEVE LAWRENCE

Footsteps

 

 

No. 1 Run: 1 July, 1960 (1 week)

 

.........UK Chart Peak: #4 (12 weeks on chart)

.........US Chart Peak: #7 (14 weeks on chart)

.........Release Date: February 1960 on ABC-Paramount (US) and HMV (UK)

.........Sales: 185k (est.)

 

Steve is another one that's still with us and his short stint at number one completes the first half of the year as well as the first ten entries of the year as a total sausage party. Footsteps is fun and very much what I think of when I think of a typical 60's track. It's cute and I enjoyed listening to it more than I anticipated given how similar a lot of these songs sound but I guess it helps that the youtube clip was in HQ lol. Despite spending only one week at number one it still sold well enough to become the year's fourth biggest number one song so far although one song that failed to grab the top spot has also outsold it leaving it in fifth place at the halfway point.

0011

 

 

NEIL SEDAKA

Stairway To Heaven

 

 

No. 1 Run: 8 July, 1960 (1 week)

 

.........UK Chart Peak: #8 (14 weeks on chart)

.........US Chart Peak: #9 (16 weeks on chart)

.........Release Date: 1960 on RCA Victor

.........Sales: 150k (est.)

 

Neil Sedaka is back again for the second time in the top spot but the third time in the top two (as "One Way Ticket" stalled at No. 2 earlier in the year) but this wound up being his lowest selling song yet as both "One Way Ticket" and "Oh! Carol" have sold more pretend copies on the chart in my land of make-believe. "Stairway to Heaven", definitely not to be confused with the far superior Led Zeppelin song (which it obviously does for a lot of people since Neil's song's Wikipedia page even has info on the LZ song lol), is quite obviously Neil-by-the-numbers at this point and he takes his formula and just copies it but since they had awful technology in the 60s this is the best he could do. Since everything else was rather 'meh' this still managed one week on the top. Neil will be back though, no worries.

0012

 

 

CONNIE FRANCIS

Everybody Is Somebody's Fool

 

 

No. 1 Run: 15 July, 1960 - 22 July, 1960 (2 weeks)

 

.........UK Chart Peak: #5 (13 weeks on chart)

.........US Chart Peak: #1 (19 weeks on chart)

.........Release Date: April 7, 1960 on MGM

.........Sales: 190k (est.)

 

It finally happened! To finish up today's batch of songs and round us up to a nice 12 songs it's finally the first female fronted number one hit on my chart! Connie Francis, who is certainly still alive despite having taken some hits in her life (more on that later), has the honor of being the artist behind the first of many many female-led number one hits on my chart and "Everybody Is Somebody's Fool" is quite cute even if it's not all that memorable but don't worry she's got some tricks up her sleeves in the coming years so I'm sure she'll show up again sooner than later. Reading up on Connie has been interesting to say the least. Poor Connie was raped while appearing at a music festival in 1974 and then a few years later her brother was murdered by the Mafia so it's safe to say she's been through some hardships in her life but she's still standing at age 82!

That Sam Cooke song is absolutely fantastic such a classic. As is Puppy Love, some great tracks in here, this countdown is a good idea. I know some of the melodies are simplistic but that's going to happen with the technology of he Day and tastes developing.

 

It really highlights how The Beatles really changed everything I mean can you imagine listening to Pick of the Pops in 1960 with these tracks and then all of a sudden 'She Loves Me' coming on or 'Satisfaction' by The Rolling Stones or 'My Generation' by The Who a few short years later, it really was a revolution when you think about it.

Steve Lawrence was a big fave for me later on with his missus, I Just Want To Stay Here, but I didn;t know Footsteps until Showaddywaddy covered it :D Connie Francis is sweet, musically, and Neil Sedaka is a great songwriter (seen him in concert a couple of times too), Stairway To heaven is decent enough.

 

This is the ad that made the Sam Cooke track a hit. I can't speak for others but I certainly bought some 501's at the time, one of the few occasions when an advert worked on me :lol:

 

0013

 

 

CHUBBY CHECKER

The Twist

 

 

No. 1 Run: 29 July, 1960 - 9 September, 1960 (6 weeks*)

 

.........UK Chart Peak: #14 (12 weeks on chart)

.........US Chart Peak: #1 (40 weeks on chart)

.........Release Date: June 1960 on Parkway 811

.........Sales: 365k (est.)

 

And now what is quite possibly the biggest song of 1960, in the very least the biggest selling number one yet as well as being tied for the most weeks at number one this year: it's catchy ear-worm "The Twist" by the awkwardly named artist Chubby Checker. This song is interesting in the fact that it peaked at number one in 1960, only to resurface two years later in 1962 and take the top spot again. Chubby would prove to be something of a one-trick-pony as most of his songs that actually managed to chart in the higher echelons of the Billboard Hot 100 featured the word "twist" so I think in a way he may have been afraid to change the formula out of fear that it won't work anymore lol. In 1961 he'd come back with a sequel to this song called "Lets Twist Again" and personally I think it's fantastic and you may very well see it featured here after we reach the new year. "The Twist" would once again resurface in 1988 as a minor hit thanks to a remix from a similarly BMI-themed artist called Fat Boy.

 

* "The Twist" spent 6 non-consecutive weeks at number one in the time span of 7 weeks.

Edited August 23, 20204 yr by diva thin muffin

Oddly, The Twist never got the mass audience in the UK that Let's Twist Again did - I didn;t know this track until it featured on the other side of the airplay side hit double A side reissue in 1975, but Let's Twist Again was huge and I was aware from a very early age. Mum used to Twist to it (she would have been about 23 or 24), and so did I (about 4 or 5) :lol:

0014

 

 

SAM COOKE

Chain Gang

 

 

No. 1 Run: 26 August, 1960 (1 week)

 

.........UK Chart Peak: #9 (11 weeks on chart)

.........US Chart Peak: #2 (16 weeks on chart)

.........Release Date: July 26, 1960

.........Sales: 95k (est.)

 

Next up we have the second number one hit from Sam Cooke after spending three weeks at the top spot in June he did it again just two months later, however this time it was just a short stop. "Chain Gang" is a strange song and while I think there's a certain charm to it I think it benefitted massively from the low amount of good songs available at the time. To be honest the main reason why I put it at number one was because I felt "The Twist" had spent enough time on top but after seeing the options didn't get any better I went right back to it in the following week lmao. This isn't necessarily a song I'll be revisiting anytime later and it'll remain one of the lowest selling number ones but this managed to outsell Bobby Rydell's "Swinging School" to the top spot.

0015

 

 

BRENDA LEE

That's All You Gotta Do

 

 

No. 1 Run: 16 September, 1960 - 23 September, 1960 (2 weeks)

 

.........UK Chart Peak: (did not chart)

.........US Chart Peak: #6 (14 weeks on chart)

.........Release Date: 30 May, 1960

.........Sales: 320k (est.)

 

Finally we have christmas queen Brenda Lee with her first number one hit on my chart after failing to top the chart in May with "Sweet Nuthins". Brenda did however manage to reign supreme with "That's All You Gotta Do" which I'll be honest is quite an entertaining tune for a song I've never heard before from this period. There's some kind of familiarity to it that I can't quite put my finger on, and I definitely like something about her voice. Admittedly I have never knowingly listened to any of her stuff other than "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" but I'm expecting her to surprise me a bit on this journey as she's obviously quite a bigger name than I ever realised. Brenda shoots directly into the top two in terms of sales for the number one songs but it'll be interesting to see where she places once the year is over.

Edited August 25, 20204 yr by diva thin muffin

Chain Gang isn;t one of my favest Sam Cooke tracks, but it is one I knew as a kid and liked. It's quite a clever track soundwise. That Brenda Lee track isnt one I know, and I like it! Very young Brenda, it's somewhere between rockin' Brenda and ballad Brenda and does it's own thing.