10,000 people went to Stonehenge today. I instead am marking the summer solstice by making a 1962 Christmas song my record of the day. A fantastic record of course that has improved it's 1962 #6 peak to #5 and now #4, and there's surely more to come. Where will it have peaked by the time I finish these reviews I wonder?

 

9 Brenda Lee Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree She's been having a great year in general and now comes out with this wonderful classic - how on Earth did it only reach #6?

8 Maureen Evans Like I Do Haven't been convinced by her other hits but this is fantastically catchy - a Nancy Sinatra cover apparently but nonetheless great

8 The Crystals He's A Rebel First hit for this American group and there's even better to come but this is a joyous and soulful little song with lovely vocals

7 Elvis Presley Return To Sender 143rd #1 and 9th in 10 singles for Elvis (excluding the EP): this is a good one with well crafted lyrics; lacking a bit of wow factor

7 Joe Brown And The Bruvvers It Only Took A Minute Lovely again from Joe - a heartwarming and bouncy number with a twangy guitar section and catchy "doo doo" backing

6 Neil Sedaka Next Door To An Angel Neil's style is identifiable a mile away and the instrumental parts are always impeccable; another nice chirpy song from him

6 Ella Fitzgerald Desafinado This certainly makes more sense with the vocals - the flutes add a lot and it's a very nicely delivered song though without a hook

5 Hank Locklin We're Gonna Go Fishin' Very country from him again - on paper this shouldn't be good but there's something oddly charming and catchy about it

5 Bobby Darin Baby Face Little Richard's cover of this was great - this is decent but falls a bit flat despite the brisk tempo; I don't think it quite connects

4 Patsy Cline Heartaches Her only Top 40 hit before her untimely death but she'll be back in 1990 - this one is nothing more than pleasant for me

4 Ray Ellington The Madison Only hit for this Goon Show singer and bandleader - OK jazzy number though the backing "ba bow" interjections are a bit much

3 Pat Boone The Main Attraction Finally the last of his 26 Top 40s - it's been quite a ride and this lightweight number is far from the main attraction in this group

2 Ronnie Carroll If Only Tomorrow As usual with Ronnie's records it sounds more like 40s than 60s with that terribly dated type of backing choir and a croony ballad

1 Russ Conway Always You And Me Unofortunately this is the last of 18 Top 40s for Russ and it's a terrible "If" by Telly Savalas style record with baffling spoken vocals

 

 

 

1962 Group 16 ("Onward Christian Soldiers" already covered):

 

#1754 08/12/1962 Cliff Richard And The Shadows The Next Time/Bachelor Boy 1 18-5-2-2-{1}-1-1-2-2-2-5-9-16-19-25-35-44-41->18

#1755 08/12/1962 Kenny Lynch Up On The Roof 10 49-40-26-22-14-12-13-{10}-12-18-28-34->12

#1756 08/12/1962 Tommy Roe Susie Darlin' 37 50-39-41-{37}-38->5

#1757 15/12/1962 The Shadows Dance On! 1 24-11-3-7-3-2-{1}-4-9-11-21-27-31-46-43->15

#1758 15/12/1962 Adam Faith Baby Take A Bow 22 36-30-23-{22}-29-47->6

#1759 15/12/1962 Mark Wynter Go Away Little Girl 6 38-39-28-17-8-{6}-7-11-20-29-40->11

#1760 15/12/1962 Frank Sinatra And Sammy Davis Jr Me And My Shadow 20 43-32-{20}-21-23-29-41-47R(2)-47->9

#1761 15/12/1962 The Springfields Island Of Dreams 5 44-34-24-26-26-19-12-14-10-12-8-9-9-6-7-{5}-15-15-16-20-25-31-34-38-44-45->26

#1762 15/12/1962 Bernard Cribbins Gossip Calypso 25 48-38-35-{25}-31-38->6

#1763 15/12/1962 Ray Charles Your Cheating Heart 13 50-25-{13}-15-16-17-30-38->8

22/12/1962 Harry Simeone Chorale Onward Christian Soldiers {1962} 38 44-{38}->2

#1764 22/12/1962 Chubby Checker And Bobby Rydell Jingle Bell Rock 40 46-{40}-41->3

#1765 22/12/1962 Nat 'King' Cole Dear Lonely Hearts 37 49-39-{37}->3

#1766 29/12/1962 The Routers Let's Go (Pony) 32 49-{32}-33-33-46-43-49->7

#1767 29/12/1962 The Orlons Don't Hang Up 39 50-41R(2)-{39}->3

 

Pretty much agree with these, though He's A Rebel is my fave, and early Gene Pitney classic song done Wall Of Sound. I'd love to see Brenda Lee interviewed about her annual top 10 placings in modern charts. Return To Sender was an Elvis song I liked at the time, and still do, and Baby Face I think I've mentioned before as a song I've always known, it was a standard already in 1962 but there's only one version I've ever been bothered about - the 1976 hit disco cover by the (not making it up) Wing & A Prayer Fife & Drum Corps :lol:

The last group of the year can often be quite weak but this one is pretty decent. I was quite tempted to give the win to The Orlons as it's such a tune, but "Up On The Roof" is such a lovely record, albeit a cover, that I'll stick with that.

 

8 Kenny Lynch Up On The Roof A cover of a Drifters song that didn't chart here; Kenny does it beautifully though and the orchestration is lovely and comforting

8 The Orlons Don't Hang Up Only hit for this US R&B group a bit like The Crystals, and it was much bigger Stateside but it's a delightful gem of a song

7 The Springfields Island Of Dreams Lovely close harmonies here with very good lead vocals from Dusty of course, and a very charming and sweet country style song

7 The Routers Let's Go (Pony) The incessant drum and clapped rhythm is what makes this (almost) instrumental, and love how the rest builds up from that

7 The Shadows Dance On! 145th #1: maybe the weakest of their 5 solo chart toppers but still great - a mesmerising guitar hook with interesting development

6 Chubby Checker And Bobby Rydell Jingle Bell Rock Much better than the only previous charting version by Max Bygraves, and the duet aspect is nice, but not as timeless as Bobby's

6 Cliff Richard And The Shadows The Next Time/Bachelor Boy 144th #1: "Bachelor Boy" is very much an earworm whereas "The Next Time", the more sedate side, is on the duller side for me

5 Ray Charles Your Cheating Heart Another one from Ray very much in the style of "I Can't Stop Loving You" with majestic orchestration and vocal backing - it is nice

5 Tommy Roe Susie Darlin' The follow up to the great "Sheila" is underwhelmingly a 50s ballad cover, though actually quite a tender version; he does it well

4 Adam Faith Baby Take A Bow First of 14 realeases to miss the Top 20 as his star wanes rather - it's not bad though and in his usual style; vocals slightly rough

4 Mark Wynter Go Away Little Girl Another cover where the original didn't chart here, this time by Steve Lawrence - it's a decent enough song but nothing exciting

3 Nat 'King' Cole Dear Lonely Hearts His 29th and last lifetime Top 40 though we will see him again - unfortunately it's a dreary ballad that lacks a sense of movement

3 Frank Sinatra And Sammy Davis Jr Me And My Shadow Sammy's last hit so shame to give a low score but it just sounds like two pals having a play around and the song's quite pedestrian

1 Bernard Cribbins Gossip Calypso Another novelty hit from him which seems to have flopped slightly in the Christmas rush - terribly terribly irritating anyway

 

 

Criminal that The Drifters classic original didnt chart, not only their best record but one of Carole King/Gerry Goffin's greatest songs. That said Kenny Lynch is fab and it's a decent cover. The Orlons is not one I know, not bad, quite jolly.

 

Island Of Dreams is a fave, still rate it. Prob my record of the week given Drifters not here. Their early namesakes are though, The Shads is a nostalgia fest for me, Dance On is one I know as an instrumental from that time, and also from my idol Kathy Kirby's vocal hit. Mad on Kathy Kirby I was. I much prefer the melody of The Next Time, one of his best ballads, these days - but 4-year-old me would agree with you about Bachelor Boy, a big fave of the time, dad bought the single. And the Summer Holiday film was iconic, the videos of the songs have always popped up on telly over the years.

 

Ray Charles is a goodie, Go Away Little Girl I will take the Donny Osmond version. Yes I know, I'm surprised too, but it's sweet and a US 1971 number 1. Me & My Shadow was always clogging up variety shows in one form or another, still annoying. Sammy's best records after this were never hits sadly - from the movie Sweet Charity he played a hippy Priest, singing Rhythm Of Life. And also in 1968 he did the showstopping cover of the musical number I've Gotta Be Me from the long-forgotten musical Golden Rainbow.

Average score for 1962 of 5.37 is very close to 1961. I feel like it's going to go up in 1963 but we'll see.

 

Gold medal: Telstar - The Tornadoes

 

Silver Medal: Wonderful Land - The Shadows

 

Bronze Medal: Nut Rocker - B Bumble And The Stingers

 

Also receiving 9s:

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee

Crying In The Rain - Everly Brothers

Sealed With A Kiss - Brian Hyland

The Loco-Motion - Little Eva

Let's Dance - Chris Montez

Things - Bobby Darin

Sherry - The Four Seasons

It Might As Well Rain Until September - Carole King

 

Worst hit of the year: Swinging In The Rain - Norman Vaughan

 

1963 Group 1:

 

#1768 05/01/1963 Mike Berry With The Outlaws Don't You Think It's Time 6 31-21-15-8-{6}-8-8-13-19-26-37-47->12

#1769 05/01/1963 Julie Grant Up On The Roof 33 {33}-34-43->3

#1770 05/01/1963 Little Eva Keep Your Hands Off My Baby 30 40-{30}-34-49-46->5

#1771 05/01/1963 Mel Torme Comin' Home Baby 13 44-24-18-{13}-18-24-30-37->8

#1772 05/01/1963 The Vernons Girls Funny All Over 31 45-39-{31}-36-42-43-42-45->8

#1773 05/01/1963 The Tijuana Brass The Lonely Bull (El Solo Torro) 22 49-{22}-26-27-35-33-41-43-50->9

#1774 12/01/1963 The Tornados Globetrotter 5 28-9-{5}-5-6-13-16-20-22-31-33->11

#1775 12/01/1963 Mike Sarne Just For Kicks 22 35-{22}-25-33-40-39-49->7

#1776 12/01/1963 Jet Harris And Tony Meehan Diamonds 1 45-12-4-{1}-1-1-3-4-7-14-18-26-36->13

#1777 19/01/1963 Marty Robbins Ruby Ann 24 32-{24}-31-31-35-44->6

#1778 19/01/1963 Rick Nelson It's Up To You 22 37-28-24-{22}-24-25-28-34-41->9

#1779 19/01/1963 Brenda Lee All Alone Am I 7 40-17-15-11-9-{7}-12-15-19-23-23-29-35-44-37-46-50->17

#1780 19/01/1963 Del Shannon Little Town Flirt 4 41-14-7-7-{4}-5-8-13-18-28-43-48-50->13

#1781 19/01/1963 Chris Montez Some Kinda Fun 10 42-16-{10}-12-20-20-26-33-42->9

#1782 19/01/1963 The Beatles Please Please Me 2 45-33-16-3-3-{2}-2-3-2-5-7-11-17-22-30-31-41-42->18

 

I agree with all those 9s and 10s.

 

I would also put Telstar and Nut Rocker in my top 3 along with either Let's Dance or It Might As Well Rain Until September.

Great first group - if this is going to be the standard for 1963 it's going to be a very fun year indeed. I know my winner this time is a bit controversial, and once again I'm being harsh on my favourite ever band but they'll be getting to the top in due course I'm sure.

 

9 Brenda Lee All Alone Am I This is stunning and heartbreaking; what a brilliant performance from her and I also love the haunting high pirched backing vocals

9 Jet Harris And Tony Meehan Diamonds 146th #1: a striking and mesmerising instrumental with excellent drums alongside a twangy theme and mysterious backing vocals

8 The Beatles Please Please Me Their first #1 in most charts of the time and one of the few early ones I never tire of, but the sound still has some developing to do

8 Rick Nelson It's Up To You One of his smaller yet one of his lovelier hits; love the sincere vocals, the melody and the call and response with the backing

8 Mel Torme Comin' Home Baby Second and final hit for him, seven years after the other; both brill but very different - this is a fabulous jazzy number with organ

7 Mike Berry With The Outlaws Don't You Think It's Time Biggest hit for him; love the shimmery (harp?) accompaniment, and all in all it's a sweet heartwarming song beautifully produced

7 Chris Montez Some Kinda Fun A similar style to "Let's Dance"; an energetic movement themed rock 'n' roll song with organ, and like that it works very well

6 Little Eva Keep Your Hands Off My Baby A much smaller hit than the "The Loco-Motion" and doesn't have the brilliant energy of that but a very good soulful number

6 Julie Grant Up On The Roof A very nice cover here - it doesn't quite draw me in like Kenny Lynch's but a very good performance and lovely arrangement

5 Marty Robbins Ruby Ann Last hit for Marty, not as good as "Devil Woman" but a pleasant country number with piano backing and a very good guitar solo

5 The Tijuana Brass The Lonely Bull (El Solo Torro) The first, bullring themed, hit for this group and it's a lovely melody done with a mixture of brass, guitar, mandolin and vocal "ah"

4 The Tornados Globetrotter A fairly successful follow up hit - not a big fan though; makes me feel like I'm at a British seaside resort in some sort of naff arcade

4 Mike Sarne Just For Kicks Another very silly song in a Cockney accent about riding a girl on a bike, but a surprisingly catchy tune; my favourite of his

3 Del Shannon Little Town Flirt It's a fairly standard mid tempo song but I find the subject, saying beware of the girl who's wooing everyone in town, quite silly

1 The Vernons Girls Funny All Over They had a good score for their other hit but this one is shocking - the "come outside" part is horrifying and the rest very bizarre

 

 

 

 

1963 Group 2:

 

#1783 19/01/1963 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen Sukiyaki 10 46-22-19-14-{10}-10-10-17-20-26-32-44-48->13

#1784 19/01/1963 The Four Seasons Big Girls Don't Cry 13 48-18-{13}-13-15-18-24-29-38-48->10

#1785 26/01/1963 Frank Ifield Wayward Wind 1 29-9-4-2-{1}-1-1-7-10-17-20-33-35->13

#1786 26/01/1963 Mr Acker Bilk With The Leon Young String Chorale A Taste Of Honey 16 32-21-{16}-16-17-22-28-40-42->9

#1787 26/01/1963 The Bachelors Charmaine 6 34-26-27-22-23-18-12-11-8-{6}-8-8-12-15-21-26-29-31-38->19

#1788 26/01/1963 The Crickets My Little Girl 17 38-23-19-{17}-19-23-32-34-45->9

#1789 26/01/1963 The Chucks Loo-Be-Loo 22 40-{22}-23-25-29-33-50->7

#1790 26/01/1963 David Thorne The Alley Cat Song 21 43-32-29-{21}-28-31-41-47->8

#1791 26/01/1963 Frankie Vaughan Loop-De-Loop 5 48-29-15-6-6-{5}-8-13-15-21-33-40->12

#1792 02/02/1963 The Rooftop Singers Walk Right In 10 39-21-18-11-11-{10}-15-17-27-40-47-49->12

#1793 02/02/1963 Adam Faith What Now 31 40-34-{31}-31-37->5

#1794 02/02/1963 The Spotnicks Hava Nagila 13 45-26-19-15-{13}-16-23-27-31-34-38-43->12

#1795 02/02/1963 Eydie Gorme Blame It On The Bossa Nova 32 48-{32}-32-32-32-46->6

#1796 09/02/1963 Bobby Vee The Night Has A Thousand Eyes 3 30-14-4-{3}-4-5-6-13-18-29-33-43->12

#1797 09/02/1963 Billie Davis Tell Him 10 37-27-24-21-14-{10}-11-15-16-25-29-41->12

 

Brenda Lee's is fab, think I'll go along with that pick, just ahead of The fabs. Please Please Me was their attempt to do a Roy Orbison-styled song but they ditched it for the Beat sound - This was my first sprinkling of Beatlemania, a song I knew and liked but they weren't yet dominating. Diamonds I like, Rick Nelson is always worthwhile, enjoy Mel Torme, and Chris Montez, but prefer Del Shannon's to all 3. Herb Alpert seemed to have non-stop Tijuana Brass songs in the 60's, usually catchy things especially The Spanish Flea - kiddy fave all round that one - but it took the drop-dead tearjerking gorgeousness of This Guy's In Love With You to make me love him. Not a natural singer, but Bacharach insisted and he showed he had sensitive emotion if not vocal technique and range.

Ooh first 'Diamonds' pops up on PopMaster yesterday and now arrives here :wub: absolutely love it. Good to have The Beatles in the fold now too!

Another pretty strong group but there is a clear stand-out for me today.

 

9 The Four Seasons Big Girls Don't Cry Stalled at #13 criminally though a Stateside #1; even better than "Sherry" for me as uses the falsetto more subtly and effectively

8 Bobby Vee The Night Has A Thousand Eyes His joint highest peaker and it's a really lovely number and very charming despite being about infidelity - his storytelling is great

8 Mr Acker Bilk With The Leon Young String Chorale A Taste Of Honey This really lives up to its name - much slower than Acker's hit and the clarinet just oozes out of the orchestra like honey; lovely

7 Adam Faith What Now A bit of a flop hit but I think Adam's best for a while; a lovely angst ridden song well delivered but still with his usual bounciness

7 Billie Davis Tell Him She played Mike Sarne's object of affection on "Will I What" but can sing it turns out - a great relentless and punchy number

7 The Rooftop Singers Walk Right In Only hit for this mixed US folk trio and it's a very catchy tune with nice harmonies and a strong simple guitar arrangement

6 Frank Ifield Wayward Wind 147th #1: a 50s cover that's already been a hit 3 times but I do think Frank does it well and gets the most out of the melody

6 The Crickets My Little Girl Like the ferocious drum beat on this and it's an effective number with close harmonies, cross melodies and nice strumming

6 The Spotnicks Hava Nagila Their highest peaking hit - I actually don't find it quite as special as their 2 previous ones but still a very nice twangy instrumental

5 David Thorne The Alley Cat Song Well here's a real oddity - only hit for David (can't find any info about him) and it's full of meowing effects, but strangely charming

5 Eydie Gorme Blame It On The Bossa Nova Another of these self conscious dance songs - catchy tune with great organ parts; but maybe veering slightly towards irritating

4 The Bachelors Charmaine First hit for this group and to me sounds like Karl Denver without the yodeling - it's fine but has a slightly aimless feel to it

4 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen Sukiyaki This sounds nice as a stand alone instrumental but once you've heard the original (a hit later in the year) it's quite unnecessary

3 Frankie Vaughan Loop-De-Loop 2 versions of this rather silly record but it's harmless fun - quite suits Frankie's cheeky style so I very slightly prefer this one

3 The Chucks Loo-Be-Loo Not sure why they have different titles as it's definitely the same song as Frankie's - only hit for this Merseybeat group; it's OKish

 

 

1963 Group 3:

 

#1798 09/02/1963 Helen Shapiro Queen For Tonight 33 42-{33}-35-35-43->5

#1799 09/02/1963 Doug Sheldon I Saw Linda Yesterday 36 46-37-{36}-36-48-48->6

#1800 09/02/1963 Joe Brown And The Bruvvers That's What Love Will Do 3 50-26-12-6-5-{3}-3-8-10-14-21-26-33-40->14

#1801 16/02/1963 Billy Fury Like I've Never Been Gone 3 34-22-14-6-4-4-{3}-5-9-11-17-19-23-26-39->15

#1802 16/02/1963 Duane Eddy And The Rebelettes Boss Guitar 27 36-30-29-{27}-30-34-40-50->8

#1803 16/02/1963 Paul And Paula Hey Paula 8 40-26-17-11-{8}-9-12-12-18-24-28-34-48R(2)-47-47-37-42->17

#1804 16/02/1963 Ned Miller From A Jack To A King 2 49-39-30-21-16-13-4-3-{2}-2-2-3-3-7-12-15-17-22-21-36-44->21

#1805 23/02/1963 Cliff Richard And The Shadows Summer Holiday 1 27-7-2-{1}-1-2-1-6-9-13-14-19-24-27-32-36-34-41->18

#1806 23/02/1963 Richard Chamberlain Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo 20 38-25-{20}-24-24-29-32-36-39->9

#1807 23/02/1963 John Leyton Cupboard Love 22 42-34-23-{22}-22-22-26-22-25-27-35-45->12

#1808 23/02/1963 The Brook Brothers Trouble Is My Middle Name 38 48-{38}-42-50->4

#1809 02/03/1963 Steve Race Pied Piper (The Beeje) 29 39-36-{29}-30-34-45-44-41-49->9

#1810 02/03/1963 The Cougars Saturday Nite At The Duck Pond 33 40-40-{33}-41-45-43-42-45->8

#1811 02/03/1963 Elvis Presley One Broken Heart For Sale 12 42-18-{12}-12-14-19-28-36-42->9

#1812 02/03/1963 Craig Douglas Town Crier 36 43-39-{36}-39->4

I do have a totally rigid formula for dividing up the batches of songs and there's no personal judgement in it at all - if there were there's no way I would be reviewing such a comparatively weak group today and not taking some from the next group which will be loaded with high scorers. Joe Brown is one of the only highlights and duly earns his second win.

 

8 Joe Brown And The Bruvvers That's What Love Will Do His second biggest hit and a lovely intimate and tenderly done record enhanced by backing harmonies and oohs and a guitar solo

7 Duane Eddy And The Rebelettes Boss Guitar Runner up in this slightly barren selection: not quite as brilliant as "Guitar Man" but the same idea and another lovely genre mix

6 John Leyton Cupboard Love 4 weeks peaking at #22: a fun catchy song from him with nice lyrics about his cupboard being bare aside from his love for her

6 Doug Sheldon I Saw Linda Yesterday Last of 3 hits for him: the vocals are slightly raucous but it's fun and the "hip, hip, numdi dordidordi" riff is incredibly catchy

6 Billy Fury Like I've Never Been Gone One of his 4 Top 3 hits - it has a great driving rhythm to it and a very nice tune but I don't think it's one of his most memorable

5 Helen Shapiro Queen For Tonight It's amazing how quickly her chart fortunes have faded; melody is nice and vocals great but lyrics rather trite and backing annoying

5 Steve Race Pied Piper (The Beeje) Only hit for this British composer and presenter - a very simple but charming flute led folky instrumental with march style drums

5 The Cougars Saturday Nite At The Duck Pond Only hit for this instrumental band based on "Swan Lake" and banned by the BBC - it's quite an inventive classical piece reworking

4 Cliff Richard And The Shadows Summer Holiday 148th #1: clearly a very well remembered classic and a great melody but has that smugness and I can't fully bring myself to like it

4 Paul And Paula Hey Paula A US #1 for this American duo - the melody is nice and they perform it well but it's very saccharine and needs a dash of lemon

4 The Brook Brothers Trouble Is My Middle Name Last of their 5 hits - there's something slightly lumbered about this compared to the brilliant "War Paint" - nice harmonies though

3 Craig Douglas Town Crier Last of 10 Top 40s for Craig - a jolly song with bells representing town crying; doesn't really do anything interesting but it's fine

3 Elvis Presley One Broken Heart For Sale A #12 hit for him after an almost unbroken run of 9 chart toppers - perhaps the song being very average and forgettable explains it

2 Ned Miller From A Jack To A King I hadn't realised there was a playing card themed #2 hit other than Sheeran's - both have an indistinct melody and clichéd lyrics

2 Richard Chamberlain Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo An early 50s song which he manages again to turn into something utterly moribund - shame as he does have a nice deep voice

 

 

1963 Group 4:

 

#1813 02/03/1963 The Cascades Rhythm Of The Rain 5 46-30-17-14-9-7-{5}-5-7-8-12-15-17-24-38-48->16

#1814 02/03/1963 Roy Orbison In Dreams 6 49-38-28-25-20-17-12-10-8-7-{6}-6-7-8-11-10-11-13-15-20-22-30-40->23

#1815 09/03/1963 The Shadows Foot Tapper 1 25-9-2-{1}-4-3-6-9-10-15-20-26-30-33-36-45->16

#1816 09/03/1963 Frank Sinatra With Count Basie My Kind Of Girl 35 {35}-35-40-41-46-41->6

#1817 09/03/1963 Ronnie Carroll Say Wonderful Things 6 37-21-16-11-{6}-7-8-14-16-20-25-28-34-46->14

#1818 09/03/1963 Little Eva Let's Turkey Trot 13 44-26-21-18-14-{13}-18-19-22-24-32-37->12

#1819 16/03/1963 Buddy Holly Brown-Eyed Handsome Man 3 32-19-16-9-4-{3}-10-9-11-13-18-21-24-32-40-42-47->17

#1820 16/03/1963 Gerry And The Pacemakers How Do You Do It? 1 39-20-10-2-{1}-1-1-2-2-4-8-13-15-20-19-27-40-42->18

#1821 16/03/1963 Skeeter Davis End Of The World 18 43-29-24-21-20-19-{18}-20-25-27-33-37-39->13

#1822 16/03/1963 Jerry Lee Lewis Good Golly Miss Molly 31 44-38-33-{31}-37-42->6

#1823 16/03/1963 Johnny Cymbal Mr Bass Man 24 49-36-25-25-{24}-27-25-30-43-50->10

#1824 23/03/1963 Tommy Roe The Folk Singer 4 31-19-13-10-{4}-4-11-13-17-19-25-32-47->13

#1825 23/03/1963 The Tornados Robot 17 32-30-24-19-{17}-21-23-28-30-32-36-42->12

#1826 23/03/1963 The Everly Brothers So It Will Always Be 23 44-28-27-{23}-28-23-26-33-33-35-46->11

#1827 23/03/1963 Karl Denver Can You Forgive Me 32 46-36-38-{32}-32-33-49-47->8

That first batch is loaded with classics as 5-year-old me gets well into pop music. My fave now is Night Has A 1000 Eyes, love that record Bobby Vee's best quite probably. Big Girls Dont Cry isnt far behind though, Four Seasons are always great.

 

Back in 1963 It was all about Wayward Wind and Charmaine, dad bought those singles a couple of years later, so a part of my childhood. The Bachelors havent weather as well as Frank, and neither of them would trouble my all-time lists these days. A Taste Of Honey is a song I knew well, ditto Hava Nagila, and Walk Right In all of them big tunes of the early 60's. Sukiyaki ditto, but that is beloved of me in my former BJSC DNQ Sukiyaki, while another BJSC DNQ Billie Davis (I Want You To Be My Baby, early rap pop) is here with a 1974 big hit Tell Him (Glam Rock band Hello covered it) that I rate quite a bit.

 

 

Batch 2, Joe Brown is still one I enjoy a lot, but the rest of the options not quite so up to it with 2 exceptions: Summer Holiday, a famous pop record of the decade which still has a kiddie charm to it, and Hey Paula, which is admittedly cheese, but very very tuneful cheese, and the record I would choose first to hear of those on offer.

"Only The Lonely" just missed out on a 10 and I've decided to make amends for that today. I do genuinely think "In Dreams" is quite possibly his best song though - what an epic track. There was some very strong competition today though; absolutely love all the Top 5 and a 10 and 2 9s is the best Top 3 scores I've ever given.

 

10 Roy Orbison In Dreams An exquisite and epic ballad - so much vocal agility and emotion as it takes you on an incredible journey through his imagination

9 Skeeter Davis End Of The World #2 Stateside but how did this only make #18 here; one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking ballads ever for me - just wonderful

9 The Cascades Rhythm Of The Rain Only hit for this group of US Navy personnel; a brilliant gently delivered pop song that uses a special keyboard called a celesta

8 Johnny Cymbal Mr Bass Man Only hit for him but it's really a duet with Ronnie Bright - my favourite new discovery here; brilliantly mad, clever and fun

8 The Shadows Foot Tapper 149th #1: I don't think this is their very greatest record but must be one of their best remembered tunes, and definitely a foot tapper

7 Gerry And The Pacemakers How Do You Do It? 150th #1: apparently turned down by Adam Faith and almost a Beatles single, but this version is great and a strong debut for them

7 Little Eva Let's Turkey Trot Another of those let's do a dance together style numbers, but a very catchy song - the "gaba gaba dilly" is really infectious

6 Buddy Holly Brown-Eyed Handsome Man Buddy's second highest peaking hit; originally a Chuck Berry song about being arrested possibly on racial grounds; nice song

6 Frank Sinatra With Count Basie My Kind Of Girl Matt Monro's version reached #5 2 years ago but prefer this; enjoy the flute solo in particular; one of Frank's more interesting hits

5 Jerry Lee Lewis Good Golly Miss Molly A cover of a Little Richared hit that sounds a bit out of date in 1963, though it is a good version with plenty of frnzied energy

5 Tommy Roe The Folk Singer He decides she's too plain but then loses his voice and decides she's good enough after all - charming; quite a nice tune though

4 The Everly Brothers So It Will Always Be Very nice vocals on this and like the Spanish style guitar, but it's a very resigned and self pitying song and as a result lacks energy

3 The Tornados Robot Again a very similar structure to "Telstar", with wordless vocals towards the end, but again it's old school seaside resort vibes

2 Karl Denver Can You Forgive Me The song itself is fine but I can't get on with the vocal style - the whininess and the way he hangs on to the end of phrases

2 Ronnie Carroll Say Wonderful Things Last of his 6 Top 40s and our Eurovision entry; sadly no wonderful things to be said here - all very plodding, dated and half hearted

 

 

 

 

1963 Group 5:

 

#1828 23/03/1963 Andy Williams Can't Get Used To Losing You 2 49-35-28-21-15-11-6-5-{2}-5-5-10-14-14-19-25-35-44->18

#1829 23/03/1963 Don Spencer Fireball 32 50-42-42-34-34-{32}-41-44-41-46-49-49R(2)->12

#1830 30/03/1963 Ray Charles Don't Set Me Free 37 {37}-47-46->3

#1831 30/03/1963 The Springfields Say I Won't Be There 5 38-22-11-7-{5}-5-8-12-14-18-22-33-38-41-49->15

#1832 30/03/1963 Mike Sarne Code Of Love 29 46-37-31-30-{29}-32-38->7

#1833 30/03/1963 Brenda Lee Losing You 10 47-35-27-20-16-13-{10}-11-10-12-18-21-24-37-50-50->16

#1834 30/03/1963 Julie Grant Count On Me 24 48-30-26-26-{24}-27-30-38-41->9

#1835 30/03/1963 Ruby And The Romantics Our Day Will Come 38 49-39-39-{38}-39-45->6

#1836 30/03/1963 The Four Seasons Walk Like A Man 12 50-23-16-13-{12}-12-14-18-22-26-30-39->12

#1837 13/04/1963 Frank Ifield Nobody's Darlin' But Mine 4 30-14-6-{4}-4-8-11-11-14-15-18-21-26-31-47-48->16

#1838 13/04/1963 Mike Berry With The Outlaws My Little Baby 34 43-40-36-36-{34}-37-43->7

#1839 13/04/1963 The Big Three Some Other Guy 37 45-{37}-40-42-46-49-44->7

#1840 13/04/1963 The Chiffons He's So Fine 16 49-31-22-18-{16}-16-16-17-20-23-29-38->12

#1841 20/04/1963 The Beatles From Me To You 1 23-3-{1}-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-4-8-13-16-15-17-20-27-37-41-44->21

#1842 20/04/1963 The Chantays Pipeline 16 46-44-37-32-22-20-19-{16}-19-25-32-28-40-48->14

 

 

I remember several of those high-scoring songs coming up in the same week in Rollo's thread earlier this year. Foot Tapper and How Do You Do It? are enjoyable #1s, but there 's an even better one coming up in the next batch.

I liked End Of The World and Rhythm Of The Rain a lot when I listened to them.

 

I see you are still not sharing my appreciation of Karl Denver.

End Of The World :wub: :wub:

No argument from me about In Dreams, Roy's best record of many classics :wub: An all-time fave.

 

End of The World, I have loved since I was little, so it must have been better known than 18 suggests, so good a song I even liked Sonia's version a lot too. Rhythm Of The Rain a great record, no idea they were Navy men! Mr Bass Man and Footapper both fun tracks, and How Do You Do It would def have topped my theoretical charts of the time, still has a charm to it. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man is decent, The Folk Singer ditto (the first time I remember hearing it was when he sang it live at a concert I took my mum to - along with Bobby Vee and Gerry & The Pacemakers, a triple bill) though Ive never really noticed those lyrics, oops! Say Wonderful Things is a familiar tune, but it's no Windmill In Old Amsterdam :lol:

 

 

Yet another great group here - really struggling to keep to my usual 5 and a bit average with 1963 so far. The winner was never in doubt today but I've decided "Pipeline" is such an interesting instrumental that it deserves a feature too.

 

9 The Beatles From Me To You 151st #1: my favourite of their first batch of hits - short and sharp but such a powerhouse of songwriting that still sounds great

9 The Chantays Pipeline Only hit for them - genre is surf rock apparently, but what a magical, slightly foreboding instrumental with a machine gun drum beat

8 Andy Williams Can't Get Used To Losing You This has been stuck in my head all day - what an earworm with a special staccato rhythm; possibly my favourite song from Andy

8 Ruby And The Romantics Our Day Will Come An RnB classic that sounds totally ageless and has been covered numerous times; a very classy and subtly excellent song

8 Ray Charles Don't Set Me Free One of my favourites from Ray - effectively a duet, with rumbling piano, backing choir and band; an incredibly soulful number

7 Brenda Lee Losing You Another vocal masterclass and another lovely heartbreaking ballad very convincingly delivered with sympathetic trumpet and chorus

7 Julie Grant Count On Me Her biggest hit and her voice really shines on this - from the opening brass fanfare to the melody it's a really lovely and sweet song

7 Don Spencer Fireball Only hit for this Australian TV presenter and it's surprisingly good; he has a very nice smooth voice and it's a catchy tender song

6 The Four Seasons Walk Like A Man Falsetto central again here but very well done as it's limited to the chorus riff; not quite as classic as their last 2 but still very good

6 The Big Three Some Other Guy They were a Merseybeat group and this was also covered by the Beatles; the song has a really nice, slightly edgy, sound to it

5 Mike Berry With The Outlaws My Little Baby "Oo pa pa, oo pa pa…" - a catchy riff certainly that could verge on irritating but overall a nicely song well performed and produced

5 The Chiffons He's So Fine First hit for another of these black American girl groups; has a catchy riff and the usual ingredients for the style, but don't love it

4 The Springfields Say I Won't Be There "Say I won't be theeyyyyrrre" - not bad but the country factor is really dialled up and too much block singing, but lovely Dusty solo

3 Frank Ifield Nobody's Darlin' But Mine A #4 hit in the midst of 4 chart toppers and you can see why it didn't make the grade; nicely sung but a very sedate and dated ballad

2 Mike Sarne Code Of Love Last of his 4 hits and it's the usual theme delivered in a Cockney accent about securing a woman; not keen on the lyrics or melody

 

 

 

1963 Group 6:

 

#1843 20/04/1963 Paul And Paula Young Lovers 9 48-34-24-18-14-{9}-9-13-11-17-20-23-33-45->14

#1844 27/04/1963 Jet Harris And Tony Meehan Scarlett O'Hara 2 31-15-7-3-{2}-3-4-5-7-11-17-23-29->13

#1845 27/04/1963 Del Shannon Two Kinds Of Teardrops 5 38-17-9-{5}-6-6-6-13-15-16-20-28-46->13

#1846 27/04/1963 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen Casablanca 21 45-28-27-{21}-24-23-28-28-30-50-46->11

#1847 27/04/1963 Helen Shapiro Woe Is Me 35 47-39-{35}-40-48-48->6

#1848 27/04/1963 Eddie Cochran My Way 23 48-38-29-{23}-25-27-26-31-32-40->10

#1849 27/04/1963 The Spotnicks Just Listen To My Heart 36 50-40-{36}-36-40-43->6

#1850 04/05/1963 Billy J Kramer With The Dakotas Do You Want To Know A Secret? 2 43-17-10-3-{2}-2-3-4-7-11-14-18-19-30-46->15

#1851 04/05/1963 Petula Clark Casanova/Chariot 39 48-42-{39}-42-45-49-44->7

#1852 04/05/1963 James Gilreath Little Band Of Gold 29 50-39-35-36-31-{29}-29-31-45-42->10

#1853 11/05/1963 Cliff Richard And The Shadows Lucky Lips 4 21-9-{4}-4-8-6-10-12-19-24-24-24-29-37-49->15

#1854 11/05/1963 Freddie And The Dreamers If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody 3 37-31-23-16-12-7-{3}-3-4-8-14-16-23-31->14

#1855 11/05/1963 Johnny Tillotson Out Of My Mind 34 49-44-{34}-35-41->5

#1856 18/05/1963 Billy Fury When Will You Say I Love You 3 28-15-7-{3}-4-5-10-12-16-19-22-35->12

#1857 18/05/1963 Ray Charles Take These Chains From My Heart 5 43-21-14-{5}-8-6-5-6-5-6-8-11-17-18-19-31-34-45-46-49->20

 

Not so littered with classics today but still a very nice top few.

 

8 Freddie And The Dreamers If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody First hit for this English band and it's a great one - the vocals are distinctive and the raw emotion of the song comes over strongly

8 Billy Fury When Will You Say I Love You His 3rd #3 hit and it's great; has a really grand big hearted feel to it with the strings and piano, and can really feel his agony

7 Ray Charles Take These Chains From My Heart This is back to the slower more stately style from Ray, but it's very classy and the violins and backing vocals give it a wistful feel

7 Eddie Cochran My Way This feels old school for 1963 to me but that's no bad thing - a great rock 'n' roll number with honky tonk piano and raspy vocals

7 Jet Harris And Tony Meehan Scarlett O'Hara Named after a "Gone With The Wind" character, a much lighter instrumental than "Diamonds" here but still a great tune well done

6 James Gilreath Little Band Of Gold Only hit for this American singer and it's an intriguing quirky almost folky one with tempo changes and an offbeat rhythm

6 Del Shannon Two Kinds Of Teardrops His 7th Top 10 hit and this is a good one - has his usual style with the falsetto "cry-ay-ay" but a good tune in its own right

5 Helen Shapiro Woe Is Me Enjoy the frantic drum beat on this and the call and response with the backing singers is quite fun; just not memorable enough

5 Billy J Kramer With The Dakotas Do You Want To Know A Secret? It's not a bad version but being so familiar with the Beatles version but I can't quite get on with it - lacks tenderness for me

5 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen Casablanca Very Middle Eastern opening with a sitar style instrument and turns into a nice busy number with trumpets and clarinets

4 Petula Clark Casanova/Chariot "Casanova" is in German and has a rather twee Alpine feel - "Chariot" is in French and is much better; a stately feeling ballad

4 The Spotnicks Just Listen To My Heart Last hit for this instrumental group and they've had some great ones but this is just perfectly pleasant background music for me

3 Paul And Paula Young Lovers "Hey Paula" was naff but had a bit more to it than this I think - this doesn't really get going and is schmaltz over substance

2 Johnny Tillotson Out Of My Mind His last Top 40 and it's really a very far cry from "Poetry In Motion" unfortunately - a rather plodding, drippy and miserable ballad

2 Cliff Richard And The Shadows Lucky Lips You may not be good looking but it's fine as you have lucky lips - what a strange thing to say to your son, plus it's an insipid song

 

 

1963 Group 7:

 

#1858 18/05/1963 Benny Hill Harvest Of Love 20 45-30-{20}-23-24-20-35-43->8

#1859 18/05/1963 Sam Cooke Another Saturday Night 23 47-29-28-25-27-{23}-29-34-32-31-40-44->12

#1860 25/05/1963 The Shirelles Foolish Little Girl 38 49-40-47-{38}-50->5

#1861 25/05/1963 Bobby Rydell Forget Him 13 50-29-21-18-16-14-{13}-15-15-17-24-26-35-42->14

#1862 01/06/1963 Gerry And The Pacemakers I Like It 1 22-7-2-{1}-1-1-1-2-7-6-9-16-20-29-39->15

#1863 01/06/1963 Roy Orbison Falling 9 33-19-17-12-{9}-10-11-13-14-18-27->11

#1864 01/06/1963 The Hollies Just Like Me 25 39-31-26-27-{25}-37-38-34-46-46->10

#1865 01/06/1963 Billie Davis He's The One 40 41-{40}-50->3

#1866 01/06/1963 Duane Eddy And The Rebelettes Lonely Boy, Lonely Guitar 35 50-44-{35}-39->4

#1867 08/06/1963 The Shadows Atlantis 2 27-12-9-{2}-2-3-4-4-7-7-11-16-21-25-35-42-48->17

#1868 08/06/1963 The Tornados Ice Cream Man 18 34-25-22-{18}-18-22-28-31-38->9

#1869 08/06/1963 Buddy Holly Bo Diddley 4 35-16-13-6-7-{4}-8-13-16-21-33-49->12

#1870 08/06/1963 The Crickets Don't Try To Change Me 37 43-{37}-43-47->4

#1871 08/06/1963 Mark Wynter Shy Girl 28 50-30-{28}-33-29-39->6

#1872 15/06/1963 The Everly Brothers It's Been Nice 26 40-33-{26}-30-41->5

 

 

Flawless top 6 there, for Batch 1 with the Fabs on top. From Me To You isn't one of my fave Beatles tracks but it has nostalgia attached to it for me, Pipeline is fab surfer music, my late Uncle Tony (still 5 years in the future before he married my dad's sister) had whole piles of surfer albums, notably The Beach Boys, everything they released. He liked talking to me about his fave oldies.

 

Andy's Cant Get Used To Losing You is fab, a great song that stood up to the ska treatment by The Beat in 83. Love Our Day Will Come, loved it then love it now. Ray & Brenda never bad, and Fireball was 100% my fave record of that week cos it was the theme tune to my fave TV show Fireball XL5 - Gerry Anderson's sci fi marionation show with heroes Robert The Robot, Steve Kodiak and Venus, and the Space Monkey. It's currently being shown on one of the oldies networks on Freeview. I find myself getting annoyed at the lack of space-suits and breathable asteroids these days.... :lol:

 

Walk Like A Man is fab, and the best cover will be 22 years in the future, the one and only Divine. He's So Fine is just not as good as My Sweet Lord, but it's OK :D

 

Batch 2:

 

Ooh Im surprised you like Freddie! One of my faves of theirs and Freddie Garrity, short, and upbeat, willing to clown around, was ideal for 5 year olds :) Meanwhile, my fave pop star Billy Fury, of the time, and one I don't remember! Sounds quite nice. Take These Chains is great, and Billy J. Kramer arrives with Do Want To Know A Secret, one of my next big fave pop stars in 1964, generously donated by Paul & John (still keeping the best stuff for themselves). The rest of the batch are not ones I recall from the time, nor ones I've heard much since. Maybe I was busy in school, or they werent getting booked for Thank Your Lucky Stars on Saturday evening... :)